Sources of heat and cold

[ShaTiK]

First thing -  right now there is no heat source deep down (where magma is). There is magma at fixed temperature in pockets of abyssalite/neutronium, but as soon as I start interacting with magma, it inevitably cools down to rock. And, given enough time, I could cool down all available magma.

Problem is - if we are indeed inside an asteroid - why the hell would it have magma? I get gaming aspect - and magma is indeed always a cool (hey!) thing to have. But if we a having magma, then we need a constant heat source, so magma, well, stays magma.

Dunno how feasible it is in gaming mechanics terms to make some kind of "heat core", but it will be good.

Second thing - same goes for cold. Having some kind of, well, anything, that will have "cooling" properties would be great. Maybe some mineral, like current oxylite, but "emitting" cold with finite "resource" in it (and call it "coldite".. yeah, I'm not very original, am I). Or even better - some crazy thing (say an artifact) that emits cold, that you could transport to your base. Any of this would be a great addition to the game. I think.

[allelsefailed]

I assume that areas outside of your reach are "paused" until you reach them or get close enough. So once you get to the magma it will quickly start radiating heat to its surroundings, cooling itself down until it turns to rock. So that mechanic makes sense.

Objects don't emit cold ("cold" doesn't exist), they absorb heat. As far as I know Klei has probably programmed the appropriate heat transfer equations into the game. I don't know how close you can get to the edge of the asteroid, but space makes a good heat sink.

[kuriosly]

Space actually is a horrible, horrible heat sink. One of the main problems with space is there is no mass to it. In fact, some people compare it to a vacuum. And a vacuum as we all know is a great insulator. 

So how does one purge heat in a vacuum? There's 2 main ways. 

1) You superheat a bit of your own mass and throw it away. 

2) You convert your thermal energy into another type of energy. Like black-body radiation. 

[ShamPeiN]

rivers are in files

[ZSST]

18 minutes ago, kuriosly said:

Space actually is a horrible, horrible heat sink. One of the main problems with space is there is no mass to it. In fact, some people compare it to a vacuum. And a vacuum as we all know is a great insulator. 

So how does one purge heat in a vacuum? There's 2 main ways. 

1) You superheat a bit of your own mass and throw it away. 

2) You convert your thermal energy into another type of energy. Like black-body radiation. 

Or you make radiator panels and radiate heat away with infrared radiation

[kuriosly]

21 minutes ago, ZSST said:

Or you make radiator panels and radiate heat away with infrared radiation

Congrats! You've just discovered the principles of blackbody radiation!

[ZSST]

1 minute ago, kuriosly said:

Congrats! You've just discovered the principles of blackbody radiation!

Ain't I a genious!

Sorry, didn't know it was called that.

[Developous]

Hmm... sounds like a great thermodynamics technology, that heat to radiation conversion. But this looks like a further step in the tech tree than just the basics of that advent. I'm thinking superconductors would be needed to apply that development. But the problem with this is that the outside areas of the asteroid would definitely start heating up, and seep inwards - just like the plan for demise.

9/10 idea.

So, support the thermodynamics tech. I will work on this idea next. Deal?

[kuriosly]

Don't actually need superconductors. You more need heat pumps and the ability to make something very hot. You can see this effect when doing things like heating/welding steel, or turning on a old electric stove. Ever notice how the elements/material starts glowing? As it changes color (gets hotter) it gets more efficient at radiating the heat.