airlock

[MellowTigger]

It surprises me that there's not an airlock in this game.  The spaceship has one, sort of.  After first creating a spaceship module, it maintains vacuum inside the module while letting people walk outside (with whatever atmosphere exists there).  I propose a new "door" that functions as an airlock.  It includes these features.

1. Standard 2x1 tile size like other doors.
2. Requires small electricity to operate, like a mini-pump.
3. The graphics for it are a cylinder with cut "entry" that rotates from one side to the other.  Bonus points: You still get to see the face of the dupe inside the cylinder while the entry door (with glass window at face level) passes the center.
4. The dupe enters one side, waits while the cylinder rotates, the air is vented back to whichever side they entered, temporarily creating vacuum inside the door, then the other side opens.

[Sasza22]

It`s being suggested a lot. Like here:

The general consensus is that on one hand it would help in some designs and would benefit beginners the most. On the other hand it reduces the game complexity so there is less reason to make cool designs. You can find a few overengineered designs in that thread.

[MellowTigger]

There are easy ways to encourage doing it the hard way.  1) Require plastic, 2) push the research later into the tree (after transit tubes, maybe?), or 3) make the cylinder rotation a s-l-o-w process, so people choose faster water locks instead.

[Sasza22]

On 11/12/2022 at 5:20 PM, MellowTigger said:

so people choose faster water locks instead

Most people want an airlock like this specifically so they don`t have to use water locks. If it`s inferior and higher tech people will still rely on water locks 90% of the time.