Radioactivity and Nuclear Power

[GreenOnion]

I've only just about started playing this game, and I absolutely love everything about it so far! Best €20 I've spent in a looong time. Although I haven't made major mileage in cycles or in population yet, I still have a few ideas I'd love to see implemented. We've got factors like oxygen, temperature, pressure, pollution and so on – what I'm suggesting is radioactivity to become a new elemental factor.

☢️ Radioactivity and Nuclear Power ☢️

❌ Radioactivity

• Certain minerals and metals have a natural radioactive decay. They dissipate in mass slower than Oxylite based on their half-life – and while doing so they emit gamma rays and pollute the air and water around them with fallout.
• Gamma rays directly irradiate things in their vicinity – while radioactive particles (fallout) is the byproduct of that, which exists within irradiated air and water and follows the flow of waves, currents and wind.
• Gamma rays can penetrate certain materials, some more easily than others. For example; gamma rays have no problem passing through sandstone, while having much more trouble passing through wolframite.
• The only visible signs of radiation is that radioactive or irradiated matter begins to glow in the dark over a certain threshold.
• The most susceptible to radiation is of course lifeforms, most notably duplicants. Via direct contact to gamma rays – or be it inhalation of irradiated air or from consuming irradiated water – duplicants may now contract radiation poisoning.
• The main symptoms of radiation poisoning is diminished Athletics and Strength skills, depending on how irradiated they are. After becoming sufficiently irradiated to the point that it's of lethal dosage, they may either die or transform into mutants.

❌ Mutants

• Mutants are duplicants whom have become horrific, wandering monstrosities following massive radiation poisoning.
• If the duplicant was previously destructive, they will be innately aggressive and attack constructs and duplicants alike. If the duplicant was previously a vomiter, they will be neutral to their surroundings – but will instead occasionally vomit, contaminating and irradiating the area further. 
• Duplicants can combat mutants, but will become greatly stressed from the encounter.

Additions to the Research Tree

Red bars indicate "advanced research", something I assume will arrive in a later update. Green squares indicate additions, white squares indicate changes to existing items and the orange square indicate a speculated, altered item that I think will arrive in a later update.

• Shielding
  • Leaded Gas Pipe – a pipe which completely negates gamma ray penetration from or towards the gas within.
  • Leaded Liquid Pipe – a pipe which completely negates gamma ray penetration from or towards the liquid within.
  • Leaded Tile – a tile which completely negates gamma ray penetration from all sides.
  • Absorbing Storage Compactor - functions similarly to a Storage Compactor, except it is specifically designed to contain radioactive metals and minerals and stop their radioactive output from leaking into the environment.

• Medbay
  • Decontaminator – a connected bed, IV-pole and machine that slowly cleans the user of radiation through chemotherapy.
• Protective Gear
  • Space Helmet Station – assumed suitable research location for a space helmet station, which holds and recharges a "space helmet" with oxygen (through a gas input). The station and its "space helmet" can be assigned to a duplicate, which will wear it when instructed to. The space helmet supplies the wearer with the air that it was charged with, while draining its reservoir. It is – however – fragile, and can take damage during combat or under heavy pressure, which will eventually break the helmet.
  • Hazmat Suit Station – looks like a locker. Holds a hazmat suit, which is an all-covering bright yellow leaded jumper sporting an air-tight hood with a built-in visor and a gasmask. The locker and its hazmat suit can be assigned to a duplicate, which will wear it when instructed to. The hazmat suit completely protects the wearer from gamma radiation and converts surrounding contaminated oxygen and chlorine gas into unirradiated clean oxygen for the wearer to breathe. During this conversion – which only occurs when inside such gas – the filter on the gasmask will start to slowly deplete, and will eventually have to be replaced with a "full" gasmask filter or cause the gasmask to stop functioning. The gasmask will not generate oxygen where there is none, and cannot function underwater like the "space helmet" can.
• Advanced Filtration
  • Fallout Filter – functions almost like the Gas Filter, except the two outputs emit the same combination of gas as the input. The primary output (the filtered output in the Gas Filter) contains fallout, while the secondary output is clean from radiation.
• Percolation
  • Water Purifier – now also purifies the water from fallout.
• Nucleonics
  • Geiger Counter – functions almost like the Thermo Switch. It automates switching power grid on and off based on surrounding radiation.
  • Thermal Reactor – the main component in nuclear fission energy generation. It looks like a large machine and can be fully submerged into preferably cold water. It requires a coolant to be safe, usually by said cold water that surrounds it or by otherwise removing excess heat from its vicinity. It has one liquid intake for nuclear sludge, one liquid output for nuclear waste and one electrical input and output. As long as the Thermal Reactor is powered, it will consume nuclear sludge and output a heavy amount of both electricity and heat alongside nuclear waste. Any liquid other than nuclear sludge that comes through the reactors intake will pass through harmlessly and out the outtake for nuclear waste. The reactor needs to be sufficiently cooled down while it generates energy from fission, or one risk causing a meltdown – which, not only melts the surrounding area, but also leaks nuclear sludge, waste and gamma radiation on a large scale.
    • Naturally – nuclear waste, while still heavily radioactive, does not work as nuclear fuel. It is a byproduct of exploiting nuclear energy, meant to be dumped somewhere far away from your duplicants.
  • Nuclear Converter – a smaller but equally important part of nuclear fission energy generation. It has one electrical input, one liquid input, and two liquid outputs. It looks like a large cylindrical vessel with a thick plane of glass in the front, inside of which a large "screw" rotor constantly spins to mix the inside materials and generate nuclear sludge – the liquid required as fuel for a thermal reactor. On the left side there's a vent where radioactive material (minerals, metals) is dumped into the vessel, and on the right side the nuclear sludge is excreted trough a liquid outtake. Lined across the walls inside of the cylindrical vessel are thin but heavy pipes, whose purpose is to warm up the contained materials to a melting point. On top of the vessel is the intake for such heated liquid, and on the bottom is the outtake for the same liquid. The nuclear converter needs to be both powered and supplied with exceedingly warm liquid to start converting the materials into nuclear sludge.
  • Compact Nuclear Converter – a smaller version of the Nuclear Converter. It looks like a large household mixer, and has one electrical input and one liquid output. When powered and operated, it generates nuclear sludge using the same materials but less efficiently and with a reduced amount of resulting sludge, but it does not require a heated liquid source to function. Duplicants risk becoming slightly irradiated by use.

To recap my suggestions as a whole:

• ☢️ Cons
  • Radioactive materials are quite scary and very dangerous.
  • Can easily irradiate your entire colony if you do not pay attention to fallout.
  • A sufficient mutant infestation can turn the tides quickly.
  • Nuclear energy is hard to produce and yields nuclear waste.
• ☢️ Pros
  • Nuclear energy is the finest and final solution to gigantic colonies.
  • Nuclear energy may be required to power very heavy power grids.
  • Radioactive minerals and materials should be easy to detect and avoid.
  • The hazmat suit is useful even outside radioactive areas.

Hopefully these suggestions speak out as fun additions to an already incredibly fun game. These are merely suggestions – however – and it is just how I envision the implementation of radioactivity as a new natural element, and nuclear energy as a resulting factor from that. In my opinion, it is not something required to make Oxygen Not Included a better experience, but it might make it more difficult and entertaining. Thank you for reading!

[Developous]

Inclined to approve, but I would advise you look at my tech tree post. But these ideas seem quite sound and practical.

[scientas]

11 hours ago, Developous said:

Inclined to approve, but I would advise you look at my tech tree post. But these ideas seem quite sound and practical.

Ugh. Not that anyone has any choice since you've bumped EVERY thread you've started so that the entire forum is nothing but your discussions. Way to completely kill feedback from people trying to add their input.

[Kasuha]

On 2. 4. 2017 at 7:24 PM, GreenOnion said:

After becoming sufficiently irradiated to the point that it's of lethal dosage, they may either die or transform into mutants.

Transformation to mutants may be an attractive topic for certain horror movies or games but it's not what happens in reality and I don't think it fits with the idea of this game. If devs liked the idea of mutants, they could add some on biological basis, e.g. from extended exposure to contaminated water or oxygen.

The radiation challenge is also somewhat similar to the challenge now posed by heat - you have areas that are too hot or too cold for your duplicants to stay in and they need protective clothing to deal with the challenge. So all it really brings in is a new kind of power supply.

[Developous]

8 hours ago, scientas said:

Ugh. Not that anyone has any choice since you've bumped EVERY thread you've started so that the entire forum is nothing but your discussions. Way to completely kill feedback from people trying to add their input.

I always have golden intents. You should have more faith and respect in my ways. I ONLY want to organize the situation.

[himax]

9 hours ago, Kasuha said:

Transformation to mutants may be an attractive topic for certain horror movies or games but it's not what happens in reality and I don't think it fits with the idea of this game. If devs liked the idea of mutants, they could add some on biological basis, e.g. from extended exposure to contaminated water or oxygen.

Becoming ''irradiated''. Making your dupe lose energy till cured or death; on... Idk.... 1% case, there's a chance dupes would turn into mutants, giving different good or bad effects/traits. Maybe they could still be manageable and having super strenghts or super intelligence but other bad traits (- decor.... smell).

Or to make it even more complicated: some would be zombie like(unmanageable), eating every one (capturing him would be funny), or super-hero like(manageable), with super traits but bad smell. So you could cure an irradiated dupe, or take the rare chance of a mutation to get a super dupe/zombi.

[himax]

Just thought about making zombie dupes fight...

 

First 30 cycles are fun but after that it's mainly managing an industrial wheel.... endlessly consuming ressources. Zombie fights with uncommon mutated dupes...

... and super dupes that are manageable with buffed stats, regarding their abilities (runners more athletics, architect better builder, scientists........ maybe also something with traits too, like early birds never needing sleep...... with - decor and bad smell for the negatives, or could be new traits specific to mutated but they would be the same for every one of them, super dupes or zombie.... cmon.

I'm joking; that's a nice game, really complex and I can't wait to see the finish product. I'm enjoying it don't worry. Maybe it's the traits changing that are appealing in this idea; I like flavor and leveling in relation with choice/action in games. So The nuclear expansion that I'll buy.... and if you do 2 types of mutated dupes: I'll buy myself 3 dogs and name them Oxygen, Not and Included.

[VillaEnders]

hmm theres already a thread on nuclear power and such. but you went far with this one o-o i for one would like to see nuclear power added. but with your ideas as well, you make great power but with a cost. i like it :P. hmm what about mobs like hatches and such can also become mutants.

i love all the ideas on how if you don't watch your nuclear waste it can devastate your colony. adds even more difficultly to the game 

but also include a way to safely remove the waste. (ik there is a hazmat suit and all but what about auto collectors??)

[tehMugwump]

Well thought out post there @GreenOnion.

My only concern is that these guys just couldn't grasp the technical side of Nuclear power, haha.

[ThatOtherGuyDupe]

I had been thinking about something along these lines as soon as the new clothing mechanic was added. One thing maybe to add was a late game use for the science stations to be used for the creation of radioactive isotopes after research has been completed.

[ThatOtherGuyDupe]

On 4/4/2017 at 4:43 AM, Kasuha said:

Transformation to mutants may be an attractive topic for certain horror movies or games but it's not what happens in reality and I don't think it fits with the idea of this game. If devs liked the idea of mutants, they could add some on biological basis, e.g. from extended exposure to contaminated water or oxygen.

The radiation challenge is also somewhat similar to the challenge now posed by heat - you have areas that are too hot or too cold for your duplicants to stay in and they need protective clothing to deal with the challenge. So all it really brings in is a new kind of power supply.

I don't know this game definitely has a lot of science fiction elements to it, with all the weird aliens and the idea that dupes can be easily be printed despite being stranded on a flying space rock. Also many aspects of the game defy laws of conservation of energy and mass; I would like you to explain the reasoning as to how a geyser can produce an infinite source of water. Not to mention that before geysers, water was managed through dupes pissing or vomiting into a cesspit, and with the amount of contaminated water they produce, they would definitely become dehydrated almost immediately. This game has a lot of mechanics and Ideas grounded in science but to look at it as a purely real simulation of space survival is flawed.

[Kruleworld]

On 07/04/2017 at 2:59 AM, tehMugwump said:

Well thought out post there @GreenOnion.

My only concern is that these guys just couldn't grasp the technical side of Nuclear power, haha.

I'm sure Homer Simpson can handle it... LOL

[himax]

No one liking my post; after 30 cycles...... I mean....... Yeah still alpha. I ddn't like minecraft maybe that's why.

 

And of coursegreat job to Green onions. Even though that's just an easy variant for anything in this game but with Radioactive infection. I don't write as much becauseI'm too lazy. You're someone to look up to because you put the efforts.