Redundancy and switches/valves

[btonasse]

I still haven't figured out how to use those in any meaningful way. I mean, to be able to take advantage of splitting the grid to avoid losing resources to leaks/malfunctions you need to make sure that every single resource consumer building is linked to the source via two different connections. So the amount of extra cables/pipes you have to build to make this work is so big that you end up having many more leaks/malfunctions and spending much more on maintenance than if you kept cables/pipes to a minimum. This is specially the case for power, since pretty much everything you build needs electricity.

So far I've been thinking that it's much more advantageous to keep separate local grids for each part of your infrastructure. Yes, you do spend more on batteries, but your colony design is much cleaner and you don't have to worry about so much about leaks/malfunctions.

What do you guys think? Has anybody managed to design functional redundancies in their colonies? Could you provide screenshots?

 

[Wandering Sentinel]

I find that if you scatter various buildings in clusters, such as having your fuel refineries in several locations, the valves and switches are useful for saving time if you need to conserve water or power. Rather than having to manually deactivate every building in a cluster, you simply close the valve and flip the switch to cut off water and power to the entire production center. In theory, you could also use it to cut power to an unused dome and all nearby buildings that you don't want draining power or water from the grid quite yet, but I'm pretty sure a lot of people used them as a dramatic killswitch for "disposal" domes.

 

[btonasse]

Thanks for the input.

Lol, I can't bring myself to kill my seniors. I think something should be done about this. Like drastically reducing the number of applicants and funding when you let huge numbers of people die of non natural causes.

 

[Falc]

You already lose two applicants for every unnatural death.

Of course after a while your population is self-sustaining so you don't really care...

 

[zenstrive]

eh, I actually tried to use them once but eh, why bother?
I just make sure that each domes have two independent lines of pipes and cables coming to it, and each long lines of those can be fed from two lines. Problem solved.
Not enough water? Kill farms and fuel refineries for a while. I usually have enough stockpiles of food and water.
Not enough electricity? Kill everything but the domes until you solve the problems.
Not enough of everything? Too bad, you need to reload....

 

[Sirveri]

I have been playing with micro grids, so I build mostly clusters with their own power sources, If I link the grids I put a switch between them and toggle them off, then turn them on if some sort of emergency happens (like I run out of polymer and my battery on that circuit dies and I can't lose the production). I think I have been getting less cable faults and pipe leaks as a result of this technique, but it's hard to make a reliable comparison.

 

[NetPirate76]

I still haven't figured out how to use those in any meaningful way. I mean, to be able to take advantage of splitting the grid to avoid losing resources to leaks/malfunctions you need to make sure that every single resource consumer building is linked to the source via two different connections. So the amount of extra cables/pipes you have to build to make this work is so big that you end up having many more leaks/malfunctions and spending much more on maintenance than if you kept cables/pipes to a minimum. This is specially the case for power, since pretty much everything you build needs electricity.

So far I've been thinking that it's much more advantageous to keep separate local grids for each part of your infrastructure. Yes, you do spend more on batteries, but your colony design is much cleaner and you don't have to worry about so much about leaks/malfunctions.

What do you guys think? Has anybody managed to design functional redundancies in their colonies? Could you provide screenshots?

Personally I do not use switches, as I try to store a fair bit of water, power and oxygen for a pipe burst or cable fault. But I do try to attach all 'producers' and domes in minimum 2 ways. And yes I hear the minimalist screaming at their screens that I am wasting resources, but NASA also builds everything with a backup system attached

 

[Mauer]

Only used them in my first game, they're too much hassle for little gain, I'd rather increase output fast or quickly get leaks fixed automatically.

 

[NetPirate76]

Only used them in my first game, they're too much hassle for little gain, I'd rather increase output fast or quickly get leaks fixed automatically.

yes the seem very early game if at all...