Camo5050 10 Posted August 29, 2013 Hello, I've recently purchased Take on Mars and I'm having a fantastic time with it. It satisfies my gamer and science nerd facets along with relaxing but thoughtful gameplay. After dinking around with it for a few days now I have some suggestions that might make power management a bit more engaging. Certainly they could all be optional. - Powering down cameras or subsystems not in use could be a way to help conserve power consumption and perhaps improve recharge rate. - Are Thermal Generators affected in their power generation based on the ambient temperature? I've not tested this yet but it might be something to consider for more hardcore gameplay that the generator isn't as efficient at -55.1C as it would be at -1C. - I know that presently Solar Panels do not charge batteries and Solar Batteries are not yet in, but it occurred to me that Solar Panels may be able to charge both, but the benefit of using Solar Batteries would be that they can charge more quickly as they would be specifically built to interface more efficiently with solar power than a more involved capacitor system needed to provide a trickle charge to chemical batteries. - One UI featured I'd like to see available regarding Power would be an option to display capacity as a percentage rather than just bar indicators. Some percentage with a decimal place or two (ex. 87.12%) in order to help the player better see at a glance both power use, recharge and storage. - Lastly, I think it would be great if at some point rovers could link up to stationary landers that may have quite a lot of power stored and use them as a sort of recharging station if such couplers could be implemented. This would make landers a bit more optimal to keep around rather than just abandoning them because they served the basics of a mission and now just sit there as a landmark with little to no other use. Thanks again for making a great simulator and I really look forward to the continued development of such a wonderful and engaging game. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dram 14 Posted August 29, 2013 Hi! Very glad you are enjoying the game. Some interesting ideas there, I guess regarding power percentage something could be implemented. Solar panels are functional and do charge, though angle to the sun is not taken into account at the moment, though it must have a line of sight to the sun. Thermal generators are not affected by temperature at the moment either, noted. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Camo5050 10 Posted August 29, 2013 (edited) Thanks for the response. Just to clarify, Solar Panels at present will indeed charge chemical batteries or did I misunderstand your reply? edit: Nevermind, I think I misunderstood the reply. Testing for a few hours shows that Solar Panels don't recharge Chemical Batteries. Edited August 29, 2013 by Camo5050 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
welsch 1 Posted August 29, 2013 Well, they do not charge the chemical batteries, true, but they do charge an accumulator (I assume that is what you called a "solar battery"), represented by the power level bar on top. Imho the name "power level" does not make it very clear what this bar actually signifies, especially in the beginning... Regarding power consumption, I hope we will see a more complex system than we have so far. Right now, only movement of the rover, science platform, mast or robotic arm do consume energy. But of course cameras, instruments, lights, nightvision, analyses & computations, transmitting data and heating of the rover (especially at night) all should consume energy to varying degrees. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dram 14 Posted September 2, 2013 Well, they do not charge the chemical batteries, true, but they do charge an accumulator (I assume that is what you called a "solar battery"), represented by the power level bar on top. Imho the name "power level" does not make it very clear what this bar actually signifies, especially in the beginning...Regarding power consumption, I hope we will see a more complex system than we have so far. Right now, only movement of the rover, science platform, mast or robotic arm do consume energy. But of course cameras, instruments, lights, nightvision, analyses & computations, transmitting data and heating of the rover (especially at night) all should consume energy to varying degrees. Yes, everything will drain power eventually. Just needs to be progressively implemented. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
welsch 1 Posted September 2, 2013 Good news indeed :D Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
