Is there a fix for flawed dam mechanics?

[CraziFuzzy]

I ask, knowing full well what the current mechanics are - the dam will flow essentially zero water if the level is low behind it, and then flow nearly whatever is behind it when the level is above a threshold. This makes it so that in an actually evolving game, adding a dam of any significant height will cause huge disruptions that a real dam's construction simply wouldn't do.

The simplest thing to point out, is that dams in the real work draw in from the bottom. This is primarily so the lake will can form slowly behind the dam while still allowing the river to flow (slightly reduced) below it.

I'd love for a mod or something that could fix this, so that the flow out of the dam would be controlled such that it controls the rate of change of lake-depth, instead of a nearly on-off control. Or perhaps there IS some variable flowrate in the game, but it varies over a very small range near the top of the dam.

Either way - is there a way around this?

[caseyas435943]

Sad dams don't work on almost any map. Why design something that will not work at all without a perfect place. You should be able to place a dam anywhere and it should make some power. Water does flow through it. Which means it should be making power.

Yes better places should produce more. But every place should produce something. Instead of zero 99.9% of the time.

Even map build by the game don't work. You think when designing a game maps made by the game a dam should work somewhere on them. But they don't. All dams are good for is flooding.

It's sad yet another idea in SC that is worthless. I guess it goes with most of the transportation options I guess. Most of those are totally worthless.

[grapplehoeker]

Originally posted by caseyas435943:

I'd love for a mod or something that could fix this, so that the flow out of the dam would be controlled such that it controls the rate of change of lake-depth, instead of a nearly on-off control. Or perhaps there IS some variable flowrate in the game, but it varies over a very small range near the top of the dam.
Either way - is there a way around this?

Sorry, but you have to work with what you've got and that's the game mechanic.
However, you may use mods to ensure that a working dam may be built anywhere and on any map ;)
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=643348291

[grapplehoeker]

Originally posted by caseyas435943:

Even map build by the game don't work. You think when designing a game maps made by the game a dam should work somewhere on them. But they don't. All dams are good for is flooding.

It's sad yet another idea in SC that is worthless. I guess it goes with most of the transportation options I guess. Most of those are totally worthless.

Heh... aren't you a bundle of joy?
I'm not going to ask about these modes of transportation you're unhappy with, as that's another topic.

So, regarding dams...
In the vanilla game, it's true (as in the real world) that not every map is ideally suited to the construction of a hydroelectric dam. The guide I posted above is one solution for that.

However, there are plenty of maps in the Workshop that have excellent dam building potential or you may create one for yourself.
For example, here's one that I used to demonstrate that it is possible to build perfectly functioning dams with no flooding. If yours floods, you haven't built it properly. As with many construction projects, it's something that requires learning and practise before you get it right ;)
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=641834774
... and when you understand the mechanic involved you may have fun with pushing the envelope a bit and build something a little more extreme ;)
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=683420900

[Clunk]

I wish I'd never bothered to build my dam as it has become a real nuisance. I didn't need the electricity, I just built it for the heck of it. I've turned the feed flow right down so the output is barely a trickle, even so at the beginning of every session it has spasms.

Every time I load my latest saved game it gushes over and floods, despite it being calm with trickle-flow at the time of the save.

This is a screenshot from a few days ago when the game starts paused when just loaded. This happens every time, without fail.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2137298480

[MarkJohnson]

Originally posted by Clunk:

I wish I'd never bothered to build my dam as it has become a real nuisance. I didn't need the electricity, I just built it for the heck of it. I've turned the feed flow right down so the output is barely a trickle, even so at the beginning of every session it has spasms.

Every time I load my latest saved game it gushes over and floods, despite it being calm with trickle-flow at the time of the save.

This is a screenshot from a few days ago when the game starts paused when just loaded. This happens every time, without fail.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2137298480

Sounds like a workshop issue. Of the great many dams I've created, none have done this.

But the only thing I don't like about making dams is the water dynamics of the game and the mini-tidal waves on the river. They smooth out eventually, so make sure to have enough power for your city without a dam.

When you build a dam, you need to use the landscaping tool, so you know the heights of the terrain. Then locate where the dam location, then locate the furthest back you want the dam. Then follow the terrain down to the dam and mark off the terrain height and see if that will be high enough.

If you don't do this, expect flooding. You can't just place a dam and not except that bad things will happen. This is unreasonable. Just like you don't just plop down huge industrial district buildings and complain of heavy traffic. You have to use some common sense.

So, if you want a dam, you definitely need to plan for it. It is not a plop and it works items. Dams just don't work that way, even in real life. I think the devs did a very good job making them work semi-realistic.

[grapplehoeker]

Originally posted by MarkJohnson:

But the only thing I don't like about making dams is the water dynamics of the game and the mini-tidal waves on the river. They smooth out eventually, so make sure to have enough power for your city without a dam.

That's one of the reasons I prefer not to dam a river.
I far prefer to build a water reservoir and if there is a river, then it can feed into that. The volume of water in a reservoir is far more stable and less susceptible to 'river ripple'.

All this talk of dams, got me thinking today and tonight I got started on a new project which, of course will use dams as a major feature. Getting this foundation built wasn't as easy as a single dam or even the Hexadams and took me about 2 hours to build. But it's a good start for the rest of what I have planned ;)
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2137853091
Hmm... maybe I'll call this the Dodecadam ;)
This monster is huge! It has a diameter of 25 map tiles ;)

[CraziFuzzy]

I'm talking about building dams in the actual base game - where you have a city along a river, and decide to dam that river to restrict the flow and gradually build a reservoir behind it - like most hydroelectric dams in the real world. The dam mechanics make this a very dubious proposition - which in real life it really isn't. The problem always comes down to there not being any real 'smarts' to how much water is let out of the dam.

Building a synthetic dam with an infinite and controllable water source of course will work predictably - but that completely avoids the problem I'm trying to get fixed.

[CraziFuzzy]

and @MarkJohnson, nothing about the way dams behave is anywhere near 'semi-realistic'. Building a dam in real life would never result in stopping a river until the reservoir is full.

[MarkJohnson]

Originally posted by CraziFuzzy:

and @MarkJohnson, nothing about the way dams behave is anywhere near 'semi-realistic'. Building a dam in real life would never result in stopping a river until the reservoir is full.

I build many dams and none ever stop the river. You sound like you have other issues.

I agree building dams are very challenging and require landscaping a lot. But no less than real life.

But, if you have the river being stopped by the dam until full, you definitely have other issues. This does not happen in the vanilla Steam version of the game at all. I even just made one for a test in case there is a bug introduced, but it was fine. no issue whatsoever.

Maybe post your saved game and one of us can help pinpoint your issue. It will be a quicker resolution as well.

[grapplehoeker]

Originally posted by CraziFuzzy:

I'm talking about building dams in the actual base game - where you have a city along a river, and decide to dam that river to restrict the flow and gradually build a reservoir behind it - like most hydroelectric dams in the real world. The dam mechanics make this a very dubious proposition - which in real life it really isn't. The problem always comes down to there not being any real 'smarts' to how much water is let out of the dam.

Building a synthetic dam with an infinite and controllable water source of course will work predictably - but that completely avoids the problem I'm trying to get fixed.

In case you missed it, I provided you an example of a dam with a reservoir and fed by a river...
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=641834774
The building of which was not dubious or troublesome. It took about 20 minutes, in fact.

Originally posted by CraziFuzzy:

and @MarkJohnson, nothing about the way dams behave is anywhere near 'semi-realistic'. Building a dam in real life would never result in stopping a river until the reservoir is full.

Why are you concerned about realism or semi-realism? This game has it's own rules and reality.

The developers will not change the way their dams work and draw water in from the bottom.

So, you may either be patient and wait for your reservoir to fill to the optimum height or you may use mods to make that happen instantly. Take your pick.
I wish you success ;)