Why do ya'll seem to need so much energy?

[ccwscott]

I see discussions about base building and the discussions around energy generation seem odd to me. People talk about building their bases with thermal plants combined with masses of solar panels and bio-generators to supplement even more power, and I don't understand why that would be generally neccesary. My first base was in the safe shallows, it had the most stuff in it but I was able to run all of it with a handful of solar panels. Almost all of my other bases were just scanning rooms, so they could run off a couple solar panels or a bioreactor with an indoor planter. The first time I used thermal was in the lost river, as the base needed to be a little more self sufficient because running back and forth to my main base from there was dangerous and time consuming, and I set up a more substantial base in the inactive lava zone for the same reason. I never used nuclear. Didn't understand why you ever would want to.

People also talk about using alien containment with bioreactors but this also just seems like overkill to me. Sure, peeps last a lot longer, but a couple marblemelons seem to last as long as I would ever need it to and then some, and it's much less resource intense and less of a pain to grab some melons as opposed to taking a dive in the tank.

[Suzaku]

I tend to like working with a single base, and honestly, 6-8 solar panels at any base within 100m depth is enough for everything. You can run scanners, a water purifier, charge your vehicles and batteries. It's simple and sufficient. Maybe if I'm feeling feisty I'll make a nuclear reactor because that's pretty easy to make if you know where to look.

Why people need energy from 2 dozen sources is beyond me.

[Just Aaron]

Same. I`ve only got one big base and I never have energy problems. What surprises me is when people have energy shortages with their Cyclops. I drive that thing everywhere and haven`t changed its power cells in a week. It never seems to run out of energy. This makes me think the people with energy problems are experiencing some kind of bug or glitch.

[Suzaku]

Originally posted by Just Aaron:

What surprises me is when people have energy shortages with their Cyclops. I drive that thing everywhere and haven`t changed its power cells in a week. It never seems to run out of energy. This makes me think the people with energy problems are experiencing some kind of bug or glitch.

I see that, too. I swear those people must be driving around with with sonar and silent running on at all times and a dozen lava larva in tow.

[neo5apien]

I've complained before that power generation is overpowered. It should be nerfed so the different sources actually matter. Or structures and rooms need to be consuming more power. Make everything else suck down energy like the water purifier does. It seems the be the only thing I even have to consider when thinking about power management.

Nuclear is great and I highly recommend it. The parts only take up a few inventory slots so it's easy to transport. It lasts practically forever. I've never had to change a fuel rod in 400 hours of play.

[Priest]

Lwts be honest, there are 4 Different power sources. And that for a base that have hardly 3 Energy consuming items
* Light
* Constructors
* Water filter

So base boulding is sadly no reson to play the game again. And the only choice about energy sources is what materials you have. (end the exlcude of solar @ deep bases)

[Coops]

Originally posted by ;3974924267095490415:

Lwts be honest, there are 4 Different power sources. And that for a base that have hardly 3 Energy consuming items
* Light
* Constructors
* Water filter

So base boulding is sadly no reson to play the game again. And the only choice about energy sources is what materials you have. (end the exlcude of solar @ deep bases)

Also
* recharging batteries
* moonpool
* Scanner room

[Dirak2012]

Bases :
Recharge batteries/cells
Have one or more vehicles charging
Leave the scanner room running
Have a water filtration unit
Use the fabricator a lot
Have a lot of exterior lights

Cyclops:
Run at high speeds
Use the fabricator a lot
Move around with sonar/silent running/shield turned on
Have vehicles charging
Leave the engine running while you are out

[ccwscott]

Thanks for the replies. It seems everyone is similarly confused at the notion that I'm finding so many discussions where people are decrying the need for more power. As far as the Cyclops, I noticed a good trip in that thing would drain like ~7% of my power, and I believe that was after the power efficiency module, so I can see people being a little wary of trucking it around everywhere. It may depend on what order you find stuff in. In my first playthrough I didn't find a power charger into way after I got the Cyclops and so it sat mostly unused for a long time. The next time I started a game I found the power cell charger I believe before the Seamoth :S

[Cougarific]

People play the game for different reasons - its versatility is one of Subnautica's greatest strengths.

I build minimalist bases - my last playthrough I only had 4 solar panels on my base from the time it was built until I blasted off in the rocket.

But if people want to build massive theme park-sized bases with huge power requirements because they find that enjoyable - they should go nuts with that.

[Tevirik]

I've played many times and completed the game 3 ou 4 times. Each time, it's the same thing : The more I go further in the story, the more my bases seem to need energy. I have only a moonpool, batterie charger and water purifyer. And then, if I activate the replicator like 3 or four times in a row, I run out of power. (I have one solar and one bioreactor). I don't know if it's a glitch, but it makes you being creative with solutions.

[runemaster]

Well, I usually have my scanner room running almost all the time, have a water purifier and every once in a while I recharge my batteries, energy cells and my seamoth. When it's night time, that surely can drain a lot of energy, so I usually use a bio reactor, a couple of solar panels and a thermal plant. I tried using nuclear power once, but that's seems to be a little overkill. It produces a lot of energy.

[Kyle]

It's not about being necessary to upgrade, it's about using what's necessary for that particular base.

Solar and Bioreactors with Marblemelon are indeed the easiest and cheapest power sources, and will work for most purposes. (I guess thermal is the easiest once set up, but not feasible for every base, don't run power for miles.)

However, if you actually wanted to build a massive base, and charge ALL your stuff through it, the nuclear reactor might be easier to manage. Your base won't run out of power, since it creates it so much faster than a bioreactor, and works where solar panels would never work.

You get to use what you need, no more or less. I don't use much nuclear either, I'd rather have multiple smaller bases with bioreactors, or thermal plants with transmitters if the power demand is high.

[Bombpier]

2 thermal plants and 2 solar wasnt enough to run a water purifiers and power cell charger

[Kyle]

Thermal and solar give different levels of power based on how exposed they are to their source. You could try moving the thermal plants closer to the heat source, or the solar panels higher up.

But yeah, those are the highest power demands in the game, IIRC. The water filtration machine takes a LOT of power for what it really gives. Marblemelon/bleached water for life.

[Bombpier]

yea.. the solar is at the surface and the thermals are at 70C each. only real issue is the powerlines dont connect to the base if im not in it when i load in