Self Contained Boomalope Power Generator or Rice-to-Chemfuel Generator?

[Draconzis Piertii]

I have been wanting to create a base that is fully self contained with reliable, consistent power generation (As in not using Solar Panels or Wind Turbines), but am having trouble with the math on the most efficient option available. Utilizing boomalopes, I could make an indoors growing area utilizing sunlamps to grow hay to feed them, then milk them for chemfuel to power chemfuel generators. Using Biofuel Refineries, I can grow rice indoors using sunlamps (with hydroponics if the soil is unfavorable), fuel the refineries, then fuel the chemfuel generators.

I am... not the best when comes to forming and solving equations. So, taking into the account the power each option generates minus requirements to run it, (Not taking into account pawn work for simplicity's sake) which option would be the most efficeint to use? Preferable both with and without using hydroponics bay (I know you cannot grow hay in hydroponics bays in the base game, but I am considering getting the mods that adds the ability to).

[KalkiKrosah]

Geothermal vents and water mills are the two best options I have found. They only go dark if there is a solar flare event. Otherwise they churn out consistent power output.

[AnAngryYeti]

Not sure on the actual math for which is more efficient, but I'd probably go with rice-to-chemfuel. Boomalopes run the risk of a chain reaction explosion if one of them dies and the rest of the herd is nearby. This can cause some devastating fire and heat problems in your base as well as destroying your fuel production until you can tame/buy a new herd. Rice at least won't explode.

[The Angriest Crusader]

Originally posted by AnAngryYeti:

Not sure on the actual math for which is more efficient, but I'd probably go with rice-to-chemfuel. Boomalopes run the risk of a chain reaction explosion if one of them dies and the rest of the herd is nearby. This can cause some devastating fire and heat problems in your base as well as destroying your fuel production until you can tame/buy a new herd. Rice at least won't explode.

I dunno... I've had many bowls of rice simply explode on me as I attempt to eat them...

[Jigain]

I've never looked into the specifics before, because I'm by no means a min-maxer. I just make chemfuel from corn and call it quits. But I'll give it a go. I should point out, though, that I'm not 100% certain of what formulas the game uses, but I will try to interpret them to the best of my ability. You have been warned.

One boomalope needs 1.6 nutrition per day, which is 32 hay. Since one patch of haygrass harvests into 23 hay, each tile of haygrass supplies 72% (0.71875) of the daily intake of one boomalope. Assuming growing in regular soil (100% fertility), yield per day is 1.9, meaning you'd need 17 tiles of haygrass to feed one boomalope, not taking into consideration failed harvests due to low-skill growers, delayed harvests due to eclipses, lost harvests due to fire or blight, or any other unforeseen consequence. Production-wise, one boomalope produces 12 chemfuel every 2 days, while the chemfuel-powered generator consumes 9 chemfuel every 2 days. Thus, one boomalope can run 1.33 generators for 17 tiles of crops and a total of 36 job assignments (17 sowing, 17 harvesting, 1 milking, 1 refueling).

Meanwhile, the refinery can make 3.5 nutrition into 35 chemfuel. Rice has a yield of 0.0542 nutrition per day per tile, so since 35 chemfuel can fuel a generator for 7.78 days, we're looking at 0.4216 nutrition grown per tile by the time we need to refuel. This means we need 9 tiles of rice to grow enough to sustain one generator (again assuming 100% fertility and no accidents). This comes down to 20 job assignments (9 sowing, 9 harvesting, 1 making chemfuel, 1 refueling) to handle 1.0 generators.

My verdict from running the numbers? Not really that much different on a small scale, but as you start using more chemfuel-powered generators, grown crops will compound into less work, especially if you start using higher fertility ground such as hydroponics. Personally, I'd also consider boomalopes wandering around the base a security risk if one of them were to die and explode.

Le edit: I should also add that refinery-produced chemfuel can be made from whatever's left over from your food production - generally you don't need to dedicate any extra space for it. If you're not already growing haygrass for other purposes, that'd be an additional reason not to dedicate a new area for haygrass production.

[Slice of Thanatoast]

Originally posted by martindirt:

There are mods to grow anything (even trees) in hydroponics.
There are mods to make chemfuel from anything what is organic (yep, from corpses too).
There is a search box in workshop. There is a keyboard in from of you. There are fingers, at the end of your hand.
Combine these ingredients, and cook some "fine meal". Bon appetite.

I think he was asking for an answer to his question which is "Is this efficient?".

Not "Solve all of my problems with mods please."

You have eyeballs in front of your head.There a screen with the text that OP wrote. You have a brain to read the information properly.
Combine these ingredients, and you'll know how to not look stupid.

[Slice of Thanatoast]

Originally posted by M.K.:

Of course, you will need to reduce this by actual farming efficiency, and subtract loss from solar flares, to get real output. The hayfarm+boomalopes are virtually immune to solar flares. Both are subject to sowing speed and harversting speed+efficiency modifiers.

I suppose turning off solar flares in the scenario editor is always an option. I assume OP hasn't made this base yet so he could choose to remove them if he wants.

[Jigain]

Originally posted by M.K.:

Or taking a sharpie and writing "You win!" on his screen.

I just have a post-it note attached to my screen for that.

[Slice of Thanatoast]

Originally posted by M.K.:

That could work.
Or taking a sharpie and writing "You win!" on his screen.
Both approaches are about equally satisfactory.

I have been tempted to disable solar flares.
Also flashstorms.
And mechanoids in all forms.
But then i remember that i am playing this game for the satisfaction of facing the challenges, and overcoming them. If i switch off the challenges, then I also switch off that satisfaction. lose-lose, no thanks.

Yeah I don't really care how you feel, it's just a suggestion to OP. Also I think Solar Flares are just BS since you have no way to defend against them and they are entirely unpredictable.

I like a good challenge, but only when it feels fair.

[󠀡󠀡󠀡󠀡󠀡󠀡]

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ awesome mod but you need to support the vats with (any) food
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1564657272

[stevasaur]

Not to sidestep the OP's dilemma, but another advantage to using Chemfuel Refineries is that, once you start using Deep Drills, you'll get a fairly regular stream of mini-Infestations, which means lots of Insect Meat sitting around. Since eating Insect Meat gives a mood debuff and it "infects" a stack of meals for some time after you've stopped using it, I generally use Insect Meat for Chemfuel generation as well as Tallow Wax for Chandeliers/Candelabras from the Rim of Madness pack.

[Slice of Thanatoast]

No matter what you think of solar flares I think the suggestion that turning them off is equal to winning the game is stupid for multiple reasons.

1. Who tf cares about winning Rimworld? The same people that care about winning Minecraft?

2. Solar flares account for less than 1% of actual playtime so to say it would make a big difference disabling them compared to turning off mechanoids is baffling

3. The beauty of Rimworld is that anyone can play however they want, they can even do fun ideas like making a self-contained base powered only by boomalopes if they want. The OP even said he was open to modding and hasn't mentioned difficulty so who knows how exactly he wants to do this.

4. The game has multiple difficulty settings and even a PEACEFUL mode so by your logic is anyone who isn't playing the highest difficulty not even playing the game?

5. Do you also think that tornadoes were fair and challenging?

/rant

[Slice of Thanatoast]

OP are you going full turtle mode and building this base inside of a mountain? Or are you just making a walled off base that is only powered with chemfuel?

If you're building inside of a mountain would you want to use the mod Vegetable Garden in order to get tools to allow you to place dirt indoors like ontop of stone flooring?

[M.K.]

Ok, as i got some extreme flak , i have withdrawn my posting.
Funny, all it did was answer the exact question the OP asked.

[martindirt]

Originally posted by Not Thanatos CWV:

Originally posted by martindirt:

There are mods to grow anything (even trees) in hydroponics.
There are mods to make chemfuel from anything what is organic (yep, from corpses too).
There is a search box in workshop. There is a keyboard in from of you. There are fingers, at the end of your hand.
Combine these ingredients, and cook some "fine meal". Bon appetite.

I think he was asking for an answer to his question which is "Is this efficient?".

Not "Solve all of my problems with mods please."

You have eyeballs in front of your head.There a screen with the text that OP wrote. You have a brain to read the information properly.
Combine these ingredients, and you'll know how to not look stupid.

+1 from me.
Im misreaded stg, sorry. Post removed.

[Slice of Thanatoast]

Originally posted by M.K.:

Ok, as i got some extreme flak , i have withdrawn my posting.
Funny, all it did was answer the exact question the OP asked.

You didn't have to erase the post that was doing the math to help OP, that was actually very helpful. The problematic post was where you were acting like an elitist and saying how people should play.