Power Generation Using Plants (& a Purpose for Farming!)

[🦊 Hermit]

So I've been thinking, we currently get seeds from the various flora on the planet, but all these are really good for is research. Yes if planted they may spawn extra research nodes, but in my experience this is rare. And researching the seeds themselves is time-consuming, as you need to be at your base to constantly put the next one in when one ends.

All of this tends to result in me just ignoring seeds completely, favouring other, larger research options instead. But I was thinking - what about if we gave these seeds a use in power generation?

First of all, make seed drops from plants much more common, so a sustainable farm could be built up by the player with a (small) surplus of seeds. Then, the following could be added:

Small Flora Generator -

This would be a device about the size of a small generator, printed in the backpack, and portable. Place a Popcoral seed into it, and a small glass lid slides shut over it. Inside, the seed quickly develops into a bonzai Popcoral plant, which then explodes, and the gasses this produces are processed into energy. After all the gas is depleted, the canister opens again and you can place another seed inside. This device could give much more power than a small generator, but last for a much shorter time, requiring you to refuel it very frequently, hence why having a farm of Popcoral growing would be useful.

Medium Flora Generator -

This would be printed at the small printer, and would take a double slot to mount. Much like the small floral gen above, it would be fed by seeds, but this time any seeds from a moving plant (Spinelilly, Lashleaf, Thistlewhip etc). Again, the seed grows into a small plant, but then is repeatedly triggered to use it's attack animation, which moves rotors within the canister to produce power from their motion. Again, this would produce more power than the standard medium generator, but require refuelling with seeds more frequently.

Large Flora Generator -

The same idea as the small flora gen, but for Wheezeweeds instead of Popcoral (and perhaps others like the Popper and the Spewer if seeds were added for those plants too). This would be a large item, requiring four slots to mount (a large platform). But it would provide a huge amount of power for a moderate length of time (unlike the RTG which gives medium power indefinitely), excellent for if you need a temporary boost while researching something or opening an alien structure. And if a player can keep it fed with seeds it could power their whole base, but keeping up seed production would be a dangerous game given how deadly these plants can be, so supplying it with enough fuel to keep it running would be hard.

[Cr0p]

EFTG? Eco-Friendly-Thermal-Generator? Alternative to the RTG?

[🦊 Hermit]

Not a bad idea, but the medium one would use the plants' kinetic energy to make power rather than burning their gas, so the thermal part wouldn't strictly speaking be accurate.

I do like the idea of 'EcoGen' though ;)

[Cr0p]

Maybe a use for water then? You need water or some type of growth spray for them to grow.

[🦊 Hermit]

Possibly yeah, but where would the water come from?

[Bomoo]

Originally posted by Hermit:

Possibly yeah, but where would the water come from?

:thinking:

Short of implementing rain/rain collection or liquid water, they could always do water ice. Matter of fact, they did have water ice implemented as a key ingredient in making fuel in a pre-SEA version of the game.

[Cr0p]

Then this might add a use for extra habitat base building. Like, maybe a Green-House add on?

[🦊 Hermit]

Hmm, all that may have potential yeah...perhaps the wild seed drop doesn't need to be upped after all, and a greenhouse or hydroponics bay could be a buildable structure instead, which gives you the extra seeds as it's perk, rather than having to find them in the wild.

All this being said, these additions are rather adding a lot of investment to the process, of not only resources but research points and time as well. With that in view, if these further ideas were to be implemented, I think the generator outputs mentioned in the OP would have to be increased too, in order to make the whole deal worth said investment.

[Cr0p]

Well, it also provides more to do in the game. And maybe a new achievment to go with it. Or maybe a side quest sent from Earth to find an alternative power source.