What's the point of Tunnels?

[robofish126]

Unless I'm misunderstanding, tunnels are pointless. They're expensive, but only allow life support pipes and electrical cables through automatically. Transport Rovers have to be manually ordered to enter and will never use it as part of a prescribed path. Drones can seemingly enter them as well but again only if manually ordered to and can't be gotten to move resources through them, I had to rely entirely on Shuttles. I dunno if Colonists can use them but given the above I'm dubious. More importantly though you can't build a tunnel to make a distant resource minable by colonists, you are always limited to the pathetically short range between dome and manned extractor

In short, you have to build domes at distant metal sites in order to use them, then you have to shuttle goods to them. Tunnels let you cut on power lines and pipelines but their cost makes it hardly worth it unless there's no physical way to connect otherwise. I'd greatly appreciate if Transport Rovers would actually acknowledge Tunnels when making paths, and preferably that drone hubs project at least some form of control through tunnels that drones can utilize.

[TheOnePunisher]

The point is that you don't have to run long power cables and pipes that need to be maintained and repaired should a meteor drop on them. So that's less resources that you have to account for in maintanence costs.

Also it allows your rovers to travel across the map very quickly, in one game I've got domes all over the map connected with a few tunnels, they're great tools. I also agree that transports should take tunnels into account when pathing, but it's still a new game, updates come and things can change if you ask.

[morph113]

Well on the Map I was in, I started in a valley which was only about 1/3 of the map. I really struggled and my colony went to pieces. It wasn't until I managed to get enough mechanical parts to build and a tunnel to finally be able tu utilize the rest of the map, when things got better. Everyone talks about shuttles, but I'm at like day 110 now and I still don't have shuttles or don't even see where it is in the tech tree. So if you start on a map which cuts you off from most of the rest of the map and there are few resources in your area, then a tunnel to access the other parts of the map is essential to keep going.

[barrygreybeard]

tunnels are great for running power and other services from the top of a hill to the bottom, no cables and pipes to get damaged or need for maintenance, protected from meteors and faults. You get a power boost from wind turbines on a hill and as dust storms are confined to low lying land, any service that shuts down during a dust storm will continue to function if sited on a hill. And a great way to connect remote parts of your colony too...

[T-Rex_MD]

Comes handy mid game, you can carry power, water and units across vast distances and to put it simply make power farms as well as water farms away from your community. This means you don't have to deal with borken down pipes and lines anymore.
Hint: You only need to build the first side you place down and the other side is done on it's own.

[--JR--]

My rovers have never used the tunnel. Their pretty pointless...

[T-Rex_MD]

Originally posted by --JR--:

My rovers have never used the tunnel. Their pretty pointless...

RC or normla onces? Little ones don't use them but all the other ones can if you ask them to. So build a tunnel send a transport with RC one through and build on the other side.

[Emmote]

I find that the RC Rover can use tunnels automatically about half the time. The explorer never can.
I've also watched the little worker drones use tunnels if both sides are within their command range. (I built a tunnel on a little raised area of land (not a cliff) because I couldn't put cables or pipes down the hill, even though the drones and rovers could get up the ramp.)

[--JR--]

Originally posted by SAM:

Originally posted by --JR--:

My rovers have never used the tunnel. Their pretty pointless...

RC or normla onces? Little ones don't use them but all the other ones can if you ask them to. So build a tunnel send a transport with RC one through and build on the other side.

Even my large ones wont use it. They just drive around / ignore it...

[T-Rex_MD]

Originally posted by Emmote:

I find that the RC Rover can use tunnels automatically about half the time. The explorer never can.
I've also watched the little worker drones use tunnels if both sides are within their command range. (I built a tunnel on a little raised area of land (not a cliff) because I couldn't put cables or pipes down the hill, even though the drones and rovers could get up the ramp.)

Ohhhhhh nice one mate, I'll be sure to use that tip, really good one man!

[Astasia]

Tunnels are a lot more expensive than stretches of wires and drone hubs, even considering upkeep costs, and they can be destroyed by meteors which is a lot more painful than losing a few wires. Early game if you don't have the drone hub tech or the money to afford a couple, you can build a tunnel to connect to a remote water deposit if needed and park a rover in the area with some resources to maintain it. Otherwise I really only find them useful for reaching parts of the map that you couldn't without one, like most of the maps I've seen have areas that are raised or lowered compared to the rest of the map that you either need to build a tunnel to reach, or land a rocket in with another set of vehicles.

[TH3xR34P3R]

I feel that they should have it that if you have a tunnel any RC vehicles should use it by priority first when it is avaliable once they sort some of the ai pathing issues, so really the only point to is in automation practicallity is when you need to spread out to the rest of the map and not to waste reasources on pipes and cables.

[barrygreybeard]

Easy way to get your rovers to use the tunnel is tell it to move there, it will pop out the other end. A couple more clicks but they will use it that way. But yes it would be better to have a tunnel priority.