Hydrogen FIx

So, I was think a lot about all the blocks added in the new survival update, and one of the main things that seems to stand out above everything is of course the Hydrogen Engine. This being more because of it's usage (or lack there of) then anything.

The main thing that seemed to stand out as I read a lot of comments and made my own determinations on whats going on with this block, is that it brings a lot of attention to a problem that has existed since it's implementation. That being of course the many issues people seem to have with hydrogen as a whole, Tanks being to large, consumption of Hydrogen being to great, not enough usage for it, etc etc.

So I was thinking to myself, what could we possible really do to fix this problem. Obviously a lot of people have suggested smaller hydrogen tanks, which I am inclined to agree with, but that doesn't really fix a lot of the other issues. So what else could we possible do at this point to manage hydrogen better, so that it not only is more applicable, but also improve the overall usage as an alternative to other forms of power in the game.

However, first we need to find the real root of the problem, and that lies with...

Ice

Yes you heard me right, it's the ice that's actually the problem, not the engines, the tanks, or the usage of hydrogen.

Now hear me out on this, but isn't it a little strange that you don't really need all that much ice in the game to actually make all the oxygen and hydrogen you need? I mean honestly speaking from my own experiences, even if I am running a massive ship off hydrogen, I can do most of my ice mining by hand and still have plenty to go around. It just feels like it's too easy to make all that you need off of just a small handful of the stuff. Go mining once for ice with a mining ship, and you're basically set for life on the stuff.

What comes up from this, is in order to compensate for the small amount of ice you need to make the hydrogen, they increased the amount of hydrogen needed to actually run things properly. Which from what I can tell, most people aren't to keen on. It just ends up running your engines dry to quickly, forcing you to build tons of additional generators and tanks, all of which take to much space. Which in turn makes most ships using it, bulky, un-aesthetically pleasing, and honestly a huge waste of time and resources.

So here is where my fix comes in.

Increase the amount of ice you need, decrease the hydrogen usage

To fully explain what I mean. Lets take all of the other resources in the game, Iron, gold, Uranium, etc etc. What's the main thing they all have in common? You go to mine a lot of it, and making several trips if not more with a fully built mining ship is going to be required. So why not just do this for Ice as well? There are HUGE pockets of the stuff just about everywhere, it is probably the most plentiful resource other then rocks, so why not just make it so you have to use a tremendous amount of it in order to make it work.

I say, first thing we need to do, is of course worry about volume, clearly if you're using tons and tons of ice, you'd have to be concerned about having it on a ship and it becoming to overweight. Well for one that would be where tanks could come in handy even more so now, simply making you be required in more situations to actually build tanks filled with oxygen and hydrogen on ships, instead of just having a generator constantly making the stuff. You could also lower the total volume of ice a smigen to make it so you could still carry at least some ice with you, even in the greater amounts you're going to need.

Next of course we have to look at the hydrogen and oxygen consumptions, I'd argue that perhaps oxygen is fine where it is, several smaller tanks filled usually is more then enough to keep a ship good to go for several days if not weeks. (as long as you're not constantly venting half the ship every time you leave it.) So that seems fine, but what about the hydrogen? Well as it's been stated before, a different sized tank, would be a great step in the right direction. The current ones are just, so big, and so bulky, that trying to place one anywhere that isn't in the way, is just near impossible. Without pretty much building a dedicated room for them, there just aren't a lot of options for it.

So smaller tanks obviously would be nice, but even without those, we still have the issue of the massive consumption of hydrogen for even the smallest of usage. So with us now making it harder to make the stuff, we no longer have a reason to keep its drain so high. A tank that has several thousand liters of the stuff can actually last longer then a few minutes of use. Even the Hydrogen engine would benefit tremendously from this, with its own internal tank now actually having greater impact. I would still argue that perhaps the Engine could use a bit more power output, say somewhere around 800 kw for small grid instead of the 500?

However even if the power output didn't change, its usage would be far more appreciated since a tank that holds, several thousand gallons (16000 L) of fuel, can actually go farther then 25km's. As for the exact numbers, well I am not a programmer, nor do I know all the numbers in its current state. So I can't tell you guys what or how exactly it should all look once written down. What I can tell you is this.

No one complains about mining, the game is basically built around mining, so why don't we use that to our advantage so that we actually have to mine the one thing we barely if ever mine, Ice. Add a smaller tank, cut down on the hydrogen usage so like all resources, Ice becomes another one of those things we go out and mine a lot of, but we don't have to always be constantly mining it, just to make it work.

That's my suggestion and thoughts, I am sure it wont go over very well, but if you liked it maybe leave a comment and see if keen will have a look at it. Maybe if enough people like the idea, they'll think about it a little more.