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Asteroid Gas-stations


Caprikel

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Alright, now that I've got your attention, I'll explain in detail what exactly I mean by an asteroid Gas-station.

 

So basically, what I've imagined in my head is a scenario where there's the asteroid belt of a solar system, and this is basically the Wild-West of Dual Universe (At least one of the Wild-Wests). 

In this scenario in my head, asteroids will be a rather lucrative business venture, where asteroids are full of rare elements to mine (Like real life) and they would also be full of ice (Like real life). 

 

In this thread: https://board.dualthegame.com/index.php?/topic/10725-food-dispensers/page-2 

I mentioned the idea of getting water in space by mining the Ice, and CaptainTwerk mentioned that that Ice would be full of isotopes, and that they could be useful for fusion. 

 

So imagine that you have a mining operation on an asteroid, and there's lots of Ice you have to mine through. There could be an element that basically filters the isotopes, like deuterium and tritium, which could be used for fusion fuel, and the rest of the ice can be used for same consumption. (Assuming people will eventually need water to survive in a future update.) 

 

I think this would lead to some interesting business ventures, where your mining operation can basically have a gas-starion (fuel-station) out in a desolate asteroid wasteland. While they're at it they might as well have a pub/motel to go along with it, and then a neat lil asteroid Wild-West themed town is born! 

 

I think this would be a creative way of making asteroids more practical for actually settling, and create a fun Wild-West atmosphere to deep space.

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I definitely think you're on to something, but it would probably more along the lines of a military/mining outpost rather than a typical gas station. We don't know how exactly fuel consumption will work, but I will bet that such outposts would be more to serve and refuel entire fleets during operations. They would probably be strategically located and/or moved around frequently. Actually, now that I think about it, they could be part of common offensive strategy. The invading power could send in covert combat engineer teams to build resupply stations hidden away in the asteroid belts where nobody will find them a few days in advance. Then, when the main fleet arrives it will already have supplies and be able to stay in the fight for longer.

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It paints a cool picture for sure, I like the idea a lot. One thing, has Void said, we don't know how fuel/energy will work out. Something else that may factor into that is resource distribution, i.e. will the mechanics of the game allow for there to be a single asteroid belt abundant in the same materials (is asteroid resource generation asteroid-specific or system-specific)? Something like that could definitely create the environment you're describing. Will there be systems with only asteroids? Also a possibility. Asteroid bases are a cool concept, and some Mos Eisley-esqe pub but out in space, where there is a much larger operation going on outside would be very cool and could attract a lot of players if there is a corporation willing and able to make it happen.

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I was typing up a thread for Asteroids but seeing as this was just posted...

 

How lucrative should asteroids be?

As an example, the average amount of platinum in earth's crust is 5μg (0.000,005g) per kg, whereas a single 100billion kg X-type asteroid has an estimated 900g of platinum per kg...

If this were to translate into the game, no1 would be interested in planetary mining.

Edited by Carnage
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I was typing up a thread for Asteroids but seeing as this was just posted...

 

How lucrative should asteroids be?

As an example, the average amount of platinum in earth's crust is 5μg (0.005g) per kg, whereas a single 100billion kg X-type asteroid has an estimated 900g of platinum per kg...

If this were to translate into the game, no1 would be interested in planetary mining.

 

Yeah that's a good point. Perhaps what they can do is to put different resources in different places. So there could be one set of resources for asteroid fields and another set for planets and another for moons. There would be some common materials that could be found most places, and there would be a scale of rarity amongst each resource group. Otherwise, you're right, it would become very imbalanced. 

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I like this idea - truck stop at the end of the universe with a diner :D

 

Maybe those gas stations are only viable for some time because eventually raw fuel will run out on that asteroid and it's too much effort to carry it there. So you could end up with abandoned stations which probably will be used as military staging points or something.

 

I don't think the devs go for a 'realistic' setup of the universe because it wouldn't be fun - resources would be scarce and everyone would just be fighting over that little what is in the ground or on asteroids. Let alone the huge nature of the universe, even when scaling down by a factor of 100000, is too big. So compromises have to be made in order to make this game fun for everyone

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I was typing up a thread for Asteroids but seeing as this was just posted...

 

How lucrative should asteroids be?

As an example, the average amount of platinum in earth's crust is 5μg (0.000,005g) per kg, whereas a single 100billion kg X-type asteroid has an estimated 900g of platinum per kg...

If this were to translate into the game, no1 would be interested in planetary mining.

Nice idea. It would be cool if DU has it's own periodic table of sorts and a basic system of chemistry that is complex enough to yield interesting and unexpected results.

 

About asteroid vs planetary mining, you're only looking at a single material on your example. Different materials are rare/common in different places. Platinum might scarce on earth but it could be common as mud on another. A planet is more likely to contain a complete set of resources necessary for life, whereas asteroid living is likely to be much harder - the number of players that an organisation would be able to support will be much lower than on a planet.

 

In any case, yes, resource distribution needs to be carefully balanced. Resource depletion goes a long way to solving that balance issue.

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Nice idea. It would be cool if DU has it's own periodic table of sorts and a basic system of chemistry that is complex enough to yield interesting and unexpected results.

 

About asteroid vs planetary mining, you're only looking at a single material on your example. Different materials are rare/common in different places. Platinum might scarce on earth but it could be common as mud on another. A planet is more likely to contain a complete set of resources necessary for life, whereas asteroid living is likely to be much harder - the number of players that an organisation would be able to support will be much lower than on a planet.

 

In any case, yes, resource distribution needs to be carefully balanced. Resource depletion goes a long way to solving that balance issue.

The devs on their videos have shown that they use real-life minerals and elements on their design. As for chemistry, it's not known, however, manufactuing of certain types of alloys hould actually, in my opinion, follow a realistic and intuitive model of "carbon + iron == steel" with the differenc in components making different types of steel, some able to absorb more kinetic damage, while others are meant to sustain thermal ones.

 

But I think they did say that later on down the line they may add an actual chemistry system for...erm, possible reacreational and therapeutic reasons :P

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The devs on their videos have shown that they use real-life minerals and elements on their design. As for chemistry, it's not known, however, manufactuing of certain types of alloys hould actually, in my opinion, follow a realistic and intuitive model of "carbon + iron == steel" with the differenc in components making different types of steel, some able to absorb more kinetic damage, while others are meant to sustain thermal ones.

 

But I think they did say that later on down the line they may add an actual chemistry system for...erm, possible reacreational and therapeutic reasons :P

 

Oh very cool.  I haven't seen that on the DU YouTube channel...

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Oh very cool.  I haven't seen that on the DU YouTube channel...

It's in one of the interviews I think. Which one, I don't exactly remember, but it may have been the DUE. The druggies part is what I hope it's being used for :P

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Maybe instead of asteroid belts like in our real universe, there would be a push to occupy specific asteroid that float around. In real space, asteroids take specific paths around suns, so you can use these paths to map out stations in strategic locations. Would take a lot of work but could be the difference between winning and losing a batlle.

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  • 2 months later...
  • 2 years later...

I wish I could explore the universe and let automatic gas stations behind me, on my way back I would take the money, meet some people and when fed up with humanity, explore again. This can be possible only if I can build automatic payment terminals.

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5 hours ago, kirito said:

I wish I could explore the universe and let automatic gas stations behind me, on my way back I would take the money, meet some people and when fed up with humanity, explore again. This can be possible only if I can build automatic payment terminals.

I am a little hesitant on automated methods of money making as that can be game breaking balance wise however overall

 

I really like the main idea

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