Generator... a real bummer

[Trojan_Turps]

Slightly off topic but any farm would have a large fuel tank for the tractors etc. The ones I have used/seen have not needed any power.

[Rathlord]

Slightly off topic but any farm would have a large fuel tank for the tractors etc. The ones I have used/seen have not needed any power.

 

The one at the cattle ranch I worked at for years required power run to it. Also, those are very often diesel.

[Trojan_Turps]

Slightly off topic but any farm would have a large fuel tank for the tractors etc. The ones I have used/seen have not needed any power.

The one at the cattle ranch I worked at for years required power run to it. Also, those are very often diesel.

I live in the UK so it might be different in the US. Could be that it depends on how old the fuel tank is?

Is there petrol and diesel in game? Or just fuel? I don't know? But yeah a farm fuel tank would almost always be diesel. You can get both petrol and diesel generators IRL.

[King jjwpenguin]

 

 

Slightly off topic but any farm would have a large fuel tank for the tractors etc. The ones I have used/seen have not needed any power.

The one at the cattle ranch I worked at for years required power run to it. Also, those are very often diesel.

I live in the UK so it might be different in the US. Could be that it depends on how old the fuel tank is?

Is there petrol and diesel in game? Or just fuel? I don't know? But yeah a farm fuel tank would almost always be diesel. You can get both petrol and diesel generators IRL.

 

i suggested the different fuels before but was shot down. Still i think it would be great since it would add more variations for cars.

[LeetgamerBoi]

currently, generators are useless shortly after the power goes out, which was the whole point of having them, to get technology up and running.

 Now as you see, all it does is let you slightly extend the time the power stays on to about 15 gas cans a month, which i know you won't be able to find that many of.

I don't even acknowledge generators because they're so futile right now.

Can't get new fuel for them by the time you start to use them, since i don't think people use generators when the power is on

Currently waiting in the dark for it to be added or modded like    lol
Please add this within build 32... It would open up so many options for base building later down the line.
imagine huge fortresses surrounded by electric fences.... being overloaded by zombies and the fences turning off! Oh boy i can't wait!

[syfy]

your not really trying to demand something again, are you?

 

or trying to tell the Devs what to do with the game, what they should or should not have in the game?

 

i hope you're not doing that, but rather stating an opinion.

because that would be more Lovely

[LeetgamerBoi]

your not really trying to demand something again, are you?

 

or trying to tell the Devs what to do with the game, what they should or should not have in the game?

 

i hope you're not doing that, but rather stating an opinion.

because that would be more Lovely

Oh now don't be drab.

I was simply dealing with some... relationship related anger... it'll be revised shortly.

[EnigmaGrey]

*Sings thread merging song, points to previous conversations on this topic, walks away*

[Magic Mark]

Have you guys considered powering home-made buildings while the power is on as a good use for generators?

 

If that works, at least.

[Livio Persemprio]

*Sings thread merging song, points to previous conversations on this topic, walks away*

it will always be the same song, we're trying to see how many people agree with the gas system being unbalanced atm.

i really think your hand pump suggestion would work, especially in single player

[EnigmaGrey]

Have you guys considered powering home-made buildings while the power is on as a good use for generators?

If that works, at least.

It'd be a good use for them, rather than the magic "already connected" grid the game probably uses.

[Magic Mark]

 

Have you guys considered powering home-made buildings while the power is on as a good use for generators?

If that works, at least.

It'd be a good use for them, rather than the magic "already connected" grid the game probably uses.

 

 

I think that if you are making a 'home-made' house especially when moving stuff comes, and want to build a house with a fridge and stove, a generator could be very useful especially if the power is still on (so you can collect gas every now and then).

 

Or if siphoning from the big tanks comes into play and there is a reliable way to get gas late-game, that would be great too. As it stands if you run a generator non-stop it is likely you will only find enough cans (including the empty ones) to run it for one or two months.

 

Currently my style of generator usage involves turning it off at night as that is when the temperature drops, supposedly lowering the temperature the food is in by a degree or two (if food temp in somehow connected to the world temp). That way I save gas and the food doesn't spoil as quickly.

 

Or when I don't have fresh food I don't run it, wait for the harvest, and then run it just enough to keep the food fresh long enough for me to preserve it (I have a collection of lids so I can at least do this reliably for two harvests).

[King jjwpenguin]

 

 

Have you guys considered powering home-made buildings while the power is on as a good use for generators?

If that works, at least.

It'd be a good use for them, rather than the magic "already connected" grid the game probably uses.

 

 

I think that if you are making a 'home-made' house especially when moving stuff comes, and want to build a house with a fridge and stove, a generator could be very useful especially if the power is still on (so you can collect gas every now and then).

 

Or if siphoning from the big tanks comes into play and there is a reliable way to get gas late-game, that would be great too. As it stands if you run a generator non-stop it is likely you will only find enough cans (including the empty ones) to run it for one or two months.

 

Currently my style of generator usage involves turning it off at night as that is when the temperature drops, supposedly lowering the temperature the food is in by a degree or two (if food temp in somehow connected to the world temp). That way I save gas and the food doesn't spoil as quickly.

 

Or when I don't have fresh food I don't run it, wait for the harvest, and then run it just enough to keep the food fresh long enough for me to preserve it (I have a collection of lids so I can at least do this reliably for two harvests).

 

the question of how its wired?

[Mikhail Reign]

If i could run the generator off wood gas it wouldn't be a problem.

[EnigmaGrey]

If i could run the generator off wood gas it wouldn't be a problem.

Something tells me we've discussed this before . . . It's not a common (or really all that known) technology in North America, despite its adaptation in Europe.

From Wikipedia, as some degree of proof:

On the popular US radio program Car Talk, a caller in episode 1201 (which aired on January 7, 2012, and was subsequently named "20 Miles Per Woodchip"), described a wood gas generating vehicle he rode in as a boy during World War II in Germany. The hosts were not familiar with the technology, likely because it was never widely adopted in the US.

[SpaceJunk]

IRL I used a generator for:

 

* Running lights/TV/radio 1-2 hours before bed time.
* Running electric tools. If you don't have a gas chainsaw (which are less common than electric ones), a generator would help save you tons of time cutting wood. Chopping/cutting wood with axe and saw is extremely tiring.

I didn't run a fridge off a generator. I had an Einstein fridge (aka Absorption refrigerator), which runs off a gas tank and was awesome. I would expect a small chance of finding one in the trailer park areas, forest shacks or if there were vehicles, in motorhomes.

[PlasticandRage]

I'm kinda just discovering this issue now myself. System seems a bit too convoluted to be useful. I think the solution is an alternative method of keeping your food cold. I know a while ago I suggested the ability to build a crate underground with a shovel in your inventory. That'd work IRL to keep food cold. Not as cold as a fridge to be sure, but it would help to keep food cold. Maybe even add the potential for worms showing up inside your food storage, and ruining your food, but it'd still be nice to have some kind of alternative to either the generator system, or just playing in sandbox and setting the power to not shut off for ages.

 

Or maybe the ability to leave a trashbag in an outdoor water source with some perishables in it. That'd keep your food cold too.

 

Or even like a styrofoam cooler as a lootable item and the ability to freeze water. That'd work, and is something any idiot could figure out how to realistically do. At least I'd hope so.

[PlasticandRage]

It could potentially add a whole new level to survival too. Managing your coolers as ice melts.

The ability to collect snow for your coolers in winter would mean winter means something good for the prepared survivor, as opposed to just meaning the death of all your crops.

[CaptKaspar]

The devs could remedy this by Adding constructable solar panels.

if the spawn count of electronics becomes common like in real life 90's, you could get a bunch of solar panels off of caluclators from the schools and offices. And just daisy chain them together, gluing them to a piece of wood, hook it up to a car battery. And use that battery to power an outlet extracted from a wall, then plug whatever you want in. 

Maybe, say, 100 calculators worth of solar panels = 100 minutes to charge battery completely... 

Electrician would suddenly be viable. 

As another thing, you can make it so if you leave it out in the rain it gets ruint forever. 

 

No...

 

There are a number of reasons for this.

 

First, the wattage produced by a calculator's solar cell is laughably small. While I am having trouble finding any specifics on the panels themselves, I did find that the average calculator's battery stores about 150mAh (or 0.15Ah) and runs on 1.5v. So a solar cell for a calculator produces diddly squat in terms of power if its comparable to a battery powered version (btw most are dual-powered. Solar power when able then battery powered so you can assume the voltage is consistent between battery and solar powered calculators). A standard car battery is 12v and has around 600Ah. For reference, I personally have a number of 8sqft. 100watt solar panels. If I wanted to charge a standard car battery in an hour I would need about 6 (48sqft) panels working at peak efficiency to charge the battery. Or 3.6 (28.8sqft.) to charge it in 100 minutes. Assuming the solar calculator panels are as efficient as my panels, how many of those little strips would you need to wire together to make 28.8sqft? I doubt there's enough calculators in the towns of Muldraugh and WP (including the mall) to make that happen.

 

Second, you would want some sort of charge controller/voltage regulator. Uneven electrical charge for batteries = bad news. Either you'll likely kill the life of your battery or you may even start a fire.

 

Third, last but by no means the least important, solar cells and batteries use DC current. The vast majority of electrical appliances (unless designed to run off a battery) are AC current. You would need a DC inverter to convert the DC current to AC current or you'll fry your devices.

 

I have at home a car battery that is in a custom battery box, hooked up to a charge controller with quick solar cable connectors, a DC inverter, and a volt meter. I use it as a portable power source to run my exterior LED holiday lights, to charge a power-tool battery on site, to power LED flood lights on site at night, etc. I then charge it again with my solar cells (or truck while driving) when not in use. 600aH goes faster than you would think though!

 

At least you see the value in an electrician

[Magic Mark]

 

The devs could remedy this by Adding constructable solar panels.

if the spawn count of electronics becomes common like in real life 90's, you could get a bunch of solar panels off of caluclators from the schools and offices. And just daisy chain them together, gluing them to a piece of wood, hook it up to a car battery. And use that battery to power an outlet extracted from a wall, then plug whatever you want in. 

Maybe, say, 100 calculators worth of solar panels = 100 minutes to charge battery completely... 

Electrician would suddenly be viable. 

As another thing, you can make it so if you leave it out in the rain it gets ruint forever. 

 

No...

 

There are a number of reasons for this.

 

First, the wattage produced by a calculator's solar cell is laughably small. While I am having trouble finding any specifics on the panels themselves, I did find that the average calculator's battery stores about 150mAh (or 0.15Ah) and runs on 1.5v. So a solar cell for a calculator produces diddly squat in terms of power if its comparable to a battery powered version (btw most are dual-powered. Solar power when able then battery powered so you can assume the voltage is consistent between battery and solar powered calculators). A standard car battery is 12v and has around 600Ah. For reference, I personally have a number of 8sqft. 100watt solar panels. If I wanted to charge a standard car battery in an hour I would need about 6 (48sqft) panels working at peak efficiency to charge the battery. Or 3.6 (28.8sqft.) to charge it in 100 minutes. Assuming the solar calculator panels are as efficient as my panels, how many of those little strips would you need to wire together to make 28.8sqft? I doubt there's enough calculators in the towns of Muldraugh and WP (including the mall) to make that happen.

 

Second, you would want some sort of charge controller/voltage regulator. Uneven electrical charge for batteries = bad news. Either you'll likely kill the life of your battery or you may even start a fire.

 

Third, last but by no means the least important, solar cells and batteries use DC current. The vast majority of electrical appliances (unless designed to run off a battery) are AC current. You would need a DC inverter to convert the DC current to AC current or you'll fry your devices.

 

I have at home a car battery that is in a custom battery box, hooked up to a charge controller with quick solar cable connectors, a DC inverter, and a volt meter. I use it as a portable power source to run my exterior LED holiday lights, to charge a power-tool battery on site, to power LED flood lights on site at night, etc. I then charge it again with my solar cells (or truck while driving) when not in use. 600aH goes faster than you would think though!

 

At least you see the value in an electrician

 

 

I think it should be possible to find all of those things, make it a late-game goal

 

I like the idea of having a solar panel not exactly be a crutch, but having an array of them (with the appropriate materials) actually working. If implemented, it would be a very rewarding tree to climb.

 

The process could be as follows:

 

1. Read books on the subject, research gives you the "recipe" to learn. Multiple books to teach you how to do multiple things.

 

2. Actually finding solar panels. Solar-panel run highway signs, specialized electronics places, storage warehouses would be the most likely places to find the stuff. Probably rare.

 

3. Finding the regulators and inverters. Similar to above. Some of the stuff there could have alternate uses for other things when the stuff you can do with electricity gets more in depth.

 

4. Actually setting it up. Immediately requires electrician skill on top of the known recipes. The skill required might actually be above the standard electrician bonus, meaning that everybody has to level up electrician substantially to set it up.

 

5. Maintaining. Zombies could damage them. Should be placed on a roof or in extreme isolation to work.

 

I would never go as far as saying that it's impossible - just there would be a hundred hoops to jump through at varying heights and to be realistically able to do it you need to be an electrician (or very lucky finding the books).

[CaptKaspar]

 

 

The devs could remedy this by Adding constructable solar panels.

if the spawn count of electronics becomes common like in real life 90's, you could get a bunch of solar panels off of caluclators from the schools and offices. And just daisy chain them together, gluing them to a piece of wood, hook it up to a car battery. And use that battery to power an outlet extracted from a wall, then plug whatever you want in. 

Maybe, say, 100 calculators worth of solar panels = 100 minutes to charge battery completely... 

Electrician would suddenly be viable. 

As another thing, you can make it so if you leave it out in the rain it gets ruint forever. 

 

No...

 

There are a number of reasons for this.

 

First, the wattage produced by a calculator's solar cell is laughably small. While I am having trouble finding any specifics on the panels themselves, I did find that the average calculator's battery stores about 150mAh (or 0.15Ah) and runs on 1.5v. So a solar cell for a calculator produces diddly squat in terms of power if its comparable to a battery powered version (btw most are dual-powered. Solar power when able then battery powered so you can assume the voltage is consistent between battery and solar powered calculators). A standard car battery is 12v and has around 600Ah. For reference, I personally have a number of 8sqft. 100watt solar panels. If I wanted to charge a standard car battery in an hour I would need about 6 (48sqft) panels working at peak efficiency to charge the battery. Or 3.6 (28.8sqft.) to charge it in 100 minutes. Assuming the solar calculator panels are as efficient as my panels, how many of those little strips would you need to wire together to make 28.8sqft? I doubt there's enough calculators in the towns of Muldraugh and WP (including the mall) to make that happen.

 

Second, you would want some sort of charge controller/voltage regulator. Uneven electrical charge for batteries = bad news. Either you'll likely kill the life of your battery or you may even start a fire.

 

Third, last but by no means the least important, solar cells and batteries use DC current. The vast majority of electrical appliances (unless designed to run off a battery) are AC current. You would need a DC inverter to convert the DC current to AC current or you'll fry your devices.

 

I have at home a car battery that is in a custom battery box, hooked up to a charge controller with quick solar cable connectors, a DC inverter, and a volt meter. I use it as a portable power source to run my exterior LED holiday lights, to charge a power-tool battery on site, to power LED flood lights on site at night, etc. I then charge it again with my solar cells (or truck while driving) when not in use. 600aH goes faster than you would think though!

 

At least you see the value in an electrician

 

 

I think it should be possible to find all of those things, make it a late-game goal

 

I like the idea of having a solar panel not exactly be a crutch, but having an array of them (with the appropriate materials) actually working. If implemented, it would be a very rewarding tree to climb.

 

The process could be as follows:

 

1. Read books on the subject, research gives you the "recipe" to learn. Multiple books to teach you how to do multiple things.

 

2. Actually finding solar panels. Solar-panel run highway signs, specialized electronics places, storage warehouses would be the most likely places to find the stuff. Probably rare.

 

3. Finding the regulators and inverters. Similar to above. Some of the stuff there could have alternate uses for other things when the stuff you can do with electricity gets more in depth.

 

4. Actually setting it up. Immediately requires electrician skill on top of the known recipes. The skill required might actually be above the standard electrician bonus, meaning that everybody has to level up electrician substantially to set it up.

 

5. Maintaining. Zombies could damage them. Should be placed on a roof or in extreme isolation to work.

 

I would never go as far as saying that it's impossible - just there would be a hundred hoops to jump through at varying heights and to be realistically able to do it you need to be an electrician (or very lucky finding the books).

 

 

I'm down for that

[squishward_tennisballs]

Can't you just power the tank station with a generator?

 

Generator Inception 

[Jeoshua]

All this talk of solar cells...

Remember when this game is set. Solar cell efficiency was nowhere near where it is today, back in 1993.

[Ares]

"We should give them presure to fix this assap"

 

Now you Sir, are an Idiot.

Sorry.

Have you ever developed a Game?

It's not that easy. First of all there are 1000 other thing with much more priority to be done and there is also the Real Life like Familiy, Sleeping, Eating and so one. Try to do something big and tell me how you react when someone wants to put pressure on you because your are not "fast" enough.

[Demonic_Kat]

I see a lot of people saying that generators are useless. I thought they were supposed to be.

 

I thought they were supposed to be that shiny rock in the pile that you kill yourself trying to get.

 

Just... another way to die.. ^.^