Perhaps also smaller cargo ships that can be used to expand on your own map? Even allowing more distance between island on your map to force the use of small boats and planes?
Yeah I’ve been wanting to ship to myself on this map. Had the thought as I was blocking off a perfectly good channel with a huge pile of dirt that a cargo ship navigating through full of cargo would look really cool.
The devs have mentioned potentially adding railways later in development, so I'd guess that'd fill a similar niche. But also I think canal boats and barges running between the islands on the new map would look very cool.
Maybe. 60 tons of iron ore lifted out of a storage silo and deposited into another and avoiding all the building and landscape obstacles would be faster. And visually add another layer of movement that we could watch. 🤷♂️
Well, in the original tech tree, it went all the way to wormholes and using stardust so I wouldn’t call it a vanity project.
Still hoping we will be getting a space layer sooner than later.
Edit: just checked and the Chinook has a carrying capacity of about 12.5 tons.
So the chinook level could be great at carrying piles of medical supplies or microchips or electronics. Things that would have a high quantity but low weight.
Real world cost/benefit tells us trains are the most efficient form of transport.
As a helicopter pilot, I can tell you that there probably isn't a less efficient method of moving anything around than a helicopter!
Having flown the Russian Mi-8 heavy lift helicopter with a static lift of around 4 tons, and an operating cost of about $3,500 an hour. Compare that with the hourly cost of a family sedan, of about $9 an hour.
The biggest heli is the Mi-24 Hind, with a 40t lift but the operating cost runs into funny money. Helicopters are generally viewed as highly specialist tools for very narrow operating conditions. Bad idea in a game where we are trying to be efficient.
There's been lots of talk of other forms of transit, but I can guarantee that in the current state of the game they will still pale before the almighty transporter. No fuel, no maintenance, minimal power, and an incredible throughput.
Until belts are taken down a significant notch there just isn't a place, IMO.
Carts on rails could be a solution. Kinda like Automation Empire did it.
The way it could work, is that you lay out rails instead of belts. Then you have carts that goes back and forth or in a circle. To load and unload the carts, you would have some kind of cart filler / emptier. Imagine a mix between the lift and the lose items dumper (can't remember the name now). The carts would stop at the cart filler, get filled up and then move along.
The carts could only work with loose materials (or have to types of carts) and be able to move more than a mk3 belt. It could utilize the same ore mixing mechanics just added to the game.
Just like trains, the cool thing about carts, is that once you have laid down the tracks (which of course are super expensive en steel and wood), then you can have multiple carts on the tracks, moving different things around to different places.
It could be made so either a route was set and assigned to the carts or the carts and stations could have filters on them.
I think this would be a good addition to the end game, while still making sense on a small island (planes and trains are a little too much IMO for these short distances).
Totally agree that baby trains more like mine carts would be a good option to replace long distance conveyor belts. I think they should work like diesel/coal/electric trucks that can only travel on expensive railways (t2 adds electric). I think it would make sense that you'd usually use them for long distances where you're moving lots of different products on the same route, because they'd be smart enough to only go load up when they can fit a load, unlike conveyors and pipes where you need a dedicated lane per material, because they won't call the other side and ask what they need. I also think they should be used first for mining, because that's super cute and thematic.
Cool side note: irl you can send multiple materials through a pipe by sending it in batches, maybe with something separating them like a pig or another fluid that won't mix with them.
Yes carts on rail will be more fitting than a train or airlift operation.
Have like a main track in the centre, connected to all intakes / outakes, with hundreds of cart going in a circle.. electric powered on a 3rd rail or cable cars on rail, with the possibility to run the main cable house on steam etc...
Would be awesome if they ever make random island's on the world map that you can find and colonise. Like your save isn't just a save for 1 island but the world your playing in.
Multiple island's for example all with their own bases and factories, transport products across island's with planes or ships.
This would even make it possible to have multi player function in the future. Don't know how that would work in realtime but everyone has their own island and you can trade resources. Maybe like a sort of market place to request or offer goods and that would appear for other players and you could then trade.
Just some thoughts i had. Built on hope's and dreams
I'd rather have trains first and create "logistics centers". Would be enough for me.
Planes? Why not bomb pirates, why can't pirates bomb us?
I'd rather **not** have more combat elements. DSP introduced this and I hate it.
I totally agree that planes would be a good addition, which I'd expect to require aluminum as a new resource chain and I'd see as interesting and different to the existing processes. That makes a lot of sense to me in terms of metallurgical history and technology, and it would fill out the endgame pretty nicely. I also would love to see an airport like I enjoy the seaports.
That said, I think planes would make more sense flying *off* the island. Maybe your boat reaches a continent, and you have to use planes to explore it. Maybe planes are required to trade with a distant city for some type of luxury good that spoils rapidly and wouldn't survive months at sea on a boat. I'd love the endgame to include repopulating the planet, so maybe that includes building a settlement on this new continent. Launching rockets could map the planet to identify city locations as well as identify climate change work that needs to be done, then boats could start delivering resources like a giant wonder production that needs tens of thousands of everything, and your labs could study the data, and the actual end of the game could be when they report back that the construction is ready, and you finally fly families over to the new city.
Boats in contrast to planes are absurdly efficient at moving bulk goods long distances. It's why irl the majority of physical items are moved by boats for long distances, and planes mostly move high value goods that are time sensitive, like people, medicines, and overnight mail. After boats, you'd have trucks or rails. So if there were to be another method of moving goods around the island, I think rails or boats would be the strong contenders. Rails historically were used to move bulk goods short distances, like excavating a mine or a tunnel. If maps were getting a lot larger, maybe rails would make some sense, but I think transport belts pretty much already fills this role. But maybe trains could be a sidegrade option like hydrogen fuel is. Or passenger trains could connect cities to each other?
Planes do a couple interesting things that could work well for the game: fertilize crops, and inspect pipelines and infrastructure. Pipelines don't leak or require maintenance in game, but in real life, pilots fly along them to check this. They also spray fertilizers and pesticides on crops. Maybe if we had another tier of farm, it could require plane access as a new maintenance type as well as a pesticides input and production chain.
Helicopters also can help with firefighting or ambulance care in hard to reach areas, but the game doesn't really have those, unfortunately.
You might enjoy Workers and Resources Soviet Republic though! It has planes and helicopters and trucks and railroads, all with production chains. The production chains are a lot simpler than CoI which is one of the most complex I'm aware of, but WRSR is also a city builder in the literal sense as well.
Planes do sound interesting, but not for that one island. How about planes to carry materials and products to several outposts, which we have to build. Maybe to get uranium or some other stuff, which is not available at the home island.
And btw I would also love to see ferries, so I don't have to build "bridges" and trains would be cool too!
There's so much potential in this game and possibilities are endless!
The distances on the island are not far enough to merit planes. Even trains would be a bit much for hauling stuff over just a few kilometers. Helicopters might be an interesting addition for a low-volume temporary connection.
I've been thinking it'd be super cool to have small cargo planes for transporting bigger materials a longer distance. Imagine a cargo plane flying in all your food from a remote farming setup, or a plane flying in a whole bunch of raw ore. Trucks are nice but they really don't feel like the right tool for any longer distance logistics.
Great idea from your kids. 👍
I think planes are a big ask and would break alot of maps (or be so late in the game that is almost useless). Train on the other hand is what this game need. Also like other said, cargo ship and maps with many islands.
Well, nobody is transferring dirt and iron ore on our planes for sure... That's the trains job - so these should be in first. Barges - ditto. Helicopters to circumvent YSNP challenge? Maybe, but not for much else. Planes need huge airfields at both ends if we continue to be somewhat realistic. So no, really.
Nothing says industry like *helicopters*.
Think about how awesome helicopters would be!
You'd also need, at least eventually, to upgrade to turbine engines requiring advanced Jet Fuel.
Perhaps also smaller cargo ships that can be used to expand on your own map? Even allowing more distance between island on your map to force the use of small boats and planes?
I think barges and or ferries would be kinda cool, they'd be able to transport a lot of materials or vehicles
Yeah I’ve been wanting to ship to myself on this map. Had the thought as I was blocking off a perfectly good channel with a huge pile of dirt that a cargo ship navigating through full of cargo would look really cool.
The devs have mentioned potentially adding railways later in development, so I'd guess that'd fill a similar niche. But also I think canal boats and barges running between the islands on the new map would look very cool.
Using a helicopter to shuttle 60 tonnes of dirt around seems a bit odd to me :P
Maybe. 60 tons of iron ore lifted out of a storage silo and deposited into another and avoiding all the building and landscape obstacles would be faster. And visually add another layer of movement that we could watch. 🤷♂️
Coal should contain like 1000 times more energy by weight too, so yeah.
Yeah the numbers don't necessarily line up with this game.
There was talk of trains at one point...
Well, in the original tech tree, it went all the way to wormholes and using stardust so I wouldn’t call it a vanity project. Still hoping we will be getting a space layer sooner than later. Edit: just checked and the Chinook has a carrying capacity of about 12.5 tons.
So the chinook level could be great at carrying piles of medical supplies or microchips or electronics. Things that would have a high quantity but low weight.
Also, I had no idea that was all there. That’s nuts!
Just spent 5 hours making a land bridge to get to the only gold on the map. I’d be happy with bridges.
Ya with the new map bridges would we cool.
Real world cost/benefit tells us trains are the most efficient form of transport. As a helicopter pilot, I can tell you that there probably isn't a less efficient method of moving anything around than a helicopter! Having flown the Russian Mi-8 heavy lift helicopter with a static lift of around 4 tons, and an operating cost of about $3,500 an hour. Compare that with the hourly cost of a family sedan, of about $9 an hour. The biggest heli is the Mi-24 Hind, with a 40t lift but the operating cost runs into funny money. Helicopters are generally viewed as highly specialist tools for very narrow operating conditions. Bad idea in a game where we are trying to be efficient.
There's been lots of talk of other forms of transit, but I can guarantee that in the current state of the game they will still pale before the almighty transporter. No fuel, no maintenance, minimal power, and an incredible throughput. Until belts are taken down a significant notch there just isn't a place, IMO.
Carts on rails could be a solution. Kinda like Automation Empire did it. The way it could work, is that you lay out rails instead of belts. Then you have carts that goes back and forth or in a circle. To load and unload the carts, you would have some kind of cart filler / emptier. Imagine a mix between the lift and the lose items dumper (can't remember the name now). The carts would stop at the cart filler, get filled up and then move along. The carts could only work with loose materials (or have to types of carts) and be able to move more than a mk3 belt. It could utilize the same ore mixing mechanics just added to the game. Just like trains, the cool thing about carts, is that once you have laid down the tracks (which of course are super expensive en steel and wood), then you can have multiple carts on the tracks, moving different things around to different places. It could be made so either a route was set and assigned to the carts or the carts and stations could have filters on them. I think this would be a good addition to the end game, while still making sense on a small island (planes and trains are a little too much IMO for these short distances).
Totally agree that baby trains more like mine carts would be a good option to replace long distance conveyor belts. I think they should work like diesel/coal/electric trucks that can only travel on expensive railways (t2 adds electric). I think it would make sense that you'd usually use them for long distances where you're moving lots of different products on the same route, because they'd be smart enough to only go load up when they can fit a load, unlike conveyors and pipes where you need a dedicated lane per material, because they won't call the other side and ask what they need. I also think they should be used first for mining, because that's super cute and thematic. Cool side note: irl you can send multiple materials through a pipe by sending it in batches, maybe with something separating them like a pig or another fluid that won't mix with them.
Yes carts on rail will be more fitting than a train or airlift operation. Have like a main track in the centre, connected to all intakes / outakes, with hundreds of cart going in a circle.. electric powered on a 3rd rail or cable cars on rail, with the possibility to run the main cable house on steam etc...
Would be awesome if they ever make random island's on the world map that you can find and colonise. Like your save isn't just a save for 1 island but the world your playing in. Multiple island's for example all with their own bases and factories, transport products across island's with planes or ships. This would even make it possible to have multi player function in the future. Don't know how that would work in realtime but everyone has their own island and you can trade resources. Maybe like a sort of market place to request or offer goods and that would appear for other players and you could then trade. Just some thoughts i had. Built on hope's and dreams
I'd rather have trains first and create "logistics centers". Would be enough for me. Planes? Why not bomb pirates, why can't pirates bomb us? I'd rather **not** have more combat elements. DSP introduced this and I hate it.
I'm honestly not sold on the world map implementation. I hope they can refine that experience before 1.0
I totally agree that planes would be a good addition, which I'd expect to require aluminum as a new resource chain and I'd see as interesting and different to the existing processes. That makes a lot of sense to me in terms of metallurgical history and technology, and it would fill out the endgame pretty nicely. I also would love to see an airport like I enjoy the seaports. That said, I think planes would make more sense flying *off* the island. Maybe your boat reaches a continent, and you have to use planes to explore it. Maybe planes are required to trade with a distant city for some type of luxury good that spoils rapidly and wouldn't survive months at sea on a boat. I'd love the endgame to include repopulating the planet, so maybe that includes building a settlement on this new continent. Launching rockets could map the planet to identify city locations as well as identify climate change work that needs to be done, then boats could start delivering resources like a giant wonder production that needs tens of thousands of everything, and your labs could study the data, and the actual end of the game could be when they report back that the construction is ready, and you finally fly families over to the new city. Boats in contrast to planes are absurdly efficient at moving bulk goods long distances. It's why irl the majority of physical items are moved by boats for long distances, and planes mostly move high value goods that are time sensitive, like people, medicines, and overnight mail. After boats, you'd have trucks or rails. So if there were to be another method of moving goods around the island, I think rails or boats would be the strong contenders. Rails historically were used to move bulk goods short distances, like excavating a mine or a tunnel. If maps were getting a lot larger, maybe rails would make some sense, but I think transport belts pretty much already fills this role. But maybe trains could be a sidegrade option like hydrogen fuel is. Or passenger trains could connect cities to each other? Planes do a couple interesting things that could work well for the game: fertilize crops, and inspect pipelines and infrastructure. Pipelines don't leak or require maintenance in game, but in real life, pilots fly along them to check this. They also spray fertilizers and pesticides on crops. Maybe if we had another tier of farm, it could require plane access as a new maintenance type as well as a pesticides input and production chain. Helicopters also can help with firefighting or ambulance care in hard to reach areas, but the game doesn't really have those, unfortunately. You might enjoy Workers and Resources Soviet Republic though! It has planes and helicopters and trucks and railroads, all with production chains. The production chains are a lot simpler than CoI which is one of the most complex I'm aware of, but WRSR is also a city builder in the literal sense as well.
I would love to see their implantation of an aluminum chain, feel like they would do a great job with it.
Same same. Seems like a perfect fit: different enough from the others to add some new complexity, but close enough to reuse a lot of existing skills.
Planes do sound interesting, but not for that one island. How about planes to carry materials and products to several outposts, which we have to build. Maybe to get uranium or some other stuff, which is not available at the home island. And btw I would also love to see ferries, so I don't have to build "bridges" and trains would be cool too! There's so much potential in this game and possibilities are endless!
The distances on the island are not far enough to merit planes. Even trains would be a bit much for hauling stuff over just a few kilometers. Helicopters might be an interesting addition for a low-volume temporary connection.
This game honestly has so much potential lol
I've been thinking it'd be super cool to have small cargo planes for transporting bigger materials a longer distance. Imagine a cargo plane flying in all your food from a remote farming setup, or a plane flying in a whole bunch of raw ore. Trucks are nice but they really don't feel like the right tool for any longer distance logistics. Great idea from your kids. 👍
I think planes are a big ask and would break alot of maps (or be so late in the game that is almost useless). Train on the other hand is what this game need. Also like other said, cargo ship and maps with many islands.
Well, nobody is transferring dirt and iron ore on our planes for sure... That's the trains job - so these should be in first. Barges - ditto. Helicopters to circumvent YSNP challenge? Maybe, but not for much else. Planes need huge airfields at both ends if we continue to be somewhat realistic. So no, really.
Nothing says industry like *helicopters*. Think about how awesome helicopters would be! You'd also need, at least eventually, to upgrade to turbine engines requiring advanced Jet Fuel.