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PREFACE
Why was this mod created? It fulfills two purposes; one primary, and one lesser, secondary purpose (and one minor, tertiary purpose):
- Primary: Link together various solar panel technologies from different planets into one, smoothly flowing tech chain, enforcing interplanetary logistics.
- Secondary: Bridge the mental gap between having a mid-game 9x9 solar panel (Moshine) and a late-game 4x4 solar panel (Paracelsin).
- Tertiary: Since Moshine and Paracelsin both have accumulators with a similar discrepancy, we might as well incorporate them too.
The solution? Implement a late-game 9x9 solar panel that requires all other solar panels and combines all of their unique properties, of course!
This hybrid mega panel enforces interplanetary logistics to research and build, AND provides a clean upgrade path for Moshine panels and Paracelsin panels, without devaluing their original accomplishments.
It is currently slotted into AI Core tech levels 8 and 10. These tiers were chosen simply because tech levels 2, 4, and 6 each led to a useful technology as a reward, and encourages researching the higher tech levels (if Panglia is not enabled). This tech placement is subject to change.
Also requires researching every other solar panel technology, and requires every solar panel as an ingredient in the recipe.
CHANGES
- Moves the Electromagnetic Science Pack prereq tech from Moshine's Big Solar Panel tech to its Data Processor tech.
This is because Moshine's Data Processor tech already requires Electromagnetic science packs to research, while Big Solar/Accumulator does not. - Sets Moshine's Big Solar Panel recipe to be craftable only in the Electromagnetic Plant.
This is to align with Arig's Advanced Solar Panel being locked to EM Plants, and Paracelsin's Solar Matrix being locked to its own Mechanical Plant.
As mentioned, EM Plant availability is guaranteed, and its recipe already requires Fulgoran Supercapacitors, which can only be made in EM Plants. - The same changes are made to Moshine's Big Accumulator technology and recipe, for the same reasons as mentioned.
Arig:
- Adds Solar Energy as a prereq tech for Arig's Advanced Solar Panel.
This is because the Advanced Solar Panel recipe requires 1 Solar Panel as an ingredient, and certain modlists might not require solar panels for space travel (at the very least, Solar Energy is not a forced technological requirement for space travel) - Adds Electromagnetic Plant as a prereq tech for Arig's Advanced Solar Panel.
This is because they can only be crafted in EM Plants to begin with, so this makes the requirement more obvious. - Replaces Utility Science Pack with Arig's Advanced Solar Panel as prereq tech for Moshine's Big Solar Panel tech.
This is because Utility Science is not required for any of the ingredients, processes, or technologies leading into Moshine's Big Solar Panel
It also makes more sense in this context, to have an Arig-based science gate than the original Nauvis-based science gate. - Replaces the vanilla solar panel with an Arig Advanced Solar Panel as an ingredient in Moshine's Big Solar Panel (and reduces the count by 1/2, since Arig panels are 2x vanilla solar efficiency)
ADDITIONS
Hybrid Solar Panel: The ultimate goal, and peak of solar efficiency. It combines the traits of ALL previous solar panels, while building off each of them.
- By default, the Hybrid Solar Panel simply requires 5 Paracelsin Solar Matrix and 1 Moshine Big Solar Panel
- Arig: Adds 9 Heavy Glass to the recipe, taken from Arig's Supported Solar Panel recipe, and enables placement over water (in addition to land)
- Apia-Carnova: Adds 1 Bio Solar Panel to the recipe, and enables pollution cleansing
- Supercooled Solar: This mod adds boosted efficiency to Paracelsin's Solar Matrix on freezing planets; this effect is likewise added to the Hybrid Solar Panel.
TODO
Graphics have not yet been finalized, and are still subject to change. Current technology, item, and entity graphics simply copy directly from the Moshine Big Solar Panel. A theoretical final graphic would somehow incorporate elements of the other panels, and if possible, make these graphics dynamic. For example:
- with no other optional mods, then base graphic should be a cross between Moshine's Big Solar Panel and Paracelsin's Solar Matrix
- if Apia, then make the final graphic include elements of Apia's Bio Solar Panel, with the mossiness and the greenery
- if Arig, then add some kind of more obvious supports to work with water placement, similar to Arig's Supported Solar Panel
- and if both are enabled, then somehow incorporate elements of both into the same graphic
FINAL NOTES
This was generally built around Planet Mods Lite v1.1.2, which natively includes Moshine, Paracelsin, Arig, and Apia-Carnova, and enables almost all functionality (except for Supercooled Solar, which would have to be added manually)