OpenGFX Mars

[Zephyris]

Large Towns

This is a concept of how I hope the centre of towns could look. As I described above the necessity of well inter-connected buildings for travel by foot has lead to demand for above-ground links in larger colonies. These, wherever possible, bridge roads to generate a truly foot transport-friendly town. You better make your bus service good, otherwise these people won't use it! In terms of overall visual impact the buildings are dull, grey metal. No-one really goes outside to look at them! In these cities the splashes of company colour from vehicles and stations, and the occasional domed park (vivid green in comparison to the surrounding grey and orange world) add a larger scale visual impact.

I think everything in this concept is codeable (and I included the glitches I would expect from this coding method): In addition to the normal building sprite there is a separate set of 4 walkway sprites, extending 1/2 tile in each direction from the town building's 2nd floor. The graphics for the town building could use a callback to detect if their is a road next to them in each direction, then select the appropriate action2 with the correct set of walkway sprites included as underlay/overlay additional sprites for the building. This method would leave walkways extending halfway over a road if there was no tall building opposite, but I think that is a minor enough glitch to not worry about. The walkway sprites only extend 3px out of each side of the 64px tile, so bounding box drawing errors should be pretty minimal.

[Zephyris]

Electrolysis plant

The electrolysis plant is distinctive because of the significant electrical infrastructure associated its massive electricity requirements, its large capacity for water storage, and the characteristic asymmetric oxygen and hydrogen tanks. The product of splitting H2O into constituent elements generates twice as many H2 molecules as O2, requiring double the storage capacity.

[xeryon]

... The product of splitting H2O into constituent elements generates twice as many H2 molecules as O2, requiring double the storage capacity.

Except H is vastly smaller than O. Double the Hydrogen takes up far less space than the Oxygen in this process.

[Transportman]

Hydrolysis plant

I think you mean Electrolysis. Hydrolysis is a chemical reaction in which water is added to break chemical bonds.

... The product of splitting H2O into constituent elements generates twice as many H2 molecules as O2, requiring double the storage capacity.

Except H is vastly smaller than O. Double the Hydrogen takes up far less space than the Oxygen in this process.

If the products are stored as gases under the same conditions and that the Ideal Gas Law is a good approximation for those conditions, then storage capacity for H2 is indeed double of O2 (V=nRT/P). So the volume of the atoms and molecules has no influence on the needed storage capacity. Only under conditions that the Ideal Gas Law does not apply differences might occur, but that is some in-depth knowledge that doesn't add much.

@Zephyris: Very interesting work. I also like how you make a story out of everything you present.

[Zephyris]

I think you mean Electrolysis. Hydrolysis is a chemical reaction in which water is added to break chemical bonds.

Oops, yes I do mean electrolysis not hydrolysis! I corrected my post! You are exactly right about the gas volumes, and the application of the ideal gas law is a very good approximation in the vast majority of conditions.

@Zephyris: Very interesting work. I also like how you make a story out of everything you present.

Thanks!

[xeryon]

If the products are stored as gases under the same conditions and that the Ideal Gas Law is a good approximation for those conditions, then storage capacity for H2 is indeed double of O2 (V=nRT/P). So the volume of the atoms and molecules has no influence on the needed storage capacity. Only under conditions that the Ideal Gas Law does not apply differences might occur, but that is some in-depth knowledge that doesn't add much.

You are right, it doesn't make much difference for the topic but doesn't Ideal Gas Law disregard molecular size? I'm not a chemist and far removed from university studies so my knowledge on the topic is limited.


In any case this looks like it would be a fun diversion from the standard game play. Any thoughts on how to utilize air and sea craft in this futuristic Mars scenario? Something like ships being hovercraft that can only operate at height 0 and cannot climb elevations? Basically: ships without water under them? In the thinner atmosphere of Mars would a jet aircraft even be feasible?. I assume helicopters and propeller planes would not function well.

Not trying to change the course of the project, just interested (excited) to see how these things will be handled.

[planetmaker]

If the products are stored as gases under the same conditions and that the Ideal Gas Law is a good approximation for those conditions, then storage capacity for H2 is indeed double of O2 (V=nRT/P). So the volume of the atoms and molecules has no influence on the needed storage capacity. Only under conditions that the Ideal Gas Law does not apply differences might occur, but that is some in-depth knowledge that doesn't add much.

You are right, it doesn't make much difference for the topic but doesn't Ideal Gas Law disregard molecular size? I'm not a chemist and far removed from university studies so my knowledge on the topic is limited.

That's the point: A gas is mostly empty space, molecular size is nearly irrelevant, thus one can use the ideal gas law. Virutally all gases are ideal gases except under extreme conditions, which means at extremely high pressures (thousands or millions of atmospheric pressures). Thus the ideal gas law relates pressure, volume and temperature for the conditions discussed here quite well

[YNM]

If the products are stored as gases under the same conditions and that the Ideal Gas Law is a good approximation for those conditions, then storage capacity for H2 is indeed double of O2 (V=nRT/P). So the volume of the atoms and molecules has no influence on the needed storage capacity. Only under conditions that the Ideal Gas Law does not apply differences might occur, but that is some in-depth knowledge that doesn't add much.

You are right, it doesn't make much difference for the topic but doesn't Ideal Gas Law disregard molecular size? I'm not a chemist and far removed from university studies so my knowledge on the topic is limited.

That's the point: A gas is mostly empty space, molecular size is nearly irrelevant, thus one can use the ideal gas law. Virutally all gases are ideal gases except under extreme conditions, which means at extremely high pressures (thousands or millions of atmospheric pressures). Thus the ideal gas law relates pressure, volume and temperature for the conditions discussed here quite well

Apart from the fact that the hydrogen tank (assuming it's volume, pressure etc. is the same with oxygen) would have a fewer mass, and so less weight.

[lawton27]

You are right, it doesn't make much difference for the topic but doesn't Ideal Gas Law disregard molecular size? I'm not a chemist and far removed from university studies so my knowledge on the topic is limited.

That's the point: A gas is mostly empty space, molecular size is nearly irrelevant, thus one can use the ideal gas law. Virutally all gases are ideal gases except under extreme conditions, which means at extremely high pressures (thousands or millions of atmospheric pressures). Thus the ideal gas law relates pressure, volume and temperature for the conditions discussed here quite well

Apart from the fact that the hydrogen tank (assuming it's volume, pressure etc. is the same with oxygen) would have a fewer mass, and so less weight.

For the sake of game play I'd say this mass is insignificant compared to mass of the container (wagon, truck, ship etc) and gases should be treated as a weightless cargo (measure therefore in litres of course (presumably at some standard pressure)).

[Zephyris]

For the sake of game play I'd say this mass is insignificant compared to mass of the container (wagon, truck, ship etc) and gases should be treated as a weightless cargo (measure therefore in litres of course (presumably at some standard pressure)).

Nice idea, I will ponder that one.

Any thoughts on how to utilize air and sea craft in this futuristic Mars scenario?

Yes, many thoughts! I have a plan in place already.

In the thinner atmosphere of Mars would a jet aircraft even be feasible? I assume helicopters and propeller planes would not function well.

No jets (no oxygen!), so rockets only. Low air density, so certainly no helicopters. Suitably designed propellers, yes, but the wing area to weight ratio for any plane would have to be extreme!

[Andrew350]

Ooh, this set looks exciting Can't wait to see something playable!

[Zephyris]

Aquifer Pump

When Mars originally formed its composition was similar to Earth's, including a large quantity of water. Where this water went to leave the Martian surface dry and dusty was a mystery for many years. Eventually major reserves of water deep underground, kept liquid by geothermal energy, were found. These deep aquifers can be accessed through weak fissures in the rock, and once tapped give a supply of water under their own pressure. The aquifer pump industry taps these aquifers, supplementing the natural flow with active pumping for a reliable water supply. The actual pipelines to the surface are often scattered some distance from the central storage tanks and management buildings, taking advantage of where natural fault lines reach the surface to make drilling easier.

[Eddi]

The graphics for the town building could use a callback to detect if their is a road next to them in each direction

i believe you can even check whether there is a house on the opposite side of the road.

[Zephyris]

Ice Mine

While deep underground water reservoirs are normally liquid, those trapped nearer the surface are frozen solid. These shallow and extensive frozen water reserves are common in colder regions of the planet, but even in relatively warm areas the impact of the higher atmospheric temperatures hasn't penetrated into this permafrost to melt it. These reserves are simple to exploit by simply clearing the regolith off the surface of the ice deposit. A combination of melt from exposure from the sun and active mining provides easy access the water. This leaves ice mines as a major source of water across all but the warmest climates on the planet.

[planetmaker]

May I suggest taking a look at textures from http://trac.wildfiregames.com/browser/p ... rain/types ? They are licensed CC-BY-SA 3.0 and can give quite impressive results IMHO.

[Zephyris]

May I suggest taking a look at textures from http://trac.wildfiregames.com/browser/p ... rain/types ?

Mmm, there is definitely some good stuff in there! I shall dig through it...

And finally for tonight, a concept of how the regolith mine ground tiles will look. Just needs a few buildings and some machinery...

[Zephyris]

Regolith Mine

Mineral extraction on Mars is quite different to Earth. Mineral deposits on Earth were formed by a complex mixture of volcanism, plate tectonics, erosion and deposition and the action of billions of years of life. These processes have concentrated minerals in different regions, and made them easy to extract. In the distant past Mars had similar volcanic, tectonic and erosion processes concentrating mineral deposits, but in the last 2 billion years the thin atmosphere has allowed the pummelling of the Martian surface by asteroids, leaving a homogeneous mash of minerals over most of the planet's surface. Regolith mining aims to get what minerals it can from this homogeneous mixture by strip mining regions which have slightly concentrated minerals of interest. In practice this normally means regions which are low in ferric oxide (rust!) which gives most of the planet its red colour, and the extracted regolith of interest is normally quite dark in colour compared to most of the planetary surface.

[keoz]

Great work here !

[Zephyris]

Air Mine

The thin Martian atmosphere is one of the most valuable resources on the planet. While it is mostly carbon dioxide there are also small quantities of oxygen and nitrogen, along with many other important gasses. Air miners work by compressing huge volumes of air using vertically mounted gas turbines, which is then fractionally distilled under high pressure and low temperature. The air mine is a key industry as access to elemental oxygen and nitrogen is critical for the life support and fertilizer industries on the planet.

[Zephyris]

Monorail Vehicles

Monorails are the most widely used high speed rail system, and thanks to DanMacK and PikkaBird we have some graphics! Cargo trains are very similar to those on Earth, with standard carriages. The pressurised passenger cargo and passenger carriages are a little different. In order to maximise loading and unloading speeds additional airlock carriages can be used to help; if a pressurised cargo/passenger car is next to an airlock carriage then it increases the loading/unloading rate. Similar airlock cars are also used for guided ground trains and maglevs.