I absolutely adore the game but there is one thing about it that i absolutely cannot cope with and that is ruining the experience for me. I am talking about utilities (the power systems and the water treatment). I have found myself building quite large habitats and treating the water in those is an absolute nightmare. The water treatment range is pretty good but the thing is that i can never seem to find a spot where they don't disturb the visitors and manage to clean the water at once. Sometimes the water treatment plants doesn't even treat the water even if the water is clearly in range. (it says bodies cleaned 0). Water treatment is an ok feature but can defiantly be improved. As for power systems.. these should not exist in the game. I built a walkway over a habitat with lights and everything but here is the deal, in order to power those lights i needed to place a transformer in the middle of the habitat and so i did, i even built a small hut around it so it would look better, this was useless nonetheless. Apparently mechanics cannot repair utilities placed inside habitats. If mechanics could repair utilities inside habitats and utilities didn't require a path connection i would be content. Maybe also if the range of the utilities were increased a lot.
Utilities
- Thread starter NYan2
- Start date
i second this
I agree with what you say.
I wanted to build utilities near habitats etc but the guests don't like them, they need to be near shops too to function but again, can't let guests see them.
So I thought I'd build a 3 story high building, thinking its out of sight, but the circles that control the range of the utilities for guest satisfaction doesn't matter if the facilities are high or low below the ground.
I like the idea of facilities. Its a different challenge. But I think if they're to do these round satisfaction ranges, it should be a "ball" so that if I have them high above guest paths or underground, they won't be affected.
Also, why not add things like pipework? Do zoos really have that many water treatment facilties and electric stations etc around the park?
I wanted to build utilities near habitats etc but the guests don't like them, they need to be near shops too to function but again, can't let guests see them.
So I thought I'd build a 3 story high building, thinking its out of sight, but the circles that control the range of the utilities for guest satisfaction doesn't matter if the facilities are high or low below the ground.
I like the idea of facilities. Its a different challenge. But I think if they're to do these round satisfaction ranges, it should be a "ball" so that if I have them high above guest paths or underground, they won't be affected.
Also, why not add things like pipework? Do zoos really have that many water treatment facilties and electric stations etc around the park?
Mostly yes. Water filtration systems are generally close to the pool they are cleaning.
edit: also.. the area affected is a sphere already.
To the OP’s point, I can’t quite see how you’re having the issues you’re complaining about… unless you’re building seriously huge exhibits, but even then I’m not sure. A screenshot would be helpful if you’d like advice? In the meantime consider switching to sandbox and simply making power and water filtration irrelevant.
I haven't played for a while but I do recall issues of didn't matter how high or low I built them they always seemed to interfere with guests.
Has it always been spheres? I don't recall spheres. I recall circle's for sure. But not spheres.
Underground pipe and electrical cable options would be great. They could be more expensive to implement, but wouldn't have as much need for maintenance and would not have any kind of negative effect on the guests. They could run from a different type of water/power utility than what we currently have, that would have a larger negative radius and would be fairly expensive as well. Large zoos would still probably need more than one, but that would all depending on the pipe/cable capacity.
So about the underground piping/cable, it is quite a good solution. Though it raise me some questions, like how would they interact with terrain modification if they're implemented? Would they be exposed, get automatically adjust themselves somehow, or be completely unaffected with the terrain nearby, leaving some mildly annoying terrains?
And where would the pipe/cable end? If they get started from somewhere, they have to end at...somewhere. Will they end and connect to some new smaller utility facilities?
And where would the pipe/cable end? If they get started from somewhere, they have to end at...somewhere. Will they end and connect to some new smaller utility facilities?
First thing I turn on every time I play new sandbox, infinite electricity and always clean water, lol.
I was just thinking the same thing. An alternative to placing power stations and water treatments all over the park is to have a system of pipes connecting habitats and facilities to fewer utility plants. I remember the Sim City games had pipes you had to lay down to connect the pumping stations. I'm sure real zoos have pipes and electrical conduits. But they would need to be flexible as to where one could lay them down and depth you could place them at etc.. It would be a nightmare if they messed up path or barrier placement.
Maybe the water temperature controllers would still need to be close to the habitats they serve, though. That makes more sense.