I am here proposing a slate of somewhat disparate adjustments collected from several players that can loosely be grouped under recipe changes. These suggestions range from minor to significant, and while they are loosely linked together, most could easily be implemented independently of each other.
Note: Durations and quantities were omitted from all recipe proposals below.
Additional Sodium Uses
Sodium (Na) is well known for having uses wildly out of proportion with its production, and thus adding more uses and recipe tweaks could be useful.
Proposal 1: Adding NaOH, by splitting the H2O+HAL->NA+CL recipe into the following:
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H2O+HAL->NaOH+CL+H (CHP)
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HAL->NA+CL (CHP)
Cyanide would also be added:
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AMM+H+C+O->HCN+H2O (CHP) or
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AMM+C->HCN (CHP)
NaOH would then be implemented in new and existing recipes:
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NaOH+RCO->COT (WPL)
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NaCN+AUO+O+H2O+C->AU+NaOH (AML)
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(NUT/VEG)+NaOH+H2O->Soap (CHP/PHF)
Soap could be an upkeep material for INF or HOS.
To avoid cyanide having too few uses, it could be added to another recipe:
- PG+HCN->NL (WPL)
Proposal 2: Adding NA to several metal recipes, where it occurs in real life refining processes:
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TIO+C+O+NA->TI (SME)
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ZIR+NA->ZR+SIO (AML)
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TAI+NA->TA+FE (AML)
The TI addition is especially noteworthy, because TI is currently unusual among metals in not having an improved alternate recipe.
NaOH could be given the material code “LYE”
Soap could be given the material code “SOA”
Cyanide could be given the material code “HCN”
NaCN could be given the material code “NCN”
NS Adjustments
NS is effectively a liquid fertilizer, and such substances generally contain both nitrogen and phosphorus, since those are the two primary limiting nutrients for crops. While NS contains N, it does not contain P. Thus, I am proposing the addition of phosphate rock and the following recipe:
- Phosphate rock->P (CHP)
The NS recipe would then be as follows
- H2O+N+P+LST->NS (CHP)
Phosphate rock could be given the material code “PHR”
Internal Logic Improvements
BGO includes in its description that it is an alloy of gold and gallium, however it is produced from AU and FE. Galerite’s name and use in LDI suggests it is a gallium mineral. Thus, I am proposing the addition of GA and the following recipe additions and adjustments:
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GAL+NaOH/C->GA (CHP/SME)
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AU+GA->BGO (FS)
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GA+SI->LDI (CLR)
Gallium could be given the material code “GA”
Similarly, BRO is an alloy typically made from copper and tin, however in-game it is an alloy of CU and AL.Thus, I am proposing the addition of SN and the following recipe adjustments and additions:
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SNO+C+O->SN (SME)
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CU+SN->BRO (FS)
SN has a variety of industrial applications, from glass production to electronics and could be used in several existing and alternative recipes to avoid adding a material with needlessly limited utility.
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SIO+NA+SN->GL (GF)
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NCS+LI+SN->POW (ECA)
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[xBU inputs]+SN+STL->xBU (PAC)
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SWF+BCO+PE+BGO+SN->PCB (SCA)
Tin could be given the material code “SN.”
The process of refining AUO into AU is widely known for having a significantly greater output mass than input, and BGO and RGO are similar, although less dramatic. The recipes proposed above involving NA would require even higher AU output, compounding this problem. Thus, it is proposed that the mass of AU, BGO, and RGO be decreased by a factor of ten, reducing this discrepancy without damaging recipe ratios or changing densities. It also would not result in any unexplained mass gains in higher recipes.
Building Adjustments
There are several mineral processing recipes scattered across disparate buildings for little apparent reason. Thus, I am proposing the addition of a new building, a “resource processing facility” that would unify those recipes in a single location. This building would draw together the existing SCR+O->S, CLI->I, MGS->MG, LST->CA, and HAL+H2O->NA+CL recipes, as well as the GAL+NaOH->GA, PHR->P, H2O+HAL->NaOH+CL+H, and HAL->NA+CL recipes proposed above. This would be a pioneer-level building in one of two industries. The first would be chemistry, which has no pioneer-level buildings despite two of the starter planets having chemistry COGCs. Given the current developer push to revamp the new player experience, adding a chemistry starter package using this building, with recommended starts being Montem and Umbra, could be highly beneficial in this area. The second proposed industry would be a reworked fuel refining, simplified to just “refining” and containing this building and the REF, as it is a frequent complaint that fuel refining has only a single building.
Thank you to Hal98, AtlantisRising, Coincrafter23, Laaxus, Roujo, Saigo, Cyrup, and the others who helped with all of these suggestions.