Steam energy development

[leadraven]

Here are some ideas about improvement of steam energy :

1. Make Boiler to overheat steam : better fuel -> higher temperature.
2. Allow Steam engine to use overheated steam to the full.
3. Split 50% efficiency penalty between Boiler and Steam engine.
4. Present Steam turbine earlier in the tech tree.

These changes are relatively minor, but will make energy progression smoother.
It will motivate player to use solid fuel instead of coal in boilers, invest resources into steam turbines.
Also transition to nuclear power will be easier since player already has turbines.

P.S. It would also be great to see more applications of heat pipes.

Do you think such changes make any sense?

[bobingabout]

Although I do like the idea of better fuel heating steam a bit more... 0.17 changes a fair few things and it's release is around the corner (I'd say late feb personally, but the release date isn't known yet)

the fuel values have all been adjusted and the 50% efficiency removed from boilers. now both boiler and steam engine are 100%
on top of this there's a debate about if temperature as a mechanic should be removed from the game completely in the drive to improve pipe performance. Steam would then be a fluid with a fuel value, defined on the prototype not in the environment.

[MoleOnDope]

As Bobingabout correctly said, the Devs are thinking about removing fluid temperature meachanics altogether.
As I also said in the mentioned thread, messing with steam temperature too much is most likely too complicated to be fun for most people, even in a over-simplified game environment.

I think both the steam engine cycle and the steam turbine cycle are perfect as they are. They're also kind of emblematic for different eras in technological evolution, which I love especially about them.
the two kinds of steam should only be treated more distinctly, maybe "saturated steam" and "dry steam", although that also wouldn't necessarily be correct in the end. But a game lives off simplifications anyway, right?