Stone and Water Overhaul: Mountains, Rivers, New Energy

[CursedByLight]

TL;DR
Add mountains and rivers that overhaul how players gather stone and water, and allow for more forms of energy generation and a more compelling looking map.

Why Mountains?

Players who like to invest in modded, low resource, or rail-world games with high alien threat can experience game over if they do not find a large enough stone patch to perpetuate lots of walls, or enough rails to gather resources. It would also make the map a lot more interesting to look at. I am not suggesting an elevation system, the game doesn't require that level of complexity until it is ready or wants to.

1. I propose mountains as a constant for players to be able to gather large amounts of stone for whatever they need. We could build new mining drills that attach to loose stoned mountain cliffs like a small bucket wheel excavator that attaches similar to how train stops attach to track. The cliffs would eventually run dry of loose stone, and would require a cliff explosive to redeposit said stone to be mined again. This would keep players from leveling mountains through sheer mining without nuclear ordinance.

2. Rivers. I have seen in the frequently suggested that players want to see weather, limited water, boats, bridges, and swimming/flying enemies. The system could be as simple as, the mountains have lakes that are connected to other lakes away from the mountain eventually into the ocean by river tiles that have flowing water animations that can't be land filled. Each individual lake would have a grouped yield depending on how large the lake is, and the river yield would be tied to whichever river it flows from. The yield would drain the same as oil does. If it snows in the mountains, the mountain lake gains permanent yield, and if it rains anywhere else water yields get a temporary bonus. This would allow for boat travel and better use of water barriers. There would be shallows for players and natives to cross. If the river crosses a cliff, then a waterfall is generated. Mountains could be easily located by following the river. If the players remove the mountains with nuclear bombs down the line if they are added, the river system would run out of water and dry up progressively. This could also allow players to build hydroelectric dams out of the cement generated by the mountains.

3. Fracking from these new stone sources could supply us with natural gas to either burn in generators or use for something else.

4. The optimal geothermal locations in the United States are located in the southern rocky mountains, although it can be done anywhere. Geothermal steam generators could work better nearby mountains where there is more volcanic activity.

5. Along the eastern cascade mountains, wind turbines fill the hills to the point that they don't use them all if the wind is too strong. Wind turbines could be built downwind of mountains.

6. The Factorissimo mod adds pocket dimension maps in the form of space efficient warehouses. This could be implemented with caverns in the mountains that could contain resources to be extracted, or aliens to clear out.