TL;DR
Harvestable items that can be used as energy production as well as healing itemsWhat ?
Alongside Raw Fishes, every water pool should have a change to spawn an Electric Eel cluster. They can be then be used as food (albeit not so efficient compared to their cousin), OR they can be used as a direct energy source by having them in the hand while hovering an electric pole (literally launcing them!).Of course, this "throwing" gimmichy can be evolved in a more serious matter by automatizing their "use" (either by letting inserters throwing eels to poles or equivalent, or to being feed in an appropriate machine that onestly I can't think of right now - maybe a battery or sorta), and their supply can be kept under control by breeding (pump so much water oceans will literally get dry but hey, you'll need a very large pool if you want to go wide!), thus making the process sustainable: it's likely (much) less efficient than solar, but you don't have to take care of the day cycle and the input is pretty much free.
- Mockup 1.png (2.75 MiB) Viewed 936 times
- Mockup 4.png (232.13 KiB) Viewed 936 times
- Mockup 3.png (557.98 KiB) Viewed 936 times
Why ?
Electric eels are the most known example of fishes capable of making electricity, and should be perfect in a game about resource extracting and automation.Also increases the number of different wildlife species on the alien planet (they don't have to be exactly equal to the real ones, there's large margin of customization and you can add some "lore" into them eg. they are yellow, have four+ eyes and make a ton of electricy).
Also increases the number of different ways you can anchive power autonomy, with its own pros and cons (best suitable in an ecologic run where oil is not yet researched).
Also makes the player finally be able to use animals to achieve their goals, in a way that's fitting with the setting (you can't use horses, for example, as they are unlikely to see in a planet infested by aliens).
Also, sorry for the mockups...they took way more time than expected.