[Suggestion] Clear visible indication that heat exchanger is working vs. stopped

[JasonC]

I would find it useful if there was some visual indication that a heat exchanger was running (sufficient temperature, water, and output space).

Currently, afaict, stopped exchangers look the same as running ones:



Maybe a small glowing window or a spinning fan or steam coming out of that little pipe or something.

Thanks!

(PS My map isn't top secret, lol, I just blacked it out to help optimize the gif. Well, that and the fact that I like to place buildings to spell out my most important passwords, maybe I should stop doing that...)

[mrvn]

Turn of the light, there is a glow effect on the heat pipes.

[JasonC]

Turn of the light, there is a glow effect on the heat pipes.

I see this with no lights (also I had the Light Overhaul mod installed when I made the OP so I turned that off too just in case, and I double checked that all the effects were turned on in graphics settings):



If I squint at night I can tell if the temperature is near 500C but, the glow doesn't really seem to be connected to whether it's running or not.

[mmmPI]

If I squint at night I can tell if the temperature is near 500C but, the glow doesn't really seem to be connected to whether it's running or not.

given that a hot heat exchanger getting disconnected from water will not suddenly stop glowing i think it's fair to assume the glow comes from the temperature and not from the running/not running state.

It's also what's written on the wiki : Heat pipes (also in reactors and heat exchangers) glow with high temperatures.

[JasonC]

Yeah; that's what I'm saying. That's why I'd like to see a visible indication that it's running.

I'll see if I can edit the title to clarify that it's a suggestion for working / stopped indication, rather than a question about the heat glow and temperature.

My non-assertiveness has just been because I was only 99% sure - rather than 100% sure - that there wasn't a graphical indication already, because I'm kind of dumb sometimes and miss things that are staring me right in the face. Always a possibility, lol.

[mmmPI]

I wanted to confirm that what you were saying was also my impression, 99% sure that there is no visual way to tell if it's running or not, no animation, no little light or smoke, as far is know the glow effect is not related to the state of the heat exchanger but to its temperature only , i can say with assertiveness that a hot exchanger without water will glow

Turning of the light does make the glow more visible but doesn't help if you want to know how many heat exchanger are running at a glance like it is possible for furnaces array particularly visible at night which i guess is the purpose of the suggestion.

[mrvn]

What do you suggest? A little steam leakage showing white smoke?

[JasonC]

What do you suggest? A little steam leakage showing white smoke?

That'd work. Or a little window with an on/off glow. Or maybe a moving part like a little fan or spinny thing or something.

White smoke would probably be the path of least resistance since there's already a tiny pipe sticking out the top of the graphic, and it'd be pretty easy to see.

A glow somewhere might be more "realistic" (I mean...) in that they kind of have a no-emissions vibe and you wouldn't want a leaky heat exchanger, lol. But also it might be less of a performance hit than adding smoke and could still work even with trimmed down graphics settings.

A gently pulsing glow escaping out these edges might look cool:



A spinny thing wouldn't need glow or smoke effects and is the least intrusive but might be harder to see, like how you have to stare at the turbines a little to see if they're running if you have smoke turned off.

I don't actually have a strong preference*, as long as it's visible I'm happy!

(* Edit: Although, the glow is kind of growing on me.)

[mmmPI]

A glow somewhere might be more "realistic" (I mean...) in that they kind of have a no-emissions vibe and you wouldn't want a leaky heat exchanger, lol. But also it might be less of a performance hit than adding smoke and could still work even with trimmed down graphics settings.

I agree, heat exchanger are not consuming steam so i wouldn't want to see smoke coming out of them in the air like turbines and would prefer the additionnal glow

[Amarula]

I really like the status indicator lights on the electric mining drills: green I'm hard at work; yellow I'm paused waiting for room for output; red he's dead Jim er I mean out of materials. I would like to see this on all types of producers including the heat exchangers.

[mrvn]

What do you suggest? A little steam leakage showing white smoke?

That'd work. Or a little window with an on/off glow. Or maybe a moving part like a little fan or spinny thing or something.

White smoke would probably be the path of least resistance since there's already a tiny pipe sticking out the top of the graphic, and it'd be pretty easy to see.

A glow somewhere might be more "realistic" (I mean...) in that they kind of have a no-emissions vibe and you wouldn't want a leaky heat exchanger, lol. But also it might be less of a performance hit than adding smoke and could still work even with trimmed down graphics settings.

A gently pulsing glow escaping out these edges might look cool:



A spinny thing wouldn't need glow or smoke effects and is the least intrusive but might be harder to see, like how you have to stare at the turbines a little to see if they're running if you have smoke turned off.

I don't actually have a strong preference*, as long as it's visible I'm happy!

(* Edit: Although, the glow is kind of growing on me.)

They do have that little pipe sticking up. I would guess that's some safety valve that releases steam on overpressure. I could also imagine that the boiler has a little steam engine built-in used to pump the steam into the output pipe or fresh water into the boiler against the steam pressure. The pipe could be the waste output for that pump. So a little steam cloud would be totally plausible.

As for a leaky heat exchangers I can tell you that that is very much normal. Many years ago I was stationed on a Destroyer and we were doing a refit. The ships power plant runs with steam so during refit we got steam from the base and little leaks in the connecting points in the pipe were totally normal.

I doubt though they will redesign the boiler graphics any time soon to include some moving parts so you can see if it is working.

[ssilk]

Steam: remember that steam can be turned off in the graphics menu. Not a good indicator.

[mrvn]

There are animated trees and water using GPU tricks to show wind. Could the same be done to show heat distortions? Although like steam that would be optional.

[JasonC]

There are animated trees and water using GPU tricks to show wind. Could the same be done to show heat distortions? Although like steam that would be optional.

I actually initially imagined that, too, and thought it might look neat, but then I thought it would be too subtle to see at a glance and also has a pretty low visual SNR if you've also got a bunch of animated trees, water, and clouds on the screen. Also I usually turn off tree and water animations (and sometimes smoke) and particle effects when I'm on battery on my laptop.

I'm now solidly voting for a glow peaking out from some of the shadowy edges: It can be a part of the graphic so even if graphics settings turn off the little glowy halos its still visible; it is easy to see at a glance; it doesn't need significant new art like a moving part might; it doesn't add any sprite overlays; and it seems appropriate. It could be pulsing for a nicer look. It should either be on or off, depending only on if the building is in the running state, and not on anything else like temperature and stuff.

That's my final answer, lol.

I'm putting a bunch of stars around this post because it's obviously the best one.