I'm trying to decide if I should be saving power. I've unlocked everything on the Heat and Pressure lists, and I've just unlocked the T5 Drill. Except they're massive power hogs. 10x the output of the T4, but nearly 10x the power cost.
With the heat/pressure menu's unlocked, is it worth it?
The overall Terraforming menu still has the most to do, but once you get to the insect/animal phase, is there any point to more pressure and heat, instead of focusing everything on Biomass?
Even if you've unlocked all of the heat and pressure technology tree, they still contribute to global TI.
They're not necessarily the most energy or space efficient way to get TI though. You can use them, or replace them with something else.
Power is no problem with nuclear fusion. T2 multipliers allow for 3 plugs and service 8 machines. That really really adds up fast. They are huge but there's also a pretty empty desert right before you get to the lava/moon rock areas. Get a multiplier t2 down with 3 fuses and set your drills up around that.
If you're reading this @OP, once you get the portal generator, your power worries will be over. Doing the higher difficulty wrecks is a quick way to a) get TT quickly without having to set up Fusion Power cell farming and b) getting different fuses for production and energy. Those two seem to be more prevalent than oxygen fuses.
In almost every case the higher T something is the better and more efficient it is. It will likely consume more power, but should output more of what it produces per point of power than its predecessors.
As for the tech tree, while you have unlocked everything in a particular branch that doesn't mean it stops contributing to the overall Terraforming Index. So keep your Heat, Pressure, Oxygen, Biomass producers going to keep your overall TI rising.
Once you can start putting Pulsar Quartz into Nuclear Fusion Generators your power issues are at an end. Each meteor that lands containing it should have 10 crystals (2 power plants). Then once you can find or purchase power fuses those multiply the output to crazy levels.
As for the tech tree, while you have unlocked everything in a particular branch that doesn't mean it stops contributing to the overall Terraforming Index. So keep your Heat, Pressure, Oxygen, Biomass producers going to keep your overall TI rising.
For whatever reason, I didn't realize this for the longest time and went on celebratory cleanup sprees whenever I finished a relevant tech tree branch. It's also why I boggled at getting a T5 drill well after completing heat and pressure.
Ah well, at least the fuses got recycled into TT and gave me a head start on that segment of the game.
Just in case you didn't know, you should consider deconstructing all of your T4 drills and at least placing one of the T5. It will likely output way more than all of the T4 drills you have sitting around hogging up your power...
For instance (if you have 10 T4s right now):
T4 x 10 = 455 kW/s
250 pK/s
4590 nPa/s
T5 x 1 = 375.5 kW/s
295 pK/s
3950 nPa/s
So, you get slightly more heat and slightly less pressure, but a kW savings of 79.5 kW/s.
The only reason is to contribute to Ti. You can always tear them down and rebuild them later.
The only concern is how fast you want to progress, really.
I've seen plays on YT where they skip frogs, and go directly to animals in their work. And they barely have time to create one or two animals before they hit 5TTi. What's the fun in that?
If you want to get to Endgame fast, sure, build them. Launch a couple more rockets, too.
I'm confused as to why you are having power issues. If you have T5 drills, then you should have T2 optimizers and fusion generators. Power should have stopped being an issue for you a while ago.
For my game, I had 6 fusion generators with 1 T2 optimizer with the 3 energy rods. I don't remember the exact amount of power it gave me. But my remaining power was around 99k. That's with 3 fully functioning bases, teleporters all over the place, and roughly 10-12 T5 heaters and drills each.
The fuses are the real game changer. A T2 machine optimizer only covers 8 machines, so you want the 8 of the highest tier, or else you are leaving TI on the table. Until you are farming rockets, the total number of pressure fuses will be limited, and it's hard to compete with 15x output.
Once you have fusion you should have plenty of power.
My main focus for TI is usually tree spreaders for oxygen, but I always have 8 drills and 8 heaters going.
If you use fusion reactors + power fuses you shouldn't have power issues at all. By the end of the game, I had my base fully powered by just 2 reactors and 2 full optimizers.
I planned to have the full 8, but I just never needed more power than that. 8 would've been complete overkill.
I love how BIG the T5 drills are.
Once you unlock quartz you'll never think about power ever again.
Honestly though, are u not farming uranium? Energy should never be a concern once you can have tier 2 miners.... Which is pretty early in the game.
You’ll have absolutely no power issues with fusion reactors and power fuses. If you have power issues now, maybe upgrade them after you’ve solved them?