Rise of the Reds Update: Second Sun Options

[MARS]

Spain, 2039

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. This is Eric Brice, reporting live for ECAN News from the sunny province of Granada, where we are about to witness a truly historical moment. The large peculiar building you're seeing behind me is Europe's first solar-fusion reactor, which will be ceremoniously activated by Adriana Menendez, the President of the Spanish Government, within the next minutes. But before we get to that, please allow me to give you a quick 'tour' of this magnificent facility.

Dubbed 'Ciudad del Sol', City of the Sun, by the locals, the Granada power station is a marvel of modern engineering. Several hundred kilometres worth of road infrastructure and an even greater length of high-capacity power lines have been laid out around the facility, which consists of more than twenty individual buildings that contain control stations, research laboratories, offices and staff quarters. Deep down, in the shielded underground centre of this imposing structure lies the heart of the entire complex: The solar-fusion reactor. Professor Herbert Lasche from the university of Munich is one of the senior advisors of the Solaris project. He gave me a brief explanation of how it works earlier today:

"When Mrs. Menendez pushes that symbolical button, we in the control centre and our colleagues over in French Guiana receive the green-light to initiate a three-stage-process. Stage one: The ESA folks activate 'Comas Solá', the first Solaris satellite that is already placed in orbit, and use its collector mirrors to focus a sharp beam of highly concentrated sunlight directly onto our facility. Stage two: The beam enters the ground station through the large shaft on top, which is lined with solar panels all the way down to the core. Those alone could produce enough electricity for the entire province. Now, stage three, that's where the real miracle happens: The energy produced by the panels is then used to power our fusion reactor. That's basically a large, doughnut shaped ring wrapped in electromagnetic coils. Inside that chamber, we create a plasma field at extreme temperatures and pressure and use these conditions to fuse hydrogen isotopes into helium, whereupon an even greater magnitude of heat is produced, which we then transform into useable electricity via a set of special turbines that runs underneath this entire area. In layman's terms, this isn't just a powerplant that feeds sunlight into solar panels...It is essentially a miniature version of the sun itself - on Earth."

You referred to this machine as a fusion reactor. But Professor, how is this different and more advanced than the cold fusion reactors that the United States have been using for several years at this point?

"I get that question quite often. You see, without wishing any offence to the American colleagues, the system that they created is not exactly 'cold fusion' as most people would imagine it from sci-fi shows. That was one of those catchy PR terms that the folks at National Atomics decided to throw in there for marketing purposes. Every American scientist worth his salt cringes at the use of that term just as much as we do. No, what they basically did was build a much smaller 'doughnut' that runs on the most basic hot fusion reaction, at the lowest possible temperature and pressure, that is sustained by a regular nuclear fission reactor. Those so-called field generators that entered service with the US military decades ago are actually just feed stations containing a truck-sized replaceable battery that is merely charged by one of these reactors safely behind the frontlines, but I guess the idea that this is actual cold fusion just caught on, kind of like that whole 'god particle' thing..."

Once the facility runs at full steam, it could theoretically produce enough energy for the whole Iberian peninsula. But instead, the electricity will be fed into the joint continental power grid and spread across the entirety of Europe. In the long run, the Solaris project entails the installation of one such facility in every larger European country. ESA is optimistic that, should 'Comas Solá', the first satellite, enter service without incident today, the next two satellites, dubbed 'Cassini' and 'Kepler', will also be launched this year, with another batch already under construction. Over the coming years, the Solaris energy project will achieve nothing short of total self-sufficiency for the nations of Europe thanks to this virtually limitless supply of highly efficient, clean energy. On top of that, the scientists are already exploring the idea of using modified satellites to project sunlight onto large, fully automated farms for an increased agricultural production and there's also the possibility of 'lend-leasing' Solaris' services to countries outside the ECA such as in Eastern Europe or the North African protectorates...

Okay, I just got the word that President Menendez is now going to push the button. This was Eric Brice, reporting live from Granada, Spain for ECAN News. Let's conclude this exciting moment by letting the pictures speak for themselves, ladies and gentlemen...

This structure houses a more compact version of the ECA's world-famous solar-fusion power plants. Heavily sheltered under multiple layers of lead-reinforced concrete lies the reactor which receives its operating power from what was originally a downsized 'lend-lease' model of a Solaris satellite. While not quite as powerful as the full-scale civilian reactors, a single -one- of these power plants produces enough energy to sustain -every- European structure in an entire front sector. Therefore, the construction of multiple reactors at a time is neither necessary nor feasible since a single reactor alone still requires a rather large crew of professionally educated technicians, many of whom aren't entirely willing to operate these facilities in the middle of a raging battle. In order to protect them and the equally vital structure they reside in, the outer shell of the Solar Reactor comes equipped with three hardpoints that can be used to mount defensive weapons, for the loss of this vital structure may result in blackouts across the entire sector.

[aeroth]

Spain, 2039

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. This is Eric Brice, reporting live for ECAN News from the sunny province of

ECAN = eca news ? if that is so you have written eca news news

but it also could mean eca network..hmm


it's like the gdi power plant you construct a little thing on it and bum more power.

question : ingame will a giant beam from the sky will come in that tower like in the picture ?

This post has been edited by aeroth: 22 Oct 2012, 8:04

[Alias]

ECAN = eca news ? if that is so you have written eca news news

ECA Network News.

[DELETED MEMBER]

Seems like ECA wont have Energy problems
and upgradeable with weapons? thats interesting

[MARS]

The weapon upgrade makes perfect sense since this'll be your -only- powerplant. You're gonna want to protect it with all you have. It provides 1 million power units and has a build limit of 1. Lose it and you're back to the basic power level provided by the Region Command and whatever other plants you have captured. As for the visuals, yes, there will be a thick yellow beam falling in through the shaft on top.

[aeroth]

what if i want to build one of thouse ridiculos gigantic bases you see on youtube were a fill a 8 player map with superweaponds and buildings ??

and the build limit on power plant is unique but it can be strategecly dangerous :-s does it have at least more hp then a normal power plant ?

So you can't destroy it with a foab or a particle cannon.

This post has been edited by aeroth: 22 Oct 2012, 8:15

[MARS]

Of course it has. This structure can withstand a superweapon and is also significantly larger than any other power plant. You actually have to reach Tier-1 in order to build it. Until then, the auxiliary power generated by the RC should suffice.

[Nemanja]

Of course it has. This structure can withstand a superweapon and is also significantly larger than any other power plant. You actually have to reach Tier-1 in order to build it. Until then, the auxiliary power generated by the RC should suffice.

I like this idea,instead of giving some ''regular'' C&C Powerplants or Generators,
ECA gets quite unique power supplier.
--------------
One question :
Is this building at same time a superweapon in later game ?

[MARS]

No, their superweapon is a seperate structure, since they'll be able to build them without a limit - unless the 'limit superweapons' option has been activated - just like all the other factions.

[Nemanja]

No, their superweapon is a seperate structure, since they'll be able to build them without a limit - unless the 'limit superweapons' option has been activated - just like all the other factions.

Well if this structure is such a scary looking one,
I can't imagine Superweapon then . . .
---------
And this building is not available from the start ?

[MARS]

As I said: You have to reach Tier-1 in order to build this one power plant. Until then, the RC provides the power, although not nearly as much as the Solar Reactor. Just enough to get all the important structures and a few defences in place.

[Nemanja]

As I said: You have to reach Tier-1 in order to build this one power plant. Until then, the RC provides the power, although not nearly as much as the Solar Reactor. Just enough to get all the important structures and a few defences in place.

Oh sorry you already answered almost same question to someone above.
---------
We would be able to mount some still unknown defensive weapons on it,
but at same time to garrison it with infantry.Right ?

[MARS]

No, only the RC can be garrisoned. The Solar Reactor can only be upgraded with special defences that we are yet to design on those three square-shaped hardpoints.

[Knjaz.]

Great. A very interesting concept. Saves alot of base space as well, I guess.

About those hardpoints for weaponry - will there be different defense upgrades available for it? And how efficient will they be? (i.e., does it reach efficiency level of a, say, regular t0 or t1 defense structure?)


P.S. Sorry, got ninja'd.

This post has been edited by Knjaz.: 22 Oct 2012, 9:17

[MARS]

As said above: We haven't entirely decided on what to use for these hardpoints yet, but chances are there will be different options.

[Nemanja]

No, only the RC can be garrisoned. The Solar Reactor can only be upgraded with special defences that we are yet to design on those three square-shaped hardpoints.

But we will be able to use just one type of weapon on all three HPs ?
Example : There are AA,AI and AT upgrade to choose,I choose AA and on all three
HPs will be AA emplacements,it would not be able to use different weapon on each HP ?

[Comr4de]

We're going to have AA on it for sure.

And for the record we have decided what to do on 'em. More on that soon


Also now you know where this was for. Be sure to check the others too!

[__CrUsHeR]

I had already seen this structure in the game (screenshot) before, it was really wonderful, like a fortress with a laser beam.

In terms of gameplay I liked the idea, mainly because of the structure to receive weapons for their own defense.

Something catastrophic happened when this structure to collapse (as with Breeder Reactor)?

[Comr4de]

I had already seen this structure in the game (screenshot) before, it was really wonderful, like a fortress with a laser beam.

In terms of gameplay I liked the idea, mainly because of the structure to receive weapons for their own defense.

Something catastrophic happened when this structure to collapse (as with Breeder Reactor)?

...



...



...worse.

[IPS]

Something catastrophic happened when this structure to collapse (as with Breeder Reactor)?

it will look really badass ; )
edit: awww Comr4de..^^

This post has been edited by IPS: 22 Oct 2012, 9:54

[__CrUsHeR]

it will look really badass ; )
edit: awww Comr4de..^^

Now I'm much more curious. I will interpret the response as a big yes.

[Nemanja]

We're going to have AA on it for sure.

And for the record we have decided what to do on 'em. More on that soon

OK I assumed that there will be something like that,
but my question was :
Will be able to take different weapon on each Hard Point ?
(I assume not,due to engine limitations :| )
Also,MARS already stated that will not be able to garrison,
but it have those little sites like on Regional Command.
Was there idea to be able to garrison at some time of development and then later fell off,
or those sites are here just for eye candy ?

[Comr4de]

OK I assumed that there will be something like that,
but my question was :
Will be able to take different weapon on each Hard Point ?
(I assume not,due to engine limitations :| )
Also,MARS already stated that will not be able to garrison,
but it have those little sites like on Regional Command.
Was there idea to be able to garrison at some time of development and then later fell off,
or those sites are here just for eye candy ?

This upgrade would be all hardpoints obviously, would be a bit goofy otherwise.

What sites on the Region Command? It has no firing points, no point in describing it that way. And no it was never meant to be so, it was designed to make it look sturdy its all

[SpiralSpectre]

Interesting concept. Power plant with build limit of 1, provides practically infinite power, has defensive structures, can survive superweapons - pretty much the opposite of regular power plants. Guess basically it's gonna be a near impossible or perhaps suicidal idea to try to cut ECA's power off. ECA sure seems to have a lot of build limits. The building looks very imposing and sturdy, can't wait to see that shiny beam falling on it in-game.

BTW we still don't know how they reach tier 1 in the first place... so can we know? :3

[Nemanja]

This upgrade would be all hardpoints obviously, would be a bit goofy otherwise.

What sites on the Region Command?

Those netted ones . . .
I thought infantry will shot from them but it seems that I am wrong