Idea — Quantum Silo (Planet-Local Shared Storage)¶
Document Type: Idea Status: 💡 Idea. Agreed as a late-game feature. NOT scheduled. NOT in Phase 1 scope. Last Updated: 2026-08-29 Vault destination:
00_IdeasRaised: 2026-08-25 Filed per:02_Risk RegisterD1 (Scope Creep, Critical)
The Idea¶
A storage building that acts as a portal into a shared planet-wide pool rather than a local container. Items put into any Quantum Silo on a planet are accessible from every other Quantum Silo on that same planet.
Agreed constraint: planet-local only. It does NOT work across planets.
Why Planet-Local Matters¶
Two hard conflicts appear the moment it crosses planets, and both are avoided by the planet-local rule.
1. It would contradict a stated GDD principle.
01_Master GDD states: "Resources belong to the planet — no per-player inventory." A cross-planet pool is a per-player inventory by another name.
2. It would undercut a planned pillar. Trade Station, transport ships, and player-to-player async trade are already designed as the Phase 2/3 answer to moving goods between locations. If a chest teleports items between planets, that entire layer becomes decorative. Shipping the trivial version first would make the interesting version pointless.
Planet-local sidesteps both. Within one planet, belts and pipes remain the logistics answer; between planets, ships remain the logistics answer.
The Remaining Risk¶
The core pleasure of a factory game is solving "get this from A to B". Any shared pool erodes that. Even planet-local, a general-purpose version available early would let players skip belt design entirely.
Precedent: Satisfactory's Dimensional Depot works, but only because it is deliberately hobbled: - Late unlock - Upload rate limits - Feeds player construction, never production chains
Nobody runs a smelter off it. That restriction is what keeps the belt game intact.
Proposed Constraints (if built)¶
| Constraint | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Planet-local only | Agreed. Protects the space logistics layer. |
| Late-game research unlock | Player must have solved belt logistics properly first |
| Rate-limited in and out | Cannot sustain a production chain at full throughput |
| Not valid as a production input | Machines cannot pull from the pool directly. Prevents belt-skipping. |
| Capacity is finite and upgradeable | Keeps it a factory-fed system, not a free menu |
Open items for this document are tracked in docs/open-items.md.
Interaction With the Store Redesign¶
Separate from this idea, the standard storage building is being redesigned as a vertical column, named Silo (see 06_Design Session Decision Log §4). The Quantum Silo would presumably share that silhouette with a distinguishing feature.
If both exist, the visual difference must be obvious at gameplay distance, since confusing a local store with a shared one would be a frustrating mistake.
Decision¶
Deferred to late game. Not scheduled. Do not build in Phase 1.
Revisit once the belt and pipe logistics game has been played enough to know whether it needs a release valve at all.