Tuning Values¶
Document Type: Reference Version: 0.1 Last Updated: 2026-08-30 Vault destination:
05_ReferenceFolder:05_Reference
What This Document Is¶
Every balance number in one place, with its default and where it is specified.
Before this document the tunables were spread across at least six design documents, so "what can I turn, and what is it set to" had no single answer. Balancing meant reading the whole vault.
How to read it¶
| Column | Means |
|---|---|
| Value | What the number controls |
| Identifier | The code-side name where one is settled |
| Default | What it is now |
| Authority | The document that explains why — go there before changing it |
This document owns the values. The design documents own the reasoning. Change a number here and in its authority together. If the two ever disagree, the authority wins, because a number without its rationale is how a decision gets quietly undone.
These are defaults, not conclusions. Almost nothing here has been playtested. The point of collecting them is that they can be moved as a set.
⚠️ Values marked PENDING are not decided. They are listed so the gap is visible, with the open item that owns each one. Do not treat a blank as zero.
1. Simulation Core¶
| Value | Identifier | Default | Authority |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tick rate | TICK_RATE |
20 TPS | [02_Technical Documents/01_Technical Architecture Document](<../02_Technical Documents/01_Technical Architecture Document.md>) |
| Grid cell size | — | 1.0 world unit | Same |
| Camera pitch | PITCH_DEGREES |
50° | 00_Canonical Design Facts §1a |
| Camera zoom range | ZOOM_MIN / ZOOM_MAX |
5 – 40, default 20 | Same |
2. Power — Generation¶
All outputs at generation_scale = 1.0. Authority: [25_Power System Design](<../01_Design Documents/Systems/25_Power System Design.md>) §5.1.
| Value | Default | Notes |
|---|---|---|
generation_scale |
1.0 | Multiplies every output and fuel rate. The "how much power exists" knob |
fuel_density_scale |
1.0 | Energy per fuel item. The "how heavy is fuel logistics" knob |
| Biomass Burner | 40 PU | 0.4× reference |
| Coal Generator | 100 PU | The reference source. All other outputs are multiples of it |
| Fuel Generator | 250 PU | 2.5× |
| Solar Panel | 50 PU peak | Day only, cosine curve |
| Wind Turbine | 60 PU base | × altitude table, §4 below |
| Geothermal Tap | 300 PU | Shares one finite pool per planet |
| Nuclear Reactor | 600 PU | Plus 2.0/sec coolant, continuous |
| Core Power Station | 40 – 2240 PU | CER-derived, §4 below |
Fuel rates and energy content¶
| Fuel | Rate | Energy | One Basic Belt sustains |
|---|---|---|---|
raw_wood |
0.4 /sec | 100 PU·s | 100 PU |
raw_coal |
0.5 /sec | 200 PU·s | 200 PU |
fld_fuel |
0.5 /sec | 500 PU·s | 500 PU (pipe) |
| Uranium | 0.05 /sec | 12 000 PU·s | 12 000 PU |
3. Power — Distribution, Transmission, Storage¶
Authority: [25_Power System Design](<../01_Design Documents/Systems/25_Power System Design.md>) §4, §4b, §4c, §5.5.
| Value | Identifier | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Voltage drop coefficient | drop_coefficient |
0.000025 — gives radius × load = 16 000 PU·tiles |
| Transmitter radius | transmitter_radius |
8 tiles |
| Power Pole radius | pole_radius |
16 tiles |
| Power module bonus | power_module_radius_bonus |
+8 tiles |
| MV loss per tile | — | 0.5% |
| HV loss per tile | — | 0.15% |
| Transformer loss, each | — | 3% |
| Accumulator capacity | accumulator_capacity |
500 PU·s |
| Accumulator rate cap | accumulator_max_rate |
100 PU |
| Accumulator round trip | accumulator_round_trip |
0.90 |
Brownout shedding¶
The invariant: recovery_threshold > shutdown_threshold and restore_headroom_factor > shed_target_margin. Either equality reintroduces oscillation. A tuning resource should assert both on load.
| Value | Identifier | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Deficit confirm | deficit_confirm_ticks |
4 (0.2 s) |
| Shed target margin | shed_target_margin |
1.05 |
| Restore headroom factor | restore_headroom_factor |
1.10 |
| Shutdown threshold | shutdown_threshold |
0.60 |
| Recovery threshold | recovery_threshold |
0.75 |
| Hysteresis margin | — | 0.15, derived |
| Restore voltage headroom | restore_voltage_headroom |
0.05 |
| Shed stagger | shed_stagger_ticks |
4 (0.2 s) |
| Restore stagger | restore_stagger_ticks |
20 (1.0 s) |
| Restore dwell | restore_dwell_ticks |
20 (1.0 s) |
4. Planet and Altitude Modifiers¶
Authority: [06_Vertical Layers & Core Power System](<../01_Design Documents/Systems/06_Vertical Layers & Core Power System.md>).
Core Energy Rating, seeded per planet:
| Planet | CER | Planet | CER | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rogue | 100 – 250 PU | Terrestrial | 400 – 600 PU | |
| Ocean | 200 – 400 PU | Mini-Neptune | 500 – 800 PU | |
| Carbon | 600 – 900 PU | Super-Earth | 800 – 1200 PU | |
| Hot Jupiter | 1000 – 1600 PU | Lava | 1200 – 1800 PU | |
| Chthonian | 1800 – 2800 PU |
Core Power Station depth multipliers: L1 20% · L2 35% · L3 55% · L4 80% of CER, cumulative.
Wind Turbine by altitude: Surface 70% · Sky L1 90% · Sky L2 110% · Sky L3+ 130%. Rogue 0% (no atmosphere), Ocean 80% (calm).
5. Ports and Transport¶
| Value | Default | Authority |
|---|---|---|
| Base Mk item throughput | 1 / 2 / 4 items per sec | [23_Port System Design](<../01_Design Documents/Systems/23_Port System Design.md>) §5.4 |
| Base Mk fluid throughput | 10 / 20 / 40 units per sec | Same |
| Item port buffer | 1 item | §5.3 |
| Fluid port buffer | 10 units | §5.3 |
| Belt speeds | Basic 1 · Fast 2 · Express 4 items/sec | [04_Factory & Resource System Design](<../01_Design Documents/Systems/04_Factory & Resource System Design.md>) |
| Belt traversal | BELT_TICKS = 20 (1 tile/sec at 20 TPS) |
BeltSegment.gd |
Port throughput deliberately matches the belt tiers exactly, so a belt upgrade does nothing for a single machine until Base Mk rises to meet it.
6. Fluids¶
Authority: [07_Pipe & Fluid System Design](<../01_Design Documents/Systems/07_Pipe & Fluid System Design.md>).
| Value | Default |
|---|---|
| Pipe segment capacity | PipeSegment.CAPACITY = 20 units |
| Pair equalisation transfer rate | 0.4 of the difference per tick |
| Dead band | 0.5 units — below this, no transfer |
| Producer output pressure | 80 kPa |
| Fluid Pump, standard | +60 kPa |
| Fluid Pump, industrial | +120 kPa |
| Gravity, per descending level | +30 kPa |
| Large Pipe | 2× flow rate |
7. Storage¶
Authority: [04_Factory & Resource System Design](<../01_Design Documents/Systems/04_Factory & Resource System Design.md>) -> Storage Buildings.
| Value | Default |
|---|---|
| Silo capacity by Mk | 500 / 1000 / 2000 units |
| Tank capacity | 1000 units |
| Building input/output buffer | Small, per substance — machines buffer, Silos store |
unit_size per substance |
⚠️ PENDING — OI-299. Until these exist, "units" has no concrete meaning |
8. Upgrades and Modules¶
Authority: [25_Power System Design](<../01_Design Documents/Systems/25_Power System Design.md>) §9, [24_Module System Design](<../01_Design Documents/Systems/24_Module System Design.md>).
| Value | Default |
|---|---|
| Machine Mk output multiplier | 1.00 / 1.50 / 2.25 |
| Machine Mk draw multiplier | 1.00 / 1.65 / 2.72 |
| Base Mk draw surcharge | +0% / +5% / +12% |
| Efficiency module | −15% draw each, multiplicative |
| Module slots by size class | Small 1 · Medium 2 · Large 3 · Huge 4, +1 per Machine Mk, range 1–6 |
Machine Mk draw rises faster than output on purpose: a Mk3 machine costs ~21% more energy per unit produced, which is what makes Efficiency modules worth a slot.
9. Research¶
Authority: [08_Research Tree Design](<../01_Design Documents/Content/08_Research Tree Design.md>).
| Branch | Cheapest | Dearest finite | Branch total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Industrial | 50 | 800 | ~3,500 |
| 2 Power | 50 | 1,200 | ~5,400 |
| 3 Research & Science | 40 | 500 | ~2,000 |
| 4 Vertical Expansion | 100 | 1,000 | ~6,000 |
| 5 Exploration | 100 | 1,200 | ~5,500 |
| 6 Defence | 60 | 480 | ~2,500 |
| 7 Genesis Abilities | 50 | 400 | ~2,400 |
| 8 Modules | 80 | 640 | ~3,500 |
| 9 Environmental | 100 | 400 | ~1,700 |
| Total finite | ~32,500 RP |
| Value | Default |
|---|---|
| Field Data base rate | 1 RP per 10 ticks per running building |
| Science Drive RP | Basic 10 · Advanced 50 · Quantum 250 |
| Concurrent slots | 1, then 2 and 3 by research |
| Full Tree Bonus | +25% supply chain contribution |
10. Building Power Draw¶
Not duplicated here. Draw is per-building in data/buildings/*.tres and that data is the
authority. Current spread: Silo 0.5 · Research Lab 2 · Assembly 3 · Mining Drill 10 · Fluid
Pump 15 · Refinery 25 · Smelter 30. Environmental draws set in [25_Power System Design](<../01_Design Documents/Systems/25_Power System Design.md>)
§9.3: Incinerator 20, Air Scrubber 12.
⚠️ Every generator currently ships power_output = 0.0 — the values in §2 exist in
design only. OI-317.
11. Not Yet Decided¶
Listed so the gaps are visible rather than looking like defaults.
| Area | Missing | Item |
|---|---|---|
| Resources | unit_size per substance |
OI-299 |
| Generators | power_output written into .tres |
OI-317 |
| Accumulator | Capacity and rate fields in data | OI-318 |
| Drones | Payload, range, speed, charge rate, power cost | OI-295 – OI-297 |
| Pollution | Air dispersal model, remediation rate | OI-089, OI-098 |
| Pollution | Recycler return rate, Soil Remediation draw | OI-090, OI-103 |
| Footprints | Five environmental buildings, five generators | OI-100 |
| Footprints | Control Hut, Greenhouse Bay, Pond Head, Pond Bay | OI-264 |
| Farming | Greenhouse air input, algae as resource | OI-261, OI-262 |
| Trains | Signalling and locomotive fuel figures | area trains |
12. The Eventual Shape¶
[25_Power System Design](<../01_Design Documents/Systems/25_Power System Design.md>) §4b recommends a single PowerTuning resource so power values
are adjustable without touching simulation code. The same argument applies to every section
above, and the natural end state is one tuning resource per system — or one for the lot —
loaded at startup and asserted against its invariants.
When that exists, the data becomes the authority for values and this document becomes its index. Until then this is the only place the whole set is visible at once.
13. Revision History¶
| Version | Date | Changes |
|---|---|---|
| 0.1 | 2026-08-30 | Created. Collected every decided balance value from six design documents into one reference, with defaults, identifiers and authorities, plus a register of what is still undecided. No values invented or changed — this is a collection pass. |