Goonhub
01-06-2014, 09:52 PM
Pipes. The answer is pipes. All recyclers, including the one in disposals, have pipes that lead to a central repository. QM can have an ore loading chute that goes to the same place, but mining would be disconnected from the network, as it is now. There's a machine in the repository that stores all ores, and distributes them to manufacturers when they make a request. That means, more pipes.
Now, as for having the station's stores cleaned out simply by over-ordering, I hope a few things could keep that from being too severe a problem if it does happen. First, the repository starts empty. All manufacturers are pre-loaded as they are now, so initially the material is distributed throughout the station. Secondly, if you're paranoid about theft, you can still send ore around the station to be directly loaded into the manufacturers, and then it won't be shared everywhere. Thirdly, the recyclers could be set up so that they only send ore to the central repository if you "flush" them like a disposal chute, so you can produce what you need without worrying about losing it. Fourthly, an alert could be added to the cargo mailbot if the repository receives a request it can't fill. QMs pay attention to those alerts, because they're usually telling us how much money we just made, so we'll notice if someone is abusing the system, and stop feeding ore into it.
Overall, it'd work the same way as it does now, but if a department does need more metal or whatever, the QM can produce mauxite, molitz and pharosium in essentially limitless quantities, and make it readily available, along with higher level materials should we ever have a big surplus.
Now, as for having the station's stores cleaned out simply by over-ordering, I hope a few things could keep that from being too severe a problem if it does happen. First, the repository starts empty. All manufacturers are pre-loaded as they are now, so initially the material is distributed throughout the station. Secondly, if you're paranoid about theft, you can still send ore around the station to be directly loaded into the manufacturers, and then it won't be shared everywhere. Thirdly, the recyclers could be set up so that they only send ore to the central repository if you "flush" them like a disposal chute, so you can produce what you need without worrying about losing it. Fourthly, an alert could be added to the cargo mailbot if the repository receives a request it can't fill. QMs pay attention to those alerts, because they're usually telling us how much money we just made, so we'll notice if someone is abusing the system, and stop feeding ore into it.
Overall, it'd work the same way as it does now, but if a department does need more metal or whatever, the QM can produce mauxite, molitz and pharosium in essentially limitless quantities, and make it readily available, along with higher level materials should we ever have a big surplus.