Subscribe to download
Sensor Tower as Lightning Rod

There is now

will there be an update?

This thing also should require a direct connection to a battery/accumulator, to act as a Condenser etc.
THEN I could see u only needing 1 to cover a Basic Dome and 2 for a mega/multi Dome Complex
And you can 'upgrade' like with MOXIE etc.

However, if this game has CORE mining.. then maybe we could just use Earth-ground(hah, Mars-Ground) For Discharge

Well there's an idea... **IF** U wanna use it to store power, then it needs a Battery to provide Electrical Ballast.

Otherwise, u could have it discharge to Ground.. without having to go through all the electrionics/mechanical upgrades, just a dump of Metal and some concrete(again, Di-electric) or maybe just 1-3 Poly
*Shrug*
However, It'd require more maintenance, in this configuration.

I like this concept. so long as the range is balanced right ie. Micro-dome can get away with One, Basic dome might need 2 for full cover and mega-dome would need 3.
Why? Well, I've studied Antenna Wave Dynamics as a hobby for much of my life ;)
Besides, it makes 4 more Challenging.

I Presume you added a Tech that needs to be researched for this?? It'd make sense for it to be a mid-game tech.
& you can 'upgrade' like with MOXIE etc?
& requires some extra electronics, 1-3 Mech?(to represent the Analog nature of shtuff) and certainly a healthy dose of metal and Polys(Di-Electrics like Spray on Teflon! lol JK)

It should have more circuitry in it to do this at the very least, beyond what you would spend for the nuclear accumulator to represent the necessary transformation of so much energy into something that would be a fast charge system. And a bit more to change the DC storage to AC for long distance transmission. Perhaps some more metal to represent the materials spent in shifting the lightning to something that could charge up the batticitor. Unlike an accumulator it would charge instantly, but discharge slowly. Due to the nature of storms and lighting, turning this into a way to power a colony means you depend on those storms. I see it as a way to have reserve power for the colony in an area with frequent storms, but if you get a period without them, and don't have regular power systems, well...that becomes a real problem. My guess is that circuitry will be in the maintenance, maybe 3-5 circuitry. Upgrade cost would be steep, at least 30 plastic, 25 circuitry, and 20 metal.

I'm thinking about it but you should also consider that it will unbalance the game...maybe if the towers will be more expensive...

I like that concept of having a fast charge system with slow discharge, it reminds me of the Batticitor from PJ Farmer's Riverworld books. A large lightning-like discharge is captured and then slowly discharged to run motors, lighting and such. Tie that to the Nuclear Accumulator tech as an upgrade to the tower, so that it starts as a lightning rod and then with an upgrade becomes a slow discharge battery system. Not a reliable power source by any means, but if you use a switch it can be kept off the main grid until it is needed for completing a project or tiding the colony over while better power sources are built.

I'm pretty sure there's an event call in the code for when a building is hit by lightning, so you could probably set it up so that the tower has a capacity like a battery, has a discharge rate like a battery, but won't normally accept charge, but when the trigger that would indicate a lightning strike occurs, it adds X to the current capacity of the tower, which then discharges into the system if there's a deficit.

I've been thinking of something like that, maybe it will happen

I'd love to see a way for the lightning strike to wind up feeding back a short-term power increase off that tower.. EG when it hits that heavy energy discharge, it dumps it into a converter and battery, stores the power and then discharges it into the system. They have the ability to make things like wind turbines increase production during storms, it should be doable, where the tower has stats like a battery, but when it gets hit by lightning it adds power to the battery storage direct, but the battery is discharge only so it doesn't fill off the normal grid.

Forgive my rambling.