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[i2amroy]

On the topic of power, generally speaking, most traditional nuclear power would last for months before complete shutdown, assuming sensible things like automated load balancing and fuel control which would compensate for the declining equipment and transmission conditions.

Actually pretty much every nuclear plant nowdays is designed to automatically initiate shutdown procedures if it doesn't have a steady source of power to prevent a meltdown. As such once the other power sources dropped out (from lack of fuel or whatever) they would all go into automatic shutdown mode. This would probably happen about 1 or so days after the Cataclysm, since that's about the point when all of your coal, gas, and other fueled reactors are going to run out of fuel.

In addition nuclear plants are actually going to end up being one of the more dangerous areas due to the fact that though their automatic generators will kick in, they are designed to do so with humans to refill them every couple of days. Within a week or so all of your on-site generators are going to be out of fuel, at which point your on-site containment facilities are going to boil dry, fires are going to start, and you're going to get large amounts of nuclear dust being released into the atmosphere, killing anything in the areas it hits. (It's all pretty short lived radioactivity though, so after a couple of years those areas should be able to be passed through, at least).

Thirdly most power plants are designed to automatically initiate shutdown without something drawing their power for a long enough period (but require human intervention to start up again). As such when you knock out a majority of the population you get a very large number of hydroelectric dams (which provide a lot of the Eastern US power currently) that would be automatically shutting down without power draw, and then wouldn't be opening up again to provide it without human intervention.

Lastly once you knock out a large enough chunk of the grid it becomes very, very difficult to just "turn it back on again" without a lot of people working at different places. A large part of this is because when electronics are first turned on they create a startup draw that is about 2-3x larger than what they actually need to run. Try to start up too many things at once, and it'll blow the breakers at the distribution centers (which is why sometimes after a big power outage you'll get a handful of on/off moments happening before it finally restarts). As such even if people could get the power plants up and running again, we're talking dozens of coordinated people to get even a small part of the power grid up and functional again, which is not something the player is going to be accomplishing (at least not anytime soon, maybe after we get working NPC colonies).

[TheBronzePickle]

The issue with the power grid shutting down is that, in-game, there's plenty of evidence that it either hasn't shut down, or most businesses have really robust backup power systems. ATMs, candy and soda machines, alarms, and computer consoles are all presumably connected to a centralized power grid or a backup system designed to run for the long term. Either way, there's obviously enough power to run at least computerized machines, if not more electrically-intensive systems like lights and motors. Something that's as much of a key to communication as the internet is probably going to have the same kind of backup on, at the very least, most of its major connection nodes. There's at least a decent chance that, assuming the required locations haven't outright been destroyed by part of the cataclysm, there'll be enough juice, and enough automation, to let you access at least part of the network.

[Zireael]

The US power grids are awful messes. Most of it is currently 50 years past its expiration date. Seagulls take out whole cities. Storms take out states. None of it is staying 100% connected through the Cataclysm, certainly not in the New England states.

Good point.

[n9103]

For the record, the "lot of power" referenced happens to be less than 5 percent.
National is ~6.5% and there's more hydro outside of the east coast than in it. (No, I really didn't have anything better to do than cross reference all the dam power capacities with total consumption levels.)

I really don't want to go and pick all the other points you made apart, (I always feel like a pedant, even when the details aren't insignificant,) but there's some large flaws in the logic behind the hypothesized situation presented.

[Majestic7]

Some type of local rebuilding would, besides, be a nifty goal for the player to undertake. Something like finding a ruined power plant, clearing it of monsters, getting it running back again, sending robots to fix local power grid, building orbital relay to gain access to satellite internet, attracting NPC minions to live in your new settlement etc.

[scrdest]

Some type of local rebuilding would, besides, be a nifty goal for the player to undertake. Something like finding a ruined power plant, clearing it of monsters, getting it running back again, sending robots to fix local power grid, building orbital relay to gain access to satellite internet, attracting NPC minions to live in your new settlement etc.

Speaking of that, could be neat if there was some system to attract NPCs to a camp if certain conditions (like the number of unnatural hostile mobs within a radius) were met.

[Majestic7]

Especially if the NPCs actually did something for you / each other, like farm or repair buildings etc. It wouldn't matter if they wouldn't be as good at stuff as PC as long as they'd do something. It would be interesting to play a champion of the people with a camp of your own to protect.

[gimlet]

There is no power, anywhere, full stop.  Not as we know it.

Welllll....  There's definitely power in a few places - terminals are working in shelters and labs and radio stations, towers have power to transmit, some equipment works in hospitals, etc.  Plus with the relative prevalence of solar cars, one would think at least a few bits of things like the network infrastructure would use solar panels at least for backup power.  All the current telco and network facilities have UPS battery power supplemented by generators - some of those could run for weeks *now* before needing refuelling.  So a lot depends on how long after the full collapse it is, and whether there were a few dedicated employees who might have refilled generators as their last acts, and shut down non-vital equipment to let the important stuff run longer.

And there could definitely be *parts* of the internet working - there are several existing municipal mesh wifi networks, at least a few of which are solar powered - again one would expect more of this in the future where working solar cars are so common.  There should be parts of the infrastructure designed to be easier to keep running in emergencies - especially in places like police stations, firehouses, hospitals, FEMA camps, military bases, etc.

I accept that it's mostly waved away for fluff and dramatic reasons - it'd be a lot less scary if a survivor could simply find a mobile home that's got satellite tv/internet and find out what's happening in the rest of the world and call for a taxi out.  It would be kind of cool to have quests to start to fix bits of it - finding emergency planning documents detailing backup power facilities, and then going to repair equipment and refill those generators to get parts of the communications working again...

Some type of local rebuilding would, besides, be a nifty goal for the player to undertake. Something like finding a ruined power plant, clearing it of monsters, getting it running back again, sending robots to fix local power grid, building orbital relay to gain access to satellite internet, attracting NPC minions to live in your new settlement etc.

Exactly!

[Aseaheru]

Just a note, I am rather certain that the minimum amount of time between the bulk of the cataclysm and when you start is a minimum of one week.

[Rince Wind]

What is the most sustainable thing to burn in my stone fireplace? 2x4s burn out rather quickly when reading, and logs don't seem to continue burning after turning into a "burned log".

[Twi]

Some type of local rebuilding would, besides, be a nifty goal for the player to undertake. Something like finding a ruined power plant, clearing it of monsters, getting it running back again, sending robots to fix local power grid, building orbital relay to gain access to satellite internet, attracting NPC minions to live in your new settlement etc.

Speaking of that, could be neat if there was some system to attract NPCs to a camp if certain conditions (like the number of unnatural hostile mobs within a radius) were met.

This could be awesome. And probably the only 'victory condition' that makes sense for a post-apocalyptic survival game like this.

[n9103]

What is the most sustainable thing to burn in my stone fireplace? 2x4s burn out rather quickly when reading, and logs don't seem to continue burning after turning into a "burned log".

Been awhile, but I remember someone doing a few tests to establish exactly that, and I think it turned out that firewood was best.
Personally, unless it's too damn cold and I'm under-equipped for winter, I just toss in a piece of paper and an armful of spoiled food or tainted meat, light it, and let it go until I'm reporting uncomfortable temperatures again.

[Rince Wind]

Thanks!

Now to find out how to make firewood.

[Astral]

Especially if the NPCs actually did something for you / each other, like farm or repair buildings etc. It wouldn't matter if they wouldn't be as good at stuff as PC as long as they'd do something. It would be interesting to play a champion of the people with a camp of your own to protect.

That would actually be an amazing idea, though I'm not sure how easy it would be to implement. Would probably take a lot of time and effort, given the systems already in place.

I do imagine it being something like the Fallout New Vegas Real Time Settler mod where you could pick an area and slowly upgrade it from a basic campsite to possibly taking over a few buildings in a city, should you be able to clear enough of it, while assigning jobs like farmer, guard, mechanic, etc.

[BigD145]

Just a note, I am rather certain that the minimum amount of time between the bulk of the cataclysm and when you start is a minimum of one week.

And then you play for a week, die, play for a week, die, play for a month, die, play for a year....