Level in district heating system?

[Reactor]

Since I had a little chat with wildweasel about how overused and loathsome most of the sewer levels are in FPS games generally, not just in Doom, we decided that we shall keep only 1 sewer area in the entire campaign alltogether, and replace the second sewer system levels with a concept which is much much less overused and is quite innovative IMHO. My very good henchman Zsole suggested that if I rewrite that part of the story, and replace the sewer with a coal power and a district heating system, it would serve just as perfect as a sewer stage would, maybe even better. He even made a short demonstration on paper how district heating could be used to reach this and that facility, and christened the level Oh noez! The heatpipez!
I kinda agree with him, and frankly, sewage system is truly overused in FPS games, however I'm not really sure how a stage should look like, which takes place inside the district heating system. You see, my workplace is completely unrelated to power plants, or anything regarding heating, so I shall need your knowledge a little bit to make the stage somewhat realistic.
I know that district heating is the means of distributing the redundant heat from power plant turbines, which is a by-product of electricity generating. So this redundant heat is somehow forced into big underground pipes and distributed amongst um...tenements, offices, schools etc. but that's mighty few knowledge to base a whole stage upon, so I'd ask some questions.

- What's the approximate temperature of hot air in these pipes? If it's much too hot for people to stay alive, I'll just handwave it, but still I need to know.
- Why does district heating use 2 main pipes instead of one? In the diagrams and schematics, it's shown that there are two pipes coming out of the plant turbines, but no idea why.
- There'll be lots of junctions and intersections within the pipeline. Is it possible to use different Sector Winds in different pipes (e.g. sometimes the draft would come from the back, but once you enter another pipe, it'd come from the front and stuff).
- What kind of hazards could be in said transfer pipes? I can only think of spinning fans, which mince the player when stepped upon. Any other suggestions?
- I noticed in Opposing Force and some other games that developers make little particles, debris etc. fly in the direction of the wind (or colourful lines like in Doom 3). Is it possible to make such effect under GZDoom in some of these pipes?
- How can someone enter or exit these pipes? You know...maintenance and such, or how do the pipes end once they reached their destination?
- Where should secret areas be hidden in such a location?

Thank you for your answers in advance

[ramon.dexter]

1. Well, the heat in heat distribution systems is not distributed as heated air. Air is a bad way to tranfer heat. Water or hot steam is used instead. So maybe I've broken your idead a little, but hot air is never distributed, because it loses the heat way too quickly.

2. one for outflow, one for inflow. You have to have cotinuous flow.

3. Why not?

4. Maybe some kind of spawner would do the trick.

5. Manholes, my friend, manholes.

6. It will be where you'll put it.

[Reactor]

Hmmm. I see...so I need to revisit the whole idea. Still it fascinates me to design a level about huge metal pipes with air blowing the player back and forth. I told you, I know little of district heating systems I thought air can transfer heat pretty well, as vacuum is a great insulator.
I guess I'll use some "wet" pipes and "dry" pipes then, accordingly, and there'll be sections with thick steam, where of course, enemies will see the player, but the player won't see them Thanks for your help!

[ramon.dexter]

Well, you could use the "collector tunnel system. Sorry, the only link I found is in czech, I really don't know how it's called in english, but to give you a crude image it works: https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kolektor_(tunel)

Basically, collector tunnel are used for placement of pipes, cables, etc. without digging the land. It is usually built in cities, and it creates a secret network of tunnels, connecting the city places. So I could imagine a level of collector tunnel, that will lead you to various places. Also, the blowing wind could be there - damaged pipe, malfunctioning vent, or something like that.

[Reactor]

Great! I didn't even know such things exist! Nice find you managed over there, fam
Now if you could just write a few funny puns or idioms about this level, that will be just perfect. Stuff like "a pipe dream" or "lookee here, guys, airhead in the air duct" I desire to make the radio communication and pager messages so that they will taunt the player a bit.

[ramon.dexter]

Something like "west pipe story"? I'll try to make something out, but I think this is definitely better idea to ask anyone who's born language is english. After all, in czech and some of these sentencewoun't be corrrect. But I can make something.

[ReX]

A couple of clarifications:

1. As ramon.dexter pointed out, heated air is typically not distributed over long distances, as it tends to lose energy relatively quickly and is somewhat inefficient. Water is an alternative medium to distribute heat, but ...
2. Water as a distribution medium requires a fair amount of energy to pump. It is also generally considered inefficient as a means of distributing heat.

Now, as to what you are planning:

1. It’s a game, after all, and you should let the elements of your game design dictate what you create. If air ducts are what you need, go for it.
2. In a sci-fi scenario, you could envision that your air ducts could be encased in a pressurized and well-sealed system, preventing heat loss. (You’ve referred to a “vacuum”, which wouldn’t provide insulation in the way you probably meant. But you had the right idea.)
3. Your idea for air flow through ducts can achieve realism even if it’s not for heated air. Air flow is required through all sorts of systems. You could even consider *gas* flow, e.g., halons for fire suppression. This could introduce other gameplay elements, such as the player needing to find a gas mask or personal protective equipment (PPE) before entering some parts of the gas/air distribution system.

Your idea is quite intriguing, and you should minimize the constraints to which you are bound. Good luck.

EDIT: It just occurred to me that there are many air flow systems consisting of exhaust ducts. You could use a combination of fresh air flow (heated if necessary), other gas flow, and exhaust gas flow.

[Reactor]

Gee, that's a lot of knowledge Thanks for clearing things up for me. I explained the whole thing to Zsole today. He seemed to be indifferent, but I know he was contemplating the idea deep inside Eventually, he concluded: "Well, what do y'know, if stuffz in real life work this way, we mite hafta deviate thingz a lil'bit, aye? I'll redesign da whole levul in such wayz it'll work betta than in real life! Now gimme a cig!" Ahh, such words of wisdom! If Zsole wouldn't exist, I would have to invent him!

Well anyways, if air is a bad heat distributor for long distances. I think we shall do it this way then: the long, lonesome pipes will transfer the cool air back to the power plant, and the short ones leading to the various facilities shall transfer the hot air. It'll be connected to the hot water pumps. Keep in mind: the game shall take place in Norway, hot water and geysers are pretty abundant over there. The campaign will also include a magma refinery if that wouldn't be enough. This way we can keep at least a grain of realism without radically altering the original blueprints.
It's not really a sci-fi scenario, as the events of the game will take place at the final days of 2003, so you can say, it's present-day. With the "vacuum" part, I was referring to that if vacuum can't transfer heat by no means, then maybe air can. I was never really good at physics, except of course, nuclear physics nomen est omen.
There will also be of course, pipes with poisonous gas inside, these ones will replace the explosive barrels within the pipes. The exhaust ports are also great additions, since they actually provide means for the player to enter/exit the piping system. There'd also be huge mixing chambers with giant fans and heavy gusts which'd toss the player around. Staying away from unprotected spinning ventilators is a very wise thing to do...

"Hey look! Jigsaw puzzle!"
"These fans don't want your autograph...at all."