Utilities

Overview

Utilities are graph-based networks that serve buildings and infrastructure. Each utility type (power, water, sewage, waste) has its own directional or non-directional graph of lines connecting supply points (power plants, water treatment, landfills) to demand points (buildings, parks). Unlike roads, utilities are typically underground and hidden from view unless inspected.

Design Questions

Utility Types & Direction

• Which utilities are v1? (Power, water, sewage, waste, internet/telecom, natural gas?)
• Are utilities directional graphs (flow from source to sink) or undirected (bidirectional)?
  • Power: directional (source → demand)
  • Water: directional (treatment → demand)
  • Sewage: directional (demand → treatment)
  • Waste: directional (collection routes → landfill/incinerator)?
• Do utilities follow roads, or can they be routed independently? (Traditional: buried under sidewalk/right-of-way; can cost more to cross open terrain)
• Can utilities share trenches (bundled) to reduce visual clutter and cost, or does each utility type have its own layer?

Graph Representation & Editing

• Are utility lines player-placed (like roads), or auto-generated to connect demand to supply?
• If player-placed: does the UI show utility routing tools (similar to roads), or is it a "demand" + "supply" zoning that auto-connects?
• If auto-generated: what algorithm routes lines (shortest path, Steiner tree, Dijkstra w/ terrain cost)?
• Can players edit utility routes post-placement (reroute, add backup lines), or is it set-and-forget?
• How are utility failures modeled? (Line breaks, node outages, capacity overages?) Do they cascade?

Simulation & Cost

• Each utility has a per-line maintenance cost, right? (Scales with length, possibly with terrain / crossing cost?)
• Do utilities have capacity limits? (E.g., a power substation can only serve N buildings?) Or infinite capacity?
• Are there capital costs for building utility infrastructure, or just ongoing maintenance?
• How do utilities interact with cut/fill grading? (Exposing a buried line, or disrupting it?)
• Interaction with zoning: can you zone for demand without utilities in place? Do utilities enable zoning, or vice versa?

Visualization & Player Feedback

• Are utility lines visible by default, or only in an "inspection" or "utility overlay" mode?
• What visual feedback shows utility coverage/demand? (Color-coded cells, heatmap, icons on buildings?)
• Can the player see which buildings are served/unserved by each utility?
• Do utility lines intersect visually, or do crossing lines route above/below each other to avoid z-fighting?

Relationship to Other Systems

• Roads: Do utility lines prefer to follow roads, or can they cut across terrain independently? If they follow roads, does utility routing add cost to road network topology?
• Buildings: How do buildings connect to utilities? (Automatic connection to nearest node, or player-placed service points?) Does connection cost scale with distance?
• Terrain: Are utilities affected by terrain elevation, or do they teleport through solid rock? (Underground routing should ideally avoid deep excavation.)
• Time: Do utilities degrade over time, requiring maintenance? Are there seasonal effects (frozen pipes, summer peak loads)?

Related Docs

• Terrain — Grading affects utility routing cost and visibility
• Economy & Zoning — Zoning demand drives utility expansion
• Procedural Buildings — Buildings consume utilities
• Arc-Spline Transport — Utilities may follow road corridors