I guess the real issue here is about powering the appliances in elegant fashion. Current power sources are all outdoors equipment, while the appliances belong indoors. So how would we power the household gadgets, which might reside several squares apart from each other? How would we conduct power through a wall tile neatly?
How about cabling? Invisible cabling, that could be installed on any construction tile. It would be a vehicle part, which would mean that a vehicle part would have to be able to co-exist with a construct in the same tile. Create an exception for it. And by laying the cable, you’d get power.
I mean, we have power sources and perfectly plausible household appliances, but the issue is connecting all of them. How would we achieve that? Maybe a generator or a solar array should just “wirelessly” power all appliances within X tile radius?
Here’s what I’m thinking. We make a special new frame that no one would want in their vehicle. It’s weak, and requires Construction skill to craft and install. It’s not designed to take damage at all. That frame, let’s call it “household device frame”, would accept only certain appliances, such as RV kitchen unit or a TV, and not car wheels or any other obvious vehicle parts. We then make “wireless” solar panels called “household solar panels”. These panels would wirelessly power “household storage batteries” (HHSB for short) within X tile radius. HHSBs in turn would provide their electricity to household appliances (device frames) within X tile radius.
They wouldn’t be wireless lore-wise but just without the representation of cabling.
I’d think the HHSB would be at the center of it all. It could be the central distance reference point for A) the solar panels or the generator and B) the household devices. The player would install the devices and the solar panels within the range of the battery, but the solar panels would of course have to reside outdoors.
Or the HH solar panel could have its own built-in battery, and we skip HHSB entirely.
I think we’d specifically need new solar panel type because it would have to be wireless. Or maybe make household devices check if there’s an appropriate power source installed nearby. All in all, battery charge count could be skipped entirely. It could be a binary thing. The household device could either have a power source in range or not. The narrative could be that “This is a set of solar panels, meant for large households. Installing this set close to your home would surely power all of its devices. The set includes a hefty battery, meaning you won’t run out of juice at night. Or probably ever, for that matter.”
