The items I used were the tractor beam, the gravity well, the spring and the board. The tractor beam is continuous and a part of the ship, so it makes sense that it would use the ship's energy the whole time. The gravity is clearly self-sustaining, but it makes sense to need energy to set it up. However, the spring and the board both look like they're just being dropped. How does opening a hatch use more of the ship's energy than just moving around? Also, on a game mechanics level, what is the point to making the placement of automation items use the same resource as the tractor beam to begin with, especially when they're already their own limited resource?
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Well, the real reason that the items take up battery is because we didn't want people spamming the "drop spring" button since springs kill on impact. We decided against using individual ammo indicators for each item since we wanted it to be a more streamlined, arcadey experience. But if it helps, just imagine that when you are spawning a spring or a girder the ship is fabricating them with an advanced 3d printer that takes up a lot of energy.