Venus ("Venus: Miasma") is rated "Extreme" in the game, and rightly so. Outside there are 239 kPa at 737 K, almost a third of the air is hydrochloric acid, and there is no ice at all. In return the sun shines stronger than anywhere else. The values come from the planet data sheet.
At a glance
| Value | Venus |
|---|---|
| Gravity | 8.87 m/s² (90.5 % of Earth) |
| Day length | 1,200 s, rotates backwards |
| Year | 2.93 solar days |
| Air pressure | about 239 kPa |
| Air | 64.2 % carbon dioxide, 28.9 % hydrochloric acid, 6.9 % nitrogen, traces of pollutant |
| Temperature | 737 K (464 °C), the same day and night |
| Sun | 2,601 to 2,673 W/m², about 47° high at noon at the start location |
| Weather | Venus storm |
| Start locations | Gaia Valley, Daisy Valley, Faith Valley, Dusk Valley |
Pressure: the wall carries a lot
Each cell of outside air holds 311.6 mol of gas, which gives about 239 kPa at 737 K. So here the outside world pushes inwards, not the other way round.
A worked example for the walls: inside 101 kPa, outside 239 kPa give a difference of about 138 kPa.
| Wall | holds | Margin |
|---|---|---|
| Iron Wall (Type 1) | 200 kPa | 62 kPa |
| Composite Wall (Type 1) | 300 kPa | 162 kPa |
| Reinforced Wall | 10,000 kPa | plenty |
The iron wall holds, but with little margin. If you lower the pressure inside, for example when pumping an airlock empty, the difference grows to the full 239 kPa – more than the iron wall can take. For airlocks and anything that can become pressureless, use at least the composite wall.
Acid in the air
28.9 % of 239 kPa is about 69 kPa of hydrochloric acid partial pressure. For comparison: according to the game data plants take damage from just 0.1 kPa of hydrochloric acid. So outside air must never get into living quarters or the greenhouse. Every line that draws in outside air needs a Filtration before the gas goes anywhere there is life.
Heat: cooling instead of heating
737 K is 464 °C – day and night, with no cooling off. According to the game data water can only be liquid up to 643.7 K, whatever the pressure. So there is no liquid water outside on Venus.
Cooling is hard here because the waste heat has to go somewhere. A radiator only gives off heat if its loop is hotter than the surroundings; if it is colder, it heats. The waste loop of an air conditioner therefore has to run above 737 K for a Medium Convection Radiator outside to get rid of anything at all. Plan cooling early and generously, see Heating and cooling: wall heater, wall cooler, air conditioner, radiators.
Sun: the best thing about Venus
At 2,601 to 2,673 W/m² the sun delivers almost twice what the Moon gets. According to the data sheet the clouds dampen nothing in the game – so a Solar Panel works best here. The day share is between 48 and 52 %. There is wind too: up to 250 W for an upright and 625 W for a large wind turbine.
Weather: Venus storms
A Venus storm cools by 98 K and lets only 30 % of the sunlight through. It lasts 2 to 10 minutes. The first event comes after at least 7 game days, then in pauses of 3 to 11 days. A 2 × 2 m panel only drops from about 1,160 to 810 W, because the damping bites less with less light. Normal panels do take storm damage, though, 6 % per minute on average; the heavy variants do not. More in Solar arrays: alignment, tracking, day and night.
Resources: all metals, no ice
The ore profile of Venus contains iron, copper, gold, coal, silicon, cobalt, silver, nickel, lead and uranium at depth. Ice is missing entirely: no water ice, no oxite, no volatiles, no nitrice.
So you have to get breathing air and water differently:
- Oxygen from plants: carbon dioxide is plentiful outside, 200 mol per cell. Plants turn it into oxygen, each standard plant 8.64 mol per hour. How that works is in Farming: light, water, temperature and air for plants.
- Nitrogen from the air: 6.9 % of the outside air is nitrogen, 21.5 mol per cell – separable with a filtration unit.
- Water from a trader: the liquid trader sells water for 12 per litre, see Trading: satellite dish, trader classes, landing pad.
First steps
- A shelter with walls that safely hold 138 kPa.
- Solar panels – they deliver the most here.
- Cooling with a waste loop above 737 K.
- An early trader contact for water and gas.
Next steps
- All values: Planet data sheet
- Heating and cooling: Heating and cooling: wall heater, wall cooler, air conditioner, radiators
- Separating gases: Filtration: separating gases, changing filters, getting rid of waste gases
- The other hot world: Vulcan: lava and methane air