Is Starfield's Plumbing up to Code?

[00:00:00]I know Starfield's plumbing is wrong.

[00:00:02]Some of it at least. You see, I recently went on a food tour across the galaxy, enjoying all of the different local delicacies.

[00:00:12]It also left me spending a lot of time in various restaurant and bar bathrooms for numerous reasons. And there are major plumbing issues there, and we will get to that. But as I walked around, my attention was drawn to a lot of random arrays of pipes on different planets.

[00:00:31]But I'm not a plumber. I'd say I know more about plumbing than your average person, but I've yet to catch up to my dad. He's not a plumber. He's just very handy and he's a great guy and I love my dad. There are two challenges to overcome in trying to figure out whether or not some of the plumbing in this game makes sense. The first of course being able to understand if the systems function as intended. Knowing enough about the parts and components to be able to see if everything is routed in a logical manner. The second and honestly more challenging part is being able to identify if these parts are real or not.

[00:01:09]This small section of plumbing is easy to identify. It's simple and only uses real parts, just pipes and gate valves.

[00:01:17]At first glance, these pipes just look like pipes. Upon closer inspection, you'll notice they still just they look like pipes. They're pipes. That's not the odd part. We've got some sections here where the piping comes up from the floor and just kind of loops back down.

[00:01:32]It's a little strange, but maybe there's a thermal reason for it to be like this.

[00:01:37]Next to it, we've got a couple of gate valves. This one on the right, it can stop the flow between these two pipes, but they're also connected just a short distance past that. So, you're not really accomplishing anything here.

[00:01:49]Next, this section of piping is another array, much more complex, that has my least favorite asset in Starfield. This strange canister. I've spent so much time trying to figure out what this is.

[00:02:02]I've rewritten this script several times, defining it as a zone valve, a pressure relief valve, a switch rotary valve, regulators, inline pumps, air valves, various types of filters, all in an effort to try and understand what it is and how this piece can prove the validity of these pipe systems one way or another, because this thing is everywhere. If you walk around Neon, you're going to find this component copy and pasted into dozens of different spots. An experienced plumber could definitively decide what this is. But at the end of the day, I have concluded that there is no logic to this object other than to function as a greel to make pipes look more complex. And my proof is that there is no dedicated in or out to these pipes. Sometimes one pipe goes through them, sometimes it's two, sometimes two enter on one side and none exit on the other. There's also the fact that some of them have pressure gauges on them and they all show zero PSI, meaning there is nothing flowing through this device or the gauge itself is broken on all of them. to try and ascribe a realworld logic to this would be I think an error in judgment and I have come to the conclusion that all the journeymen and master plumbers they died on earth during the mass extinction of our planet and unfortunately only their apprentices seem to have ventured into the great beyond not the metaphorical great beyond cuz all all the plumbers are there but the the space uh it's just apprentices who made it to space perhaps it was a bureaucratic misjudgment We can only afford to send young people to space for the sake of the species. Well, the young plumbers don't know how expansion loops need to function, so they just threw in a couple over here for good measure. Expansion loops are used in systems to ensure that pipes can compensate for temperature fluctuations by reducing and redirecting the stress that these changes cause. They're needed for pipes that are moving liquid or gas of extreme temperatures. This run of piping is pretty short, and the pipes themselves are pretty small. There's only so much a pipe this size can even expand. And having two expansion loops back to back here is needlessly redundant. If you needed to have more flex, you could just make the first loop bigger. I believe there also should be some sort of anchors or guides to ensure that the expansion is directed properly into the loop or the entire purpose of the loop is defeated.

[00:04:26]These guys must be paid by the meter for pipe that they lay because why does this section run over here and just end in a capped T fitting? Maybe it's for some future addition. But couldn't you have just added a connector over here and then capped that so you don't have this extra run where your gas or liquid or liquid gas has to flow for no reason.

[00:04:48]There's gaps, far too many gaps. I could speculate on what these arrays of pipes are meant to be. Some of them kind of look like part of a nano filtration setup, but that's purely vibes based.

[00:05:00]And I'm starting to get pipe sanity from staring at too many pictures of pipes.

[00:05:04]So, let's get to the real meat and p toilets of this video. Because while all the exterior plumbing is some wishywashy sci-fi the real is in the bathroom.

[00:05:17]That's so stupid. Take a look at this toilet. Take a look at this toilet.

[00:05:21]Looks like a responsible toilet, right?

[00:05:23]Pays its taxes. wears deodorant in public takes care of its business generally. Wrong.

[00:05:28]>> First thing you may wonder is why is there a box here? My initial thought was that maybe this was a shut off valve inside of it, but I think those are uh are located back here behind these panels on the wall. No, instead what this is is a flushometer valve. A flushometer valve is a self-closing relief valve. In the valve, there is an upper chamber that contains water and maintains pressure, keeping water from actively flowing. But when you activate or engage the handle, you open the release valve inside. And then this releases water from the upper chamber.

[00:06:01]It allows high pressure water to flow through the valve. And as long as the valve is open, water is flushing through the system, actively pushing water into the toilet, flushing the toilet. A cool thing about these valves is that they are self-timed and automatically will shut off. As water is running through the valve, some of it goes back up into the upper chamber through a bypass. And once it reaches capacity, it closes the system, stopping the flush and maintaining stasis until you trigger the release again from the handle. Honestly, what all plumbing kind of boils down to is being a series of tubes under pressure. How pressure changes and how pipes are routed. That's where the magic happens. This system is the sort of thing you might see in a public or commercial toilet in real life. What you wouldn't see are these T fittings and these fittings, which I don't think are real. I looked at a lot of different fittings online and couldn't find any that exactly match these. The closest I got were offset fittings. This one, which uh and I'm not making this up, is called an offset nipple. That That's the closest thing I could find. If you're really determined to make this sort of redirect, you would probably do it by just connecting two different elbow fittings. There are double elbow fittings, but that's like a different thing. Truly though, there is no reason to have these bends. They're not moving around any obstacles, and you're only really going to potentially hamper your flow and spend more money on fittings than you need to. You can also find this setup in some other places, but essentially flipped on its head. While it's still a poor design, you would have a smoother flush with having this pressure all exiting the flush valve flowing directly through to the toilet without interruption. While we're on the topic of public restrooms, have you ever been grabbing a beer at Aggie's Bar in Akila City? I know it's kind of a dive, but there's a public restroom next to it, and it is miraculously clean.

[00:07:58]Borderline suspiciously clean. How is that thing so clean? It's a public restroom next to a dive bar. I've lost shoes in those before with how sticky the floor can get. I'd much rather use the bathroom at home. And good news on that topic, Starfield's home toilets work just fine. Most toilets that flush are going to be fed their water from a supply line connected to a stubout coming out of the wall. Between the stubout and the supply line, you're going to have some sort of angle stop valve. It technically, I guess, doesn't have to be an angle stop, but that's what's most commonly used, but the basic function of any kind of stop valve is to close and stop the flow of water. This is important for allowing you to safely connect systems together without having water flow all over the place. In Starfield, there are no stubouts or shut offs or supply lines for toilets. You could definitely argue that they're just obscured or they tuck under these toilets with the way that they're installed. I'm not interested in arguing that. That's fine. Where you would and definitely should be able to see them is under the sinks, and they're they're not there. This is the underneath of my bathroom sink. The old supply lines are leaking, so I need to replace them with new ones. Here's what it would be like if I had to do this without using any angle stop. Hey, have you ever looked at the toilet paper holders in Starfield?

[00:09:18]There are only like three different models for them. One seems kind of fitting for spaceships, but the others appear more suited for like a public restroom, like a stall, despite also being present in every highclass apartment I've seen. Also, how do you restock this thing? There's like a slight gap here. Am I supposed to bend the metal by hand every time I need to put a new roll on? Whatever. That's minor distraction. In a conventional sink, you would have two different stubouts. One for hot water and one for coal. These are both connected to the sink with a shut off valve and supply line just like the toilet. This is going to be true for your bathroom sink, your kitchen sink, the sink behind the bar, you rich f. For the sinks in Starfield, they're connected using these high capacity pipes. Looking at this chart, you're potentially going to be getting gallons of water flowing through here per second. Uh, which is not only overkill, but a nightmare if anything goes wrong. See, shut off valves are not only important for when you're working or installing fittings. They're also really important for when something goes wrong. At a house I was renting, I had a roommate who put a filter on the end of the faucet on our kitchen sink. And this filter really restricted the water flow.

[00:10:32]it wouldn't allow it to come through at a normal pace. And when you open up the valve fully, all this pressure would build up and it had to get relieved somewhere. And the weakest point ended up being the supply line and its connection to the angle stop, which would then blow off and uh run water underneath the sink. Thankfully, in a situation like this, you have the shut off valve, which is easy enough to access, and you can turn it off before you flood your downstairs neighbor who already hates your guts and is just a a total psycho. Just an awful human being.

[00:11:00]If you don't have an angle stop or some shut off valve here, you're going to have to find your house's main shut off valve, which could be a ways away depending on where you are. And it also might have quite a bit of water to empty out before this flooding stops. Also, angle stops might have a different name where you are. Supposedly, some places call these angle but from what I've read, they're pretty common, this idea, this device, globally, even if the naming or details might vary. If you've never messed with plumbing before, this is like the first thing you should ever learn how to do. The the most important thing to know is how to stop the water.

[00:11:37]All you have to do is twist this valve and when you go to turn on the water in your sink or whatever it's connected to, nothing should come out. It's a great thing to be aware of if your plumbing randomly goes ary. Flooding your house is bad enough, but these sinks are also present on spaceships. And I'm sure plumbing a ship is different than a house. But I don't see any benefit to not having a way to quickly stop the flow of hundreds of gallons of water.

[00:12:02]Even when these sinks aren't experiencing catastrophic failure, they're still not operating as they should. At their core, sinks are pretty simple, right? Water goes in, water goes out. Well, in the drain, there is an important piece of engineering that helps make sure that nothing comes back up the drain. Super gas is a complex mix of gases emitted from sewage systems and can be composed of methane, ammonia, hydrogen, sulfide, uh sulfur dioxide, among other things. They're not only foul smelling, but also potentially dangerous for your health. The way these drains are set up, you are at risk of having this gas travel back up your drain and fill your home. Modern drains are all constructed with some sort of trap in order to prevent this gas from filling back up into rooms. These traps could be Pa traps, drum traps, or bottle traps. Pa traps are most common here in America, and bottle traps are more popular in Europe and Asia, I believe.

[00:12:59]Feel free to look under your sink and let me know what kind of drain trap you're finding. I've never traveled overseas, but I really can't wait to go someday and make a scrapbook of all the most mundane things I find in new countries. Bottle traps are more space efficient. Uh, but they can be a little bit more prone to getting clogged than a P trap, and drum traps are more old school. I think they're more commonly used on larger drains like a tub or laundry drains. Functionally, all these traps are kind of the same. They create a water seal that prevents gas from traveling back up the pipes and out the drain. To help demonstrate, I bought this uh the lowest rated P trap I've ever seen on a hardware store's website, but it's transparent and I get to pretend I'm Bill Nye for a minute. The first thing we have to do is fill up the trap and create a water seal. Then to simulate sewer gas, we're going to be using a smoke machine.

[00:13:57]As you can see, while the smoke traveled up the pipe, it was effectively blocked by the water, preventing any gas or smoke or anything from coming back up the drain. Could you please leave him alone? S traps are another type of drain trap that aren't very commonly used anymore, as their structure can cause siphoning, which will suck all the water outside of the drain and prevent uh an effective seal from being created. This is also why plumbing vents are so important. plumbing vents. They exit out of the top of your home and they provide a proper escape for sewer gases as well as helping maintain proper air pressure in drains which prevents siphoning and also importantly air locks which could stop water from flowing through pipes.

[00:14:41]If you look on top of buildings, there are definitely vents exiting. They look like some sort of exhaust vents and theoretically they could be connected to the plumbing. So, it's really hard to say definitively whether or not they up this part of engineering too.

[00:14:55]You could also speculate that these houses have the traps built in uh behind the wall or somewhere further away, but all this would do is make potential maintenance more difficult. Maybe they've invented some sort of efficient venting system that ensures there's no backflow of gases from where sewage is stored. But I believe in the power of cheap efficiency. If the problem can be solved with a couple dollars of PVC, why bother inventing a system that could cost hundreds or thousands to do the same thing? as well as adding in the risk of it needing maintenance or having it break down entirely. Having a trap built into the system is also not just a good vibes thing, but it's mandated by code pretty much across the entire US and I would imagine most places globally. The US bases a lot of their plumbing codes off of IPC, International Plumbing Code, and UPC, uniform plumbing code. Which one your state uses kind of is a regional variant, but when it comes to water traps, they're both in agreement for the need for each plumbing fixture to require its own liquid seal trap. The most recent IPC code book also prohibits the use of S traps and drum traps. code likely would have changed somewhat over the 150 years from now until the supposed abandonment of Earth, but I doubt it would change this extremely since honestly the use of traps has been largely constant since their invention. The modern S trap is credited to Alexander a Scottish watch maker. He patented a design for a flushing water closet with a built-in S-trap. Um, I guess it didn't catch on because at the time there was a lack of widescale plumbing and earth closets remained uh more popular.

[00:16:37]Somewhere in there there's a joke about fire and air closets. But uh this S trap goes all the way back to 1775. It would then take a bit over a hundred years before the U bend, the modern P trap, would be invented in 1880. Uh invented by a man who also held the patent for the floating ballcock. Give it up for Thomas Crarapper, everyone. That's his real name. Do not laugh. And no, he isn't the etmological origin behind using crap in that way. It's purely coincidence unless you believe in nominative determinism. Also, toilets have a trap built into them, which is why you don't have to add an additional one when you mount them on the floor.

[00:17:16]One other thing worth noting about drain traps is that because the seal is made purely out of water, if you haven't used the sink or whatever the drain is connected to for a long time and there's been a lot of heat or changes in temperature, that water can evaporate, which would then allow the flow of gases back through the drain. So, sometimes when a house has been abandoned or not used for a while, you might start to smell some of that sewer gas. If you just run the drain again, it will fill up the trap, recreate the seal, and then you'll be fine. This drain issue is consistent across all sinks in the game, at least all of those that have drains hooked up. There is an industrial metal kitchen sink that does not have any sort of hookups connected to it. Also, look at this fancy club using it as a bathroom sink. I guess it wouldn't matter if you did have a drain or supply line connected to the sink, though, as there isn't any actual drain or grate in the sink. It's just metal. They forgot to finish fabricating it. These smaller double basin kitchen sinks also lack a drain in the smaller half of the sink, which seems ripe to fill up with disgusting dish water and soaked, soggy food. Uh, there's nothing wrong with this sink handle. It just seems like you're going to get your shirt sleeves wet when you turn it on, and that annoys me. Honestly, all this is par for the course here in Starfield. While I really enjoy a lot of the environments, every once in a while, you come across a decision that just feels so absurd.

[00:18:41]Like, why is there a cooking station in the seating area of this Chunks? Aren't Chunks all pre-manufactured? They There's no chef back there. Why is it in the public seating area? The whole experience comes pretty close to being immersive. And if you kind of glaze your eyes over and just don't look at it too directly, it's entirely believable and borderline enjoyable. But anyways, um I do have to actually go uh fix that leaking supply line on my sink. So, uh we're out of time, but thank you so much for watching.

[00:19:15]Goodbye.