Other than specific sensors and such, I’m comfortable with the notion of using vacuum tube analogs for what we want to do.
To be practical, the spiderbots will need to be functional from vacuum to considerable pressure, and from space-cold to Venusian surface hot.
That means the vacuum tubes will have to have filaments, of course, and that will be a drain on the electrical system. For that reason, I think a radioactive thermionic power system would be appropriate.
In the game scenario, the unknown opposition, tentatively called the Honue, will appear to be indigenous to the surface of Venus. Clearly, their biology would be different from ours! They could be silicon based, with an emphasis on sulfur chemical reactions.
Their base of operations would be something similar to lava tubes under the surface of Venus. Initially, we wouldn’t know how many there were, or what their technological capabilities were.
Without an ability to communicate with them, and a conflict scenario from the beginning, the point of the game would be to try to figure these things out and either defeat them or learn how to communicate.
Vacuum tube cathodes are often constructed with separate heater elements for purposes of reliability -- but consider that if their working environment changes dramatically their transconductance curves will also shift significantly. An analog computation that works at Venus norm might run off the rails in space-freeze.
I’m off to beddy-bye!
“...either defeat them or learn how to communicate.”
*Bad Idea Generated*
“Hey, they’re underground.. right? So let’s aim the teleFRAG emitter DOWNWARDS?!”
*One Thunderous Explosion Later aka OTEL event*
“THAT was a bad idea!”
“But.. it was COOL!”