Clarifying med-scale power generators.

[WanderingMagi]

So, after all my google ninja-ing this is the conclusion I have heard.
There is this 5x5x5 generator out there that may or may not still work after some arbitrary update last year(maybe) that is very efficient for small (>15 long) ships. About 9K e/sec each.
Or pipes. Long pipes. Everywhere. And don't let them touch.
Do that until 1mill e/sec.
Then modular energy docked things that implode on themselves (then the server) if you're anything less than a titan class with 30 armor around the power room and a missile looks at you funny.
I ask because I'm building a salvage rig that is ~100 long right now. I'm trying to compensate for the energy draw of a 21wide x35high x50long salvage(main)/cannon(slave) checkerboard array for constant fire to eat stations. While putting together the power station of my ship I began to think about more efficient energy systems. Is there any?

 

[Proxima_Centauri]

Nope.

Energy supply for medium and larger ships is completely broken at the moment; unless, as you said, you use server-killing docked generators.

 

[WanderingMagi]

Well, that's unfortunate. Tons of pipes it is.
As a side note. Shield rechargers, do they fall under the same type of design restrictions as power generators? Or can I just plop down blocks of those like I can/do capacitors?

 

[MrFURB]

Shield rechargers don't have any sort of placement/grouping bonus so feel free to use them with your other fill materials.

The 5x5x5/10x10x10 reactors are an artifact from an age old experiment Calbiri ran. He wanted people to figure out the mechanics behind power generation so he challenged people to get as much regen out of a 5x5x5 space as they could. There's nothing special about 5x5x5 reactor groups. Unless your ship is a 5x5x5 cube, you can do better with one that is more fitting for your ship's shape and size.

External power reactors have a wide set of weaknesses but also better returns than onboard reactors under some conditions. They only really pay off after your craft has reached the softcap of 1mil box dimension bonus regen and you'll want to make sure that they don't harm server performance due to massed logic clocks or too many docked entities.

 

[Lidren]

Depending on the dimensions of your ship, you can max out that 1mil e/sec pretty quick with just a few three axis pipes. A straight line is only so great, max power requires a third dimension.

 

[Sven_The_Slayer]

Depending on the dimensions of your ship, you can max out that 1mil e/sec pretty quick with just a few three axis pipes. A straight line is only so great, max power requires a third dimension.

There is no difference if a power generator is 100 meters long or three arms 33 meters each + center block. The both produce the same power output.

 

[Snk]

Shield rechargers don't have any sort of placement/grouping bonus so feel free to use them with your other fill materials.

The 5x5x5/10x10x10 reactors are an artifact from an age old experiment Calbiri ran. He wanted people to figure out the mechanics behind power generation so he challenged people to get as much regen out of a 5x5x5 space as they could. There's nothing special about 5x5x5 reactor groups. Unless your ship is a 5x5x5 cube, you can do better with one that is more fitting for your ship's shape and size.

External power reactors have a wide set of weaknesses but also better returns than onboard reactors under some conditions. They only really pay off after your craft has reached the softcap of 1mil box dimension bonus regen and you'll want to make sure that they don't harm server performance due to massed logic clocks or too many docked entities.

I've built a ship that works off externally docked power tanks. It isn't that large, about 1000 mass. I've found that it works nicely if you have a human regulate it.

 

[NoK0mm3nt]

Yup, not sure when that changed but that is definitely how it works now.

10x1x1 = 1472.9 e/sec
8x2x2 = 1472.9 e/sec
4x4x4 = 1472.9 e/sec
10 individual = 1408.4 e/sec

All of these use 10 power blocks and clearly demonstration that the dimensions only figure into the formula as per (x + y + y - 2), so it doesn't matter whether you achieve it via long lines or multiple axes (although, multiple axes allow you to maximum 'length of power' for a given ship length.

There is no difference if a power generator is 100 meters long or three arms 33 meters each + center block. The both produce the same power output.

 

[Sven_The_Slayer]

Yup, not sure when that changed but that is definitely how it works now.

10x1x1 = 1472.9 e/sec
8x2x2 = 1472.9 e/sec
4x4x4 = 1472.9 e/sec
10 individual = 1408.4 e/sec

All of these use 10 power blocks and clearly demonstration that the dimensions only figure into the formula as per (x + y + y - 2), so it doesn't matter whether you achieve it via long lines or multiple axes (although, multiple axes allow you to maximum 'length of power' for a given ship length.

It's also not known to all that there is no dimensional bonus until you have a reactor at least 9 long. 8 individual reactors is better than any combination where any two or more of those 8 reactors touch. This only really matters though if you build tiny ships, which most people don't.

 

[Lidren]

It's also not known to all that there is no dimensional bonus until you have a reactor at least 9 long. 8 individual reactors is better than any combination where any two or more of those 8 reactors touch. This only really matters though if you build tiny ships, which most people don't.

Most don't, but that might just be the kick I need to redesign my fighter.

 

[AtraUnam]

There is no difference if a power generator is 100 meters long or three arms 33 meters each + center block. The both produce the same power output.

However within a given (cubic) volume you can fit more blocks in the form of 3D arms than you can in the form of lines resulting in a more efficient generator in the same amount of space.

 

[Malacodor]

A powersupply beam block consumes 50 power and supplys 40 power. A power reactor block produces 25 energy/s without dimensional bonus. Thus it's hard to make a modular reactor which supplys significantly more power than built in reactors. And powersupply beams require way more resources to craft than reactor blocks.

 

[Snk]

I designed a power tank that works really well. I used a type of reactor design that gave me a good amount of power.