Curious about Power

[Dead_videos]

So i wonder after having played the game, browsed the forums a bit, and participated in chat.

Does anyone NOT like that you can create more power regen simply by moving the blocks in a certain way? I speak of course of only making 3 lines on the x,y,z axis then doing the same thing over and over and over again.

I personally don't it feels wrong to me to be able to generate the power of a 100x100x100 cube with a fraction of the amount of resources that would otherwise be needed. ( 300 blocks vs 1,000,000 to be precise.) And i'm curious to know if this is exactly what the devs want or is this is just a problem they don't feel like fixing at the moment because their working on bigger issues.

One of the reasons I want to know is because this is the main reason I won't play on public servers since I won't build my reactors this way someone will always be able to beat me no matter how good my ship is simply by building their reactor smaller, and getting more power than me and then outgunning me with it.

 

[DoomGiver]

I actually like the way power is generated in this game. Not only is it an amazingly unique idea, it requires more thought then simply smacking a giant cube together. If you build a 100x100x100 outline on the x,y,z axis\', sure, you get the same power geneartion as the full cube, but now the challenge is, how many more cube \"outlines\" can you fit into your first one without touching? How many unique axis outlines can you put in there. As you say, someone will always do it smaller than you, that\'s not true. Someone simply was smarter in their design, as building a reactor should be a test of wits, not of brute strength.

 

[Dead_videos]

your missing it. by all laws of physics building reactors as 3 lines doesn\'t make any sense, and yes it makes it more unique but it feels exploitative, i know im definitely in the minority on this, and the question i asked was whether or not the way it works now is intended or a mere oversight of the code, because from my understanding of it, even if you only build 3 lines the game THINKS you built a full cube and does that math instead.

 

[DoomGiver]

If your wondering if it\'s intended or not, it ceraintly is. The math to compute total blocks in a cube (counting) is vastly different then the equation used in power geneartion, as it does a mix of couting, and total volume. And trust me, on the larger ships, this method is not explotive at all. When you\'re attempting to move some giant super-carrier, your reactor better be either A)The entire ship or B)very very clever. Engines take up alot more power on large scale ships then they do on a small snubfighter



And no. I got your point. Thank you for the snide remark. May I have another?

The point you missed is that the system is not explotive, only feels that way until you\'ve really begun to play the game and build larger ships.



EDIT: I was sitting here when I realized I mis-spoke(typed). The equation used to calculate power used to use both total block and the volume. There is now a seperate block for part of the power system, however the fact remains that it is definitely intentional. My apologies for the mis-information at first.

 

[ARC157]

To the best of my knowledge it is an intended feature.

Your problem is that you are looking at the mechanic in the wrong light. Don\'t benchmark reactors on their sheer volume and the amount of blocks it takes to build. Volume does play a key role in power generation, but you\'re thinking about it all wrong. Instead of basing your metric on the generation of a solid cube of generators, base it on the generation of a 3 pronged \"cube\". Therein lies the actual game mechanic, as it allows you to continue to design your reactor, its no longer based on a simple number of power generation blocks - its a system based on the intelligent application of power generation blocks by the builder.

 

[Dead_videos]

The thing that gets me though is the fact that this system of calculation isn\'t used for ANYTHING else in the game, not weapons, shields, or even power tanks. They all calculate differently than power generation and if power gen does it this way why not everything else too? or the other way around.



Also i do agree building reactors should be a test of wit versus brute strength but the current system feels wrong.

Oh and can you point me to a quote from a developer saying this is working as intended?

 

[DoomGiver]

This is in essence what I said. Be careful, when I said this, I got a snide remark. :P I am still waiting for my second one that I asked for. These remarks are best served in pairs I\'ve learned. Very tasty.

 

[DoomGiver]

I highly doubt anyone will find a quite from Schema unless he himself posts in this thread. Regardless, if he has, I really don\'t want to dig through post after post if you don\'t want to either. I can however use known facts, such as the the length of time that this has been the current system without being changed. If it was a bug, the math invovled in fixing it is akin to the math involved to find the sum of 1+1. Ok, maybe not that simple, but you get the gist.

Also, nothing else in the game uses this method because that would make absoutly no sense. A reactor is far more complex a entity than a gun or missle lanucher. It makes sense for it to be the most complex system in the game.

 

[Dead_videos]

The most complex system in the game is not power generation, but turning that power ( which i assume is a form of electricity or something like it) into an effective shielding capable of rendering missiles harmless and nullifying antimatter rounds which ordinarily would detonate with a force akin to many atom bombs, as for that matter turning mere electricity into effective thrust is massively complicated as well especially if you want to use something other than an ion drive engine as those produce so little thrust they\'d never propel anything larger than a small probe. Also as for digging through posts i went through the pages in the general discussion forum for quite awhile before making this post.

 

[Planr]

Power blocks work in expanding box dimensions for the very reason of that it doesn\'t take up tons of room on your ship. It\'s the only system that works that way in the game because well, it doesn\'t really make sense to do it that way with any other system. So it runs like power cables throughout your ship. Relax, there\'s a 1 million cap on the regen\'s exponential build; adding on additional blocks after that only adds 25 more regen of power for each block. It\'s a great system once you get used to it.

 

[Dead_videos]

As for the 1 million cap on the reactor thats only for 1 cluster right? or does that cap count for a whole ship?

Anyway, i just found a quote from schema here: http://star-made.org/content/effects-grouping-elements-together that proposes that a 5x5x5 cube is the same as a cross 5 high and 5 deep so i suppose it is intended. Oh well, at least now i know it\'s intended.



Edit: Since i found out that this is indeed intentional i plan on learning the system and possibly retrofitting my battleship.

 

[Aftershockzap]

I don\'t know about the 1 million regen cap being for one cluster or all clusters total. (I would like to know that answer as well personally) but my 2 cents is this: While it is \"easy\" to get high power regen on a large ship by building reactors using the XYZ axis methods, in my experience using just reactors alone will net you a HUGE power regeneration ability, however, not enough energy storage to hold all the power your ship can generate in one second. Which means you must then build power tanks, large scale, to counter this.

For example:

Lets say your ship can regenerate 30k power a second, and can store 15k power. Lets say you are flying while shooting. If your guns require 15k power/sec to fire, and your thrusters require 15kpower/sec to burn then your power regeneration is enough to maintain firing and shooting. However while firing and shooting your ship is actually running out of power over, and over again because of the 15k storage limitation.



After experiencing the above, I decided that it was actually a good system that while being easy to understand and use on ships, also has a hidden learning curve that will leave you perfecting your ships systems and designs time and time again.



In short-Love the power system =D

 

[HatTheJack]

A 5x5x5 cube is not the same as a cross. Same generation but the cube has more storage.

Also all the systems have similar quirks. The missiles reload quicker if they are taller, shoot further if they are longer etc.

 

[Dasneko]

Just make reactor building more understandable and intuitive. Its no fun if only the geeks realize the hidden potential in reactor designs. Either you make it obvious to everyone or I think its an exploitative function that should be modified or removed.

 

[King_Corduroy]

I agree with AfterShockZap. I have been playing now for a couple of months and I find the hidden learning curve quite interesting. When bored or waiting for something I often find myself penning out the design of my next ship. These quirks quickly weed out the children seeking instant gratification from everything.

Oh and BTW if you are not a geek, Dasneko you have no business playing this game. The last thing we need is FPS players coming in here with the sole intent to kill as many other players as possible. If you want easy go play Call Of Duty or some other mind numbing EA game.