Nuclear Power structures

[Paullus]

Now I know many have suggested some sort of nuclear power generically as a source but I do believe I have a new suggestion on how to implement it (please correct me if it's not).

My Idea is to make it like a shipyard.



The Blocks are representational of course, but it would take this shape connected to a computer. the hazard blocks would be reactor casing blocks, in squares with sides with odd length. in the center is the rod block.



The individual rings can be added (like with shipyards) with the rod blocks connecting between them. the resulting power would factor the total length of the reactor and the width of each cube.


Some ways to ensure nuclear power would not be too OP:
1. The blocks explode like warheads upon destruction.
2. Some sort of fuel is consumed in the computer (could have multiple types corresponding to the different asteroids)
3. The reactor could give off dangerous heat, much like when too close to a sun. The solution would be to have a ship effect (I think I've heard talk of something similar in the future to allow ships to fly closer to suns) or make the computer also consume ice.
4. The computer requires two or three NPCs at the computer (when NPC's are updated).
5. It slowly Injures all astronaughts/NPCs on board necessitating substantial medical quarters.
6. The reactor, in addition to consuming fuel, could create waste that increases the ^ above contamination.


Again, let me know if someone has already suggested this, but I believe it would a new and interesting way to include nuclear power.

 

[JonasWalker]

Its an interesting idea and reminds me of Big Reactors mod for Minecraft which I would personally be a fan of. However I don't know how well that would work out for trying to keep things simple for new players though it would work fairly well by giving the veterans plenty of depth to play with. Either way I look forward to this discussion continuing.

Some other examples of what Big Reactors can do for those who are not familiar with it.

 

[Madman198237]

I think that this would work as a possible solution (And method to implement fuel) to the power cap. After the power cap is reached, these nuclear reactors could become more efficient that power reactors. Before that, they'd have to be less efficient.

 

[Pacific_Jim]

I think that this would work as a possible solution (And method to implement fuel) to the power cap. After the power cap is reached, these nuclear reactors could become more efficient that power reactors. Before that, they'd have to be less efficient.

A way to approach this might be to keep the same balance ratio of current power to docked power. Keep the 2 million power soft cap for regular reactors, then for each of the new reactors limit each individual reactor to a similar output of docked reactors now (1.5 mill iirc?).

 

[Madman198237]

You can limit it like that, or just structure the power efficiency so that it gets massively inefficient to use many small reactors or one large reactor, and is instead better to use medium-size reactors. Like docked power, but more explosive and radioactive, and less laggy (Probably).

 

[JonasWalker]

You can limit it like that, or just structure the power efficiency so that it gets massively inefficient to use many small reactors or one large reactor, and is instead better to use medium-size reactors. Like docked power, but more explosive and radioactive, and less laggy (Probably).

Well you could have it be where reactor efficiency (to a point) does scale with size but so does the eventual boom. So having one large central reactor for your Deathstar is really efficient in terms of fuel usage, but if it ever goes....

 

[Madman198237]

Yeah. Also, make sure reactors can grow, freely, in all dimensions, no restrictions on space. Also, while the outside (Like a shipyard) should be fully connected series of closed shapes of reactor exterior blocks, (So circles, squares, parallelograms for all I care, all function as reactors), so long as there is a completely enclosed space filled with another type of block, some sort of reactor interior block. All reactor interior blocks connected to one reactor computer should be linked, by other interior blocks, to every other interior block. As in, no gaps between groups. This formula allows for spheres, cubes, and rectangular prisms to all be valid reactor shapes, so long as it's a closed outer shape with a filled interior.

The filled interior is to reduce lag from wasted space. Oh, and to prevent the exploitation of the law of scale to effectively generate energy from blank space (As a shape's dimensions increase, volume increases much faster than surface area. If each dimension increases by a factor of two, than the interior space increases by a factor of 2^3 [8])

 

[JonasWalker]

Yeah. Also, make sure reactors can grow, freely, in all dimensions, no restrictions on space. Also, while the outside (Like a shipyard) should be fully connected series of closed shapes of reactor exterior blocks, (So circles, squares, parallelograms for all I care, all function as reactors), so long as there is a completely enclosed space filled with another type of block, some sort of reactor interior block. All reactor interior blocks connected to one reactor computer should be linked, by other interior blocks, to every other interior block. As in, no gaps between groups. This formula allows for spheres, cubes, and rectangular prisms to all be valid reactor shapes, so long as it's a closed outer shape with a filled interior.

The filled interior is to reduce lag from wasted space. Oh, and to prevent the exploitation of the law of scale to effectively generate energy from blank space (As a shape's dimensions increase, volume increases much faster than surface area. If each dimension increases by a factor of two, than the interior space increases by a factor of 2^3 [8])

It would also help avoid the issue of nesting multiple bounding boxes within each other like is possible with space efficient reactor designs currently. Even if sticks are much simpler to build/repair.

 

[Madman198237]

Darn exploitative vacuum-energy-creating power reactor things.

Anyway, for those who don't understand my incredibly lengthy and confusing post:
Nuclear Reactor in Two Three Four Several Easy Steps! (Humor incoming)

1. Make closed, empty, 3-dimensional space out of a nuclear reactor block. Connect to a reactor computer of some sort. Next, filled closed 3-dimensional shape with reactor interior blocks, connect to computer.

2. Produce power by adding absurdly dangerous and incredibly radioactive fuel which, while incredibly rare, lasts for a long time, providing enough power for your waste of space planet-ending Death Star IV (I, II, and III have all already succumbed to large explosions of the main reactor. Please, by all means, continue building dangerous reactors in order to die in the same way)

3. Proceed even further into the endgame, and produce fusion fuel from the volatile insides of a hot (In astronomic terms) and dense (Again in astronomy terms) gas giant to get an incredibly powerful fusion fuel (Still usable in your reactor structure, but rare)

4. Proceed into the heart of an active star to gather the best of all fusion fuels.....which produces so much heat and pure energy as to make even a little bit of damage to the casing immediately fatal! Yet you'll produce so much power you can overdrive your Death Star superlaser to new heights of folly and certain doom amazing destructive capability!

5. Enter combat
5 1/4. Die in a horrendously large explosion
5 1/2. Respawn
5 3/4. Repeat
5 8/9. ???????
6. Profit (If you still have any infrastructure left. That last Death Star was your homebase, after all)

 

[JonasWalker]

My only regret is I can but give one rating for that post as I both Agree and find it funny. :D

 

[Madman198237]

That's fine. I enjoy confusing and annoying people.

Maybe rate this post funny and the other one agree? I don't care. Maybe you should go bother somebody about allowing multiple ratings in a post. Like, up to 3 or something. Or go bug somebody into forcing me to limit my posts to one idea each. Then you could rate (Or not rate) each one individually.....

 

[PLIX]

love the idea no more need to make trillions of reactors for a mother ship 2 times as big as the death star

 

[Paullus]

Thanks! I do think that for gigantic ships/stations like that, a gigantic reactor should be required - adding more danger to it of course. The ones I have shown would be for a largish fighter and a frigate for example. Otherwise, reactors would become too powerful and not balanced with current power systems.

 

[Proxima_Centauri]

Having any kind of canon power source would be lore-inhibiting imho

Just add your own reactors using decoration blocks

 

[sayerulz]

Having any kind of canon power source would be lore-inhibiting imho

Just add your own reactors using decoration blocks

Considering that the actual proposal is just a big, cubic reactor structure that can explode, it actually conforms to almost any scifi. If calling it a "nuclear reactor" is the problem, it could be called an "advanced reactor" or somesuch.

 

[JonasWalker]

Considering that the actual proposal is just a big, cubic reactor structure that can explode, it actually conforms to almost any scifi. If calling it a "nuclear reactor" is the problem, it could be called an "advanced reactor" or somesuch.

No more lore limiting than having short range "jump" drives and long ranged stationary "gates". Or having things called Reactor Modules/Power Capacitors/shipyards in the first place. Even in a sandbox your still going to have some limitations to how wildly you can diverge from vanilla even with extensive modding down the line.

Though I admit I would like a server option that can be either toggled to disable/enable or set the ratio of boom/output. While nifty not all sci-fi has Stackpole brand reactors.

 

[Madman198237]

I'm just gonna note that it would be better if the reactor doesn't have to be rectangular. As in my post about a different way to do this, just make it so that the reactor must have a skin in the form of a three-dimensional hollow shape with no gaps.

 

[Lecic]

5. It slowly Injures all astronaughts/NPCs on board necessitating substantial medical quarters.

I like almost this whole suggestion except this. Damaging astronauts is just annoying.

 

[Leanson]

I like this idea as it add a neat feature and function to the game itself.

 

[JonasWalker]

I like almost this whole suggestion except this. Damaging astronauts is just annoying.

I can agree with that. At least if it was a thing, let us somehow protect against it even if its via sheer block mass between the source and a PC/NPC. That way we can properly weaponize it in the form of 'radiation' traps and the like. :D