Power Block question

[Captain_Quacer]

I am working on starting a series like MCspotlights block exploration videos but for Star Made. So I decided to explore the operation of Power Blocks and I am not sure if this is a bug or part of how the Power Block functions.

I explain it detail in this video here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cn0gojPfbGY&feature=youtu.be)

 

[Doctor Ragnarok]

It\'s not a bug, this is the current design in what was supposedly an attempt to steer people away from making giant cubes. After a certain point the layout doesn\'t matter though, so it could use some revamping. There are a number of threads here on the forums revolving around efficient generator designs, and if you have a question in the future please be sure to do a forum search first just in case. Also do your best to explain any issues you may be having in the thread. It\'s fine to have images or video to help better explain the problem you are experiencing, but relying solely on them might not get you the help that you seek, if any.

 

[Captain_Quacer]

I appreciate the advice and I will be sure to do that from now on. How does the grouping pentlity and dimentionality figure into what Bettlebear and Schema is tring to do with the game?

 

[Doctor Ragnarok]

From what i\'ve read and discovered myself, it forces you to work harder on designs especially with smaller ships. If you look around you see people competing to get the most power in a 5x5x5 cube. Shapes like +, L, and T also give off better power than solid blocks, and there are some interesting designs out there as a consequence. Even if we\'re just sitting here crunching numbers to find efficiency over aesthetics, it\'s a step up from just throwing everything into a cube and marching off into a battle of the borg. It may not make much sense in the longrun, but perhaps there will be other ways to encourage actual design as balancing continues.

 

[Captain_Quacer]

So when you use dimentionality there is no pentilty for the blocks that do not exisit then?

 

[Doctor Ragnarok]

I\'m not entirely sure what you\'re asking, but for each \'unique\' block in the X,Y,Z directions you gain a power bonus, and for each that isn\'t unique you fail to receive any bonus. The most efficient use of power blocks regardless of space seem to involve having a straight line on each axis that intercepts at only one point. Otherwise if you just make a checkerboard pattern of rods that touch only on the diagonal but not the face, those get good bonuses as well. Power bonuses accumulate up until 1 million regen, and then there is a steep drop. After that point the design no longer matters and cubes become popular again. Empty spaces in any design are often filled with power tanks or shields. It would make sense that more power blocks should mean more power regardless of how they\'re oriented, but we\'re not currently operating on that logic.

 

[Zaflis]

This is interesting thing, i never thought that single separate power blocks could produce more power than 1 big group of efficient bounding box... If my game wouldn\'t crash upon entering build mode, i\'d try ingame...

But it kind of makes sense. The power gain in small numbers, while exponential increase, is not maybe as much as static power increase from new power group.

edit: Now it\'s tested. Solid power line of
7 blocks: 924 e/sec
8 blocks: 1096 e/sec
9 blocks: 1279 e/sec

7 individual blocks: 985 e/sec
8 individual blocks: 1126 e/sec
9 individual blocks: 1267 e/sec

So this is where the borderline is. Power group with less than 9 blocks is not the most efficient design... good to know.

 

[To Me Young Ones]

It\'s an equation that is supposed to disuade you from building large ships. Though you just end up make a alrger ship while throwing 10x10x10 blocks of power everywhere since planning doesn\'t matter.