So, i've reached a point where my power generation is 2,200,000.0 and for some reason placing down power blocks is still in-efficient compared to putting blocks in 1x1 format on the x, y, and z axis's. The problem is, that i still dont have enough power to maintain 100% power while accelerating, can someone provide me with a design that generates decent amounts of power? my ship is medium-large so it can fit probably a 20x20x20 block in it.
You've hit the soft cap. The only options you have are energy inefficient mass placement of generator blocks, or to use Auxiliary Power blocks. This mechanic is in place specifically to stop people from making super large ships.
Previously you could build docked reactors to supplement your power, but those have been disabled at the base code level.
What you are asking for is a docked power reactor, which would carry enough reactors and capacitors that its power supply beams can give your ship more power. However, the server issues these devices were causing resulted in them being unusable in that manner and the volatile aux power blocks being used in their place. IIRC, there is a server configuration option to re-allow docked power reactors to work on things they're docked to, but usually servers leave that option at the default No.
Note: Aux blocks when struck by weapons fire explode, causing further damage to your ship, and if the aux groups are large enough, can result in a one shot kill for your enemy (especially by warheads, which completely ignore shields).
While one can still use passive (no power supply beams or logic needed/used) docked reactors for things like turrets, there is no way to provide additional power to the main vessel via docked entities.
Aux Power blocks aren't quite warhead quality in their explosiveness, as long as you keep them in small groups. Thing is, they act like capacitors in that they are more efficient in large groups. So it becomes a tradeoff, small groups won't actually self destruct if hit once, but don't generate a lot of power. Large groups produce lots of power, but will destroy themselves in chain reaction detonations.
Either way, you should be wrapping your aux power in some advanced armor layers.
I prefer to place a spacing layer of five shield capacitors or regenerators between aux reactors. It shields adjacent reactors just as well as an advanced armor block, and it has vastly more use for the ship than internal armor.
Do not make small auxiliary reactors. Make each such reactor between 9500 and 10,000 blocks. Their power efficiency scales upwards quite significantly to that point and then scales down beyond that. If you use much smaller groups, you will wind up using a lot more auxiliary power blocks than you would otherwise need, and further exacerbate the problem of shielding reactors from one another so explosions in one don't cascade into the rest.
The fact that they're that weak makes me want to point them out on my ship just so people miss more shots trying to aim there. Warheads suck D:
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So, i've reached a point where my power generation is 2,200,000.0 and for some reason placing down power blocks is still in-efficient compared to putting blocks in 1x1 format on the x, y, and z axis's. The problem is, that i still dont have enough power to maintain 100% power while accelerating, can someone provide me with a design that generates decent amounts of power? my ship is medium-large so it can fit probably a 20x20x20 block in it.
I assume this means that you have stupid amounts of thrusters, or are running a ton of extra effects. If you're worried about turrets you can carve out part of your ship below the turret and replace it with a docked segment, so you max the segment's power and it then powers the turrets. Their called docked power cores(?) and don't ever create nearly as much lag because they're on the outside of the ship and don't fire any beams.
So, i've reached a point where my power generation is 2,200,000.0 and for some reason placing down power blocks is still in-efficient compared to putting blocks in 1x1 format on the x, y, and z axis's. The problem is, that i still dont have enough power to maintain 100% power while accelerating, can someone provide me with a design that generates decent amounts of power? my ship is medium-large so it can fit probably a 20x20x20 block in it.
So you have your root ship entity A, which is/includes a reactor, then build a reactor only entity B that docks to A inside your ship. Then dock entities that have shields or weapons to B (or build then directly onto entity B), instead of A. They'll be able to use power from both A and B.
Be careful placing/protecting the connection between A and B - if it's destroyed you'll effectively be dead. (A weakness that auxiliary power doesn't have)
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I think it's more reasonable to just say that it makes super large ships less efficient.
You can still have any amount of power you want from a singe reactor by using your first option above: massive (inefficient) solid groups of generator blocks. A 200 x 100 x 100 group gives 50 million e/s, and size-wise isn't a huge problem for super large ships.
So you have your root ship entity A, which is/includes a reactor, then build a reactor only entity B that docks to A inside your ship. Then dock entities that have shields or weapons to B (or build then directly onto entity B), instead of A. They'll be able to use power from both A and B.
Becareful of placing/protecting the connection between A and B - if it's destroyed you'll effectively be dead. (A weakness that auxiliary power doesn't have)
Just be aware that the devs have already tired to stop people from doing that once, and odds are they will do so again in the future.
They killed docked reactors because the lag and server load they create is bad for the game. These are exactly the same thing just with a new face on them. So just be aware that if you rely on them, odds are your ship will be made unplayable in a future patch.
Actually, considering that OP said they can't keep power up while accelerating, docked reactors won't do anything. Engines always draw from the base ship, and if the base ship can't generate enough power to run the thrusters, then all the docked reactors in the world aren't going to help that.
And people doing docked shells of systems/hull should just be freaking banned from servers, IMO, but thats a different story altogether.
Having turrets on a second docked entity is identical to having a ship with a turret docked to a station or a larger ship. I don't think there is really anything they can do about it really. If we really went the whole hog, we'd disable all ai o docked entities but then...
Having turrets on a second docked entity is identical to having a ship with a turret docked to a station or a larger ship. I don't think there is really anything they can do about it really. If we really went the whole hog, we'd disable all ai o docked entities but then...
Eh, if the ship is docked, they could simply disable all of it's power generation and force it to draw from the station. Thats usually how its portrayed in science fiction stories anyway. Even in things like Star Trek, when the Enterprise is undocking from a station you can hear "switching to internal power" being said.
And yes, if docked reactors keep being problems, I could see them disabling intermediary power levels entirely. We already have it with Thrusters, the code is there. Its just going to mean turrets get hurt in the process by not being able to have powered bases anymore.
Hence why I'm so gung-ho on people not abusing the system like this. The fact the devs already made a new type of system and disabled the old one entirely means they think its a serious enough problem to fix. If people keep abusing it, they're just going to keep taking more drastic measures to fix it until something else has to get sacrificed in the name of balance.
Its a classic example of the 99% being punished because of the 1% that won't stop.
They'd very likely have to kill self powered turrets to do that, and there's no chance of that happening.
They killed docked reactors because the lag and server load they create is bad for the game. These are exactly the same thing just with a new face on them. So just be aware that if you rely on them, odds are your ship will be made unplayable in a future patch.
These aren't new, they're as old as docking, and docks passing power up. Unless the entire, fundamental concept of either docking, or power passing up through docks is abandoned, this won't happen, so really not something to worry about.
And of course they aren't exactly the same as docked reactors.
They don't increase the power output of the ship's root entity (and so can't support ships of unlimited size)
They typically introduce weak points into a ship that if destroyed mean the entire ship is as good as destroyed
There are no beams from one entity to another that the server continuously has to perform hit calculations for, so there's less load on the server than with docked reactors.
Actually, considering that OP said they can't keep power up while accelerating, docked reactors won't do anything. Engines always draw from the base ship, and if the base ship can't generate enough power to run the thrusters, then all the docked reactors in the world aren't going to help that.
Very true, my bad, I hadn't actually taken the time to read the entire OP. The explanation I gave makes it pretty clear what situation I was thinking about though.
And people doing docked shells of systems/hull should just be freaking banned from servers, IMO, but thats a different story altogether.
But not "truly massive" fixed turrets inside the hull, you're fine with them....
I know the first thing people think about when it comes to multiple entity ships is PvP, and that's a reasonable assumption, but I find it's also great for RP:
my bridge can have displays showing armour damage percentages for different areas of hull,
and display capacitor levels for different weapon *groups*,
I can have fwd-aft-stbd-port shields,
I can have a backup reactor,
I can have reactors that with a bit of block placing can be rerouted to skip a destroyed reactor to make a ship functional after a fight.
There's a *huge* range of possibilities for RP play with multiple entity ships.
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Except that in this case there are plenty of solutions that don't require punishment for anyone, aren't there.
(And the ratio is a very long way from 99 to 1)
Possibly the easiest and most comprehensive solution would be to make logic, rails and the hotbar the only ways to dock anything. And by undock I mean change position while while a child entity to anything else (similar to what others have suggested).
Actualy exploding aux does more damage than exploding warheads, its just that in most warhead torpedos the warheads are subject to a bug where they explode well over 50 times before actually vanishing; In a non bugged environment exploding aux is more damaging.
And of course they aren't exactly the same as docked reactors.
They don't increase the power output of the ship's root entity (and so can't support ships of unlimited size)
They typically introduce weak points into a ship that if destroyed mean the entire ship is as good as destroyed
There are no beams from one entity to another that the server continuously has to perform hit calculations for, so there's less load on the server than with docked reactors.
Dude, they're docked reactors. They are reactors. That are docked. They're just less versatile than the old ones, but thats still exactly what they are, and they still have every one of the problems the old ones had that made the devs get rid of them. And no, the beams were never the problem, and you know it.
But not "truly massive" fixed turrets inside the hull, you're fine with them....
I already answered you in the other thread that I don't find those acceptable either, but that they are much less damaging than giant reactors. Why don't you leave it in the topic it actually belongs in instead of trying to drag it across multiple topics, eh? Or at least limit it to threads where its actually the topic of conversation?
Picking a fight across multiple threads is usually considered to be in very bad taste.
edymnion... he offered a suggestion and you didnt just counter the point, you shit talked the idea in general. you have a right to your opinion, but so does everyone else, and yours is no more valid than theirs.
fwiw, you can call it whatever you like if it helps your narrative... but the 2 technologies are not the same. this is a fact. it is also a fact that using an entity as a battery to power much of your ship can alleviate power to thrust and other functions in the base ship, even if it isnt a complete solution for this persons issue. you may not like this design, and your reason may even be good, but this is a fact.
anyway op, your problems solved super easy with a 9-10k run of well placed aux power.
Dude, they're docked reactors. They are reactors. That are docked. They're just less versatile than the old ones, but thats still exactly what they are, and they still have every one of the problems the old ones had that made the devs get rid of them. And no, the beams were never the problem, and you know it.
That'd be fine except that we all know "docked reactor" as a term specifically referring to brick-shaped reactor entities firing a power supply beam. For the sake of people understanding exactly what you're referring to, simply use a different term (e.g. "multiple reactors" like I do).
Multiple reactors don't have all the problems of the docked reactors: besides the fact that they don't require hit calcs for beams, they most importantly don't allow ships of infinite size - because they don't supply power to the root entity, which is where thrusters are powered from.
I already answered you in the other thread that I don't find those acceptable either, but that they are much less damaging than giant reactors. Why don't you leave it in the topic it actually belongs in instead of trying to drag it across multiple topics, eh? Or at least limit it to threads where its actually the topic of conversation?
They aren't less damaging than reactors unless the collision volume of both the entity and the ship together are less.
As I've said before, an undocked door in a titan might require far more collision calcs than an undocked reactor in a frigate.
Anyway, as you find "truly massive" internal turrets unacceptable, there's nothing else that needs to be said on this.
Picking a fight across multiple threads is usually considered to be in very bad taste.
Accusing the person _you_ started an argument with, and that you implied was a cheat, and that you publicly stated would be banned from servers if you had the power, of "picking a fight" might also be considered to be.
And not because I've done anything to you - just because I build, with vanilla power-sharing behaviour, in a way that you don't like.
Multiple reactors have many benefits for players, both PvP and RP, and use perfectly well understood, default, fundamental behaviour, without allowing ships of infinite size.
The lag problems that can be associated with them becoming undocked have many potential, and non-invasive, solutions.
EDIT:
Below is a graph showing the mass of ships (units of kt) possible with multiple reactors (i.e. up to softcap because multiple reactors don't allow the root ship entity that powers thrusters to exceed softcap power), based on your desired TM ratio.
Not very large.
I would also have shown a curve for "unlimited" sized ships (i.e. what is possible with actual docked reactors), effectively limited only by when adding another thruster block and a portion of a power reactor block required to power it are heavy enough to reduce T/M, but those masses are so ridiculously large compared to this curve that you wouldn't even be able to see this curve.
With docked reactors/no softcap, thrusters don't become too heavy to add until you have over 122 Billion of them!
The mass values for that "unlimited" curve are more than 300,000 times greater than the masses for this curve! (Assuming the docked reactor blocks achieve 50% of max efficiency)
In other words, multiple reactors only allow ships 0.00033% of the mass that docked reactors allow.
So anyone saying that multiple reactors are "exactly the same thing" as docked reactors is very, very wrong.
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