Using multiple reactors to achieve power redundancy

[Jojomo]

Can anyone think of a good way (something practical, that will work/can be used in the middle of a battle) to have a "spare" reactor for a system?

For example say my ship's shields, "S", need 1 million e/s, and my ship has two reactor entities available to power the shields: "A" and "B", each of which generate 1 million e/s.
Is there a way to arrange them so that if either A or B is destroyed, S continues to receive all the power it needs?

If I docked them together like this:
A<--B<--S (Where this notation means [Rail]<--[Docker])
If A was destroyed B would still provide the power S needs, but this arrangement is silly: A is of no use because if B is destroyed A will have no link to S and won't be able to power it.

It isn't possible to dock like this is it?: A<--S-->B

Does anyone have a solution?

 

[Malacodor]

You can't dock to more than one rail at a time.

 

[Croquelune]

If A is destroyed, B and S are disable anyway.

 

[Jojomo]

If A is destroyed, B and S are disable anyway.

? No they aren't....?

 

[Raisinbat]

That's not possible, the game has no means of controlling/redirecting power, and docked entities do not allow for stacking. You either have excess power or logic controls for shutting down logiced parts of your ship.

If A was destroyed B would still provide the power S needs, but this arrangement is silly: A is of no use because if B is destroyed A will have no link to S and won't be able to power it.

That's a little extreme; combat scenarios where entire entities are destroyed are exceptionally rare; the entity can have its systems destroyed, but if the docking blocks are located far back you'll still have the connection between them, but that much damage you're dead either way.

One option is to smack a swarmer spammer on A and link each computer to an AND block that gets an input from a power reader only at 100% power; that way A serves a secondary purpose but will stop being a swarmer spammer and instead only serve as power generator for S.

 

[Jojomo]

That's a little extreme; combat scenarios where entire entities are destroyed are exceptionally rare; the entity can have its systems destroyed, but if the docking blocks are located far back you'll still have the connection between them, but that much damage you're dead either way.

Yes, I came to a similar answer myself overnight: combine B and S as a single entity (although physically separated) and then place BS's docker that connects to A's rail in the centre of A (the main parts of A and B are also physically separated of course).

[A]<---[B...S]

If A is (mostly) destroyed B continues to power S (itself), if B is (mostly) destroyed (but not S) while A is intact then B's connection to A will also be intact, so A will now power S.

 

[Malacodor]

? No they aren't....?

Docked entities become unphysical when the main entity is destroyed. It's a bug, but it doesn't look like it will be fixed anytime soon.

 

[Jojomo]

Docked entities become unphysical when the main entity is destroyed. It's a bug, but it doesn't look like it will be fixed anytime soon.

Oh...

What does "unphysical" mean here?
Does this only happen if the entity at the very bottom (top? I don't know which is the correct description) of the docking chain is destroyed (i.e. the mother ship), or does it happen above any break in the chain?

I keep seeing recommendations to make turrets self-powered so that they can continue fighting if shot off...is this incorrect?

EDIT: I've had a look around, I think perhaps you mean this, Malacodor:
Bug - Attached Entities stop taking damage after breaking off
Bug - Invincible Ships

If that's correct (is it?), I don't think it sounds like a very consistent issue (also possibly AI ships only), and just seems to make the detached stuff invulnerable, which (although I certainly agree it should be fixed) doesn't sound problematic for the owner of those entities...

 

[Malacodor]

What does "unphysical" mean here?

"Unphysical" means no collision, can't be damaged, can't be entered.

Does this only happen if the entity at the very bottom (top? I don't know which is the correct description) of the docking chain is destroyed (i.e. the mother ship), or does it happen above any break in the chain?

Any break, at least in my test setups.
I don't think there's a consus about the top-bottom thing anyway. I prefer the term "docking tree", since there can be branching in one direction, but not the other, and it's more obvious what top and bottom means.

I keep seeing recommendations to make turrets self-powered so that they can continue fighting if shot off...is this incorrect?

With the current bug, actually yes. But this bug will eventually get fixed, and it's not a bad idea to design stuff halfway future-proof. Also, self-powered turrets don't count for the main ship's power soft cap.
Furthermore, undocked turrets are generally useless, since the barrel can't move the base. A barrel (the part with the AI) needs to undock from the base to be useful on its own.

 

[Jojomo]

"Unphysical" means no collision, can't be damaged, can't be entered.

Hmm, I just tested this several times and can't reproduce it...entities shot off the docking tree remain physical for me.

 

[Malacodor]

Hmm, I just tested this several times and can't reproduce it...entities shot off the docking tree remain physical for me.

Sorry, i was mixing up two different things. The bug I mentioned occurs when an entity is destroyed, after the overheating timer reaches 0, not when only the docker or rail is destroyed.

 

[Jojomo]

Sorry, i was mixing up two different things. The bug I mentioned occurs when an entity is destroyed, after the overheating timer reaches 0, not when only the docker or rail is destroyed.

Ah yes, I see.
This does mean that one of the reactors does have a reasonable chance of becoming a single point of failure for the whole system described. One of the downsides to building with multiple entities I suppose.

It also means I'm not going to be branching my docking tree any more than necessary - don't want too many single points of failure for large pieces of a ship.

 

[Edymnion]

Just build multiple reactor cores to start with.

Spread it out, don't put all of your power generation in one place.