A while ago I created a mod for myself that introduces a bunch of new reactors. One thing that slightly annoyed me about the mod is that, although all of the reactors were as rare as they can get, the sheer number of reactor types available meant that they showed up rather frequently in wreckage and shops. I'd rather reactors be a rare prize that you covet when found.
I was thinking that it would be rather cool to have a station that did some tinkering with reactors. Since I don't want to modify any existing game data, this would be a new station that dealt with and sold reactors.
What I was thinking is that there could be some reactors, such as a reactor type called a Fury which, on its own, isn't that great of a reactor. It has a high power output, but it drains so fast that it is an expensive nuisance to use. The only redeeming quality that this reactor has is that, with the proper equipment, you can hook up multiples of them to form reactor assemblies. The resulting Fury 2X, Fury 4X and Fury 8X reactors, while still a nuisance in the having to refuel way too often category, can generate much higher power outputs than reactors of their level normally could. While all your buddies are showing off their fancy new 250MW reactors, you've got your 640MW customized, fuel-guzzling assembly to show off. In order to create these reactor assemblies, you'd have to accumulate the appropriate number of reactors, take them to the reactor station, and have them do some work on them much the same way that Tinkers work with ore.
There may well be some other reactor models that can be combined in this manner, such as the way-too-big-for-Wolfen class reactors that are designed for capital ships. If you've got 200-300+ tons of cargo space handy you could extract some serious power outputs.
Only problem is, I know diddly squat about scripting, so someone else would have to take care of that part. I can create the reactor specs and model the stations if someone else wants to take care of the other parts. Any takers?
Last Cause Of Death: Destroyed by Karl Svalbard's last Lucifer missile, right after I blew him up. And the crowd cheers.
I don't think a power guzzling reactor would be useful. Even the vanilla reactors become nonviable in refueling terms in the mid game if you're pushing the output so extra peak power isn't useful. In 0.99c, for instance, an Iocrym Veil on a sn2500 can use up fuel faster than you can farm it from ferians.
I have also made many reactor variants, with intermediate power levels, some with higher efficiency, some with different fuel requirements. While I agree that reactors should be rather uncommon the most desireable trait for a reactor is fuel efficiency. I can live with a 100 mW reactor and may not upgrade to a 250 right away if I only have to refuel every 3 systems.
The other issue, if reactors are rare finds already, how will you be able to find all the parts necessary to construct the new reactor?
Perhaps if the fury had a much larger fuel capacity, and maybe even more fuel compatibilities so that it has equivalent run time but simply cost 4-5x more to refuel it could be viable.
As for coding it, I would be more than happy to do so. It's rather trivial to add it to the tinker code or place it in a new station that deals exclusively in ship devices (something else I have been playing with).
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The reactors (or another set) could just as easily be a low output but very efficient reactor that isn't much use unless you combine it into an assembly so that they can generate a useful amount of power.
As for the more desirable trait of a reactor being fuel efficiency, its funny you say that because there's hardly any change in fuel efficiency for the standard reactors. All they ever do is get more powerful.
Last Cause Of Death: Destroyed by Karl Svalbard's last Lucifer missile, right after I blew him up. And the crowd cheers.
Anyway, here's another list of reactors and reactor manufacturers.
Fury Reactors:
(LC-40, XC-80, 2X, 4X and 8X)
Fury reactors, created by the ARC Corporation, consist of the LC-40 low-end reactor and the XC-80 high-end reactor. Both reactors are exceptionally efficient and a good choice for low level reactors as they are quite cheap to run.
Beyond that, you can also acquire 2X, 4X and 8X reactor assemblies made up for linked XC-80 reactors, which will provide maximum power way beyond what you could normally achieve at their level, but you'll make up for it in the cost of running the reactor. You could, for example, buy the usual SN2500 (250MW) for 80k, or instead purchase a Fury 8X assembly (600MW) for 60k, but it will cost you a rather absurd 15 times as much to fill up the tank. In reality though, if used properly, these assemblies could be very useful in allowing you to temporarily use way more power than other reactors of their level would. And if you don't waste all your fuel, it should also run for a very long time.
In addition to the added expense of fuel, the Fury reactor assemblies also get rather heavy, as you're basically cramming 2 to 8 reactors onto your ship.
Toka reactors are created by Toka Power Systems. They are a divided into three separate types, the G-series, the X-series, and the iX-series. The G-series of reactors are not especially efficient or powerful, but they are cheap and light weight. The X-series are of much higher quality however, and they're more efficient, more expensive and typically weigh a lot more than the G-series. Finally the iX-series, designed for military use, are reasonably efficient, very powerful and relatively light-weight.
Some reactors some with an E attached to the end of their name. That means this reactor has an expanded fuel tank.
Seika reactors, created by the Seika Corporation, are notoriously high quality, long lasting reactors. They some in several types consisting of the T-series reactors for personal transports, the F-series for freighters and cargo runners, and the X-series for ships with high power demands. There is also the SV-4010R for military applications and the SV-2010iC, one of the longest-lasting reactors known next to the Hyperion.
If you can manage the price and weight, Seika reactors are very good reactors to have.
Amandla reactors:
(no design names specified yet)
Created by the United African States who also developed the Zulu and Zulu II-class gunships, Amandla reactors are specifically designed to work with a wide range of fuels.
Zarya solar generator:
This reactor was created to use the local star as its fuel source. It can only be used in conjunction with solar panels, but if properly setup this reactor can save you a lot of money and risk. It also burns its clean power source very efficiently, so once recharged it can go for long periods of time without having to charge up again. Just be prepared to spend some time idling near the sun when your batteries start to run low.
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I'm wondering if you think its overdoing it, or if it doesn't really fit in with the other reactors, to have them setup this way with the design codes and such. Thoughts? Some of these reactors could be attached to stations which sell them, that being the only way to actually get them anywhere, so they aren't turning up right and left in wreckage.
Last Cause Of Death: Destroyed by Karl Svalbard's last Lucifer missile, right after I blew him up. And the crowd cheers.
I don't think there are enough variables in reactor design to justify more than double the current number of reactors, and most of the variance would be among lower power civilian reactors since the militaries would tend to standardize.
Only three of the reactors mentioned here are considered military reactors, and the SN2500 is better than two of them while the other is considerably heavier and more expensive. If I were the military, I'd still be using SN2500s.
That means the majority of these reactors are for the civilian population.
Besides, having an 8X reactor would at least give you some way to power those absurd high level weapons without having to join the stupid military.
Last Cause Of Death: Destroyed by Karl Svalbard's last Lucifer missile, right after I blew him up. And the crowd cheers.
Perhaps these brands should be amalgamated into the current companies?
Fury Reactors ->E.I. (Earth Industries)
Toka -> Makayev
Seika -> Bushido
Amandla -> maybe a helotiotrope specific reactor?
I like the idea of more reactors and I also have to agree with Atarlost that there's not enough variables.
Some things could be fudged though.
A reactor could have the ability to kick up it's power generation with reduced fuel efficiency. Misc Device can be used with a negative poweruse to simulate extra power. It could be virtual and use no slots. This would allow the script on the reactor to install/uninstall the phantom device without the player ever knowing it was there.
Coming soon: The Syrtian War adventure mod! A Turret defense genre mod exploring the worst era in Earth's history.
Can you defend the Earth from the Syrtian invaders?
Stay tuned for updates!
I think you have more variety than the game mechanics can make interesting.
For civilian stuff the market is obviously fragmented. There's no other way to explain some of the variety. For military stuff that doesn't make sense. There are only a few buyers and they will want standardization.
For military reactors I think the Ares need something in between the sn2500 and the koshiba. The Chasm and Deimos would both redline an sn2500. Not much else can be justified.
I don't see why a variety of different militaristic factions would all be using the exact same equipment. They don't use the exact same weapons, armor or shields, why would they use the same reactors?
At this point I'm tempted to go find some other game to work on until George ads more variables since there doesn't seem to be anything new worth adding to the game without learning that bizarre scripting language.
Last Cause Of Death: Destroyed by Karl Svalbard's last Lucifer missile, right after I blew him up. And the crowd cheers.
For reactors there aren't really any more variables to add. You've got efficiency, power, and time between refueling and which fuels they can take. I can't think of anything else.
More than a couple gradiations of efficiency or capacity won't be noticed. For the default playerships gradiations of mass need to be pretty widely spaced to be significant as well.
And those other stats simply aren't going to matter unless a reactor has one so low it's useless. The driving force will always be power output. It's like your level in a classless RPG. It's just a simple number. It's what you do with that power that's interesting.
There are things other than reactors to modify that aren't so foundational.
I agree, I think almost all factions should have their own equipment besides the very small groups that rely on the bigger factions for survival. (Sapiens, BM, Rogue fleet etc.)
I would even take that a step further and say some factions' technology isn't compatible with CW technology.
Atarlost wrote:There are things other than reactors to modify that aren't so foundational.
I would argue that because reactors are so important that there must be more variations. I personally have made myself 10 different reactors that I play with including a station specifically for inserting them into the game without having them turn up in loot. Many others have also created new reactors and I believe a single, comprehensive mod with many variations would be welcomed by the community.
Coming soon: The Syrtian War adventure mod! A Turret defense genre mod exploring the worst era in Earth's history.
Can you defend the Earth from the Syrtian invaders?
Stay tuned for updates!
A reactor's power, efficiency and capacity are its most dominant traits. You also have to consider the reactor's mass, and the types of fuel it can use. (And of course, its price.)
For example, you might have a heliotrope reactor that only runs heliotrope fuel rods, but is exceptionally efficient because of it. How long are you going to want to stick with an awesome reactor that only uses a hard to acquire fuel? Depends how good the reactor is, but you get the idea.
On the other hand, might you settle for a slightly less efficient reactor that runs on pretty much any kind of fuel you can find? Personally I hate having to ditch my old fuel supply and find a new one, so I might just prefer a reactor like that.
If people could script some more variables into reactors, that would be awesome, but its beyond my ability to do.
Last Cause Of Death: Destroyed by Karl Svalbard's last Lucifer missile, right after I blew him up. And the crowd cheers.
Come up with a variable and maybe someone can script it, but your example of a heliotrope reactor is not a reactor anymore, it's a trade good. Because restricting fuel types enough to be notable also restricts fuel types enough to be crippling. It doesn't matter how good a reactor is. If you can't refuel freely it's good for nothing but selling.
Similar problem with low efficiency reactors: If you can't afford to buy fuel they're useless.
Low capacity reactors have another verrsion of the problem: If they don't hold enough fuel to get to the next affordable fuel source they're useless.
Mass doesn't really matter until it gets to around 10 tons on the Wolfen and Sapphire. It pretty much never matters for the freighter. The mass difference between an SN2500 and a Koshiba only matters to ships that use the total installed mass version of the NW mass limit code.
And you're always talking like any change will cripple the reactor. I'm not talking about reactor crippling changes, I'm talking about give and take changes. You could have the choice of paying more outright for the reactor, or paying that money over time because the cheaper reactor uses more fuel. Do you want that powerful reactor NOW and make the payments, or do you want to save up for it? A reactor might be the same price as another reactor with half again the power output, but its efficiency allows it to go two or three times as long without refueling.
Last Cause Of Death: Destroyed by Karl Svalbard's last Lucifer missile, right after I blew him up. And the crowd cheers.
