Generator overhaul idea.

[CalenLoki]

Current generators are very simple: rigid universal proportions of fuel-gens-cooling, with no place for specialising them.

So here's my idea: uncap max values for most generator components and add diminishing returns for overclocking them.
Allow balancing between fuel efficiency, energy density, safety and maintenance. Increase in one field should negatively affect all the others.

More details (AKA wall of text) All the numbers are just examples:

1. Make generators follow conservation of energy rule: one unit of fuel should always get converted to either one unit of energy or one unit of heat.
   That includes converting any unused energy into heat.
   
   
2. Heat buildup would be critical to the design and operation of generators.
   In general higher temperature means more efficiency and energy density, but reduce safety and possibly negatively affecting other parts of the ship.
   
   Each generator component would add it's heat capacity and passive cooling potential to the whole generator. Of course coolant cells would excel at capacity, and radiators at cooling, but other components should be able to slowly cool down as well.
   
   Whole generator would share the same temperature: [TemperatureIncease=GeneratedHeat/HeatCapacity]
   The hotter it is, the more efficiently it cools down [CoolingRate=Temperature*CoolingPotential]
   
   But running generator hot would have it's downsides too:
   Temperature dictates when rod blows up. Sudden events (i.e. taking damage to reactor, loosing cooling or energy sinks) may result in build up too quick to react. [DetonationTemperatire=100-RodDamage%]
   You'd be also easier to detect, once we get some detection mechanics.
   It could also slowly wears down generator components.
   
   
3. Fuel chambers should be able to output fuel at theoretically unlimited rate. But the more you output, the more fuel gets wasted (converted to heat). So output is practically limited by how fast you can dissipate that heat.
   
   [HeatGeneration=FuelOutput*(1+FuelOutput/FuelLimit)/(1+Temperature/100)*(1+RodDepletion%/Enhancers)]
   FuelLimit is constant (i.e. 1000 for standard rods).
   Running generator hot can potentially halve the fuel waste.
   I.e. increasing fuel output from 1000 to 2000 f/s increase fuel use from 2000 to 5000, thus reduces efficiency from 50% to 40%.
   3000 f/s -> 33%; 4000 f/s ->29%; ect.
   
   Also since rods would gradually less efficient as they get depleted, switching to new ones just before expected encounter would improve overall energy output. Then using up the slightly depleted later, when you need less energy.
   
   Write: FuelRateLimit
   Read: FuelRate; FuelStored; FuelStoredMax
   
   
4. Generators should store enough fuel to have gradual spin down, just as they have spin up. So they'd simply use 2%/s of the fuel they currently store.
   Fuel input would be constant -> 1000 f/s. So spinning up generator would be a curve, starting fast and topping slow, same for shutting down.
   
   Wride: GenRateLimit;
   Read: GenRate;
   
   
5. Coolant cells purpose would change into safety devices. They'd make temperature changes slower, thus giving crew or control software time to shut down generator components before something explodes.
   They should be made to stay in place without bolting when placed by hand, to allow smooth on the fly switching.
   They wouldn't be strictly necessary for generator operation, but it's handy to know the temperature.
   
   Write: MinTemperature (when to start taking heat)
   Read: Temperature
   
   
6. Radiators would be the main limiting factor for long-term eps.
   They should take much more space than now, to give some use to coolant cells. So bigger
   As they get more efficient with increase temperature, they'd be able to
   
   Write: MinTemperature
   
   
7. Enhancers, instead of just linearly increasing fuel efficiency, would instead help using up more of fuel stored in rod. So would be a choice primarily for ships that don't need top-tier performance and can use half-depleted rods.
   
   
8. Damage to pretty much any element should increase heat buildup.

 

[busshanta]

Thats a pretty deep-thought idea, i like it

 

[romatory]

На данный момент имеются прожорливые и не оптимизированные ускорители, думаю данная идея имеет место быть, Поддерживаю автора, но надо бы поработать с некоторыми шороховатостями!

 

[XenoCow]

Overall I like this as it gives player choice and room for engineering, which I think Starbase is all about!

You'd be also easier to detect, once we get some detection mechanics.

I like where you're going with that as it relates to Lauri's recent message over in another thread.

It could also slowly wears down generator components.

I'd like this idea only if the degradation could either be very easily measured, or was visible voxel damage within the fuel chamber or on the outsides of the generators. The voxel damage could then be something that could be maintained with a build tool.

 

[RedOne]

I like the idea that heat dissipation would be a limiting factor.

E.g. in battle vs a big dreadnaught, that dread naught in terms of combat damage, you could incapacitate it faster by destroying the surface radiator forcing the crew to lower its power to avoid explosion and then forcing boarding to clean the interior even as its surface weapons had been destroyed.

 

[Kibbles]

I think this could add really interesting ship designs. What you could possibly add too is possibly some sort of liquid cooling where you connect some reservoir to the generators to give the gens a higher thermal mass. This could make it so the larger your thermal mass, the longer the period of time you can boost your generators, but it would come with a risk factor, the larger the reservoir, the more chance it has of being hit which will end up in it leaking, reducing the thermal mass. What you could then do is cool down this fluid via radiators, cooling cells or just all out replace it somewhere. The difference between using this and cooling cells is that this won't run out.

 

[CalenLoki]

Cooling cells serve the purpose of increasing thermal mass.
Ideally, the entire ship should act as thermal mass as well, which would indirectly help larger ships against gunchairs.