Are Engineered SCO FSD Drives Worth the Effort?

[MartinG]

I suspect the formula it uses to calculate how it gets the jump range in relation to optimised mass is slightly different. It especially seems to benefit smaller drives too. For my size 5 drives I tend to get about 0.2 ly better jump range than the v1 FSD. On smaller ships the jump range increase seems more dramatic.

The formula is the same for all drives, but there are two hidden stats — distance exponent and fuel efficiency coefficient (fuelpower and fuelmul in EDSY code). For regular FSDs, the exponent depends on FSD class and the coefficient depends on the rating. I suspect it is the same for SCO FSDs, but the coefficients are not the same as for regular FSDs. This will need some testing.

Yeah I'm not sure what all the complaints about them making the old drives redundant, I mean that's what technology advances are all about right? Like touch phones replaced nearly all other phones. Basically Sirius Corp are the Nokia of the space lanes, to little to late, sorry guys but I'm going to use the new drives.

I agree.
Most complaints are, I think, because this is not the usual way in a game.

Now, the biggest difference is material cost: v1 FSD costs 18 datamined wake exceptions, getting an SCO drive to full grade 5 only takes 5...7 DWE-s. And you don't even need maxed G5 for many builds, two or three rolls are OK.

Actually, getting grade 5 maxed out takes more than 8 rolls on the average; if you’re particularly unlucky it may take as much as 11. AFAIR I’ve never had it in less than 6, but I don’t think it is impossible.

That said, the improvement after 4 or 5 rolls is indeed negligible. I usually do roll until maxed out, but that’s only because I like the feeling of completion and the materials are easy enough to obtain

Would be kinda not nice to the CG people, since their exclusivity would be gone

That should have been gone long ago. The existence of unique items and generally the lack of level playing field is the worst possible design decision in any multiplayer game.

Amen to that. I do have Colonia Bridge CG FSDs in all three sizes, but would like them to be available at tech brokers. (Of course, it is now less of a concern. The larger anti-corrosion CRs, on the other hand…)

Exclusive items are OK for a limited time. Permanently exclusive (and not purely cosmetic) items are absolutely not OK. That is why, in my view, the way FDev handled Cobra Mk IV was their singular biggest mistake thus far, worse even than releasing Odyssey in an Obvious Beta™ state.

I don't think the additional heat is a practical concern given how it's balanced in 18.04 (yesterday's release). I didn't hear the warning once and I flitted between 50+ bodies using SCO as appropriate. And that's using the presumably pretty crufty module from a couple of weeks ago.

The “presumably pretty crufty” C-rated module is actually now the one that generates the least SCO heat of all ratings

 

[Markov Chaney]

The “presumably pretty crufty” C-rated module is actually now the one that generates the least SCO heat of all ratings

Oh! Then the fun new tune to play on configs is finding the tipping point where the one time out of ten you overheat on an A outweighs the faster baseline pace of an A...

 

[Shurimal]

Actually, getting grade 5 maxed out takes more than 8 rolls on the average; if you’re particularly unlucky it may take as much as 11. AFAIR I’ve never had it in less than 6, but I don’t think it is impossible.

Maybe it's different for different commanders, but I maxed G5 on one SCO drive with just 5 rolls yesterday and IIRC I've never had as much frustration with FSD-s as with eg HRP-s and armor where the average is 9 or even 10 rolls IME. Anyway, even 8 G5 rolls cost more than twice less DWE-s than the pre-engineered FSD

 

[MartinG]

Maybe it's different for different commanders, but I maxed G5 on one SCO drive with just 5 rolls yesterday and IIRC I've never had as much frustration with FSD-s as with eg HRP-s and armor where the average is 9 or even 10 rolls IME.

Come to think of it, it may be different for different modules, or perhaps different engineers as well.

Anyway, yesterday I maxed out 3 FSDs (via a pinned blueprint) and it cost me 24 rolls total.

Anyway, even 8 G5 rolls cost more than twice less DWE-s than the pre-engineered FSD

True

 

[Darkman Returns]

For 5A drive the optimised mass increases from 1856.4 T to 1894.1 T, the module mass is the same. It translates into jump range increase of my exo DBX from 74.42 (80.27) Ly to 74.65 (80.47) Ly.

A 4% increase in Optimised mass (at the expense of 8% integrity loss) with Mass Manager doesn't seem quite as tempting as with normal FSD drives.

A 10% reduction in Thermal load (with no downsides) with Thermal Spread does seem more attractive with the SCOville drives heat output, though that seems to be covered by a different variable: Overcharge Heat Generation Rate, so engineering Thermal Spread probably will have no impact on the heat spike when you hit the Overcharge button.

 

[Thinking]

and for me SCO is very useful in my T9 miner.... fast arrivals and returns to large planets have always been frustrating for me and now........

 

[CMDR Charybdis]

I suppose the complaint is that now people will have to, once again, grind for materials to engineer the FSD of all their ships.

Only if one just must replace all the drives in their fleet at once and must get them all to G5 immediately

I feel no such compulsion, got three class 5, and one each of class 3, 4, 6. Got only one cl 5 to G5 increased range, mass manager—the rest can stay at G3 or 4 or unengineered until I actually need them. And on most of my ships G3 increased range is good enough.

I'll be mostly waiting on the (as yet undisclosed) engineering changes before rolling out the drive across the fleet.

In the meantime there are a few ships that will get the benefits:

• An Imperial Courier that I use for HGE gathering - the boost is soo much fun and the Guardian enhanced 40Ly+ range was missed
• 2 Class 5 FSD for AX ships to deal with heavy interdiction systems
• One long jump range explorer ship will probably get one as well

I've gone to Farseer and bought a range of drive sizes, then engineered them to tier 1 and added the mass manager. I can then remote engineer on demand and as materials are gathered. Garay Terminal (Deciat) has 3A, 4A and 5A available, while Hoften Enterprise (Inheretii) has 6A and 7A according to INARA.

 

[metatheurgist]

Come to think of it, it may be different for different modules, or perhaps different engineers as well.

It's different for each blueprint. The more dials you have to fill the more likely you will get a dial lagging. The one dial blueprints are the ones you most likely complete in a minimum of rolls.

 

[Dragsham]

my old car doesn't have bluetooth connectivity or an android OS but I still drive it. It's a nice thing to have

I have an old 2005 Jag XK8. I put this cassette thing in the cassette drive that gives me Bluetooth!
And the old cassette drive now has another lease of life.
And yes. I still have a rake of old cassettes with tunage from the 80s/90s.

 

[MartinG]

It's different for each blueprint. The more dials you have to fill the more likely you will get a dial lagging. The one dial blueprints are the ones you most likely complete in a minimum of rolls.

Quite plausible, yes. (I feel much too lazy right now to try to verify it from my history of engineering, though. ⁠)

 

[Moirai]

Okay, so I've bought some A-rated SCO FSD drives for my fleet but, being cautious about grind, I thought I'd just engineer one of them first to see the result.

From the videos seen online it looks like the basic SCO drives have a range of about 2ly more than conventional FSDs.

I engineered my shuttlebus Diamondback Explorer, which with a regular FSD had a range of 73.96ly using Increased Range and Mass Manager...

...but now it's got a range of just 74.18ly. That's an increase of just 0.22ly.

Given the grind in collecting mats for engineering I don't think this is going to be worth it on any ship you already have fully engineered and don't need to scrape the last final bit of range out of

Did something similar yesterday evening.

Will certainly swap out a few FSD's for the SCO versions.

 

[CMDR Charybdis]

Something I've just discovered about these drives: you need exactly the right size FSD module slot to equip it. A size 4 SCO drive doesn't fit in a ship that takes up to size 5.

This is an ASP Explorer. Other size 4 FSD drives do fit (and can be engineered in-place). Not sure if this is a bug or intended?

The use-case is engineering a smaller size drive on the ship. This way I don't need to bring multiple ships to the engineer for experimental effects.

 

[Vincore]

What am I missing here? The 4B SCO drive costs the same as the (currently equipped) 4C SCO, and has worse heat generation. All other stats appear to be identical, including the cost of the module...? What other stats could be different that are not being shown here (hence unadvertised performance differences)?

 

[Guyperson]

Something I've just discovered about these drives: you need exactly the right size FSD module slot to equip it. A size 4 SCO drive doesn't fit in a ship that takes up to size 5.

This is deliberate. SCO performance goes down as drives get larger, which gives smaller ships an advantage. You can't stick a size 2 SCO FSD on a Beluga because then that would allow it to boost like a Sidewinder can.

 

[Unknown Zombie]

Oh, so SCO performance is probably a hard-coded value on each module, instead of being a function of some math equation related to ship mass.

Understandable if that's true, even if it is disappointing.

 

[Staarlord]

Please don't say the "E" word lol. My raw mats are completely toast and those are the ones I absolutely hate to grind for. Like who goes "pew-pew-pew" at a rock? Can't we at least have some SRV mining lasers? For now, I'm rocking vanilla ones as well.

 

[K Olley]

Varonica, could you please post the build specs of your T9 miner? I'm trying to build a Tritium-only miner for my newly acquired fleet carrier. Thanks!
O7
V

Not yet fitted out with SCO drive but my ice ring miner Ice maiden, It keeps my carrier flying and I don't buy Tritium.

 

[LifesAJourney]

I took my now-SCO-equipped exo DBX for a short spin outside the Bubble and I must admit this SC booster is a lot of fun.

Can't scan the whole system, because some bodies are obscured by the star? Boost for just two seconds and finish the scan immediately.
Jumped into a system with a non-scoopable star? Boost for three-four seconds and jump to the next system immediately.
Leave planet after cabbage scanning? Boost for three-four seconds and jump to the next system or as long as necessary to get to the next body to scan.
Scan-worthy body far away? Boost several times to get there much faster than before.

I keep my boosts short to keep temps below 80%. Fuel consumption is obviously significant but today I got to a planet 90k Ls from the main star and burned maybe 1/3 of standard DBX fuel tank. So not a big deal. I reckon boosting up to 200k Ls should be possible with leaving enough fuel for a full-length jump.

All in all, even if it's hardly a revolution in exploration/exobiology, it makes a lot of things smoother and faster. Which I personally find nice.

 

[MartinG]

Oh, so SCO performance is probably a hard-coded value on each module, instead of being a function of some math equation related to ship mass.

It surely is a function of stats like “overcharge max acceleration rate”, which happens to be higher for smaller FSDs; and that is a deliberate design choice, too.

Whether ship mass comes into that equation I am sure someone will figure out soon, if they haven’t already

 

[Montague]

Exclusive items are OK for a limited time. Permanently exclusive (and not purely cosmetic) items are absolutely not OK. That is why, in my view, the way FDev handled Cobra Mk IV was their singular biggest mistake thus far, worse even than releasing Odyssey in an Obvious Beta™ state.

I don't know what you're smoking, but I hope you brought enough to share.

The Odyssey launch was an unmitigated disaster that drove away hordes of players, damaged Frontier's reputation and resulted in a major loss of revenue.

The Cobra Mk IV is a crappy little exclusive that irritates those who didn't get it because they don't realize how inconsequential it is. Despite its insignificance, the Mk IV was a gimmick that helped boost Horizon sales and thus bring in badly needed revenue. If offering an exclusive but unimpressive Cobra Mk V enables Frontier to sell another expansion, I'm all for it.