Interesting. I supposes this could also explain the recharge needed after boosting. Anyway... I agree, Fuel Scooping is fun.
Running out of fuel a good decision or not?
- Thread starter Kambalo
- Start date
Interesting. I supposes this could also explain the recharge needed after boosting. Anyway... I agree, Fuel Scooping is fun.
Interesting. I supposes this could also explain the recharge needed after boosting. Anyway... I agree, Fuel Scooping is fun.
Yes! actually now that would make more sense!
Was not fuel scooping shown in the series Stargate Universe, the last one where the ship would descend into the star and recharge its batteries? The ship would do that automatically after getting low in fuel.
Sorry, But I cannot agree with magic regenerating space crystals that can power your ship's drive and make your munitions do more damage.
Next thing will be hanging Dream Catchers in our cockpit to increase our Hull Strength.
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So you rather have a Texaco/Shell/7-11 every 2 parsec to fill your tank?
here so you can educate yourself a little bit about alternate solutions
We already have these, so to think that in the future we need some stupid fuel to be able to fly in a limited capacity is so ridiculous.
Ion Engine
http://www.nasa.gov/centers/glenn/about/fs21grc.html
The propulsion of choice for science fiction writers has become the propulsion of choice for scientists and engineers at NASA. The ion propulsion system's efficient use of fuel and electrical power enable modern spacecraft to travel farther, faster, and cheaper than any other propulsion technology currently available. Ion thrusters are currently used for stationkeeping on communication satellites and for main propulsion on deep space probes. Ion thrusters expel ions to create thrust and can provide higher spacecraft top speeds than any other rocket currently available.
What Is an Ion?
An ion is simply an atom or molecule that is electrically charged. Ionization is the process of electrically charging an atom or molecule by adding or removing electrons. Ions can be positive (when they lose one or more electrons) or negative (when they gain one or more electrons). A gas is considered ionized when some or all the atoms or molecules contained in it are converted into ions.
Plasma is an electrically neutral gas in which all positive and negative charges--from neutral atoms, negatively charged electrons, and positively charged ions--add up to zero. Plasma exists everywhere in nature; it is designated as the fourth state of matter (the others are solid, liquid, and gas). It has some of the properties of a gas but is affected by electric and magnetic fields and is a good conductor of electricity. Plasma is the building block for all types of electric propulsion, where electric and/or magnetic fields are used to push on the electrically charged ions and electrons to provide thrust. Examples of plasmas seen every day are lightning and fluorescent light bulbs.
The conventional method for ionizing the propellant atoms in an ion thruster is called electron bombardment. The majority of NASA's research consists of electron bombardment ion thrusters. When a high-energy electron (negative charge) collides with a propellant atom (neutral charge), a second electron is released, yielding two negative electrons and one positive ion.
An alternative method of ionization called electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) is also being researched at NASA. This method uses high-frequency radiation (usually microwaves), coupled with a high magnetic field to heat the electrons in the propellant atoms, causing them to break free of the propellant atoms, creating plasma. Ions can then be extracted from this plasma.
Ion Thruster Operation
Modern ion thrusters use inert gases for propellant. The majority of thrusters use xenon, which is chemically inert, colorless, odorless, and tasteless. The propellant is injected from the downstream end of the thruster and flows toward the upstream end. This injection method is preferred because it increases the time that the propellant remains in the chamber.
In a conventional ion thruster, electrons are generated by a hollow cathode, called the discharge cathode, located at the center of the engine on the upstream end. The electrons flow out of the discharge cathode and are attracted to the discharge chamber walls, which are charged to a high positive potential by the thruster's power supply.
The electrons from the discharge cathode ionize the propellant by means of electron bombardment. High-strength magnets are placed along the discharge chamber walls so that as electrons approach the walls, they are redirected into the discharge chamber by the magnetic fields. By maximizing the length of time that electrons and propellant atoms remain in the discharge chamber, the chance of ionization is maximized, which makes the ionization process as efficient as possible.
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I agree with fuel scoop, what I dont agree is with the ratio of fuel consumption/distance.
Right now the ratio of consumption equals that of the old coal engines in the locomotives in the 1800's
I hear its bugged and being looked at right now?
I saw the latest news about patch 3.02 and didnt see any mention about fixing the bug. Hopefully it gets fixed, there is another game out there call Evochron Mercenary where once you get a bigger ship you can carry with you a constructor that would let you craft stations when you are out there in the middle of nowhere. That could be a solution about refueling. So you could keep on and on without having to return to the Alpha Quadrant once you are over there in the Gamma Quadrant.
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In response to this post and Jigsaw's. Yes overheating causes damage to both hull and modules. I damaged my FSD enough that it went offline. The field maintenance module fixed the drive ( fit one!). I started a thread about hopefully having a hull repair module too, sometime in the future.
http://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=53107&p=924387#post924387
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Good to know! Thanks for the info.
you also have to keep in mind this is a space simulator , not an arcade where you just pick up a power up and go on your merry way
The ships in Star Trek didn't use a regular petrol\Gasoline type fuel like we on earth would use or what would be used in the game They used something that was readily available just about anywhere and there was always a starbase nearby and there was other technological ways of making fuel or making something that could be used as a subtitute fuel if needed so running out of fuel was never likely to be a problem like it could potentially be in the game.
http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Deuterium
In the game though if the worst comes to the worst and you do find yourself stranded in the middle of nowhere (which is probably highly likely) you could always use the text and voice comms and send out a distress signal and hope that a nice passer by is able to help you out. The downside of this is that you might also attract a pirate or two who will quite happily blow you to bit and take your cargo
Although its not implemented yet I believe there's also plans to introduce ship to ship refuelling as well.
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Or it is exciting if you have to dodge coronal ejections while scooping the stuff while your ship slowly melts around you. As it is in Elite, right? One of my favourite death moments in Frontier First Encounters was getting stuck in the gravity well of a star while scooping. I couldn't escape, but had a rather terrifying view through the inside of the "atmosphere" as I spiralled into the star...
S
Glad to help
Some additional info on the scoop. Apparently if you dive in deep enough, the fuel it can syphon goes up. I had it top around 46/sec, but that brought me to 95% heat, being so close to the photosphere. But.. if you find a nice amount (25-26/sec) and then cut your engines to minimum and face upwards, away from the star, you still get 26, and no overheating Also to finalyl address the OP. Fuel bug fixed, the ships now eat 0.5 instead of 7/sec, and with a scoop fuel is a non-issue. You can refuel after a jump in a matter of 20-30 seconds, or if multiple jumps a minute or two.
The original had finite fuel, and besides, ED is not a game, it is supposed to be a sci-fi simulation. I agree that there should be an easier way to represent the amount of fuel you have left and how long it will take to deplete and how far it will get you, especially if you're running on vapour. Part of the fun with ED (and its predecessors) was gambling on fuel consumption. The amount of times I forgot to refuel and ended up stranded in the original was just a tad too often. Making a fuel scoop an integral part of the ship is a no no. The originals didn't do this either, so don't expect it to change. Hunting for a scoop (etc.) is a tad irritating, but I understand why you can't have everything available in every system. Finally, the quality of fuel obtained from stars and gas giants will also affect your fuel consumption and can damage ship systems (when FD implement this), and damage from heat when you cook make visiting space stations a necessity once in a while, therefore making tactical choices about when and where to scoop or buy fuel.
The current system is awesome, btw! I don't agree that ED should be exactly like the original, but certain elements need to be kept. As an aside, perhaps military drives will use an alternative power source other than hydrogen.
Add some sort of distress beacon back in PLEASE!!!
This game has ruined my day because I was not informed that there were stars you can't scoop fuel from and large clusters of stationless systems. I just lost half a day of playing because of the stupid crap that is the fuel system! If I spend 60,000 credits on a fuel scoop then why are there stars I can't scoop from and why is there no backup way to get fuel? I am crying and dying. I hate you.
This game has ruined my day because I was not informed that there were stars you can't scoop fuel from and large clusters of stationless systems. I just lost half a day of playing because of the stupid crap that is the fuel system! If I spend 60,000 credits on a fuel scoop then why are there stars I can't scoop from and why is there no backup way to get fuel? I am crying and dying. I hate you.