I ran into some problems while Engineering a new Anaconda and I thought I would share what went wrong for the sake of new explorers or those new to engineering exploration ships like I was.
The problem I had was starting with a low margin lightweight build and then engineering some modules on top of that. I lost my shields and at one point almost didn't have enough power to take off from the Engineer base.
For reference, You can see the build here ... https://eddp.co/u/em6ygog7
TLDR; Lesson Learned, higher level engineering mods are not always better. Particularly for smaller modules.
1. Enhanced Low power shields.
This mod reduces the power usage and weight of your shields at a cost of decreasing integrity and the maximum mass the shields will cover.
I had 3D shields on an Anaconda which barely covered the maximum hull mass. Doing a level 3 Enhanced Low Power Shields, reduced the optimal hull mass by 8% which reduced the Maximum hull mass.
I didn't notice any problem right away though. The shields were working and everything was fine until I moved those shields into storage and then tried to re-equip them later and I couldn't. The game would not let me re-install them and I couldn't remove the modification on the module while it was in storage. So I had leave without shields to go buy some new shields.
I did the math and found that I could only afford to lose 3% off the maximum hull mass, so I went back and did a Level 2 mod on them. Ended up with a loss of only 0.84% from optimum hull mass with a mass reduction of 11% and a power reduction of ~20%. Good enough, and still lighter than modded 4D shields.
Lesson Learned: Check your margin on Maximum hull mass before you mod your shields and reject rolls that drop your optimum hull mass too far.
On the subject, does anyone know the math relationship between optimum hull mass and maximum hull mass? I'm not clear on how much a change to optimum mass will affect maximum mass.
2. Low Emissions Power Plant.
This mod improves the heat efficiency of your power plant so your ship runs cooler, at a cost of increased weight and decreased power output.
I had a 3A power plant which had just barely more than enough power to run things comfortably. When I ran a low emissions grade 3 on it, I lost some power and had to re-arrange priorities but I still had enough to run things. After all, you don't need to have your PVH powered while thrusters are powered. Little did I realize at the time that I was gonna need some of that power back after doing a Clean Drive Tuning on my thrusters.
Lesson Learned: Check your power margin and make sure you don't drop your output by more than you can afford. Include the potential increased power cost of additional modifications.
3. Clean Drive Tuning.
This mod increases thruster speed, reduces the heat output and the mass as well, at a cost of increased power draw and reduced lifting capacity.
I had the minimum 5D thrusters fitted. Running Clean drive tuning level 3, increased my speed to 200 and increased my power draw to 5.11MW or 47%. Suddenly ice started forming on my canopy because I no longer had enough power to run all level 1 priorities. My priorities were already optimized for a very tight margin so everything non essential was already powered off.
I was forced to shut off shields before I could take off. This is the point when I went back and ran a grade 2 on my power plant instead of the grade 3 so I could get a bit of that power back.
Later I ran into another problem caused by the reduction to optimal mass. I had cargo racks equipped in un-used slots but I had removed them and left the slots empty for a while. When I tried to re-add them I was unable to equip the last one. Outfitting would not let me add enough cargo space that I would be unable to take off when it was full. They were there when I modded the thrusters, but like the shields, once removed, could not be re-added.
Lessons Learned: Again, check your margins on power usage and maximum mass to make sure you're not reducing your thrusters so far you won't be able to take off.
Needless to say this all resulted in a lot of jumping back and forth between engineers and a waste of a lot of engineering materials.
Now that I know what to watch out for, I should be able to do it much more efficiently next time.
The problem I had was starting with a low margin lightweight build and then engineering some modules on top of that. I lost my shields and at one point almost didn't have enough power to take off from the Engineer base.
For reference, You can see the build here ... https://eddp.co/u/em6ygog7
TLDR; Lesson Learned, higher level engineering mods are not always better. Particularly for smaller modules.
1. Enhanced Low power shields.
This mod reduces the power usage and weight of your shields at a cost of decreasing integrity and the maximum mass the shields will cover.
I had 3D shields on an Anaconda which barely covered the maximum hull mass. Doing a level 3 Enhanced Low Power Shields, reduced the optimal hull mass by 8% which reduced the Maximum hull mass.
I didn't notice any problem right away though. The shields were working and everything was fine until I moved those shields into storage and then tried to re-equip them later and I couldn't. The game would not let me re-install them and I couldn't remove the modification on the module while it was in storage. So I had leave without shields to go buy some new shields.
I did the math and found that I could only afford to lose 3% off the maximum hull mass, so I went back and did a Level 2 mod on them. Ended up with a loss of only 0.84% from optimum hull mass with a mass reduction of 11% and a power reduction of ~20%. Good enough, and still lighter than modded 4D shields.
Lesson Learned: Check your margin on Maximum hull mass before you mod your shields and reject rolls that drop your optimum hull mass too far.
On the subject, does anyone know the math relationship between optimum hull mass and maximum hull mass? I'm not clear on how much a change to optimum mass will affect maximum mass.
2. Low Emissions Power Plant.
This mod improves the heat efficiency of your power plant so your ship runs cooler, at a cost of increased weight and decreased power output.
I had a 3A power plant which had just barely more than enough power to run things comfortably. When I ran a low emissions grade 3 on it, I lost some power and had to re-arrange priorities but I still had enough to run things. After all, you don't need to have your PVH powered while thrusters are powered. Little did I realize at the time that I was gonna need some of that power back after doing a Clean Drive Tuning on my thrusters.
Lesson Learned: Check your power margin and make sure you don't drop your output by more than you can afford. Include the potential increased power cost of additional modifications.
3. Clean Drive Tuning.
This mod increases thruster speed, reduces the heat output and the mass as well, at a cost of increased power draw and reduced lifting capacity.
I had the minimum 5D thrusters fitted. Running Clean drive tuning level 3, increased my speed to 200 and increased my power draw to 5.11MW or 47%. Suddenly ice started forming on my canopy because I no longer had enough power to run all level 1 priorities. My priorities were already optimized for a very tight margin so everything non essential was already powered off.
I was forced to shut off shields before I could take off. This is the point when I went back and ran a grade 2 on my power plant instead of the grade 3 so I could get a bit of that power back.
Later I ran into another problem caused by the reduction to optimal mass. I had cargo racks equipped in un-used slots but I had removed them and left the slots empty for a while. When I tried to re-add them I was unable to equip the last one. Outfitting would not let me add enough cargo space that I would be unable to take off when it was full. They were there when I modded the thrusters, but like the shields, once removed, could not be re-added.
Lessons Learned: Again, check your margins on power usage and maximum mass to make sure you're not reducing your thrusters so far you won't be able to take off.
Needless to say this all resulted in a lot of jumping back and forth between engineers and a waste of a lot of engineering materials.
Now that I know what to watch out for, I should be able to do it much more efficiently next time.
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