The lasers also need to be changed, though I'm still not to sure if I understand THEM
yet.
The way that all the energy weapons work is the same. In the design screen there is a line that list the
total power that the weapon needs. The capaciters are rated by how much power can be put in them every 5 seconds. If your capaciter tech is up to a 4, then you can charge a weapons capaciters by 4 points of power each 5 second turn. The problem comes in if you design the weapon with a capaciter that is larger than you actually need. At this point the weapon will require extra power, but the extra power does no good. Here is an example using an early meson gun.
Max Range 20,000 km Rate of Fire: 10 seconds Focus Modifier: 1
Meson Cannon Size: 4 HS Meson Cannon HTK: 2
Power Requirement: 4 Power Recharge per 5 Secs: 2
Cost: 4 Crew: 40
Materials Required: 0.8x Duranium 0.8x Boronide 2.4x Corundium
Development Cost for Project: 500RP
This weapon takes 4 power total. If I put in a capaciter 3 then it will take 10 seconds to charge as 3 is not enough for the 5 second cycle. However the weapon is now pulling 3 points of power from my reactors. If I have less than 3 available the weapon will actually take longer to charge. The computer is not actually looking at what is the minimum required, but what the capaciters are set for. In this case having a capaciter 2, like what is in the design means that I only need the 4 points of power over 10 seconds. If I had a capaciter 4 then I could get a 5 second cycle time.
Another example might be the 15cm weapons. They need 6 points of power generally. A capaciter 3 would allow me to fire every 10 seconds. A capaciter 4 or 5 would do the same thing, but with wasted energy. A capaciter 6 or greater would allow me to fire every 5 seconds, but anything larger than a 6 would actually be wasting power. If I had a capaciter 5 on the weapon, but could only supply 3 points of power my recharge rate would be 3/5 normal or 16.66 seconds, which would become 20 seconds as it rounds up to the next 5 second interval. By putting the wrong size capaciter on I have actually allowed the weapon to double is charging time if I had insufficient power for the capaciter 5. This is even though the reduced output would have actually been enough to fire every 10 seconds anyway based on how much power was actually required.
Hope this helps and does not confuse the issue.
Brian