I just want to explain a little more about my earlier point re missile engines vs ship engines. They are really the same thing now and ship engines have improved fuel efficiency with size. Most missile engines though are likely to be smaller than a size 1 ship engine, so I can't really make them more efficient than the equivalent ship engine.
Steve
I understand that missile engines and ship engines are about to be merged in one system that makes them the same thing really. I also understand that you want to keep internal consistency. But it is possible to use a consistent approach and make the size of missile engines have an effect on fuel efficiency.
You announced that (ship) engines get increased fuel efficiency with size, such that increasing the engine by 1 Hullsize reduces fuel consumption by 1 percentage point. (i.e. a 25 HS engines uses 75% of the fuel per generated power-point). Obviously, missile engines are not that different in absolute size, maybe between 0.01 and 0.1 HS so the resulting difference would be really small in this regime.
An alternative method would be to use a different formula for the entire range of possible engines. Instead of the announced formula FU = 1 – ES/100 (FU= Fuel Usage, ES = Engine Space), one could also use FU=ES^(-0.1)[EDIT: fixed mistake]. The effect on ship-engines would be similar, a size 1 engine would use 100% fuel, while a size 25 engine would use 72% (instead of the 75% you suggest). However, now this would also become relevant for missile engines- a size 0.01 missile engine would use 158% fuel, while a size 0.1 would use 126% fuel. Of course the difference is not tremendous, but missiles can be expected to be “boosted” (more power, less fuel efficient), and this is a multiplier, so the difference could stack up. At any rate, it would be an incentive to use larger missiles. Another alternative would be to use FU=1-ln(ES)/10: A size-1 engine would use 100% fuel, a size-25 engine would use 68%, a size-0.1 would use 139% and a size-0.01 would use 146%.
The point is it is possible to create a system that:
- Is consistent and applies the same rules to all engines
- Replicates the fuel-efficiency values you envisioned for ship-engines
- Extends this consideration to become meaningful for missile-engine designs, which provides an inventive for larger missiles
- does not materially effect AMMs, since those require minimal fuel at their short ranges
That being said, the other options are of course also appealing, as mentioned before.