Sorry Erik
I still need to clarify.
One important point. Do you need 1 engine for 1 thrust i.e. if I want a thrust of 4 I need 4 engines? If not, how do I find the maximum thrust per engine type per ship type.
Also, i'm confused by your costings above. From table 71 and 72, a basic torch engine requires 6x10 power per thrust point per 1000 tons. An advanced anti matter pulse engine requires 2 (or am I misrreading this section)? The compensator section says that power consumption is 4 times thrust for prototype compensators and I read this as, for example, 16 power for thrust 4 (Dalord is reading this the same way).
I just want to make sure I understand what you're saying above. Without compensators, only thrust 1 is allowed or you're squashed flat.
If I have compensators, I can thrust at 2, 3 or 4 (engines allowing) with penalties (table 12) at a power cost of 8, 12 or 16 for prototype compensators. Thus all ships are limited to a maximum thrust of 4. Is this correct?
Two other questions about compensators:-
Page 11 talks about running them at maximum and breaking down. Does that mean at maximum thrust for the ship? Also, if the compensators are destroyed by damage the ship is limited to a speed of 4. I don't see why. Even if the ship is moving at speed 100, provided no thrust is applied, inertia isn't a problem. Wouldn't it be more consistent to only allow a thrust of 1 in this case as well?
For me it would be simpler if each level of compensator had a rating which was the maximum thrust it could allow for e.g. prototype 2, standard 4 etc and the penalties kicking in above this value i.e standard type allows thrust of 4, uses 8 power and penalties apply at thrusts 5, 6 and 7. It also covers the question of running at maximum. Just my 2 cents worth.
Sorry for keep harping on about this, but I feel I need to understand the concept thoroughly and then it will all fall into place.
Regards
Alan
I think I can answer most of the questions
1. Engines are a hypothetical component in the term that they all take the same size and cost. But when you build the ship the engines are given a thrust rating or whatever, see in Eriks designs they say thrust X after the engines, meaning he has given enough power for the engines to give out X thrust, there is no hard cap on thrust for engines types like Aurora where 1 engine gives X power, in this model you give X power to the engines and they put out X thrust.
Example:
Basic nuclear torch engine uses 60 power per 1000 tons to give the ship 1 thrust. When you put the engine in you decide you want the ship to move at 3 thrust. Say it weighs 1000 tons, you now need to find 180 power so that the engines are powered, you don't ever need more than one engine, as to move faster you just need more power, which means you use more space up on reactors.
2. Yes you are correct, and yes the power requirements of a compensator are worked out like that. Without the compensator you can safely go 1 thrust or you can go up to 4 but you suffer very high chances of dying. But again the compensator is based off the amount of power you can give it, in that on a thrust 8 ship with prototype compensators you need 32 power to keep from getting squashed when travelling at 8 thrust. So the faster you go the more power the compensator needs the keep you alive.
Example:
On the same thrust 8 ship, if you had no compensators you would be limited to only using 1 of the 8 available thrust but with the compensators if you supply them with 32 power you can use all 8 thrust with no negative side effects.
The maximum speed question I think means that on the same ship as above if the ship travels at thrust 8, which is what the compensators are powered to handle , you suffer the failure chance.
And I think Erik uses the terms speed and thrust interchangeably which means that when he says speed for I think he means 4 overall thrust but ill have to let him explain that.
And finally, the system he uses now is actually rather simple to my eyes and allows alot greater flexibility in ship design, but I guess its a matter of perspective
Cheers,
Dalord
