Why would you need more than one fuel cell at an immobile base?

[Tanaka]

Since increasing fuel cells on ships make them go farther but what good is it for immobile? Is it for more fuel storage? Is fuel stored in fuel cells or cargo holds?

[Castinar]

You need fuel to power your reactor (Caslon for fision reactor, for instance). The more reactors you have, and the higher the energy output requirement of those reactors, the more fuel you need. It isn't *just* used for movement.

[towerbooks3192]

ORIGINAL: Galen

You need fuel to power your reactor (Caslon for fision reactor, for instance). The more reactors you have, and the higher the energy output requirement of those reactors, the more fuel you need. It isn't *just* used for movement.

Now I learned something new. Thanks!

So its basically like saying you need fuel for cars and fuel for something like heating homes and for cooking.

[Shark7]

Also, you can use energy collectors to reduce fuel consumption. But you still need fuel on the stations, IIRC, the reactors will use fuel when in combat, even if you have more than the number of energy collectors needed.

[Tanaka]

ORIGINAL: Galen

You need fuel to power your reactor (Caslon for fision reactor, for instance). The more reactors you have, and the higher the energy output requirement of those reactors, the more fuel you need. It isn't *just* used for movement.

So you need as much fuel capacity as reactor power output?

[arkhometha]

ORIGINAL: Shark7

Also, you can use energy collectors to reduce fuel consumption. But you still need fuel on the stations, IIRC, the reactors will use fuel when in combat, even if you have more than the number of energy collectors needed.

If bases run out of fuel, they stop shooting? You could crippled then economically, in theory?

[Canute0]

If they don't got fuel and no energy collector they don't got Energy, then they can't shoot.
If they got energy collectors and some surplus energy, they still can shoot but far behind that what they can do with full energy.

[arkhometha]

ORIGINAL: Canute

If they don't got fuel and no energy collector they don't got Energy, then they can't shoot.
If they got energy collectors and some surplus energy, they still can shoot but far behind that what they can do with full energy.

Got it, will remember it next times I design a Defense base. Thank you very much!

[Shark7]

ORIGINAL: arkhometha

ORIGINAL: Shark7

Also, you can use energy collectors to reduce fuel consumption. But you still need fuel on the stations, IIRC, the reactors will use fuel when in combat, even if you have more than the number of energy collectors needed.

If bases run out of fuel, they stop shooting? You could crippled then economically, in theory?

It doesn't stop the firing, but it will slow it down. If you are running at a deficit via collectors and run out of fuel, it might be a problem (I've never let this happen, I always put on extra collectors). The base designs should have enough collectors to cover the bases static needs with some to spare.

[Sithuk]

Why do you believe that energy collectors do not power weapons? I'll have to have a playtest with a zero reactor station.

Energy collectors are expensive and resource intensive if I recall, thats why I have designed stations with energy collectors for the station baseload energy requirements, and a reactor to cover the weapons as weapons will be used infrequently.

[Shark7]

ORIGINAL: Sithuk

Why do you believe that energy collectors do not power weapons? I'll have to have a playtest with a zero reactor station.

Energy collectors are expensive and resource intensive if I recall, thats why I have designed stations with energy collectors for the station baseload energy requirements, and a reactor to cover the weapons as weapons will be used infrequently.

You can't build a zero reactor station, the game will not let you. All ships and bases must have a reactor.

I don't believe that they don't power weapons, what I said was if you do not have enough of them it will have an effect if the fuel cells run dry. It is always a bad idea to run out of reactor fuel. It is also a bad idea to leave off the energy collectors. You should always design with more energy collectors than is necessary.

[Raap]

Energy collectors definitely power weapons; I try to keep my number of reactors down and fill up with those instead. That said, the reactors provide more energy per size, and energy collectors only work with suns around( though that's not a big deterrent). Generally, you'll want to have your 'collected' power and your 'surplus' power, when combined, match that of your total weapons usage.

[Spacecadet]

Your Reactors are basically like giant storage Batteries (Energy on the display).

Everything connects to the Reactor (ex):
- Collector output charges the Reactor (Energy display)
- Shield charge from the Reactor
- Weapon draw power from the Reactor

A good example would be if you have too many weapons, when they fire you will see your Energy level drop briefly and then start charging again.
I've even seen some designs that total drain the Energy and they never fully recharge while in combat.

[Shark7]

ORIGINAL: Spacecadet

Your Reactors are basically like giant storage Batteries (Energy on the display).

Everything connects to the Reactor (ex):
- Collector output charges the Reactor (Energy display)
- Shield charge from the Reactor
- Weapon draw power from the Reactor

A good example would be if you have too many weapons, when they fire you will see your Energy level drop briefly and then start charging again.
I've even seen some designs that total drain the Energy and they never fully recharge while in combat.

And those designs are the ones that actually can quit firing...no energy means no laser beams.

That is why I stress that both collectors and fuel cells (and multiple reactors) are a must.

[moonraker65]

I also find it handy to have fuel on some bases to top up a ship or 2 if they happen to be naer by or patrolling in a system close by. Saves them having to go back to a Space Station every time

[Resan]

ORIGINAL: moonraker

I also find it handy to have fuel on some bases to top up a ship or 2 if they happen to be naer by or patrolling in a system close by. Saves them having to go back to a Space Station every time

Does that take from fuel tanks of the bases? I thought you need fuel in cargo holds to be able to transfer it to another ship

[Spacecadet]

ORIGINAL: Resan

ORIGINAL: moonraker

I also find it handy to have fuel on some bases to top up a ship or 2 if they happen to be naer by or patrolling in a system close by. Saves them having to go back to a Space Station every time

Does that take from fuel tanks of the bases? I thought you need fuel in cargo holds to be able to transfer it to another ship

Should be only from Cargo.

[Tanaka]

ORIGINAL: Spacecadet

ORIGINAL: Resan

ORIGINAL: moonraker

I also find it handy to have fuel on some bases to top up a ship or 2 if they happen to be naer by or patrolling in a system close by. Saves them having to go back to a Space Station every time

Does that take from fuel tanks of the bases? I thought you need fuel in cargo holds to be able to transfer it to another ship

Should be only from Cargo.

Ah so fuel cells do not refuel ships cargo bays do? Then I still ask the question why do you need fuel cells other than to increase ship distance? What do they do on a base?

[Spidey]

ORIGINAL: Tanaka
Ah so fuel cells do not refuel ships cargo bays do? Then I still ask the question why do you need fuel cells other than to increase ship distance? What do they do on a base?

Putting enough energy collectors onto a base to power all its weapons is a bit of a pain in the ass in terms of upkeep. The more efficient thing, in my opinion, is to have enough energy collectors to power the static needs and then rely on reactor capacity if weapons are needed.

If you look at the included screenshot, you'll see that it's an early LSP design. The upper right corner reveals that it collects 96 energy, its reactors can put out 240 energy, the static energy drain is 74, and that leaves 166 reactor energy to be spent on other purposes. You'll also notice that it has a fuel capacity of 390, an energy storage of 480, and that it uses a mere 2 fuel units per 1000 energy thanks to the very nice Quameno NovaCore reactors. Finally, if you look at the weapons section, you'll see that its weapons, a bunch of velocity shard torpedo launchers, have a maximum drain of 133 energy per second.

The way to make sense of these numbers goes like this. The reactor is feeding up to 240 energy per second into a battery with a capacity of 480. This costs 2 units of fuel per 1000 energy produced. The energy collectors can potentially feed 96 energy to the battery. The battery has a static charge loss of 74. When the weapons are firing, the charge loss can increase to (74+133 = ) 207 energy, which would drain the battery fairly quickly, even with the collectors. The reactors, however, can easily produce this much energy, at the cost of burning through fuel.

And that's where the fuel tanks come in. This design has 390 units of fuel stored away and at the cost of 2 units of fuel per 1000 energy, this translates into a reactor output of 195,000 energy, which is enough to cover a weapon-based power drain of 133 for (195k/133 = ) 1466 seconds, or close to 25 minutes.

In practice, I have an untested gut feeling that the fuel is drained a bit faster than this. I might be sensing ghosts or it might indicate that the reactors are being charged with the full 207 energy drain regardless of the collectors, which would bring down the running time to a mere 975 seconds or about 16 minutes.

You might ask why I'm not just covering the weapon drain by collectors. The answer is that collectors are sort of expensive and I'd honestly rather pay for the upkeep of some fuel cells and some fuel consumption than for having the energy collection potential necessary to keep my weapons powered up.

Final thing, keep in mind that fuel cells are relatively cheap and that pirates some times really don't know when to give it a rest and call it a day. And it would suck if a disruption in fuel deliveries caused your base to stop shooting and get shot to pieces, wouldn't it?

[Ralzakark]

Fuel cell - holds the fuel that powers the reactor of whatever the fuel cell is in, either ship or base.
Cargo bay - holds fuel that is being taken elsewhere, or being stored to be taken elsewhere (e.g. a gas mine where the mining engines will put the fuel into the cargo bays ready to be collected).

From memory you will also need a cargo bay in a base which is receiving fuel as it is staged through there to before ending up in fuel cells. So fuel arriving at a base in a freighter will effectively go docking bay > cargo bay > fuel cell, but others can confirm/refute that.