Please use the wiki for OXPs

[Arexack_Heretic]

I agree, I think.
There is no need to complicate ship-energy.
Besides, who decides that energybanks should have 64 cells? Sure it's a nice reference to C64, but other than that I cannot see why producers of ships (or energy banks) may not decide themselves on the specifications used for the energy banks they use.

A nice thing to purchase at a shipyards may be superior energy cells,
-enrighed cells: store more energy per bank.
-millitary spec cells: banks recharge more quickly.
-standard generic cells.
-depleted cells: (for those Murgh ships and under-maintained ships) recharge more slowly and store less energy.

but we already have the additional energy bank.
So it is not as if one cannot upgrade energy available already.

Without introducing a new object such as cells into the game mechanics, cells may be good fun to use in fluff terms.
-Pay a hermit-shipdock to remove the energy bank SafetyInductionManager-lock: gain extra power and recharge speed. The drawback would be reduced lifespan on your E-cells, wich would have you risking damaging any additional energy bank installed and generally increasing the ship-deprication.
a bit like overclocking your ship: you'd have to buy high-grade non-generic replacement parts to prevent premature system failures.

[Captain Hesperus]

I agree, I think.
There is no need to complicate ship-energy.
Besides, who decides that energybanks should have 64 cells?

I think it's because the no. of energy banks = the ship's energy / 64 (approximately)

A nice thing to purchase at a shipyards may be superior energy cells,
-enrighed cells: store more energy per bank.
-millitary spec cells: banks recharge more quickly.
-standard generic cells.
-depleted cells: (for those Murgh ships and under-maintained ships) recharge more slowly and store less energy.

Sounds like fun

but we already have the additional energy bank.
So it is not as if one cannot upgrade energy available already.

We do? It was my undeerstanding that the EEU and NEU were additional/upgraded energy generation/conversion units which improve the energy_recharge_rate, not extra energy banks.

But I could be wrong. It's happened before.....

Captain Hesperus

[Arexack_Heretic]

We do? It was my undeerstanding that the EEU and NEU were additional/upgraded energy generation/conversion units which improve the energy_recharge_rate, not extra energy banks.

wiki:

Basic energy banks have standard fittings for an additional generator, improving the rate at which your energy banks are able to recharge. The reason that double energy units are not standard in of-the-'yard ships is affordability.

You are right offcourse. this time.

[Captain Hesperus]

You are right offcourse. this time.

Phew! There's only so many times of making myself look an idiot before I lose my 'Space-dock cred'.

Captain Hesperus

[Commander McLane]

@A_H: Please read the above explanatory post by Eric Walch. That should answer most of the unclarities.

@all: Please follow the thread. This is not about "complicating" energy. This is about the question whether the energy_recharge_rate of a ship should be included into its short description in the wiki, together with the number of energy banks. And if yes, in which way it should be added. That's all.

[Captain Hesperus]

Okay, my take on a 'low-end user' method of reading energy level and energy_recharge_rate. Personally, I think keeping the Energy Banks rating as standard would be the easiest means of allowing newb pilots to understand how 'healthy' their ship is (sort of like a hit points indicator). As for the recharge rate, I think categorising the recharge rates into a system that is most apparent to new users, i.e. how quick the energy banks return to full, such as Slow, Medium and Fast. This can then be followed by the value in brackets.

For example:

Cobra Mark III

Energy Banks: 4
Energy Recharge: Medium (4.0)

or

Python

Energy Banks: 7
Energy Recharge: Slow (2.5)

In this way, there is an indication of how much punishment the ships can take and how quick they can recover from it.

Captain Hesperus

[Eric Walch]

For interest I looked also at the shields of a ship. They are all the same for weak and strong ships. So this make it unnecessary to mention it in a comparison.

But for who is interested: They use the same energy as the banks. Default size is 128 energy. Adding a "shield booster" or a "military shield enhancement" increases the shield energy with 128 each. (effectively giving you an protection equivalent of 6 extra energy banks when all mounted)

When hit the shields take the first damage. The shields recharge with energy from, the banks. The shield also have their own recharge rate. Default is 2.0 and with a "military shield enhancement" it increases to 3.0 With this there is also no difference between weak or strong ships. (But not all can buy the upgrades)

I never flew such a ship, but with an energy_recharge_rate lower than he shield_recharge_rate you will see that recharging shields drain the energy banks visible. E.g. with an adder with "military shield enhancement" and no extra energy units you will see the energy draining away when recharging the shields. Whit normal ships it also happens but is not that obvious.

[nijineko]

so it would be possible to make an alien tech shield which is more powerful than normal. =D

[Arexack_Heretic]

I think it would be better to add the recharge rate in brackets after the maxenergy itself.

ie
energybanks : 500 [+25/s] energy

if it would make things more clear.

[Captain Hesperus]

I think it would be better to add the recharge rate in brackets after the maxenergy itself.

ie
energybanks : 500 [+25/s] energy

if it would make things more clear.

I don't know about that. I think energy banks simply because they are visible and, unlike FE2/FFE there is no numerical reckoning of energy level visible, there are only that row of yellow energy bank bars. I think that would be more readily recognisable for the new user.

If you wanted to have the energy levels readable as well you could always have:

Energy Banks : 7 (500 EP) [+25 EP/s]
{where EP = Energy Points. I dunno, I don't want to confuse this with EEUs }

with an explanation somewhere about what that all means.

Captain Hesperus

[Hoopy]

i had a shield recharge rate faster then my energy recharge rate - it's really nasty! you're in a big dogfight, shields look fine but suddenly the laser stops working as you've got no energy left...

[TGHC]

I guess ultimately you want the strongest defences you can have, so with full shielding, which would be better more energy banks or faster recharge rate?

The measurement ought to be along the lines of how long the shields can withstand a prolonged military laser attack.

[Eric Walch]

I guess ultimately you want the strongest defences you can have, so with full shielding, which would be better more energy banks or faster recharge rate?

faster recharge rate is the thing you want to have. On the long run during an attack this ballances the amount of hits you can withstand over a long time.

[Commander McLane]

Okay, my take on a 'low-end user' method of reading energy level and energy_recharge_rate. Personally, I think keeping the Energy Banks rating as standard would be the easiest means of allowing newb pilots to understand how 'healthy' their ship is (sort of like a hit points indicator). As for the recharge rate, I think categorising the recharge rates into a system that is most apparent to new users, i.e. how quick the energy banks return to full, such as Slow, Medium and Fast. This can then be followed by the value in brackets.

For example:

Cobra Mark III

Energy Banks: 4
Energy Recharge: Medium (4.0)

or

Python

Energy Banks: 7
Energy Recharge: Slow (2.5)

In this way, there is an indication of how much punishment the ships can take and how quick they can recover from it.

Captain Hesperus

I think finally I'll go with this suggestion. So no need to invent fancy new technobabble, no need to actually mention the energypoints (@A_H: I think this would be the step that would make everything more complicated), no need to go too deep into the way Oolite actually works.

Thanks, Hesperus!

The next thing I'm going to do is make myself a list of all ships' recharge rates (native and OXP) and see where I set the border between slow, medium and fast (or whatever the final wording will be).

[nijineko]

ooooh, that'll be a fun wiki update!