Oolite Bulletins

Internal Fuel Tank

Latest OXZ - Version 0.1.3
Updated 29 January 2019

Extra fuel is must-have if you prefer fair play without frequent exploit of save/load. Take 5.6 LY hyperjump from Lave to Zaonce. In regular case you have 1.4 LY fuel remaining in system of destination. But in case of misjump you are stranded in midpoint between systems and you need 2.8 LY fuel to return to normal space. You have only 1.4 LY.
Well, we have expendable pylon mounted 3 LY Fuel Tank (author Ramirez) and internal fuel tanks (Extra Fuel Tanks & Duplex Fuel Tank, author smivs). Both approaches are used in real reality – expendable pylon mounted fuel tanks and conformal fuel tanks. But I think price difference between 3 LY expendable Fuel Tank for 75 Cr and 3 LY internal Reserve Fuel Tank for 50000 Cr is slightly exaggregated.
My solution: 5 LY expendable Internal Fuel Tank for 100 Cr. It mounts on cargo bay and requires free 5 tons of free cargo space. It is single used primed equipment. Press Shift-N to select internal fuel tank and N to activate it. After activation fuel will be transferred onto main fuel tank (all extra fuel over main fuel tank capacity will be lost) and tank will disassemble, freeing occupied space.
I think internal fuel tank is a balanced addition to pylon mounted fuel tanks. Sometimes you may prefer to sacrifice 5 tons of cargo space for extra security. In this case you can install internal fuel tank and activate it immediately after entering dangerous system, still having one or two pylon mounted tanks just for case.

Minimal TL to install Internal Fuel Tank: TL = 7 (8th TL on F7 page)

Credits:
Fuel Tank (author Ramirez)
Extra Fuel Tanks (author smivs)

stranger wrote: ↑Fri Apr 06, 2018 1:52 am

But in case of misjump you are stranded in midpoint between systems...

That ain't necessarily so - there is a way out.

Cody wrote: ↑Fri Apr 06, 2018 9:41 am

That ain't necessarily so - there is a way out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQpYLhiJB-4

I'm intrigued please do tell as this was a concern of mine too - I currently use the fuel transfer equipment offered in fuel tweaks as a safety net for this kind of event, but this is not without it's problems if used whilst not docked.

Great song, that! Another great song from the same musical is Summertime - Big Brother & The Holding Company did an excellent cover of it.

As for midway - if you suffer a misjump, be prepared to fight, but keep an eye on your scanner!




Apologies to stranger for the musical interlude - normal service is now resumed.

There is a habit in this forum of making secrets that I never understood. I once looked it up in the source code, because IIRC it never really happened to me:

There is a chance of a trader with escorts being generated, as if it just launched from a station, in interstellar space. It opens a whormhole which you can use. It may not be the direction you need.
However, it is much more likely that new Thargoids are generated instead, whenever you have killed the previous ones. And the main problem is, you must not leave the "invisible witchpoint", that is, the area you appeared in. If you fly away too far by accident, or intentionally, there's no way back. The trader will be generated in the starting area, so if you're too far, you miss your chance. There is also no restriction on when a misjump can happen - it can be on your very first jump, without any chance of killing thargoids with a pulse laser.

Since fuel tanks or the fuel collector make things too easy, I personally use 2 addons that aren't in the OXP manager: interstellar_help and wormhole_restoration.

Nothing wrong with Interstellar Help or Wormhole Restoration - it is just matter of personal taste. In my Ooniverse misjumps just sometimes happens and nobody comes to help. Extra fuel is you only hope if you are not using such OXPs.
Fuel tanks maybe looks too easy things in vanilla game, but I am using hand-made OXP with fuel used for ship energy generation (I plan to present this OXP later). If you have fuel consumption approx. 0.1 LY per 3 min, in case of any unplanned activity you may need extra fuel.

Update: OXP category in manifest.plist changed to "Equipment".
I was too focused on another OXPs and just edit manifest.plist without critical thinking

I like this fuel option in exchange for cargo space instead of wasting my missile pylons for extra fuel tanks. An acceptable trade off, and very appreciated.

I can only say that piloting ships with auto turrets make the game too easy. but having fuel is always welcome for any situation and imo doesn't feel like cheats etc.

Thanks for feedback, Balisongdalo!

I personally think external and internal tanks are complementary, not conflicting items. Sometimes you may need as much fuel as you can take.

Was unable to find an internal fuel tank on the equipment list only the extra fuel tanks. Is there a minimum tech level planet they sell this item?

Balisongdalo wrote: ↑Mon Apr 16, 2018 7:02 pm

Was unable to find an internal fuel tank on the equipment list only the extra fuel tanks. Is there a minimum tech level planet they sell this item?

Yes, TL = 7 (8th TL in F7 info). Too high for vanilla game maybe. I personally prefer more strict rules. You may edit equipment.plist entry onto same TL as for Extra Fuel Tank in Ramirez's OXP. But I think installing internal fuel tank in unused cargo space is a bit more complicated process than just loading pylon-mounted equipment. Of course, installing Large Cargo Bay requires only TL = 1 (2th TL in F7 info) in vanilla game. I always feel vanilla equipment requirements oversimplified. And I suspect OXP developers has the same feelings. You can install must-have fuel injector for 600 Cr only and you pay 550 Cr for Manifest MFD - just useful, but not critical software upgrade.
And you need 5 tons of free cargo space to see Internal Fuel Tank in list of available equipment of course.