Goonhub
06-25-2015, 03:08 AM
This is some ideas I had about the power transmission laser and how to make it more interactive and add more gameplay features to it.
Currently the Power Transmission Laser (PTL for short) is BY FAR the best way to make long term cash on the station. It's pretty much a set it and forget it setup. The problem with the PTL is that it's income is based off of how well someone can ignite their hellburn mix. Then while the generator is pumping out terrawatts, or even PETAWATTS of power any engineer can run over, turn and crank the laser up. Leave it on, And just let the station roll in cash.
Now sure, I'm all for the station being super mega rich. I am not a party pooper. However, when you can leave the beam running for 30 min and the station having a excess of over 100 MILLION SPACE CREDITS, that tends to be an issue when it comes to the jobs that are supposed to make the station money. QM and Mining. This sort of just nasty income over time makes QM and Mining completely useless. QM loses one half their function and mining is just completely outclassed by how much money the PTL can pull in compared to crates of ore.
So, to help balance this out I had a couple of suggestions for the PTL and the energy trade.
1: Add a new contact option in the QMs terminal to sell directly beamed power to different clients, (Like Space merchants, but they are other stations, etc) This gives QMs the rights to manage who the power is sold to, but engineering still manages the PTL. At the same time add a console to engineering so they can see who QM is selling power to, at what cost, and what other clients are offering. If there is a better offer, they can ping the QM like a supply request to change it to a a new client. If there isn't a QM around the CE should have rights to override it on either end.
2: Have the option to sell energy by directly beaming it to space (Like its done now) At a much lower cost then what the station currently earns for it. OR you could redirect the beam to a charging machine that takes special batteries (Think SMES sized battery canister packs) and charges them. The uncharged batteries (or you can buy charged from space traders) can be ordered by the QM from the standard supplies section of his terminal (Like next to empty crates as an example) Or the batteries are made at a special fabricator near the PTL.
Battery Sizes should come in small, medium and large sizes, holding more power each tier. When the PTL is set to charge mode, the beam is redirected into the machine. (A redirection mirror could come into play here *wink) Then a engineer pushes a battery into the charger. It gets locked into place and charged to the amount it can hold (lets say for example. A small battery can hold 5MW) After it's full it gets ejected out the other side onto a conveyor belt and put into a spot both engineering and QM have access to. The battery can be either used by the station in an emergency (A new plug port next to the SMES' where you can push the battery into and wrench it in place and it will drain into the SMES' like a gas can into the pipe system) or a QM can grab it, drag it over and either sell it on the open market, or to a space trader for a haggled priced. (Either way, selling power in a charged battery would earn the station x2 more per MW than directly beaming it somewhere)
3: Misc Suggestions for the system. With large batteries, have them only movable by forklift/conveyor belt (Too heavy to push or pull around when fully charged) Add a safety system to the battery charger. When disabled by the CE, it will let engineers set a percentage to overcharge the battery by. With every percent over 100 it will have increasing margin for error with the battery exploding spectacularly. A battery exploding would cause a extreme burst of heat, followed by a gush flood of battery acid that spews out and melts floor tiles and people. (They should also have a random chance to explode if hit with a arc flash, and probably other triggering methods)
Enough rambling on. What do you guys think? How else can we improve the PTL system?
TL
R
PTL is OP, Makes QM/Mining useless. Give QM some PTL control. Have a battery maker/charger as an alternate to make more money from charging and selling them.
Currently the Power Transmission Laser (PTL for short) is BY FAR the best way to make long term cash on the station. It's pretty much a set it and forget it setup. The problem with the PTL is that it's income is based off of how well someone can ignite their hellburn mix. Then while the generator is pumping out terrawatts, or even PETAWATTS of power any engineer can run over, turn and crank the laser up. Leave it on, And just let the station roll in cash.
Now sure, I'm all for the station being super mega rich. I am not a party pooper. However, when you can leave the beam running for 30 min and the station having a excess of over 100 MILLION SPACE CREDITS, that tends to be an issue when it comes to the jobs that are supposed to make the station money. QM and Mining. This sort of just nasty income over time makes QM and Mining completely useless. QM loses one half their function and mining is just completely outclassed by how much money the PTL can pull in compared to crates of ore.
So, to help balance this out I had a couple of suggestions for the PTL and the energy trade.
1: Add a new contact option in the QMs terminal to sell directly beamed power to different clients, (Like Space merchants, but they are other stations, etc) This gives QMs the rights to manage who the power is sold to, but engineering still manages the PTL. At the same time add a console to engineering so they can see who QM is selling power to, at what cost, and what other clients are offering. If there is a better offer, they can ping the QM like a supply request to change it to a a new client. If there isn't a QM around the CE should have rights to override it on either end.
2: Have the option to sell energy by directly beaming it to space (Like its done now) At a much lower cost then what the station currently earns for it. OR you could redirect the beam to a charging machine that takes special batteries (Think SMES sized battery canister packs) and charges them. The uncharged batteries (or you can buy charged from space traders) can be ordered by the QM from the standard supplies section of his terminal (Like next to empty crates as an example) Or the batteries are made at a special fabricator near the PTL.
Battery Sizes should come in small, medium and large sizes, holding more power each tier. When the PTL is set to charge mode, the beam is redirected into the machine. (A redirection mirror could come into play here *wink) Then a engineer pushes a battery into the charger. It gets locked into place and charged to the amount it can hold (lets say for example. A small battery can hold 5MW) After it's full it gets ejected out the other side onto a conveyor belt and put into a spot both engineering and QM have access to. The battery can be either used by the station in an emergency (A new plug port next to the SMES' where you can push the battery into and wrench it in place and it will drain into the SMES' like a gas can into the pipe system) or a QM can grab it, drag it over and either sell it on the open market, or to a space trader for a haggled priced. (Either way, selling power in a charged battery would earn the station x2 more per MW than directly beaming it somewhere)
3: Misc Suggestions for the system. With large batteries, have them only movable by forklift/conveyor belt (Too heavy to push or pull around when fully charged) Add a safety system to the battery charger. When disabled by the CE, it will let engineers set a percentage to overcharge the battery by. With every percent over 100 it will have increasing margin for error with the battery exploding spectacularly. A battery exploding would cause a extreme burst of heat, followed by a gush flood of battery acid that spews out and melts floor tiles and people. (They should also have a random chance to explode if hit with a arc flash, and probably other triggering methods)
Enough rambling on. What do you guys think? How else can we improve the PTL system?
TL
RPTL is OP, Makes QM/Mining useless. Give QM some PTL control. Have a battery maker/charger as an alternate to make more money from charging and selling them.