Hmm, I hadn’t considered it that way, which is weird because I’ve both programmed in Unity and have a physics minor. I guess what we learn is that the smallest engine that I can tolerate without getting bored is by far the most fuel efficient. But then, the rate that supplies are getting eaten enters into the equation as well. I’m envisioning a huge expansion to the fuel efficiency chart in the other thread, taking into account lights on/off and supplies eaten by the various size crews. It would be an interesting project to take on if I had the cash
You could theoretically have any amount of cash you desired if you edited your savefile.
Okay, I devised and recorded a simple test to determine to what degree acceleration was a factor! I made two runs, beginning at Khan’s Shadow and ending when the ship collided with a rock directly ahead of the port. Judging by this map, the exact midpoint of this course is the centre of Ogedei’s Bridge. Each run is identical, from the same save, except for the equipped engine - one is with the Elderly Steeple-Engine and one is with the Fulgent Impeller.
Here’s the Impeller run - you’ll observe that it goes from stationary to stationary in 45 seconds, passing the centre of the bridge at about the 22 second mark.
Here’s the Steeple-Engine run - it takes just over 1 minute 30 seconds to cover the same distance, and passes the centre of the bridge at around 45 seconds.
Obviously, this could be more precise (though I did want a course with clear landmarks, and where I was unlikely to run into a pirate before reaching the end - I was already getting interrupted by crew members being possessed by sky-gods.) Still, I think that’s a strong indicator that all engines reach their maximum speed quite quickly, and that speed, rather than acceleration, is the chief product of engine power.
Also, I was intrigued that the first run was literally twice as fast as the second, so I equipped the ship with the Admiralty Special plus Maybe’s Rival plus We Are Clay, resulting in 2900 engine power - halfway between 800 and 5000. I thought that, perhaps, its speed would be halfway in between too. It was, to within a second or two.
that would suggest that it’s a linear equation, just that no engine power isn’t no motion.
I mean obviously no engine means no motion, since the game stops you from moving, even if you have engine power from the stokers.
Amusing. It logged me out but still allowed me to post. The above is me.
I wondered about that, but I took my Dreadnaught, put each type of engine on it, and pointed it at a long stretch of open water - and, no matter how long I let it go, the less powerful engine never reached the same speed as the more powerful one. [/quote]
Sorry, I meant, as stated in the above post, that the main effect of weight is slower acceleration, based on your original tests. The two ships equipped with the Impeller have nearly the same traversal time (suggesting they maxed out at about the same speed), but markedly different times when equipped with the Steeple engine. Obviously if acceleration is only affected by weight, and you have the same ship and the same amount of cargo, you’re not going to see a difference.
edit: sigh Except that doesn’t really make sense either. I might have to dig into the physics angle later.
Echoes are really not hard to acquire at the moment, at least once you have a large enough initial investment.
Yeah… I thought about doing that. I’d need to test the rate that lights eat fuel a bit. Supplies don’t need testing: It’s crew/2 per 10 seconds. Well, okay, it’s possible that Hearts affects supply consumption, and I also don’t know how the game rounds (or if it rounds). That would need to be tested. But it wouldn’t be necessary to rerun the whole set of tests to construct such a chart.
edited by Olorin on 2/11/2015
The game rounds to the nearest even integer. 13 is 6, 15 is 8, the 1-crew “dinner table” is 0 – apparently if you only have one crewmember and yourself, you need never eat.
[quote=deathbymonty]Hi devs, really enjoying the game…up to a point. I’m really upset about a few things, though.[li]
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Engines effect on speed regardless of weight: so I was saving up after some serious grinding to increase engine speed to 1500, AND I have Maybe’s Daughter so that’s 1600 total…and the ship is really not that much faster. So then I decided I wanted to go really fast and risk it all, and downgraded to the Stymphalos, thinking that since it weighs half as much I’ll be able to travel twice as a fast or at least have a huge increase in fuel efficiency. Neither of those things happened, and frankly, I think that is incredibly stupid and frustrating.
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It has probably already been said, but on this you’re wrong at least :).
Try fitting the 2000 Echo engine on the smallest ship. It’s what I did. It Races across the ocean. It’s at least twice as quick as with the starting engine.
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Technically that last crew member is you. Thanks, that should be useful.
edited by Olorin on 2/11/2015
Oh, you count? I hadn’t realized.
Apparently you yourself need subsist on nothing more than air and fire and dreaming horror.
Yeah… I thought about doing that. I’d need to test the rate that lights eat fuel a bit. Supplies don’t need testing: It’s crew/2 per 10 seconds. Well, okay, it’s possible that Hearts affects supply consumption, and I also don’t know how the game rounds (or if it rounds). That would need to be tested. But it wouldn’t be necessary to rerun the whole set of tests to construct such a chart.[/quote]
Yeah, a lot of it would just be monkeying with Excel to do calculations to come up with what engine is actually the most money efficient. At the same time, I’ve finally reached that point in my Zeafaring career where one barrel of fuel plus or minus doesn’t really matter as much anymore, so of course I have less of an incentive to set it up. Maybe this weekend I’ll copy my current Invictus save to a safe location and do some save editing so I can run my own set of tests.