Electricity

There will be one stickied topic per feature in phase 2. Other discussion may take place on other topics if relevant.
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-This forum is about the mechanics and framework of the content. NOT about the content itself, that belongs in phase 3. However, if content discussion creeps in because it is necessary, this is permissible.
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Electricity

Post by Professor Fenway » Sun Mar 31, 2013 12:00 am

As phase 2, this is for electricity.

Generation- Accomplished through early to late game through various methods. In all methods, various amounts of material are used to create a certain amount of electricity.

Routing- Power is routed through wires to any system that needs them in the amount needed, or through wireless terminals. If the connection is broken, power is lost. Batteries can also be powered and distribute it.

Power cables can be hidden in hull blocks to preserve the look of the ship.

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Re: Electricity

Post by Iv121 » Sun Mar 31, 2013 3:50 am

Wireless is better be REALLY expensive to balance things up.

Coal - doesn't give enough energy in this new world.
Oil - Alright could count for some low tech generator.
Solar - only useful to power small installations or devices.
Wind - no wind in space.
Nuclear -a good source of power though a bit radioactive (no s*** !)
ZPM - telling you the truth I have no idea about the physics behind it but sound alright.

Also how about:

- Hydrogen reactor.
- Anti-Matter reactor.
- Crystallite reactor - Basically uses energy crystals as fuel, alien tech.

Basically it's just a question of what you "burn" (though not alwyas burn) to get the energy. As long as you cone with some futuristic fuel types they are all valid.


I guess there is no need to go crazy with wiring so 3 types (Actually 2) sound alright. Also to make it more futuristic it doesn't have to be just an electricity cable, but an energy cable. This allows us to connect many different kinds if not all devices to it. For example the same reactor can power the engines, the cannons, the shields and life support even though one needs something to burn while the other needs some plasma and the third needs electricity. This also allows us to make a fancy look folr the cables with something glowing inside !

those things at control all sound unnecessary. We don't have voltage, only high and low capacity from what you said, maybe transfer between both but that's it. Resistors and power computers all complicate matters to directions we don’t want to go into. It's not fun spending your time with a calculator or studying electronics...

Instead you forgot to put more important bits such as different kinds of storage devices !
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Re: Electricity

Post by Dr. Mackeroth » Sun Mar 31, 2013 5:06 am

This is Phase 3 discussion. Phase 2 is think about how this stuff will actually work. Do we want wireless or wired connections? How will our computer OS work? Should we have alternate methods of power available? Listing items to add is important, and does have its place in Phase 2 discussion, but please be aware that it comes second to discussing and planing the engine/framework/concepts underneath the individual blocks/items. I added a similar note to the big red rules at the top of this sub-forum.
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Re: Electricity

Post by Professor Fenway » Sun Mar 31, 2013 8:59 am

I fixed it.

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Re: Electricity

Post by Iv121 » Sun Mar 31, 2013 9:11 am

Again too much physics, it's also not true that the electricity will only take the path of less resistance. It is true that MOST of it will go though there. It is inaccurate to say so if there are two routes with significant resistance in them. Those are all boring calculations (though not that bad) that don't contribute to gameplay such as considering plating location for example.
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Re: Electricity

Post by Chairman_Tiel » Sun Mar 31, 2013 9:52 am

I'll be honest, I merely skimmed through this, but I'd just like to point out that fun > realism every day of the week. People don't want an electrical engineering simulator, they want a game, something to dump their time into while enjoying themselves.
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Re: Electricity

Post by Professor Fenway » Sun Mar 31, 2013 10:37 am

I say then Load and Resistance are what we need. Load is the maximum packet size, resistance determines power loss and other factors, such as power split. We can throw out voltage and amperage, since we don't need the IC2 wire complexity. Instead, each generator outputs a fixed current per tick. The load determines the maximum current tick, so what can be powered on it. This is essentially a limiter on power production based on tech, in a way. You can have advanced power, but without the necessary wire you can't run it fully.

Updated based on new ideas.

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Re: Electricity

Post by Iv121 » Sun Mar 31, 2013 11:39 am

First tell me if you agree about the energy idea. Again it makes more sense to power engines, guns and electric devices from the same source, which makes point in energy management which is an important part of the combat. It makes sense that energy will be transported through those pipes.
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Re: Electricity

Post by joykler » Sun Mar 31, 2013 3:29 pm

i think you should just make some kinds of generators
creating a amount of energy

and machines using a amount of energy

all things connected thru a computer net
usses the connected energy course

its way easyer like this and looks much better because you dont need any cabling

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Re: Electricity

Post by Iv121 » Sun Mar 31, 2013 3:33 pm

we already said there will be just for some reason it all goes into phase 3. I do expect you to at least come here with a measurement unit and the value of that unit.
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Re: Electricity

Post by Dux_Tell31 » Sun Mar 31, 2013 4:05 pm

ZPM's

Physics behind it all
Zero Point Modules are so named because they use zero point energy. Zero point energy is present in all quantum mechanical systems (i.e. everything that uses energy and converts it to entropy). Zero point energy is the lowest amount of energy that such a quantum mechanical system can have. It is also commonly referred to as vacuum energy and remains when all matter is removed from a region of space. Since by definition zero point energy can never be depleted (a region of space can never have less than that amount), it is theoretically an unlimited and free energy source.

The energy is said to arise from various particles that spontaneously emerge, exist for fractions of a second, and are then annihilated by anti-particles. At very small distances (~10-35 meters) this particle/anti-particle turbulence is known as quantum foam, and it is theorized to be a remnant of the birth of the universe carried over to this day. (Also partially explained in the hypothesis is that not all matter in the universe is evenly distributed). This variation in energy is somewhat analogous to observing common objects under very small scales. For example, ordinary glass under extreme magnification is porous. Marbles, if expanded to the size of the earth, would have more variation in radius than the Earth does (including the Himalayas and Death Valley).
Despite the two particles annihilating each other, a small amount of energy is detectable (demonstrated by the Casimir effect). Because of the immensely small scales of time and size, as well as the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle, the existence and subsequent annihilation of these particles does not violate the conservation of energy. The individual particles are thought to be generated perhaps by photons interacting with the space.
As built by the Ancients, a ZPM is a container of a large region of vacuum subspace instead of normal space, so that its size is manageable. The ZPM draws power from the zero point energy, a tiny amount from each small bit of the enclosed subspace that adds up to unimaginable power in total. Theoretically the ZPM should never become depleted, but since all mechanical devices have imperfections, it is likely there is a miniscule amount of loss in the system that eventually leads to the last of the energy leaving the ZPM. There is also the issue of entropy eventually winding the system down, but our understanding of physics does not extend to such large-scale thermodynamics.
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Re: Electricity

Post by joykler » Sun Mar 31, 2013 4:27 pm

what about this a
mass conscious engine

it is powered by the amount of players on the ship

the engine reacts to the conscious waves going by and uses that to propell itself

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Re: Electricity

Post by Dr. Mackeroth » Sun Mar 31, 2013 5:19 pm

The simpler we can keep this, the better.

I think we should have power generators that output a certain "voltage" (let's rename it later, I'm not too sure that's even the right measurement). This "voltage" is a fixed amount, and is used up by various devices. Each device has a certain "ideal" voltage that it runs at, and if the voltage is too low (if you are trying to run the power to too many devices, etc.) then the devices won't work as well (or not work at all if that is simpler to code). Devices can be "overclocked" to run at a higher voltage, which will increase their efficiency, but will give a slight chance of the device breaking.

There will also be capacitors, that store excess "voltage" (definitely not the right terminology now) to be released at any speed, as set by a control chair/computer that is connected to it.
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Re: Electricity

Post by Dr. Mackeroth » Sun Mar 31, 2013 5:24 pm

Also, a ZPM has an output of 1.2 gigawatts. I don't remember where I read that, but I swear I did.
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Re: Electricity

Post by joykler » Sun Mar 31, 2013 5:25 pm

with cables or without cables

and for computers look at my idea

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