I know this has been suggested before, but I'm just basically throwing my hat into the ring.

I want fuel instead of batteries. Infinitely rechargable batteries that magically recharge due to, uh, magic, just aren't as cool as finite fuel.

Sure people will screw up and be at the mercy of the community, but that's what's cool about it.

FUEL!

I'm with you, but here's one of the first things you'll hear: They've clarified this, they're not batteries, they're power cells. Basically reactors. I've got to get some sleep, but I'll sound off on this later.

I don't want fuel.

It's needless and won't add anything to the gameplay.

Yup, reactors. It takes a little time to collect energy from them, but they have enough juice for hundreds of years - provided you don't get them blown up.

/me steals hat

Sure it will add things to the gameplay. You come across a stranded trader, who outran a pirate by expending his emergency fuel cell.

You decide to be nice about it and help him out. He in return lets you in on a lucrative trade run he's just found out about and you become life long trading buddies!

Or, on the flipside, I, a pirate, run across said helpless trader and extort him for some outrageous sum of money to help him out.

Bam, more gameplay than the current system of infinite energy offers us.

Hmm.

The problem with being stranded is that it abruptly ends anything a player could do if fuel were available. This problem could be solved by distress signals, but realistically, you wouldn't be able to do much without energy. Even life support would fail.

Furthermore, what kind of fuel are we talking about? Is it electrical energy, stored in some kind of battery? Is it hydrogen, and thus transportable as matter? Would we get giant hydrogen tankers (that wouldn't blow up when shot, since we would lack oxygen)?

How would you propose to manage the fuel stuff? Another gauge on the HUD, since you'd still need one for 'energy', the one in the short-term capacitor?

Not magic...Sam Carter from Stargate could actually have it right when the throws out the work capacitor all the time. Our small (nuclear?) reactors charge capacitors which are drained by weapons and engines. Trying to run those systems directly off a reactor would be bad: it'd damage either the reactor or the system. It's only natural that you'd have a bank of capacitors in there to protect both sides.

And having to worry about fuel is no fun! Ask anyone who has ever flown a gas-guzzling jet aircraft. They'll tell you that fuel is a bad idea and ask for our power cells.

If it's capacitors, then why doesn't each individual item have its own? Everything drains the same "power cell." Not an efficient use of a nuclear reactor at all.

please redirect your complaints to 'tpg' corp. they're responsible for most of the things we have to deal with.

in the meantime, just try to have fun.

No to fuel and No for failing to properly employ thread necromancy by bringing up past fuel debates where fuel ALWAYS lost, thereby saving everyone the time of shooting the idea down again.

Go buy a car and get a job with a 1 hour commute each way, every day. Go buy gasoline for said car on a bi-weekly basis. Then you too will know deep in your heart that fuel is EVIL.

Well Fuel aint evil per se, having to use it is the rel evil!

I dunno, fuel was fun in EV. Having to stop at a station every couple of jumps. This would be good if we ever had new secret systems. The devs could put them out far enough out so that only people with super big "fuel tanks" or a ramscoop could get there. And it'd be a risk because you wouldn't know if there was a station at the other end so you could make it home.

It would also make trading a little more interesting. You'd have to plot your course as to stop at stations to refuel. Of course if you ran out, you could self-destruct and get sent home, but you'd obviously lose all of your cargo and your ship, just like now.

It'd also help make ships a little more customizable. Different "fuel tanks" (or whatever you'd call them to fit in with the current story and system) would weigh and cost different amounts. So on a fighter you'd keep it small, etc... It'd just be an extra dynamic to customizing your ship.

You'd only have to add 1 bar to the HUD. Every time you jumped, the meter would go down. I don't know if WH jumps would take more energy. That'd make it even more interesting because then each tank wouldn't have a set number of jumps like a 5 jump tank, or a 6 jump tank. It'd be an estimate and you'd have to guess. Anyone who miscalculated and was cutting it close would get stranded.

I'm not necessarily all for the idea, but I think it could be good if done right, primarily meaning coordinating the idea with risky exploration.

if they did have fuel and someone ran out a communication box could popup from the nearest station and they will give you a tow for a certain amount of money.

ick fuel!

Lost Commander:

Actually, if you read through this thread and make note of who is actually throwing a vote at the issue (not including those making suggestions as to how it would work), it's a dead heat.

Regardless, I'm not arguing for ships to run on petrolium, nor am I arguing that we should replace the current engine system with Combustion Engines!

I'm using fuel analogously for any sort of system that would be finite in the amount of energy one had when leaving a station.

Yeah, but fuel has been shot down at least twice before (I think 3 times), and I think that word 'finite' is exactly what people have shot down in the past. It is that whole "running out of fuel sucks and is simply not fun" thing that marks it as something a lot of people are quite happy to do without.

I am not entirely against the concept of fuel -- I am entirely against having more than a very remote possiblity of running out of fuel. I could come up with a fuel system I like (and if you want I will suggest one for kicks), but I warn you that the least total energy a full ship would leave a station with would be about 30,000 and refuelling would be CHEAP.

If the power cells are reactors, then it would be totally appropriate for them to SLOWLY lose efficiency.
Maybe recharge rate drops by one for every 10 hours of flying, or something like that. It will become a pain in the ass to use long before it ever becomes 'empty'.

If you run out of fuel, just call AAA. If you can't get a friend or someone from your guild to give you fuel, or can't negotiate a price for some fuel from a passing player, or you're just impatient, Some NPCs should have personalities that will give you fuel for a reasonable price, or something like AAA where you can message the nearest station and they will send an NPC to give you fuel. Depending on where you are, it shouldn't take too long for someone to come. Running out of fuel shouldn't be the end of everything.

Hrm. I do like Leghbah's idea- if anything. Pretty much the whole running-out-of-fuel-sucks-and-where-is-that-darn-triple-S-agent-they're-late-argh! type thing.

Note: SSS -- Space Ship Service.

Here's an idea I've had for awhile for fuel. Your reactor can use hydrogen for fuel, which would be very cheap, since it's abundant, and it would last very long. The reactor/battery would be used for warping and opening wormholes. Maybe you'd have to refill this (depending on capacity and reactor efficiency and how much you use it) on average once every month or so.

For normal flight within a sector, you could have liquid combustible fuel. This would make everything more interesting because you'd have to budget fuel or you can't change course. I know, the current engines are some kind of gravity manipulation thing like a warp engine, but I think this should only do turbo, and would draw from the reactor and would explain better why turbo only goes straight. Here's the interesting thing about the liquid fuel. You only need it to accelerate and to change course (which is also done by accelerating). Correct me if I'm wrong, but do you keep your speed when you warp? I never took notice of that. If not, you should. This way, after you pick up speed, you don't need to use very much fuel if you fly smart until you have to stop at your destination. You'd only need it if you change course to avoid collision or a fight. You can warp simply by using power from your battery as charged from your reactor.

This could make even more options for strategy and customization of ships. (If it sounds too complicated and you think it will scare newbies, remember we can always sell preset ship configurations for simplicity.) There would be five different things to choose when configuring your ship: Reactor, Battery, Turbo Engine, Standard Engine, and Fuel Type.

Reactor: Not every reactor would fit on every ship. Some big ships might fit multiple reactors. More expensive reactors would be more efficient, delivering more power and using less hydrogen. Reactor output power would determine battery charge rate. Big reactors would hold more fuel and put out more power, but would weigh a lot more, too.

Battery: Just like they are now, but the charge rate is determined by the reactor. Big batteries hold more charge, but are heavier. Better quality batteries hold more for a bit less weight, but cost more. Bigger ships can hold multiple batteries.

Turbo Engine: The engine that allows you to turbo, obviously, and also to warp/open wormholes. Again, differing size/efficiency/speed/battery drain/weight/cost/etc. No ship needs more than one or can equip more than one.

Standard Engine: Drives the ship around normal space. Huge engines would deliver a lot more thrust, but be heavier and not fit on small ships. Some big ships could equip multiple engines. Differing cost/weight/thrust/fuel-efficiency. The engine would only be active during acceleration, and would have a throttle. Turning would not use fuel (no point in tracking that), and turn rate wouln't depend on the engine, since the engine is just pointed backwards.

Fuel Type: There could be a standard fuel, and addatives that increase the quality of the fuel, thus increasing efficiency. It would have to be decided what resources would have to be available to a station to decide what quality of fuel they can offer and at what price.

Again, ships would come with a "standard" option for new or simply lazy people who don't care about fine-tuning, and a "customize" option for those who want to get into the gritty details of how their ship performs. There would be quite a lot of possible combinations for your ship, and it would take some experimentation to find what works the best for your style of play. The same combo wouldn't necessarily be the best for everyone, since some would go for pure fuel efficiency while some would go for pure power.