Ship engines

[daug]

How do ship engine stats work?
The Class A Ares DT60 is Max Power 2, has an Engine Thrust of 14,000, a Maneuvering Thrust of 2,600, and a Mass of 85, so if I have 6 of them on a ship do I multiply all those stats by 6 for a total of Thrust 84,000/Maneuvering 15,600?
If this is the case, would it not be better to add 6 Ares DT60s to a Class B ship over 4 Nova 1030s?
I'm only level 38 right now so I don't have all engines available to me yet.
Nova 1030 stats Max Power 3, Engine Thrust of 18,060, Maneuvering Thrust of 3,915, Mass 142.

[Gravity 🌌]

Yes, engine stats stack but only if full power is allocated. Perhaps comparing on inara.cz helps.

[daug]

Originally posted by Gravity 🌌:

Yes, engine stats stack but only if full power is allocated. Perhaps comparing on inara.cz helps.

So at my level putting 6 Ares DT60 on a class B ship would be better than 4 Nova 1030 correct?
I would get 11,760 more Engine Thrust, only lose 60 Maneuvering Thrust, and mass would be 58 less.

[Gravity 🌌]

Originally posted by daug:

Originally posted by Gravity 🌌:

Yes, engine stats stack but only if full power is allocated. Perhaps comparing on inara.cz helps.

So at my level putting 6 Ares DT60 on a class B ship would be better than 4 Nova 1030 correct?
I would get 11,760 more Engine Thrust, only lose 60 Maneuvering Thrust, and mass would be 58 less.

Well, I don't have the numbers in my head. If you head over to inara, you can filter engines for class B and then check which engines have the highest TPP or MTPP. Higher values are better.

[daug]

Originally posted by Gravity 🌌:

Originally posted by daug:

So at my level putting 6 Ares DT60 on a class B ship would be better than 4 Nova 1030 correct?
I would get 11,760 more Engine Thrust, only lose 60 Maneuvering Thrust, and mass would be 58 less.

Well, I don't have the numbers in my head. If you head over to inara, you can filter engines for class B and then check which engines have the highest TPP or MTPP. Higher values are better.

ok, thanks. I thought that was how it worked, but I wanted to make sure before I build this class B ship I'm working on.

[Drake Ravenwolf]

You have the basics there, but going further...
There is a formula to find the max mass a given (set of) engine can move while still maintaining 100% maneuverability and subtracting the mass of the engine from that number gives you how much EXTRA mass a given engine will support. THAT number is the best judge of a good engine. Whether you use 3,4 or 6 engines doesn't matter so much as long as you are using all 12 power pips available to the engine.

Also keep in mind that the heavier the engine, the lower your ship's top speed, you can get 180 speed and 100% manuverability, but that engine is limited to a max ship mass of 1020
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3110182473

Here is my spreadsheet where I sorted the engines by how much EXTRA mass each one supports if you'd like it:
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/qlhflo6zahwag06h1yzky/Starfield-ShipDesign.ods?rlkey=en5sp9jpwwb65saswchf8fodo
Just keep in mind the weapon dps uses a very simple formula that isn't that accurate... I really need to update the weapon pages...

[Bunker]

how do you test the configuration you build to see if the numbers match performance?

i seem to be white locking onto space junk and using that as a static point in space to distance locate bearing but then realised they drift if you shoot em lol

just launch and fly around a bit? like seat of the pants?
i guess in the end it's overkill but.. you know numbers and stuff

[Ǥɾᴧᴤʆᴧᵯᴧ]

I still haven't found out where the limits are. I'm fiddling with my mod and nothing is happening in the flight behavior.
You can set a lot of variables but... I think only maneuverability is important here. If it's 100, all ships of a class are the same.
It's clear that I want to be above that 100 but... well, never mind :)

[HeyYou]

Originally posted by Ǥɾᴧᴤʆᴧᵯᴧ:

I still haven't found out where the limits are. I'm fiddling with my mod and nothing is happening in the flight behavior.
You can set a lot of variables but... I think only maneuverability is important here. If it's 100, all ships of a class are the same.
It's clear that I want to be above that 100 but... well, never mind :)

I don't think it is possible to have maneuverability above 100.....

[Ǥɾᴧᴤʆᴧᵯᴧ]

right.. not yet, yes :)

[alanc9]

Originally posted by Drake Ravenwolf:

You have the basics there, but going further...
There is a formula to find the max mass a given (set of) engine can move while still maintaining 100% maneuverability and subtracting the mass of the engine from that number gives you how much EXTRA mass a given engine will support. THAT number is the best judge of a good engine. Whether you use 3,4 or 6 engines doesn't matter so much as long as you are using all 12 power pips available to the engine.

It's pretty seldom that I actually have 12 pips to spare for engines. Is it really worthwhile to add engines I'm unlikely to power?

[StormhawkV]

It's generally better to make the ship first then see how much engine power you need. There's little reason to go with 12 engine pips if you don't actually need that much thrust. I don't think I ever went with more than 9.

Edit:
Also keep in mind your fourth engine isn't 'powered' when you have four with twelve pips but only use 9. That's not how it works. Instead you'll just run at 75% of your max speed. It's literally shooting yourself in the foot.

[Drake Ravenwolf]

Originally posted by alanc9:

Originally posted by Drake Ravenwolf:

You have the basics there, but going further...
There is a formula to find the max mass a given (set of) engine can move while still maintaining 100% maneuverability and subtracting the mass of the engine from that number gives you how much EXTRA mass a given engine will support. THAT number is the best judge of a good engine. Whether you use 3,4 or 6 engines doesn't matter so much as long as you are using all 12 power pips available to the engine.

It's pretty seldom that I actually have 12 pips to spare for engines. Is it really worthwhile to add engines I'm unlikely to power?

Power pips only affects your speed, having the full set allows for more ship mass while maintaining the maneuverability even if they are under powered. You just, ya, go eg 75% of the max speed if you are only powering them eg 75%

[Maligner]

It's lazy to do, but in my very limited experience I just swap out parts and see how it impacts the stats at the bottom of the build page. If more smaller engines give better mobility using less power, then I'd go with that. If fewer bigger engines give better stats, do that. Like I said, that is not an efficient way but it's possible to do anytime within the game.

The real issue is build order. You can put on engines, but if you're not done doing everything else, mass will change as you put on more stuff and how the engines work will change. Engines will probably be the last thing you want to mount. Please somebody chime in if I'm wrong, because I'm sure as heck no shipbuilding expert.

[Bunker]

didn't even think about order of operations humm

[Drake Ravenwolf]

Originally posted by Maligner:

It's lazy to do, but in my very limited experience I just swap out parts and see how it impacts the stats at the bottom of the build page. If more smaller engines give better mobility using less power, then I'd go with that. If fewer bigger engines give better stats, do that. Like I said, that is not an efficient way but it's possible to do anytime within the game.

The real issue is build order. You can put on engines, but if you're not done doing everything else, mass will change as you put on more stuff and how the engines work will change. Engines will probably be the last thing you want to mount. Please somebody chime in if I'm wrong, because I'm sure as heck no shipbuilding expert.

It's apples to oranges comparisons unless you are comparing 12 pips of one engine type to 12 pips of another engine type; a single 4 pip engine is probably going to look a lot better than a single 2 pip engine

This is also why it is beneficial to know the max ship mass a given engine type can support; then you don't need to do the engines last - you already know your mass goal.