CYCLOPS POWER

[Tomborne13]

Is it just me or does the cylcops drain energy so much faster. Before this update I could keep it pretty much running forever with a power cell charger or two on board but now I can barely have 2 of the 6 with any sort of charge before power runs out.

[turboslug]

It is meaningless now that using powercell charger in cyclops - 1:1 transfer rate - you have to carry spare cells for long journey.

[Fimbulvinter]

That's because the Cyclops onboard charging system was always a glitch that was exploited for free power rather than a feature correctly implimented. That it could have unlimited power did mean that a static base setup was somewhat redundant, given that you can build an onboard growbed that can maintain both food and water with ease. The glitch has been quashed in this update, so charging powercells on the cyclops now charges at a 1-1 ratio of power drained to power charged. You'll need to have some spare cells on board if you plan on taking the cyclops out for an extended period of time.

[Frostblud]

They did give us an olive branch with it though. The glitch is fixed, but they added a thermal reactor upgrade for the cyclops, so anytime you begin to run low on power just ease the cyclops into an area that is hotter than 30C and you will charge back up to full. From my understanding, a nuclear reactor upgrade is in the workings also.

[or0b0ur0s]

Originally posted by CDPlaya:

They did give us an olive branch with it though. The glitch is fixed, but they added a thermal reactor upgrade for the cyclops, so anytime you begin to run low on power just ease the cyclops into an area that is hotter than 30C and you will charge back up to full. From my understanding, a nuclear reactor upgrade is in the workings also.

Yeah but they've stated that as of Voice of the Deep the thermal upgrade is bugged, and BADLY. It actually increases all general power drain and nullifies your efficiency upgrades on top of it, so DO NOT TRY TO USE IT. It may be causing the OP's problems, for all I know. Without that bugged upgrade, the Cyclops is supposed to be fairly OK drain-rate-wise at this point.

[Varagonax]

Originally posted by or0b0ur0s:

Originally posted by CDPlaya:

They did give us an olive branch with it though. The glitch is fixed, but they added a thermal reactor upgrade for the cyclops, so anytime you begin to run low on power just ease the cyclops into an area that is hotter than 30C and you will charge back up to full. From my understanding, a nuclear reactor upgrade is in the workings also.

Yeah but they've stated that as of Voice of the Deep the thermal upgrade is bugged, and BADLY. It actually increases all general power drain and nullifies your efficiency upgrades on top of it, so DO NOT TRY TO USE IT. It may be causing the OP's problems, for all I know. Without that bugged upgrade, the Cyclops is supposed to be fairly OK drain-rate-wise at this point.

With full ion power cells, and the efficiency module using stealth mode uses 3 percent of my 6000 power, or 180 power. Using sonar is ridiculously expensive though, with 2 minutes of use losing me about 7-8%, or 420-480 power. This is bad, since shields also uses 1 percent of 6000 (60 power). By the time you get the cyclops (entirely optional), you should be more or less ready for end game, but the base power is 1200 of which 60 power is a whopping 5%. Taking into account the fact that single movement at slow drains 9 power per minute (ppm for short), standard 20 ppm, and flank is 40, maintaining power on the cyclops is a chore and a half. At best, the regular batterys last thirty minutes of slow single direction movement (it costs more power to turn and go straight, and even more to turn, descend and move foward. Thats without the efficiency upgrade.

[grogez]

In experimental the thermal reactor is working now. Reading the description of the fix lends credence to the notion that further changes might be made. So in two limited tests in Lost River I found that at 43C I got 22 power/minute and at 48C I got 43 power/minute. Temps measured as I stood next to the module in the engine room.

[or0b0ur0s]

Originally posted by Varagonax:

Originally posted by or0b0ur0s:

Yeah but they've stated that as of Voice of the Deep the thermal upgrade is bugged, and BADLY. It actually increases all general power drain and nullifies your efficiency upgrades on top of it, so DO NOT TRY TO USE IT. It may be causing the OP's problems, for all I know. Without that bugged upgrade, the Cyclops is supposed to be fairly OK drain-rate-wise at this point.

With full ion power cells, and the efficiency module using stealth mode uses 3 percent of my 6000 power, or 180 power. Using sonar is ridiculously expensive though, with 2 minutes of use losing me about 7-8%, or 420-480 power. This is bad, since shields also uses 1 percent of 6000 (60 power). By the time you get the cyclops (entirely optional), you should be more or less ready for end game, but the base power is 1200 of which 60 power is a whopping 5%. Taking into account the fact that single movement at slow drains 9 power per minute (ppm for short), standard 20 ppm, and flank is 40, maintaining power on the cyclops is a chore and a half. At best, the regular batterys last thirty minutes of slow single direction movement (it costs more power to turn and go straight, and even more to turn, descend and move foward. Thats without the efficiency upgrade.

Well, they said they wanted you to be able to drive it for 2 full real-time hours on full cells, and at 9-10 ppm as you say with 6000 power that's TEN hours. I do believe I've heard that the usable upgrades are kind of power hogs though. Sonar at least should be cheaper given how much you need to use it. Shields and Silent Running can afford to be a little more expensive since you can't use them constantly.

[SpiritFire]

sigh.. i liked my cyclops being my mobile base. id prefer to have a solar charger than a heat charger. back to my other games for now.

[Varagonax]

Originally posted by or0b0ur0s:

Originally posted by Varagonax:

With full ion power cells, and the efficiency module using stealth mode uses 3 percent of my 6000 power, or 180 power. Using sonar is ridiculously expensive though, with 2 minutes of use losing me about 7-8%, or 420-480 power. This is bad, since shields also uses 1 percent of 6000 (60 power). By the time you get the cyclops (entirely optional), you should be more or less ready for end game, but the base power is 1200 of which 60 power is a whopping 5%. Taking into account the fact that single movement at slow drains 9 power per minute (ppm for short), standard 20 ppm, and flank is 40, maintaining power on the cyclops is a chore and a half. At best, the regular batterys last thirty minutes of slow single direction movement (it costs more power to turn and go straight, and even more to turn, descend and move foward. Thats without the efficiency upgrade.

Well, they said they wanted you to be able to drive it for 2 full real-time hours on full cells, and at 9-10 ppm as you say with 6000 power that's TEN hours. I do believe I've heard that the usable upgrades are kind of power hogs though. Sonar at least should be cheaper given how much you need to use it. Shields and Silent Running can afford to be a little more expensive since you can't use them constantly.

10 hours isnt terribly realistic though as moving in more then one direction at once increases the numbers, and moving at higher speeds drains drastically more power. I just havent tested for it yet. Also, if you plan on using your mods you can expect an even smaller return. They have implemented some excellent power savers though, however the overall usage is just too high imo. Considering that the ion power cells are around 5 times more powerful, numbers like that should be 5 times smaller. I was just commenting however, since regular cells arent that difficult to farm for.
EDIT: On another note I just found out you wont die to dehydration if your piloting your cyclops and you hit zero health. I am on experimental mode though

[Chad King]

I think the floodlights now consume power along with the indoor lights. They mentioned last update that the light switches were necessary not just for appearances but to conserve energy and now they've implemented it as a game mechanic.

[Chad King]

I also think sleeping with the engine on will make it drain in accordance with how much time passed in game...

[Antiqwiz [HUN]]

I love this game, but I also think this energy system is badly ballanced!
/STORNO/ At the start Cyclops was fun to use, now is annoying and pain for me! /STORNO/
If you enjoy it i understand your opinion.
Few hours later... only requires another playstyle: more energycell and few bases to recharge cells.

[Dante Ironclaw]

Originally posted by NeverBeGameOver:

I think the floodlights now consume power along with the indoor lights. They mentioned last update that the light switches were necessary not just for appearances but to conserve energy and now they've implemented it as a game mechanic.

Its more of the fact that lights generate 'noise' and can attract creatures. For example bone sharks are attracted to lights.

[nicken chugger]

the cyclops uses less power but you cant have infinite energy with that exploit

[celr]

I notice that the Cyclops is being attacked now by herds of vicious creatures who do significant damage and I'm constantly having to go around making repairs. With that and having to be perpetually feeding batteries to the propuslion system and repairing leaks and putting out fires is now more trouble than it's worth.

It seems that a strict attention to detail such as energy expenditures, combined with totally skewed assesments of energy usage are of late making the game too nit-pickey to be that much fun. Cyclops batteries and tanks are used up way too fast which is not realistic at all and the increase in vicious predators makes questing a scary crapshoot. I suppose it's about what kind of game you like, but for me it's become way too frustrating and stressful for my taste.