Cyclops sonar energy use- is there a fix for this?

[ostlandr]

Okay, another thread I tried to make didn't appear.

Anyway, the sonar using 1% of the Cyclops' energy reserves for one solitary ping is ridiculous IMO. Is there a fix, or emm-oh-dee for this?

As always, searched the forum, Goog-led, and even searched the Next Us emm-oh-dee site for something- no joy.

(FYI trying to see if Steam and/or the forum mods are banning certain words or phrases, hence the weird spellings etc.)

Thanks!

[(N☆G) Jackal ★JJ★]

I honestly never noticed.

I have a power cell charger built in the cyclops and just let heat usually charge everything.
1% does seem excessive for a ping but I've never really noticed.

[Steelfleece]

Late game, you can get better power cells. That helps. Also only taps on the sonar. Just one ping.

[ostlandr]

Originally posted by Steelfleece:

Late game, you can get better power cells. That helps. Also only taps on the sonar. Just one ping.

Just like in "Hunt for Red October." One ping only.

If the Seamoth is the Millenium Falcon, then the Cyclops is a Corellian CR90 Corvette. Trying to squeeze that monstrosity into places it shouldn't go so I can drop and retrieve the Prawn Suit. Dropping it is easy- recovering (without upgraded thrusters) not so much. :-)

I keep a spare set of power cells on board. Nice that they discharge sequentially- that way I can just swap out the discharged ones and recharge them at the base.

[Bobucles]

All the cyclops tools are incredibly power hungry. It is somewhat a balance issue, but mainly just don't run the gadgets 24/7. Sonar isn't even that good, most of the game is well lit and sonar doesn't show up well enough to justify more than a rare ping.

Keep spare power cells as an emergency backup. Don't be afraid to build new battery charging outposts along the way, there are many locations on the map that are excellent for a quick recharge.
Deeper exploration unlocks better energy tools for the cyclops.

[Steelfleece]

Originally posted by Bobucles:

All the cyclops tools are incredibly power hungry. It is somewhat a balance issue, but mainly just don't run the gadgets 24/7. Sonar isn't even that good, most of the game is well lit and sonar doesn't show up well enough to justify more than a rare ping.

It's a situational tool, which is why I use the single pings. It's good for very dark biomes like the deeper reaches of the crash zone, or when in said deep zones for finding the reaper you just rammed as it turns around so you can line up for the next ram.

[DrBonifarz]

Originally posted by ostlandr:

(FYI trying to see if Steam and/or the forum mods are banning certain words or phrases, hence the weird spellings etc.)

Talking about mods or nexus never has been an issue, has it?

On topic, I agree the sonar is a situational tool and by no means an imbalanced power sink, unlike the shield or silent rig (which still have their use, though). Also, power management can be a fun challenge at times. On my last Deathrun playthrough, I packed only two power cells for the (first and only) Cyclops trip.

[ostlandr]

Success!

Found two mods that do what I wanted:

CyclopsNearFieldSonar adds a terrain display to the standard right-hand directional sonar display in the Cyclops HUD.

CYCLOPS TOPOGRAPHICAL MAP adds the topo display from the Seaglide to the center of the Cyclops HUD. There is a companion mod that adds it to the Seamoth also. Never understood why the primitive Seaglide had that (which I have never used) but the bigger, more advanced vehicles don't.

Going to try out the latter one, as it puts the terrain display in front of me. Plus it would probably be two separate sonar systems IRL.

[ostlandr]

Originally posted by DrBonifarz:

Originally posted by ostlandr:

(FYI trying to see if Steam and/or the forum mods are banning certain words or phrases, hence the weird spellings etc.)

Talking about mods or nexus never has been an issue, has it?

On topic, I agree the sonar is a situational tool and by no means an imbalanced power sink, unlike the shield or silent rig (which still have their use, though). Also, power management can be a fun challenge at times. On my last Deathrun playthrough, I packed only two power cells for the (first and only) Cyclops trip.

Guess I'm getting paranoid in my old age. Many moons ago, I had work emails disappearing into the ether. Turns out when I wrote "Per Ass't Director John Smith. . ." the email server tweaked on the bad, evil word "ass" and never delivered the email. And never sent me a bounce-back notification, which led to the issue.

Post-9/11, a work buddy purposely sent an email about a project he was working on that went something like this: "We're really under the gun on this one. If we aren't laser targeted, this could blow up in our faces. Since the customer dropped that bomb on us last week. . ."
He received a very terse response from IT: "We know what you're doing. We understand. Please stop."

Also was thinking: the old Submarine adage "Run silent, run deep" doesn't work in Subnautica. It's "Run silent, run shallow."

[Sonic K]

That energy consumption is ridiculus, like the Seamoth uses 0.5% of its energy per sonar ping and IT has 6x less power cells.
Ion power cells are the only fix in my eyes.

[Just Chill]

Originally posted by ostlandr:

He received a very terse response from IT: "We know what you're doing. We understand. Please stop."

Our IT-department is lacking humor too.

[dreamrider]

Of course there is a fix!

Don't use it very much.
Which as designed/intended.

There are VERY few places that are so dark you need it.

The only time I have EVER used it is when a levi has been pulled off its normal area, and it is night or a very dark area. It IS pretty important to identify the new patrol area.

Oh. I am incorrect. I did use it to line up with the ILZ entrance under the blue brine fall ... the first time.

[dreamrider]

Don't recall if it is labeled this way, but...
think of it as the Engine Efficiency Module and it suddenly makes sense.

But yes, it only reduces the energy use of the engine, when the ship is being moved.

[Capybarasan]

Ion batteries are the fix.

[Xaphnir]

saying mod or discussing mods is not against the rules, btw

I understand the paranoia, I've been banned for even more absurd things on other platforms, but the Steam forums tend to be one of the more lenient platforms this side of 4chan