Can thrusters be put side by side?

[Freeman]

Or do they need to all be connected to a pipe network individually? I noticed the arrows are bi-directional which has led me to ponder the fact that perhaps I can, indeed, pop them right next to each other and they will feed the fuel to each other, thus saving me a lot of space

[Hurkyl]

Fluid does pass through thrusters. They can't be flipped, though, so you sort of have to stagger them to get the fluid ports to line up.

[Maltsi]

Originally posted by Hurkyl:

Fluid does pass through thrusters. They can't be flipped, though, so you sort of have to stagger them to get the fluid ports to line up.

You don't actually need to stagger them, they can be in perfect line and still work (all liquids will pass through regardless of which input port you use, you can even pass through water if you want to). However it is very inefficient since only 1 type of fluid can be pumped at once and requires pumps.

[Nico]

I simply put the thrusters so that one fluid is always transported to the next one, so that I can put my thrusters down without any gaps inbetween them.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3357297002

[Vyndicu]

Originally posted by Nico:

I simply put the thrusters so that one fluid is always transported to the next one, so that I can put my thrusters down without any gaps inbetween them.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3357297002

Nice symmetric balance. Can I 'copy' your design to fit my needs?

I don't think anyone would mind, but it never hurts to ask.

[Nico]

Originally posted by Vyndicu:

Originally posted by Nico:

I simply put the thrusters so that one fluid is always transported to the next one, so that I can put my thrusters down without any gaps inbetween them.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3357297002

Nice symmetric balance. Can I 'copy' your design to fit my needs?

I don't think anyone would mind, but it never hurts to ask.

Sure, do whatever you want to do.

Btw, that was my old layout, this here is my new one.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3357298638
Edit: It's a little bit cleaner around the thrusters as it moved one pipeline down inbetween the thrusters.

[Vyndicu]

Originally posted by Nico:

Originally posted by Vyndicu:

Nice symmetric balance. Can I 'copy' your design to fit my needs?

I don't think anyone would mind, but it never hurts to ask.

Sure, do whatever you want to do.

Btw, that was my old layout, this here is my new one.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3357298638

I might not build that wide until late-game!


But thank you for both examples.

[Chindraba]

Originally posted by Hurkyl:

Fluid does pass through thrusters. They can't be flipped, though, so you sort of have to stagger them to get the fluid ports to line up.

Are you sure they can't be flipped? They added a bunch of flipping mechanics for fluid-based machines.

[Hurkyl]

Yes: you get the 'can't be flipped' message if you try. Well, technically I only tried the "horizontal flip" hotkey, but I can't imagine the other orientation options fare any better.

[Chindraba]

Originally posted by Hurkyl:

Yes: you get the 'can't be flipped' message if you try. Well, technically I only tried the "horizontal flip" hotkey, but I can't imagine the other orientation options fare any better.

Unless you intend to fly backwards vertical flip does seem pointless.

[knighttemplar1960]

Originally posted by Chindraba:

Originally posted by Hurkyl:

Fluid does pass through thrusters. They can't be flipped, though, so you sort of have to stagger them to get the fluid ports to line up.

Are you sure they can't be flipped? They added a bunch of flipping mechanics for fluid-based machines.

Horizontal flip, vertical flip, and rotate don't work. Attempting to flip gives you an error similar to trying to flip rails with signals attached.

[RiO]

Can thrusters be put side by side?

The answer is: yes, they can.

You can make use of the fact that you can purposely send a wrong type of fluid through a flow-through fluid-box connection and it will still propagate out the other end.

In fact, it's not just that you can put thrusters side-by-side; it's that you should.
Thruster fuel efficiency peaks at ~40% usage.

if you set up a fluid circuit with two pumps that continuously pulls oxidizer and fuel through and drains the circuit into a storage tank, then reverses the flow direction, and you control the timing of it well via circuit network logic, then you start automatically duty cycling the even and odd thrusters, approximating the ideal efficiency point.

It's an absolutely cursed set-up.
... but it works.

[Mesqalito]

Originally posted by Nico:

Btw, that was my old layout, this here is my new one.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3357298638
Edit: It's a little bit cleaner around the thrusters as it moved one pipeline down inbetween the thrusters.

How do you manage to flt with that setup? I mean, each thruster consumes 120/s of each fluid and chemical factory only produces ~38/s without mods which makes you need more chemical factories than thrusters, without mods - like 3 times more. But you got only 10 chem factories per fluid vs 19 planned thrusters. How does that work for you?

[Geomancer]

Originally posted by Mesqalito:

Originally posted by Nico:

Btw, that was my old layout, this here is my new one.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3357298638
Edit: It's a little bit cleaner around the thrusters as it moved one pipeline down inbetween the thrusters.

How do you manage to flt with that setup? I mean, each thruster consumes 120/s of each fluid and chemical factory only produces ~38/s without mods which makes you need more chemical factories than thrusters, without mods - like 3 times more. But you got only 10 chem factories per fluid vs 19 planned thrusters. How does that work for you?

The storage tanks will last for a bit, but when they drain the thrusters will reduce the amount of fuel they're using & become more efficient ... but slower.

[Nico]

Originally posted by Mesqalito:

Originally posted by Nico:

Btw, that was my old layout, this here is my new one.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3357298638
Edit: It's a little bit cleaner around the thrusters as it moved one pipeline down inbetween the thrusters.

How do you manage to flt with that setup? I mean, each thruster consumes 120/s of each fluid and chemical factory only produces ~38/s without mods which makes you need more chemical factories than thrusters, without mods - like 3 times more. But you got only 10 chem factories per fluid vs 19 planned thrusters. How does that work for you?

You never fly nonstop, and for that the storage tanks are there, so you make fuel while waiting on a planet for rockets to launch up or for unloading. Also, it was a design for manual usage to transport lots of stuff at once, so no need for too many flights.

Also, it was my very first design, by now I have a few much better designs.

[saboteur]

Here is my setup of fastest ship.
It tooks just a few minutes to fill tanks and refit ammo

store.steampowered.com]https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3439344870