So I got my first CV built. It won't win a beauty contest but it's awesome However, it'll be very difficult to power. 20000 fuel last only about 150 minutes when landed on a planet. When flying, it'll probably be less than 2 hours before the tanks are empty. That's not useful. The statistics say current generator output is 26.2kPU and max output is 25kPU. Consumption says only 6.98kPU. When piloting, the bottom right bar in the cockpit says generator output is at 26.6%. So what is true, the bar or the statistics? At least the generator doesn't seem to get damaged. And why is the output higher than the maximum the generator is capable of when the consumption is only 26.4%? What happens to the excess of 19.22kPU? All the energy has to go somehwere. It's 2.75 times more energy than the CV consumes which mysteriously disappers! Something must be wrong. Fuel consumption seems way too high compared to a HV or a SV, and at the current rate, the CV is practically useless. I'd have to switch it on, then hurry to make a jump to another system and then turn it off again to use my SV instead. If it gets attacked, it would be defenseless. I won't be able to make fuel as fast as it's consumed. EDIT: It was the teleporter drawing a lot of power. It's down to 1.2kPU when the teleporter is switched off. We need a power statistic like the CPU statistic ...
Nearly every device uses power while idle. I recommend turning anything off that you aren't actively using, to get the most value from your fuel. Landed? Turn off thrusters completely. They will slowly drain your fuel otherwise. Same idea with things like gravity generators -- don't need them on when you're landed, or sitting in the captains chair. Got any constructors? Turn those off completely when not in use, as they consume power while idle as well. In a place where enemies are not going to attack? Then you can turn off turrets. In a place where enemies are not going to attack, and feeling brave? Turn off shield as well to save a lot of fuel. And the biggest one, as you've discovered, is the Teleporter, which uses huuuge amounts of fuel. A good tactic I've seen is to use either a trigger plate directly under the teleport pad, or a motion sensor set to only thew block that the teleporter is on. This way, it is only active and draining fuel when you are standing on it, ready to use it. As another note, you can still teleport back to it when it's powered off, so no need to leave it turned on when you teleport away.
Right, and with the teleporter switched by a light barrier, fuel consumption is too bad. Turning things off helps only so much. My base can't keep its capacitors filled anymore like it used to, so I'll have to move it somewhere where it isn't dark MOTT. And that CVs can't have solar panels doesn't make any sense at all ...
When you get a couple dozen hours under your belt, I highly recommend trying the game overhaul mod Reforged Eden. It takes can of that little oversight by allowing CVs to have solar panels It also adds a ton of other improvements and new devices, as well as a whole new level of progression once you get a good CV going. But Reforged Eden is intended for experienced players and also makes everything else a bit more complicated, so I recommend getting comfortable with vanilla first. It's worth mentioning that RE also allows you to choose whether you use volume/mass restrictions or not (as well as CPU and the other similar options), so you've still got lots of options to make your gameplay suit your personal playstyle
Yes, I plan on trying it out when the opportunity comes up. For now I want to follow the story and see more of what's out there. I haven't even left the starting system yet other than for taking trips to a planet in a neighbouring system to gather needed resources ...
