Babylon 5 Mod

[Suicide Junkie]

Has anybody mentioned how very useless solar panels are?

1) They need storage to match their supply gathering, or its all wasted.
2) They need to be more powerful (50 points vs 1000's for basic reactors?!)
3) They should be cheaper than reactors.

I suggest 50% the power output per kt size.
And 50% the mineral cost per energy generated, with little to no rads cost. (All relative to reactors)

Given reactors of size 5kt provide 2500 power per turn, that would mean solar panels of size 10kt should provide, perhaps 1500/2000/2500 per turn.
A cost of 200 would make it 50% less than the reactor.

I also think reactors could really use a rads cost increase, especially for the advanced level ones.
Is there some taboo about having rads cost higher than minerals cost??

[Fyron]

Is there some taboo about having rads cost higher than minerals cost??

You'd have to ask Val...

[jimbob]

SJ: PM

[grumbler]

I thought solar panels just a remnant from earlier mods from which this mod was derived. They have long since disappeared from my Version of the mod (since I never saw them in the series, except maybe for the mysterious Vorlon "wings").

In recent games I have become convinced that the Hyach are much too good for the sake of the game. As you mod this, you need to make them less powerful - they have excellent cloaking, superior laser weapons and PD weapons, and no counterbalancing flaws. Birthrate alone (plus maybe a reluctance to build colony ships) would keep them in check.

[Suicide Junkie]

Uhm... You see solar panels in every single episode.

Most prominently on the station itself.
Which points towards them being more economical, if bulky and useless on most warships.

PS:
Jimbob, I don't think I got your PM...

[ November 30, 2003, 22:48: Message edited by: Suicide Junkie ]

[grumbler]

I always saw them as heat diffUsers, myself. Maybe I was just engaging in wishful thinking, though. Why would anyone with a large fusion reactor (referred to multiple times) bother with solar panels?

Heat, OTOH, especially WITH a reactor, would be a problem in a densley populated station with a circular cross-section.

Originally posted by Suicide Junkie:
Uhm... You see solar panels in every single episode.

Most prominently on the station itself.
Which points towards them being more economical, if bulky and useless on most warships.

[Suicide Junkie]

I think the solar panels could make up most of the standard-operations power requirements, while the fusion reactor would be used for peak periods, such as during eclipses, rush hour, and combat.

The sunlight is also free, while fuel isn't, and it can't be blockaded .

[ December 01, 2003, 01:18: Message edited by: Suicide Junkie ]

[Fyron]

Unless, of course, you are the Shadow and bring in a planet killer to blot out the sunlight. The Vorlons can get a similar effect with their planet killers, but not nearly as effective.

[grumbler]

Maybe. Since B5 was in orbit aroubd Epsilon 3, though, and it was fusion not fission, what are the odds that the smart builder relied on there being more hydrogen available than sunlight?

Having looked at the panels in question, it seems that you are right, thought. They LOOK like solar power panels... but then what do we know about how 25th Century heat diffUsers would look?

It seems simpler to ignore the whole solar panels/reactor fuel question, but it WOULD make the game much more interesting to have fuel supplies be large but limited.

That would especially be true for fighters....

[grumbler]

Originally posted by Imperator Fyron:
Unless, of course, you are the Shadow and bring in a planet killer to blot out the sunlight. The Vorlons can get a similar effect with their planet killers, but not nearly as effective.

Of course, if you kill the planet, are you worried abouthow much sunlight gets in to reveal the remnants?