Reactor Efficiency FAQ

[Revenantus]

Here's a brief discussion of reactor efficiency, including the optimum build order for a single planet. Veterans will find nothing of interest on page 2, though the graphs on page 3 may well be of interest.

Special thanks to Taylor "Volatar" Sanderson and Oewyn for their earlier work on this topic.

[x4000]

Very cool!  Thanks for putting that together, it looks incredibly professional and really conveys the information in a very brief format.

[laxrulz777]

Something doesn't look right with the graph on page 2 vs. graph 1 on page 3

The 1st graph implies that your 2nd lvl 1 reactor and your 1st level 3 reactor are similarly efficient. The 2nd graph seems to imply that the 2nd lvl 1 reactor has very little drop off from the first one.

Otherwise I think this is fantastic and a great addition (I was actually wondering about this so I'm glad someone did the math).

[Revenantus]

The graph on the first page shows that a single MkII reactor has an efficiency of 2666.67, while an individual MkI reactor has an efficiency of 2500.

The first graph on the third page shows overall planetary efficiency. A MkII and a MkI reactor produce a total of 45000 energy, at a resource cost of -17/s. This corresponds to an efficiency of 2,647.06, a fairly minor drop.

Similarly, 1 MkII and 2 MkIs produce 49000 energy, at a cost of -19/s, corresponding to an efficiency of 2578.95.

Basically, it drops off slowly because the overall change in efficiency is very low, because the MkII produces so much more energy than the MkIs.

EDIT: Here's the data;

   Mk   Energy   Cumulative Energy   Resource Cost   Cumulative Resource Cost   Overall Efficiency
1   2   40000   40000   15   15   2666.66666666667
2   1   5000   45000   2   17   2647.05882352941
3   1   4000   49000   2   19   2578.94736842105
4   3   80000   129000   40   59   2186.4406779661
5   1   3200   132200   2   61   2167.2131147541
6   2   24000   156200   15   76   2055.26315789474
7   1   2560   158760   2   78   2035.38461538462
8   1   2048   160808   2   80   2010.1
9   2   14400   175208   15   95   1844.29473684211
10   1   1638   176846   2   97   1823.15463917526

[Volatar]

Glad I could help

If you want, you can put me down as Taylor "Volatar" Sanderson. But I am not demanding it or anything 

[x4000]

Glad I could help

If you want, you can put me down as Taylor "Volatar" Sanderson. But I am not demanding it or anything 

I was going to ask if you wanted me to change your entry in the game credits to that, and then I saw that you are not in there yet.  Going back through the last few releases, I see that you are overdue for being in there -- I missed it mostly because the majority of your credits were on features so large that a lot of people were involved.  At any rate, is that how you'd like me to add you?

[Revenantus]

Glad I could help

If you want, you can put me down as Taylor "Volatar" Sanderson. But I am not demanding it or anything 

No problem, new version up. I'll use your full name in the manual, too, if you'd like.

[Volatar]

Glad I could help

If you want, you can put me down as Taylor "Volatar" Sanderson. But I am not demanding it or anything 

I was going to ask if you wanted me to change your entry in the game credits to that, and then I saw that you are not in there yet.  Going back through the last few releases, I see that you are overdue for being in there -- I missed it mostly because the majority of your credits were on features so large that a lot of people were involved.  At any rate, is that how you'd like me to add you?

I was wondering when I would get in the credits. I should have mentioned it I guess   

Yeah, Taylor "Volatar" Sanderson. I am proud to help in game development. AI War will be the second indie title you can find me in the credits of (first was Minions of Mirth. I wish that game fared better  )

[laxrulz777]

The graph on the first page shows that a single MkII reactor has an efficiency of 2666.67, while an individual MkI reactor has an efficiency of 2500.

The first graph on the third page shows overall planetary efficiency. A MkII and a MkI reactor produce a total of 45000 energy, at a resource cost of -17/s. This corresponds to an efficiency of 2,647.06, a fairly minor drop.

Similarly, 1 MkII and 2 MkIs produce 49000 energy, at a cost of -19/s, corresponding to an efficiency of 2578.95.

Basically, it drops off slowly because the overall change in efficiency is very low, because the MkII produces so much more energy than the MkIs.

EDIT: Here's the data;

   Mk   Energy   Cumulative Energy   Resource Cost   Cumulative Resource Cost   Overall Efficiency
1   2   40000   40000   15   15   2666.66666666667
2   1   5000   45000   2   17   2647.05882352941
3   1   4000   49000   2   19   2578.94736842105
4   3   80000   129000   40   59   2186.4406779661
5   1   3200   132200   2   61   2167.2131147541
6   2   24000   156200   15   76   2055.26315789474
7   1   2560   158760   2   78   2035.38461538462
8   1   2048   160808   2   80   2010.1
9   2   14400   175208   15   95   1844.29473684211
10   1   1638   176846   2   97   1823.15463917526

I wasn't disputing the numbers... but look at the graph on page 2... There's only one blue dot above 2250... it looks like you've left off the 2nd mk1 1 reactor dot and then all the other blue dots need to be shifted over one to the right (the 2nd "dot" on the blue line is below 2250... corresponding with, i assume, your 3rd mk1 dot

[Revenantus]

I wasn't disputing the numbers... but look at the graph on page 2... There's only one blue dot above 2250... it looks like you've left off the 2nd mk1 1 reactor dot and then all the other blue dots need to be shifted over one to the right (the 2nd "dot" on the blue line is below 2250... corresponding with, i assume, your 3rd mk1 dot

I think you're still misinterpreting the graph on page 3. The points on the overall planetary efficiency graph do not correspond to the individual efficiencies of reactors shown on page 2.

Yes, individually, the second MkI reactor has an efficiency of 2000, as can be seen on the graph on page 2. However, when looking at the total, combined efficiency of having a MkII and 2 MkIs on a planet, considering them all as functioning as one larger reactor, the efficiency is 2579.