[0.25]KSP Interstellar (Magnetic Nozzles, ISRU Revamp) Version 0.13

[AdmiralTigerclaw]

Looks like I've found a possible bug for you Fractal...

I just put this probe into solar orbit and went to run some science experiments. I was rather confused when it started whining about not having any power with four gigantor arrays staring at it from below moho orbit.

When I investigated to see if they were blocked, I discovered this:

Full sunlight, aimed right at it, no blockages... Producing about 0.25 power.

On a whim, looks like inverse square law is working, but I don't think it's centered on the sun.

[Fractal_UK]

Alright, following the recent reports about 0.8, I have:

• Made some tweaks to the resource manager which should vastly improve its handling of resources at time acceleration
  
• Fixed the solar panel power curves and made the solar panel waste heat module and inverse square law fix apply to all solar panels, rather than just stock ones
  
• Rewritten the antimatter reactor consumption code to a custom method, which should prevent the reactor power output from ever unexpectedly dropping down to zero while you still have fuel and need power.
  
• Applied radius fixes to the generator meaning that a generator works best when paired with a reactor of the right size
  
• Made propellant definitions for the nuclear and electric engines compatible with ModuleManager
  
• Updated RealFuels compatibility file, this will later be converted into a ModuleManager patch within RealFuels itself
  
• Tweaked fusion resource consumption rates to make them correct
  
• Removed all the const definitions from the science lab and refinery and moved them to a seperate class, for some reason KSP sometimes takes offense to these on part loading.
  

I have a bit more testing to do but I'll try and get these out tomorrow.

Edit: AdmiralTigerclaw, the solar power curve is currently inverted, so it's a square distance dependence rather than an inverse square. This was rather stupid of me but it's in my list of above fixes.

Edited November 26, 2013 by Fractal_UK

[Patupi]

This is the earliest point it appears for me on the launchpad. It's perhaps a little later than ideal with the largest reactor but not too bad.

With me I had eight radial heat sinks there (the larger of the two) and had to curve the ladder around that. Even so the Kerbal got pretty close, but no height could I get the 'manual shutdown' to come up. I'll try again to make sure that is the issue, but perhaps it should be widened a little. There are many times, especially on orbital EVA, where it's tricky to keep a kerbal VERY close to the reactor. By this it looks like you have to be almost touching it, and have to be pretty much centrally on it vertically to be able to get the context button.

[Hremsfeld]

buglist

I think you said you prefer not doing hotfixes, but given that some of these are fairly game-breaking (namely the antimatter and solar bugs), would you be willing to make an exception? Alternatively, a solar farm out in the Oort cloud could be amusing.

Edit: VVVVV Awesome! Not really sure where I got the dislike of hotfixes from...

Edited November 26, 2013 by Hremsfeld

[Fractal_UK]

I think you said you prefer not doing hotfixes, but given that some of these are fairly game-breaking (namely the antimatter and solar bugs), would you be willing to make an exception? Alternatively, a solar farm out in the Oort cloud could be amusing.

I have no problem with doing hotfixes, I'm going to try and get these fixes out tomorrow.

[Fractal_UK]

Here is an updated table of the reactor and engine performances for all the reactors in the mod including the new ones: Thorium and Fusion

Thrusts are accurate for LiquidFuel in vacuum only. Sea level thrust and Isp will be lower.

To modify for Liquid Fuel and Oxidiser - multiply thrust by 2.67 and multiply Isp by 0.75.

To modify for Kethane - multiply thrust by 1.79 and multiply Isp by 0.56.

Modifying for IntakeAir/IntakeAtm is trickier but in general multiply thrust by 4 and Isp by 0.25.

Edited November 26, 2013 by Fractal_UK

[Srilania]

This must be something specific to your installation because the refinery loads and reloads fine for me. The only consistent problem I can find with the refinery is the missing tech entry, which is my fault, other players have definitely been able to use it successfully in sandbox mode and in career mode, after fixing the science entry.

As for the reactor, I only assume your Kerbal is not close enough to it, that is the only reason no EVA options would appear. Also, in response to your previous post, you have to shut down the reactor before you get any refueling options.

My kerbal is right next to the reactor. ANY closer, and my kerbal would be doing something from a racy movie, instead of trying to fix anything. I might have to uninstall different plugins, to find what one's causing the issue, which is annoying at the least, since that means a lot of trial and errors and researching the tech trees over and over to get it figured out. But, I don't understand why it's the installation I did, as it was done as per usual instructions.

[Fractal_UK]

My kerbal is right next to the reactor. ANY closer, and my kerbal would be doing something from a racy movie, instead of trying to fix anything. I might have to uninstall different plugins, to find what one's causing the issue, which is annoying at the least, since that means a lot of trial and errors and researching the tech trees over and over to get it figured out. But, I don't understand why it's the installation I did, as it was done as per usual instructions.

I would test that aspect in sandbox mode to avoid having to mess around with the tech tree.

But yes, unfortunately sometimes there are compatibility issues between plugins and it's very difficult to detect unless you go through it step by step. What other mods are you using?

Edited November 26, 2013 by Fractal_UK

[JimTheNinja]

The 65.5 cm nuclear reactor is not the right size?

[Srilania]

Mods used-

B9

Bio Fuels

Exurgent Engineering

Extraplanetary Launchpads

Hexcans (included in the interplanetary)

Hooligan Labs Airships

KAS

Kethane

Kinetech Animation

KW Rocketry

L Tech

Mechjeb 2

ModsbyTal (spherical and torroidal tanks)

Near Future pack

Treeloader (included in interplanetary)

Warp Plugin

Just removed the firespitter entirely, to see if that could be a problem, as I kept it for the wings, but rather lose some wings than have a broken setup. testing in sandbox for the compatability now

[Eadrom]

As always, it's nice if regular players can help out with the wiki

I could help with this. Is there a list of needed updates or should I just run through each page?

Edit 1:

Updates/Questions:

-Plasma Thruster: Need to separate nuclear reactors into fission and fusion and then add in Lithium as a fuel source. I assume vacuum fuel is the same values as LF; if so, should note this.

-Electrical Generators: Need to update the table for different outputs. Also, need to check info regarding matching stack size for different reactor/generator combos. Also, need to note one reactor per generator.

-Tritium breeding: Option still shows up on the new fusion reactors, however I cannot get this mode to work. Works fine on fission reactors. Is this a bug with the fusion reactors? Note converting lithium to tritium is a 1:1 conversion (10 units of lithium converts to 10 units of tritium). Note that larger fission reactors breed tritium faster.

-Computer cores: No longer stores science. Note regarding science transmission is archaic. Update info regarding science generation of the AGI upgrade.

-Atmospheric scoops: Need to note difference between the two different sizes other than size and power consumption. I assume the larger scoop collects more, but what are the values? Is there a difference between using a 2.5m atmo intake with a 1.25m scoop? 1.25 intake with a 2.5m scoop? Now that stock air intakes also provide atmo intake, are you still required to use an atmo intake with a scoop?

-Antimatter collectors: Can a link to NA411's antimatter flux vs altitude charts be posted on this page? Maybe a note indicating that rarely do missions require a full tank so people don't feel like they need 10,000 antimatter just to take a quick warp trip around the system.

Aluminum hybrid rocket: Update ISRU info. Aluminum still collected by lab or is this now handled by the refinery? Are Mun and Ike still only locations where aluminum can be collected?

Alcubierre drive: Can use some tweaks for readability/understanding. Maybe a chart to show some info on top speeds for the different sizes. Some info on what upgrading specifically does might be good as well.

GRS and DTM: need a page or some info on these. I've seen a lot of questions on what the values on the DTM mean, so some info on that would be good as well.

Reactors: new tables looks good. The text on the page needs some updating to match the recent patch. Need some info on manual shutdowns (decay heat time 10%->0%).

Edit 2:

Just to be clear, above is not a todo list for you Fractal. lol Just wanted to get a list of stuff out for anyone that wants to help.

Edited November 26, 2013 by Eadrom

[legopatch]

Cant seem to get the microwave transmitters/recievers to work. The transmitter says its transmitting power, and the receiver says its linked to the transmitter, but I am not getting any thermal or mj power. Am I doing something wrong? Below are some screenshots showing my setup:

The Microwave reciever on top has the same problem, even when pointed directly at the transmitter.

Any help would be appreciated, thanks.

[Srilania]

just tested with a fresh install of KSP, and ONLY the warp plugin. Same errors and issues crop up, the processor doesn't rez unless you make it the root part, and it self deletes out of any saves. Also, nuke reactors have NO eva options, and when in cockpit, only has the enable tritium breeding.

[Fractal_UK]

just tested with a fresh install of KSP, and ONLY the warp plugin. Same errors and issues crop up, the processor doesn't rez unless you make it the root part, and it self deletes out of any saves. Also, nuke reactors have NO eva options, and when in cockpit, only has the enable tritium breeding.

Delete your WarpPlugin folder and re-download Interstellar, it's the only thing left to do.

Cant seem to get the microwave transmitters/recievers to work. The transmitter says its transmitting power, and the receiver says its linked to the transmitter, but I am not getting any thermal or mj power. Am I doing something wrong? Below are some screenshots showing my setup:

The Microwave reciever on top has the same problem, even when pointed directly at the transmitter.

Any help would be appreciated, thanks.

It looks like what you are doing is correct. I don't see anything obvious.

If you look in your game's save folder, you should see a WarpPlugin.cfg, can you post the contents?

Edited November 26, 2013 by Fractal_UK

[legopatch]

Sure, here's whats in it:

writtenat = 10/20/2013 10:35:22 AM
VESSEL_MICROWAVE_POWER_e8b23c48-c9b6-4718-b4fc-34eae62ad241
{
	nuclear_power = 0.000000E+000
	solar_power = 0.000000E+000
}
VESSEL_MICROWAVE_RELAY_e8b23c48-c9b6-4718-b4fc-34eae62ad241
{
	relay = False
}
VESSEL_MICROWAVE_POWER_e69e373e-697a-4293-8b83-34bb2d5739be
{
	nuclear_power = 0.000000E+000
	solar_power = 0.000000E+000
}
VESSEL_MICROWAVE_RELAY_e69e373e-697a-4293-8b83-34bb2d5739be
{
	relay = False
}
VESSEL_MICROWAVE_POWER_f3ba2486-a6e3-42cb-aa39-585ffc817b74
{
	nuclear_power = 0.000000E+000
	solar_power = 0.000000E+000
}
VESSEL_MICROWAVE_RELAY_f3ba2486-a6e3-42cb-aa39-585ffc817b74
{
	relay = False
}
VESSEL_MICROWAVE_POWER_a26a25ab-bb8e-42b7-98fc-89431cb5d4db
{
	nuclear_power = 0.000000E+000
	solar_power = 0.000000E+000
}
VESSEL_MICROWAVE_RELAY_a26a25ab-bb8e-42b7-98fc-89431cb5d4db
{
	relay = False
}
VESSEL_MICROWAVE_POWER_7f22673d-4e1c-4933-9d6b-dbdb188a0a49
{
	nuclear_power = 0.000000E+000
	solar_power = 0.000000E+000
}
VESSEL_MICROWAVE_RELAY_7f22673d-4e1c-4933-9d6b-dbdb188a0a49
{
	relay = False
}
VESSEL_MICROWAVE_POWER_46dafbf7-c2f5-4e5f-bdc6-baca70a3fb02
{
	nuclear_power = 0.000000E+000
	solar_power = 0.000000E+000
}
VESSEL_MICROWAVE_RELAY_46dafbf7-c2f5-4e5f-bdc6-baca70a3fb02
{
	relay = False
}
VESSEL_MICROWAVE_POWER_9fc2daa0-f067-4605-9def-3a4503766664
{
	nuclear_power = 0.000000E+000
	solar_power = 0.000000E+000
}
VESSEL_MICROWAVE_RELAY_9fc2daa0-f067-4605-9def-3a4503766664
{
	relay = False
}
VESSEL_MICROWAVE_POWER_e0171e65-802f-4dc0-90a8-430686a52ccb
{
	nuclear_power = 0.000000E+000
	solar_power = 0.000000E+000
}
VESSEL_MICROWAVE_RELAY_e0171e65-802f-4dc0-90a8-430686a52ccb
{
	relay = False
}
VESSEL_MICROWAVE_POWER_7cf1d78d-4faf-4c40-9cc5-2accb66f26dc
{
	nuclear_power = 0.000000E+000
	solar_power = 0.000000E+000
}
VESSEL_MICROWAVE_RELAY_7cf1d78d-4faf-4c40-9cc5-2accb66f26dc
{
	relay = False
}
VESSEL_MICROWAVE_POWER_3d40b26f-1509-4125-bbcb-6705e3216c9f
{
	nuclear_power = 0.000000E+000
	solar_power = 0.000000E+000
}
VESSEL_MICROWAVE_RELAY_3d40b26f-1509-4125-bbcb-6705e3216c9f
{
	relay = False
}
VESSEL_MICROWAVE_POWER_d535d584-e0a5-4c70-80fb-f5eb744a613c
{
	nuclear_power = 8.797793E+005
	solar_power = 0.000000E+000
}
VESSEL_MICROWAVE_RELAY_d535d584-e0a5-4c70-80fb-f5eb744a613c
{
	relay = False
}
VESSEL_MICROWAVE_POWER_15eb0b61-e743-416f-bd1e-f6e88f4682f8
{
	nuclear_power = 0.000000E+000
	solar_power = 0.000000E+000
}
VESSEL_MICROWAVE_RELAY_15eb0b61-e743-416f-bd1e-f6e88f4682f8
{
	relay = False
}
VESSEL_MICROWAVE_POWER_2ac8fff5-b6df-473c-9993-808349c3d29a
{
	nuclear_power = 0.000000E+000
	solar_power = 0.000000E+000
}
VESSEL_MICROWAVE_RELAY_2ac8fff5-b6df-473c-9993-808349c3d29a
{
	relay = False
}
VESSEL_MICROWAVE_POWER_c211e038-4013-4c67-8957-9b68e75840ec
{
	nuclear_power = 0.000000E+000
	solar_power = 0.000000E+000
}
VESSEL_MICROWAVE_RELAY_c211e038-4013-4c67-8957-9b68e75840ec
{
	relay = False
}
VESSEL_MICROWAVE_POWER_1e091715-7c2c-4737-bf44-3105e1c7a42f
{
	nuclear_power = 0.000000E+000
	solar_power = 0.000000E+000
}
VESSEL_MICROWAVE_RELAY_1e091715-7c2c-4737-bf44-3105e1c7a42f
{
	relay = False
}
VESSEL_MICROWAVE_POWER_d85b5b54-9b4d-4d52-b9fc-12a321bd9ab6
{
	nuclear_power = 0.000000E+000
	solar_power = 0.000000E+000
}
VESSEL_MICROWAVE_RELAY_d85b5b54-9b4d-4d52-b9fc-12a321bd9ab6
{
	relay = False
}
VESSEL_MICROWAVE_POWER_bc88f9e9-2257-46b1-b602-e0aa6a3df549
{
	nuclear_power = 0.000000E+000
	solar_power = 0.000000E+000
}
VESSEL_MICROWAVE_RELAY_bc88f9e9-2257-46b1-b602-e0aa6a3df549
{
	relay = False
}

[Cairan]

Not to burden you Fractal with a wish list, but I've given some thought about the nuclear fission and fusion reactors... Not having played that far out yet in my nuclear fuel infrastructure, what happens to the depleted fuel, is it stored in containers as waste after reprocessing?

If so, given that you have added a Sievert dose monitor to the kerbals, it might be interesting to have to dispose of the waste, like dumping the spent fuel canisters into Kerbol or Jool, because they'd irradiate nearby kerbals .

Also, it might be possible to simulate neutron embrittlement of the reactor vessels. We might achieve this by slowly decreasing the impact resistance of the reactor part, which would result ultimately in structural failure in more benign circumstances than with a brand new reactor core. Fission and fusion would both be vulnerable. It would be eventually possible to research Boron - Hydrogen (B11 + p) instead of D-T in the fusion reactor, which would then have the advantage of being only limited by the fusion fuel supply. Antimatter reactors would also share the advantage of not suffering from neutron embrittlement. Or to prevent the need to have yet another resource to manage (boron), we could jump the shark and suppose that kerbalkind eventually masters lithium - deuterium fusion.

Edited November 26, 2013 by Cairan

[Srilania]

Ok, replaced KSP with a fresh install and tried just deleting all plugins with the exception of mechjeb 2. Replaced the warp plugin from both sources. oddly enough, if I attach to the sides, it's fine, but attach to the bottom, and it poofs and is gone. I do get an option to manually shut down, but once shut down, it's dead in the water. if it goes down automatically, unless there's uranium available, it dies off and can't be restarted. Also, only by lifting to the center of the reactor, where the AEGELESS circle seal is, nothing shows for EVA options whatsoever.

[PringleMan]

Not to burden you Fractal with a wish list, but I've given some thought about the nuclear fission and fusion reactors... Not having played that far out yet in my nuclear fuel infrastructure, what happens to the depleted fuel, is it stored in containers as waste after reprocessing?

If so, given that you have added a Sievert dose monitor to the kerbals, it might be interesting to have to dispose of the waste, like dumping the spent fuel canisters into Kerbol or Jool, because they'd irradiate nearby kerbals .

Also, it might be possible to simulate neutron embrittlement of the reactor vessels. We might achieve this by slowly decreasing the impact resistance of the reactor part, which would result ultimately in structural failure in more benign circumstances than with a brand new reactor core. Fission and fusion would both be vulnerable. It would be eventually possible to research Boron - Hydrogen (B11 + p) instead of D-T in the fusion reactor, which would then have the advantage of being only limited by the fusion fuel supply. Antimatter reactors would also share the advantage of not suffering from neutron embrittlement. Or to prevent the need to have yet another resource to manage (boron), we could jump the shark and suppose that kerbalkind eventually masters lithium - deuterium fusion.

Aneutronic fusion fuels require significantly higher temperatures than neutronic reactions. On a spacecraft it is already a stretch to say things are reaching those temperatures (ignoring electrostatic or polywell containment). It would probably be more realistic in that scale to say that a method of harnessing the energy from the neutrons was discovered than it is to say that a protium-boron reaction or a protium-lithium reaction was achieved.

[Fractal_UK]

Sure, here's whats in it:

writtenat = 10/20/2013 10:35:22 AM
VESSEL_MICROWAVE_POWER_e8b23c48-c9b6-4718-b4fc-34eae62ad241
{
	nuclear_power = 0.000000E+000
	solar_power = 0.000000E+000
}
VESSEL_MICROWAVE_RELAY_e8b23c48-c9b6-4718-b4fc-34eae62ad241
{
	relay = False
}
VESSEL_MICROWAVE_POWER_e69e373e-697a-4293-8b83-34bb2d5739be
{
	nuclear_power = 0.000000E+000
	solar_power = 0.000000E+000
}
VESSEL_MICROWAVE_RELAY_e69e373e-697a-4293-8b83-34bb2d5739be
{
	relay = False
}
VESSEL_MICROWAVE_POWER_f3ba2486-a6e3-42cb-aa39-585ffc817b74
{
	nuclear_power = 0.000000E+000
	solar_power = 0.000000E+000
}
VESSEL_MICROWAVE_RELAY_f3ba2486-a6e3-42cb-aa39-585ffc817b74
{
	relay = False
}
VESSEL_MICROWAVE_POWER_a26a25ab-bb8e-42b7-98fc-89431cb5d4db
{
	nuclear_power = 0.000000E+000
	solar_power = 0.000000E+000
}
VESSEL_MICROWAVE_RELAY_a26a25ab-bb8e-42b7-98fc-89431cb5d4db
{
	relay = False
}
VESSEL_MICROWAVE_POWER_7f22673d-4e1c-4933-9d6b-dbdb188a0a49
{
	nuclear_power = 0.000000E+000
	solar_power = 0.000000E+000
}
VESSEL_MICROWAVE_RELAY_7f22673d-4e1c-4933-9d6b-dbdb188a0a49
{
	relay = False
}
VESSEL_MICROWAVE_POWER_46dafbf7-c2f5-4e5f-bdc6-baca70a3fb02
{
	nuclear_power = 0.000000E+000
	solar_power = 0.000000E+000
}
VESSEL_MICROWAVE_RELAY_46dafbf7-c2f5-4e5f-bdc6-baca70a3fb02
{
	relay = False
}
VESSEL_MICROWAVE_POWER_9fc2daa0-f067-4605-9def-3a4503766664
{
	nuclear_power = 0.000000E+000
	solar_power = 0.000000E+000
}
VESSEL_MICROWAVE_RELAY_9fc2daa0-f067-4605-9def-3a4503766664
{
	relay = False
}
VESSEL_MICROWAVE_POWER_e0171e65-802f-4dc0-90a8-430686a52ccb
{
	nuclear_power = 0.000000E+000
	solar_power = 0.000000E+000
}
VESSEL_MICROWAVE_RELAY_e0171e65-802f-4dc0-90a8-430686a52ccb
{
	relay = False
}
VESSEL_MICROWAVE_POWER_7cf1d78d-4faf-4c40-9cc5-2accb66f26dc
{
	nuclear_power = 0.000000E+000
	solar_power = 0.000000E+000
}
VESSEL_MICROWAVE_RELAY_7cf1d78d-4faf-4c40-9cc5-2accb66f26dc
{
	relay = False
}
VESSEL_MICROWAVE_POWER_3d40b26f-1509-4125-bbcb-6705e3216c9f
{
	nuclear_power = 0.000000E+000
	solar_power = 0.000000E+000
}
VESSEL_MICROWAVE_RELAY_3d40b26f-1509-4125-bbcb-6705e3216c9f
{
	relay = False
}
VESSEL_MICROWAVE_POWER_d535d584-e0a5-4c70-80fb-f5eb744a613c
{
	nuclear_power = 8.797793E+005
	solar_power = 0.000000E+000
}
VESSEL_MICROWAVE_RELAY_d535d584-e0a5-4c70-80fb-f5eb744a613c
{
	relay = False
}
VESSEL_MICROWAVE_POWER_15eb0b61-e743-416f-bd1e-f6e88f4682f8
{
	nuclear_power = 0.000000E+000
	solar_power = 0.000000E+000
}
VESSEL_MICROWAVE_RELAY_15eb0b61-e743-416f-bd1e-f6e88f4682f8
{
	relay = False
}
VESSEL_MICROWAVE_POWER_2ac8fff5-b6df-473c-9993-808349c3d29a
{
	nuclear_power = 0.000000E+000
	solar_power = 0.000000E+000
}
VESSEL_MICROWAVE_RELAY_2ac8fff5-b6df-473c-9993-808349c3d29a
{
	relay = False
}
VESSEL_MICROWAVE_POWER_c211e038-4013-4c67-8957-9b68e75840ec
{
	nuclear_power = 0.000000E+000
	solar_power = 0.000000E+000
}
VESSEL_MICROWAVE_RELAY_c211e038-4013-4c67-8957-9b68e75840ec
{
	relay = False
}
VESSEL_MICROWAVE_POWER_1e091715-7c2c-4737-bf44-3105e1c7a42f
{
	nuclear_power = 0.000000E+000
	solar_power = 0.000000E+000
}
VESSEL_MICROWAVE_RELAY_1e091715-7c2c-4737-bf44-3105e1c7a42f
{
	relay = False
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VESSEL_MICROWAVE_POWER_d85b5b54-9b4d-4d52-b9fc-12a321bd9ab6
{
	nuclear_power = 0.000000E+000
	solar_power = 0.000000E+000
}
VESSEL_MICROWAVE_RELAY_d85b5b54-9b4d-4d52-b9fc-12a321bd9ab6
{
	relay = False
}
VESSEL_MICROWAVE_POWER_bc88f9e9-2257-46b1-b602-e0aa6a3df549
{
	nuclear_power = 0.000000E+000
	solar_power = 0.000000E+000
}
VESSEL_MICROWAVE_RELAY_bc88f9e9-2257-46b1-b602-e0aa6a3df549
{
	relay = False
}

Okay, thank you, I think know what the problem is now. I did a total rewrite of the microwave system in this update and this appears to be a result of those changes. Can you try using a transmitter ship with just one transmitter part? If that works for you, I know I'm on the right track.

[Umlüx]

somehow i just don't get the purpose of the new fusion reactor.

fission reactors are for long term power supply, AM reactors for high demand needs like the vista or alcubierre.. but where fits the fusion reactor?

[Xentoe]

Hmmmm I guess the Fusionreactors are still not so real good working

1.: When I go over warp level 3 they shut offline

2.: The Texture is reverted. (When Online the texture shows the offlinestate and when offline it shows the online state)

3.: When Online they produce somehow no Wasteheat or additional Themal power for me (When offline not too nautral)

4.: It should tell in the controll UI that it can not run because to less power (I had to search here some time till see it needs MW power to run generally)

(Did refresh the whole KSP Install)

[Patupi]

I have to admit too fusion would seem (logically) to be for long term usage. Wouldn't fusion reactions generally be more efficient rather than anything else? Seems odd that fission reactors last longer on their fuel. Is this simply because the fission fuels are more densely packed and are stored easier? Most games I've seen assume fusion reactors don't produce more power than fission, but instead the fuel supply lasts longer and is more easier to come up with.

[Eadrom]

Fusion offers a nicely modest increase in power. Also, you can set up a tritium fuel station in orbit, toss a D/T tank on your ship, and top off on tritium before headin out on mission. One of the biggest perks for me for fusion reactors is that You don't need any additional hardware to pipe more fuel into the fusion reactors, a really big bonus on small/efficient designs. Very nice for small space probes on extended missions or compact manned vessels. This also carries over for refueling reactor mass. Instead of having to dock your fusion reactor powered ship with a manned station or a resupply ship with a refinery, you can send very small resupply ships with a small docking port and a full D/T tank.

Basically, it's a more easily refueled, more compact, reactor with a little bit more power than similarly sized fission reactors.

Edit:

Fusion reactors are also GREAT for planes, both atmo and space designs.

Edited November 26, 2013 by Eadrom

[Draft]

I noticed that the crew radiation system has been added- this doesn't have any effect yet, right?

[Eadrom]

I noticed that the crew radiation system has been added- this doesn't have any effect yet, right?

Correct. Fractal has stated it is just flavor text at this point.