Should/will Ion engines be buffed?

[Captain Sierra]

There is a mod that gives a 1.25m ion engine (I think KSPX does too) as well as 1.25m and 2.5m 'hybrid engines' that burn regular fuel and ion engine stuff. Very efficient but with more thrust so burns won't take an eternity on large ships.

Personally, I think if we got bigger ion engines, it wouldn't be that great. They are pretty realistically balanced (at least as far as they can be without tanking gameplay) but larger engines means people will use them on bigger ships, which means lots of complaints they are underpowered. They probably would have to get a semi-unrealistic nerf to efficiency and buff to thrust so that people would use them and stop complaining. In may case, I'd just do some config editing.

Edited August 10, 2013 by Captain Sierra

[Captain Sierra]

I think ions will come into their own when Career mode hits because they end up vastly cheaper than the alternatives. They have huge mass savings, which means smaller launch stages, which means even more mass savings in a virtual spiral. I've got a prototype Moho orbiter waiting in orbit for the launch window; on the pad it weighed under 10T, and total cost was about the same as the first stage booster of my more-conventional Moho orbiter design.

-snip-

-- Steve

A suggestion from lessions I have learned. For far away destinations, I strongly suggest using chemical (or even nuclear at that size) rockets to do the initial burn for the encounter. From a parking orbit, ion engines just plain can'd do it in 1 go. I strongly suggest you make sure you have enough fuel to get at least halfway through your kerbin escape/transfer burn without touching the ion engine.

[Anton P. Nym]

A suggestion from lessions I have learned. For far away destinations, I strongly suggest using chemical (or even nuclear at that size) rockets to do the initial burn for the encounter. From a parking orbit, ion engines just plain can'd do it in 1 go. I strongly suggest you make sure you have enough fuel to get at least halfway through your kerbin escape/transfer burn without touching the ion engine.

I left off a crucial point; the parking orbit is highly eccentric (1000km x 100km) already with only 13 units of Xenon consumed to take it out from the 1000km x 30km the chemical booster put it into. Apex is at the noon point, so (I hope) the one hour it gets sun-side is plenty of time to do the escape "burn".

-- Steve

[boxman]

The main problem i see with them is that they don't really have a purpose. Anywhere you can get to with ion's, you can get with any other engine, faster. Also since they are so tiny, you cant power anything larger than a toothpick with them for lag reasons.

Buff them? Nah, the game just needs to implement more suitable situations for them, also bigger versions.

They work fine for small manouvers, like for example using them instead of RCS when you need very little thrust.

I also use them for my artificial gravity module which seems to work just fine.

And bigger versions?? The ones it has is already way overpowered and it would not be anywhere near realistic if they did so.

[AmpsterMan]

And bigger versions?? The ones it has is already way overpowered and it would not be anywhere near realistic if they did so.

I just think seeing a cluster of at least 1.25 Ions pushing a two meter ship as a pretty cool sight

[Tiron]

They work fine for small manouvers, like for example using them instead of RCS when you need very little thrust.

I also use them for my artificial gravity module which seems to work just fine.

And bigger versions?? The ones it has is already way overpowered and it would not be anywhere near realistic if they did so.

Which so far as I know has mostly been what they were used for IRL (which is good because the IRL ones are really piddly, ours are way more powerful).

Not for transferring to another planet, but for doing things like countering atmospheric drag on a sat that had to go really, really low to get accurate readings.

[Blue]

Ion Engines I think would serve well in the additional role of having a 1m engine and 1m tank, but if there was a 2m series, that would be too large. By that point we ought to start having large spherical cockpits and the engine should start screaming.

[Blue]

Ion Engines I think would serve well in the additional role of having a 1m engine and 1m tank, but if there was a 2m series, that would be too large. By that point we ought to start having large spherical cockpits and the engine should start screaming.

[AmpsterMan]

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Trying to build a Ion powered transport craft

[DMagic]

The main problem i see with them is that they don't really have a purpose. Anywhere you can get to with ion's, you can get with any other engine, faster. Also since they are so tiny, you cant power anything larger than a toothpick with them for lag reasons.

Buff them? Nah, the game just needs to implement more suitable situations for them, also bigger versions.

No purpose, pfft. You just haven't been trying hard enough.

I mean, anyone can land on Ike, but doing it with only ion engines, that's a challenge. Also, this, my manned Minmus ion lander:

I've got a whole thread full of these: http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/showthread.php/30329-Ion-Engines-Everywhere-My-Attempt-to-Land-As-Many-Places-As-Possible?highlight=engine+landers. Though I never did make one for Dres...

[Sma]

The actual problem is the players' lack of patience.

LOL Agreed. I think they're fine the way they are. My Kethane/ISA Mapsat scanners (will) use one. I used one on my previous kethane miner and it was just fine to get it from minmus back to Kerbin. Though I did aerobrake a few times until I got close to the AP I wanted. With just the kethane scanner and ion engine 1 gigantor panels was enough to run everything. Also as far as fuel goes, it barely uses and xenon so the tank sizes are fine. I think I had 4 on the scanner I had before.

As to their power compared to RL ion engines, I'm sure there's a size difference too, plus, who said they have to have the same power as the ones in RL?

I also agree with those that say we need other sizes as well, with power/isp to match. Also for VASIMR, I think someone is working on a mod to add one, though I'm not sure who or what it's called.

[Sandworm]

The ion engine may be overpowered, but in terms of realism it isn't all that bad. Overpowering ion engine to facilitate gameplay pales in comparison to KSP's liquid-fuel engines with their infinite throttle and restart abilities, or tanks that can store rocket fuel for decades without issue. Not to mention the magic control pods with their infinite attitude controls.