Upgradable engines/parts with reliability cost.

[MK3424]

what if you could improve the performance of an engine or part but at the cost of reliability.

Exmpl: A rocket engine is getting a performance upgrade at the cost of reliability; so it will fire better with less fuel and lower weight but because of lower reliability it might overheat faster, can cause performance fluctuations or will even break up under stress.

But then, you can also research a way to improve the reliability but at a small cost of the performance and/or weight, so it won't overheat as fast as before or with an even more level performance output and/or won't likely to break up under stress.

like in this example it would also wish to see some test stands where you can test the engines/parts, to see how they perform in different situations and under different loads so that you can use the results to improve the further design of the engine/part.

[chrisb2e9]

That would be a good integration into the science system that they have now. Spending research points on specific parts can improve weight with advanced materials for example. Maybe each part has it's own tech tree that leads to advanced versions of it. Maybe you can pick a tech tree to go down, but once you start a tree for that part, you have to stick with it. So you can advance an engine to have more power, but as you increase the power it will tend to overheat more. Or a different tree for that engine, is less weight, but at the cost of slightly less power the more you advance it.

I like the idea of having to make a choice that will effect you down the road, and once it's made you can't undo it. Long term consequences for your actions.

[MK3424]

what i meant was this:

-When you upgrade the performance of an engine or part by 20% it's reliability will drop 10-15%.

Other way around:

-When you upgrade it's reliability by 20%, it will lose 10-15% of it's performance.

To give you an idea i suggest you to play this old rebooted version of an space race strategy game: Buzz Aldrin's Race Into Space

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buzz_Aldrin's_Race_Into_Space

A free to play version can be found here with updated graphics and cut-scenes: http://www.raceintospace.org/

[chrisb2e9]

I understood what you meant, I was simply suggesting alternatives that could expand upon your idea.

Not much of a thread if everyone only says "yes" or "no"

[Ernest3.14]

Hmmm... Just a note, "random damage" like this seems to be frowned upon.

[MK3424]

Ok, if mine will not work then, i will support chrisb2e9's idea, i might make sense: you can upgrade engines but it will tend to overheat faster and consumes more fuel.

but then you can also upgrade it that it will weigh less or consumes less fuel this could be demonstrated with the aid of progress bars that shows

-How efficient the engine is.

-The weight of the engine

-The fuel consumption.

-Tendency to overheat.

This could be integrated.