Cyclops Battery and Powercell Chargers now use power at a 1:1 ratio on Experimental Build

JackeJacke Calgary Join Date: 2017-03-20 Member: 229061Members
Saw this on the Subnautica subreddit. Battery and Power cell chargers now use power at a 1:1 ratio

There's no longer a power efficiency in charging Batteries and Powercells on the Cyclops to effectively give infinite power.

I just set out for my run to the Aurora in the Cyclops from my 4-Biome Base and confirmed this while stopped. Currently Experimental build May-2017 48390.

So we're going to need spare Powercells on the Cyclops. Powercell Chargers in Bases. And it's kind of pointless to put Powercell Chargers on the Cyclops as it just moves charge between Powercells. Maybe 1 to shift charge and a Battery Charger to charge Batteries, although it's better to charge Batteries with the Swim Charge Fins.

EDIT: Here's a post from reddit reporting the measured power consumption of the current Experimental Cyclops.

https://www.reddit.com/r/subnautica/comments/6erlja/test_results_of_cyclops_energy_consumption/
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Comments

  • Chris9183Chris9183 Join Date: 2017-05-15 Member: 230526Members
    Yeah I have to say this makes more sense. I'm glad they did it. I know it probably ruins the hopes and dreams of people who use the Cyclops as their main base...but it's not meant to be that. Think of it more like an RV that you take out on road trips away from your house occasionally (that you attach your car to the back of too, like a Seamoth or Prawn).
  • JackeJacke Calgary Join Date: 2017-03-20 Member: 229061Members
    It's not that difficult to crank out 12 extra Powercells to give 2 complete reloads. Outside of heavy use of the shield, I'd say that would more than cover the power needs for the story until they could be replaced with Ion Power Cells made with Ion Crystals from the ILR/ALR.

    The only thing this does is make exploration of the open world of Subnautica more difficult. Try to imagine the Cyclops being used for its design purpose: exploration of the waters of a world. This is a ridiculously short leash for it to have. It would be more appropriate for the Cyclops to have some sort of self-contained power system of greater range.

    This would have trivial impact on the gameplay yet have so much benefit for exploration.
  • 0x6A72320x6A7232 US Join Date: 2016-10-06 Member: 222906Members
    Have a solar charge upgrade that would charge the Cyclops, but only when not in use (charge current is less than the power draw, even with Power Efficiency Module).
  • FathomFathom Earth Join Date: 2016-07-01 Member: 219405Members
    Now there is a reason to establish power stations where you can recharge, relax and take a break. Plenty of thermal vents spread around to make use of that infinite energy.
  • JackeJacke Calgary Join Date: 2017-03-20 Member: 229061Members
    edited May 2017
    I just did a run from my Base near the 4 Biomes at the north end of the Grand Reef to the front of the Aurora. Ran along the side of the Aurora near the surface in Silent Running (~4.5m/s). Experimental Build May-2017 48417.

    Consumed 252 charge in about 5000m there and back. The return trip had the Cyclops Engine Efficiency Module.
  • FathomFathom Earth Join Date: 2016-07-01 Member: 219405Members
    Jacke wrote: »
    Consumed 252 charge in about 5000m there and back. The return trip had the Cyclops Engine Efficiency Module.
    So around 24km for a full charge. That's plenty for the frame of the game area.
  • JackeJacke Calgary Join Date: 2017-03-20 Member: 229061Members
    Fathom wrote: »
    Jacke wrote: »
    Consumed 252 charge in about 5000m there and back. The return trip had the Cyclops Engine Efficiency Module.
    So around 24km for a full charge. That's plenty for the frame of the game area.

    There's also the shield and the sonar that can consume a lot of charge.
  • Enderguy059Enderguy059 Australia Join Date: 2015-10-15 Member: 208486Members
    NOOO! My cheaty mobile battery charger!! Now we need to beg for solar/thermal chargers...
  • RequiemfangRequiemfang Join Date: 2015-02-22 Member: 201492Members
    Ah well it was bound to happen sooner or later lol
  • FlashWoolFumbleFlashWoolFumble Join Date: 2017-03-18 Member: 229033Members
    Jacke wrote: »
    It's not that difficult to crank out 12 extra Powercells to give 2 complete reloads. Outside of heavy use of the shield, I'd say that would more than cover the power needs for the story until they could be replaced with Ion Power Cells made with Ion Crystals from the ILR/ALR.

    The only thing this does is make exploration of the open world of Subnautica more difficult. Try to imagine the Cyclops being used for its design purpose: exploration of the waters of a world. This is a ridiculously short leash for it to have. It would be more appropriate for the Cyclops to have some sort of self-contained power system of greater range.

    This would have trivial impact on the gameplay yet have so much benefit for exploration.

    Yea, I wish the cyclops was large enough to fit like a bioreactor in there to help power it or something.
  • eastofdeatheastofdeath usa Join Date: 2016-02-28 Member: 213559Members
    A Nuclear Reactor upgrade for the Cyclops using Reactor Rod, would be a nice addition.
    Maybe in the form on a major refit changing out the electric engine for a nuclear one to turn the prop.
    Nuclear powered submarines can go for along time before needing refueling.
  • The08MetroidManThe08MetroidMan Join Date: 2016-09-23 Member: 222527Members
    Jacke wrote: »
    Fathom wrote: »
    Jacke wrote: »
    Consumed 252 charge in about 5000m there and back. The return trip had the Cyclops Engine Efficiency Module.
    So around 24km for a full charge. That's plenty for the frame of the game area.

    There's also the shield and the sonar that can consume a lot of charge.

    So you're basically saying that the things we desperately need to get through the Lost River and Lava Zones are basically unusable unless you have Ion Power Cells? Or that if you don't already have a base down there, you can't recoup what the lava larva steal?

    Is it just me, or has every initial change the devs made to the cyclops (initial damage/health specs, initial silent running functions, etc) just made the thing less appealing to play?
  • QelsarQelsar Lansdowne, MD Join Date: 2016-05-09 Member: 216536Members
    I understand if the ratio is 1:1 with ZERO modules, but wouldn't it make sense to have the efficiency modules offset it just a bit? I run 2 in my sub and I would like it if I can still recharge slightly more with the modules than without. Thoughts?
  • JackeJacke Calgary Join Date: 2017-03-20 Member: 229061Members
    Jacke wrote: »
    Fathom wrote: »
    Jacke wrote: »
    Consumed 252 charge in about 5000m there and back. The return trip had the Cyclops Engine Efficiency Module.
    So around 24km for a full charge. That's plenty for the frame of the game area.

    There's also the shield and the sonar that can consume a lot of charge.

    So you're basically saying that the things we desperately need to get through the Lost River and Lava Zones are basically unusable unless you have Ion Power Cells? Or that if you don't already have a base down there, you can't recoup what the lava larva steal?

    Is it just me, or has every initial change the devs made to the cyclops (initial damage/health specs, initial silent running functions, etc) just made the thing less appealing to play?

    Well, this is the major functional and gameplay design phase for the Cyclops, as can be evident by the number of changes. UWE created it graphically and put it in the game with placeholder functionality. Now they get to fleshing it out and we all get to test it so UWE can tune it.

    Apparently, getting into place in the ILZ and even the ALZ doesn't demand that much of the Cyclops in the current Experimental, as wildlife aggression and collision damage have been toned down. That would require actually testing and I'm a ways away from that in my own game. (I just finished the Aurora and will likely proceed with making a PRAWN and then with the story to the energy pulse source on Volcano Isle. I've only been down to the DGR and the start of the LR once, so it's not familiar territory to me.) But from what others have said, the Cyclops is very survivable now (while the PRAWN and swimming is another story).

    I haven't had any problems with the Cyclops meself so far. But I've been using Silent Running all the time just to avoid trouble. Also have 10 spare Powercells on board so I should be good for a while. Also have the Seamoth with the Solar Recharger mod if I really need it.
  • The08MetroidManThe08MetroidMan Join Date: 2016-09-23 Member: 222527Members
    Jacke wrote: »
    Well, this is the major functional and gameplay design phase for the Cyclops, as can be evident by the number of changes. UWE created it graphically and put it in the game with placeholder functionality. Now they get to fleshing it out and we all get to test it so UWE can tune it.

    Apparently, getting into place in the ILZ and even the ALZ doesn't demand that much of the Cyclops in the current Experimental, as wildlife aggression and collision damage have been toned down. That would require actually testing and I'm a ways away from that in my own game. (I just finished the Aurora and will likely proceed with making a PRAWN and then with the story to the energy pulse source on Volcano Isle. I've only been down to the DGR and the start of the LR once, so it's not familiar territory to me.) But from what others have said, the Cyclops is very survivable now (while the PRAWN and swimming is another story).

    I haven't had any problems with the Cyclops meself so far. But I've been using Silent Running all the time just to avoid trouble. Also have 10 spare Powercells on board so I should be good for a while. Also have the Seamoth with the Solar Recharger mod if I really need it.

    I get that, but as it stands it feels the placeholder functionality was more usable than what we've got so far. I'm happy that the thing at least is harder to wreck, but it seems like the trade-off is making it harder to manage power-wise - the Seamoth and Prawn at least have the moonpool to get a full charge from; without a matching dock system for the Cyclops, it feels like the Lost River in particular is going to be either hard or at the very least frustrating to get through.

    Solar recharging and solar panels have no value that deep down, and considering how many resources you'd have to cart down there since all the base-building stuff (Titanium, Lithium, Quartz, Copper, Coral samples for electronics, etc) is on the surface, it feels... well, a grindy chore, to put it simply. Not to mention that even with the power-efficiency module, I usually ended up draining my cells pretty quickly on deeper levels between back-and-forth travel and in charging the Seamoth/Prawn. It's a bit better than before, yes, but it still doesn't feel worthwhile yet.
  • DaveyNYDaveyNY Schenectady, NY Join Date: 2016-08-30 Member: 221903Members
    There's a very lovely spot in the Lost River, perfect for a mini-base in which to recharge and park all of ones vehicles safely.

    It's the smallish size mesa with the bones of a rather large dead creature sitting on it.

    It also has several Black Smokers placed there that are perfect for using the Thermal Power Plant.

    With a bit of planning, one can carry just enough supplies in the Seamoth and ones Personal Inventory to build a Multipurpose Room with a Hatch, a Platform and a Thermal Plant with a Transmitter in one trip down.
    (with room left over for a Beacon)

    There are only Two Ampeels in the area and they can eventually be driven away (or knifed to death) if one has a bit of patience.

    It's the first spot I go to too create my second base.

    B)

  • The08MetroidManThe08MetroidMan Join Date: 2016-09-23 Member: 222527Members
    DaveyNY wrote: »
    There's a very lovely spot in the Lost River, perfect for a mini-base in which to recharge and park all of ones vehicles safely.

    It's the smallish size mesa with the bones of a rather large dead creature sitting on it.

    It also has several Black Smokers placed there that are perfect for using the Thermal Power Plant.

    With a bit of planning, one can carry just enough supplies in the Seamoth and ones Personal Inventory to build a Multipurpose Room with a Hatch, a Platform and a Thermal Plant with a Transmitter in one trip down.
    (with room left over for a Beacon)

    There are only Two Ampeels in the area and they can eventually be driven away (or knifed to death) if one has a bit of patience.

    It's the first spot I go to too create my second base.

    B)

    Except that doesn't actually fix the real issue - which is basically that you either have to grind out or do things a spicific way instead of freely exploring and naturally progressing; either you do it this way, or the game's pretty much impossible to continue in.
  • zetachronzetachron Germany Join Date: 2014-11-14 Member: 199655Members
    Maybe the rechargers now have a 1:1 ratio for the Cyclops, but still not for the bases. If you put 2 empty ion power cells in a recharger at a base, that should draw 2000 energy from that base while it recharges those power cells. Yet you are free to recharge them without base energy cost!

    Otherwise resource management and energy costs for bases would drastically rise and this process would be ugly for a lot of players.
  • JackeJacke Calgary Join Date: 2017-03-20 Member: 229061Members
    That Ion Power Cells don't actually consume the full charge to charge...is that true on the Cyclops? That's a bug that has to be fixed.

    Anyhoo, I'm planning on eventually setting up a base in the Tree Cove on the Lost River. Could certainly haul down enough stuff in the Seamoth or the PRAWN to do that. Will eventually try to take the Cyclops there. Right now, I have to check out the energy pulse location on Volcano Isle.
  • scifiwriterguyscifiwriterguy Sector ZZ-9-Plural Z-α Join Date: 2017-02-14 Member: 227901Members
    Truth told, I never used the exploit myself; I always carried spare power cells and swapped them in as necessary, recharging the dead ones at a base. Sure, I needed to carry about 12 to make sure long-range explorations didn't end up with a call to AAA, but it is a big honkin' sub running on batteries. ;) Glad to see that loophole closed.

    Onto the fabricator battery exploit!
  • The08MetroidManThe08MetroidMan Join Date: 2016-09-23 Member: 222527Members
    edited May 2017
    zetachron wrote: »
    Maybe the rechargers now have a 1:1 ratio for the Cyclops, but still not for the bases. If you put 2 empty ion power cells in a recharger at a base, that should draw 2000 energy from that base while it recharges those power cells. Yet you are free to recharge them without base energy cost!

    Otherwise resource management and energy costs for bases would drastically rise and this process would be ugly for a lot of players.

    Same as above though; that still doesn't solve the whole "you have no choice/are arbitrarily forced to build a base down there or you cannot progress through the game" issue. Also, I think that only works if you have an equivalently-large energy pool in the first place - or at least when I tried it - which is hard to do when you're that deep down.

    Also, according to the most recent vid from Mobius, the devs are going to be changing how power works for everything and not just the sub - case in point; all base pieces will passively consume power now in order to maintain lights and/or oxygen. And since what you described with the ion cells will probably be considered an exploit, I worry that won't be an option either by the time of the full build :p
    - https://youtu.be/h836ly50jac?t=2m3s
  • The08MetroidManThe08MetroidMan Join Date: 2016-09-23 Member: 222527Members
    Truth told, I never used the exploit myself; I always carried spare power cells and swapped them in as necessary, recharging the dead ones at a base. Sure, I needed to carry about 12 to make sure long-range explorations didn't end up with a call to AAA, but it is a big honkin' sub running on batteries. ;) Glad to see that loophole closed.

    Onto the fabricator battery exploit!


    Except that, even for experts like Mobius, getting down to the ILZ and back often required that kind of net-gain to make manageable. Plus, you're assuming everyone's going to be as well off on power cells as you were - IDK if that's always going to be a guarantee. Being a "big honkin' sub running on batteries" doesn't necessarily mean that should be almost impossible to use any other way than the spicific route the devs want, right? Especially not when the game is supposed to be open-world exploration.
  • Amazing_AquacatAmazing_Aquacat North Texas Join Date: 2017-05-22 Member: 230676Members
    I felt I was cheating a little using the "exploit" but getting into the ILZ past all those frelling leaches kinda drove me to extremes. I've since built two recharge bases in the area, one just above the falls and another just inside the ILZ .

    I'm actually building a 2nd Cyclops and Prawn just to keep for exploring down there at the moment. I used the seaglide and about 4 Ultra O2 tanks to get into the thermal plant since earlier attempts in a Prawn and Cyclops ran a foul of the Dragon.
  • HiSaZuLHiSaZuL N.Y. Join Date: 2016-11-11 Member: 223803Members
    Fathom wrote: »
    Now there is a reason to establish power stations where you can recharge, relax and take a break. Plenty of thermal vents spread around to make use of that infinite energy.

    Then a crabsquid comes over and disables your entire base. Congratulations. Bases became a bit of a joke and now Cyclops is as much of a joke.
    Meanwhile... my 10 year old phone has fucking emp shielding. Logic is out there... somewhere... probably drowned by now tho.
  • AvimimusAvimimus Join Date: 2016-03-28 Member: 214968Members
    NOOO! My cheaty mobile battery charger!! Now we need to beg for solar/thermal chargers...

    The solution is to actually build more than one base - which I think is of real benefit to gameplay!
  • RalijRalij US Join Date: 2016-05-20 Member: 217092Members
    zetachron wrote: »
    Maybe the rechargers now have a 1:1 ratio for the Cyclops, but still not for the bases. If you put 2 empty ion power cells in a recharger at a base, that should draw 2000 energy from that base while it recharges those power cells. Yet you are free to recharge them without base energy cost!

    Otherwise resource management and energy costs for bases would drastically rise and this process would be ugly for a lot of players.

    At the rate that the cell chargers charge cells (say that 10 times real fast...) this is a pretty light issue overall. Ion power cells are supposed to charge at the same energy/sec rate of regular cells, which is about 1 energy every 3 seconds. Say you are charging two of them so 2 energy every 3 seconds, or 40 energy per minute. A single thermal plant will keep this up with max charge and about 10 energy/minute to spare. This is slightly more power drain than a water purifier if you're charging two cells at once.

    Now if you are in a seamoth docking into a moonpool and it instantly drains the energy like normal that could certainly be problematic... a nearly depleted ion battery in a seamoth would take a base with a fully stocked nuclear reactor offline for about 3 minutes...
  • The08MetroidManThe08MetroidMan Join Date: 2016-09-23 Member: 222527Members
    Ralij wrote: »
    At the rate that the cell chargers charge cells (say that 10 times real fast...) this is a pretty light issue overall. Ion power cells are supposed to charge at the same energy/sec rate of regular cells, which is about 1 energy every 3 seconds. Say you are charging two of them so 2 energy every 3 seconds, or 40 energy per minute. A single thermal plant will keep this up with max charge and about 10 energy/minute to spare. This is slightly more power drain than a water purifier if you're charging two cells at once.

    Now if you are in a seamoth docking into a moonpool and it instantly drains the energy like normal that could certainly be problematic... a nearly depleted ion battery in a seamoth would take a base with a fully stocked nuclear reactor offline for about 3 minutes...

    Also, there's something I never considered until @HiSaZUL brought it up; the crabsquid with EMP's in the Lost River, and the lava larva in the Lava Zone. They're issue enough just with vehicles, but does anyone know if those two can affect bases?
  • RalijRalij US Join Date: 2016-05-20 Member: 217092Members

    Also, there's something I never considered until @HiSaZUL brought it up; the crabsquid with EMP's in the Lost River, and the lava larva in the Lava Zone. They're issue enough just with vehicles, but does anyone know if those two can affect bases?

    Even if they don't now I'd wager that when they update the creatures to attack bases directly they will be able to hit your power source.
  • HiguideHiguide NJ Join Date: 2017-04-03 Member: 229385Members
    Good start, it was absurd adding 1 pair of charge stations made energy consumption hardly a concern.

    how energy is distributed, generated, & consumed still needs some tweaking. screwed at night using solar, bioreactor is high maintenance, and nuclear requires frequent trips simply for uranium (good for a small outpost). only real option is to put several thermal generators around heat vents then interconnect them with power transmitters spanning across the ocean.

    thermal to energy is OP if you link enough of them together, makes it almost impossible to run out of power even if you set up an entire room full of water purifiers. power is a nonissue with the exosuit adding thermal generator. sure i solved an energy crisis with trial and error with stated sources in that order, but still should be something make me concerned of even with that setup.
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