Tesla Engine
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The Tesla Engine is an alternative power source to the supermatter engine, located in Engineering.
How it Works
Tesla Generator
The Tesla generator works just like the singularity generator does, except that it makes an energy ball instead of a swirling black hole of death.
Energy Balls
This big floaty ball of pure electricity can only be contained by the containment field. When you shoot the energy ball with the Particle Accelerator, it gains energy like a singularity, but when it hits 300 energy, it generates a mini-energy ball that orbits the big energy ball. This will send off an extra shock when the energy ball pulses which can happen as many times as you let it. The energy ball will also naturally generate small amounts of energy, so eventually a second ball will form.
Be warned, the more mini-balls the energy ball has, the more shocks it sends out at once, and the further it can travel each move. A good engineer can use this to generate lots of power, and a bad one can abuse this to murder the entire station.
An energy ball will shoot bolts of electricity off at the nearest conductor, which it prioritizes in this order:
- Tesla coils
- Grounding Rods
- Mobs
- Machines
Tesla Coils
Tesla coils will attract the bolts. They will take half the power of the bolt (if they are connected to a powernet), pump it into the powernet it is hooked to, and then will send the other half of the power to the next available conductor, which follows the criteria listed above. Preferably, this will be another coil to harness more of the power and pump it into the grid.
Grounding Rods
Grounding rods are safety precautions to prevent the tesla bolts from hitting machinery or personnel. If the tesla is loose, being near one will usually keep you safe from direct shocks. It does NOT, however, protect from dusting if you touch the core, nor does it protect you from the explosions caused by machinery. Grounding rods must be secured to the ground to provide any protection.
Mobs
Being struck by a lightning bolt will severely electrocute the target, often lethally. Huddling around an anchored grounding rod will provide protection from the beams, but not the orb itself.
Machines
Machines struck will violently explode with enough strength to breach the hull. This is the primary source of damage to the station from a loose tesla.
Setting It Up
Equipment
The tesla is probably easier than the singularity because you don't have to fill up phoron tanks and you don't have to worry about a subverted AI setting the PA to max. This guide will assume that you're doing it alone, whether because you're the only engineer that signed up, or because everyone else buggered off like they always do. Or they don't want to set it up and blame the wiki never being updated with new content, even though there's a guide literally right here.
The engine is, for the most part, housed inside the station in the north-west portion of Asteroid 1. You'll need some tools to set it up, all of which you can conveniently acquire right in engineering. You will need:
Wrench
Some wires
Screwdriver
Set of internals
A vacuum-capable suit
Insulated gloves
Now that you have your supplies, it's time to get to work! Note that the steps below can be done in any order as you like, as long as you turn the particle accelerator on last.
Outside Engineering (Spaceproof Equipment Required)
1. Wrench Down Coils and Rods
The tesla coils actually capture the power from the tesla, while the grounding rods makes sure you don't get fried by the tesla. Both are very important because you actually want to generate power.
2. Start the Emitters
Now that you've gotten everything ready, it's time to start the engine! Run around the containment area and turn on the emitters by clicking on them. Once they're all on, carefully make your way to the inner circle of the area, making sure not to cross in front of any of the emitters, otherwise you'll get hit by a laser and get burned extremely severely.
3.5. Lock the Emitters (Optional)
It is possible to lock each of the emitters by swiping your ID on them, after activating them. This will stop an AI, or anyone without power-management access from deactivating the emitters manually.
3. Start the Field Generators
Once you've ensured that the emitters are on, it's time to fire up the field generators.
Make sure to stay on the outside of the field generators and activate them as you move in a circle through the area. Coming into contact with any of the field generator beams will pop your head like a midget in a microwave and hurl your corpse through the engineering windows at terminal velocity. It's a good idea to start on one of the inner corners, and do the field generators closest to the windows first so you don't have to worry about accidentally straying too close while the corner field generators are on. The generators often have a field of effect one tile on either side of the beams, so make sure you leave a clear zone around any active field generators and don't linger too long when you turn them on.
Inside Engineering
4. Set up the Particle Accelerator
Now it's time to set up the particle accelerator itself. First, wrench each piece in place. Second, wire all the pieces with a cable coil. Finally, use a screwdriver to close all the panels. Click on the console and hit "Scan for parts" to link the console with the actual PA. This is your particle accelerator set up!
4.5 Hack the Particle Accelerator
Hack the PA, and cut the limit wire. This allows you to set the PA to a power of 3, allowing the tesla orb to be charged to high power levels even faster. The best part is that there's absolutely zero penalties for doing so, assuming it never, ever escapes.
5. Fire it up!
Once the field generator beams form a box around the tesla generator (the rod thing in the middle) get back inside the station and head to the Particle Accelerator again.
The particle accelerator is used to feed the tesla and make it grow, which results in more energy balls spinning around, which results in more energy.
Move over to the particle accelerator control box and set the output to 2 (or 3 if you hacked it). You can leave the particle accelerator at its max settings permanently without any ill effect. The tesla also doesn't generate any radiation, so you don't have to close the radiation shutters or worry about radiation collectors.
6. Activate the SMES Cells
Make sure the engine grid SMES is set to charge and output enough to keep the emitters and PA going, and the distribution SMES enough for the station.
After setting the SMES units up, check that they're charging. If it says charging and the total stored power is increasing, the station will now receive plenty of power! If you're still the only engineer, you may want to consider setting up the solars to ensure a source of backup power if the engine becomes unusable.
7. Maintenance
The tesla is very low maintenance. All you really have to do is to check that the emitters are still powering the shield generators. Ensuring that the engine power grid remains powered is vital. If power to the network is cut, the emitters will stop firing and the tesla orb will rapidly escape.
Pros and Cons with Regards to the Singularity
Pros
- Doesn't generate radiation.
- Doesn't generate gravity, which means you can't be pinned against the shield.
- The grounding rods mean that you probably won't get shocked.
- When released, won't eat the entire station.
- The total energy generated by the tesla naturally increases without intervention over time.
Cons
- Generates much less energy than the singularity.
- A singularity, if released, has a 50/50 chance of heading towards the station or heading towards deep space. For a tesla, on the other hand, its more of a 80/20 chance because it is attracted to conductible materials.
- The tesla can kill from extreme distances if you aren't wearing insulated gloves.
TESLOOSE
If the energy ball is to get out of containment somehow, it will pass through walls, windows, anything. It will shoot electricity at conductors, mobs, etc, and direct bolts from the energy ball will instantly kill just about anyone. Being hit by the ball itself will turn you into a pile of dust regardless of protection. Any piece of electronics, such as consoles, machines, or airlocks, will violently explode when hit, causing vast damage to the station.
The energy ball usually moves towards the last direction it shocked, which means that it will actively seek areas with more machines and conductive materials.