User:Ozyton
The Tesla Engine is a power plant that harnesses energy from an energy ball which arcs lightning to tesla coils to provide electricity. On this page you will find instructions on how the Tesla Engine functions, as well as hoe to boot up the prefabricated ones found on both the NSB Adephagia and Stellar Delight. To learn the steps to turn the engine on, skip to -insert the link here-
How it Works
The Tesla Engine consists of four primary components: the Energy Ball, the Tesla Coils, The Containment Field, and the Particle Accelerator.
Tesla Generator
The Tesla Generator is where the Energy Ball forms once shot with the Particle Accelerator. It can take several seconds to form the Energy Ball, but increasing the power of the Particle Accelerator will usually speed up the process.
Energy Balls
This big floaty ball of pure electricity is the main feature of the Tesla Engine. Every second or so the Energy Ball will 'pulse' and arc electricity towards nearby objects. When the Energy Ball is shot with the Particle Accelerator, it gains energy like a singularity. When it reaches 300 energy, it generates a mini energy ball that orbits the big energy ball. Each mini-ball that forms will send off an extra shock when the energy ball pulses. The energy ball will also naturally generate small amounts of energy so eventually multiple mini-balls will form, and this process can be sped up by increasing the output of the Particle Accelerator.
Be warned, the energy ball is not stationary, it has a tendency to roam around, typically towards the last object it has shocked. This is why the ball must be kept within a containment field. The more mini-balls the energy ball has, the more shocks it sends out at once, and the further it can travel each time it moves. A good engineer can use this to generate lots of power, and a bad one can cause a catastrophic 'Tesloose' that murders the entire station.
Energy Ball Targets
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
Warning: Tesla coils and grounding rods that are either opened with a screwdriver or not firmly wrenched to the floor will explode violently when struck by tesla bolts.
Tesla Coils
Tesla coils will attract the electrical arcs both from the energy ball and from other tesla coils. They will take half the power of the bolt, pump it into the wire knot directly beneath it, and then will send its remaining energy to the next available conductor, which follows the criteria listed above. Preferably, this will be another coil to harness more of the energy and pump it into the power grid. This is typically referred to as a 'chain strike'.
Grounding Rods
Grounding rods, being a lower priority for tesla strikes and chained tesla strikes, are a means to safely dissipate any excess electrical arcs that the energy balls may generate. Setting these up at the end of the tesla coil 'chain' will provide a means for the chain to terminate, while installing them near the energy ball will allow excess strikes from the ball itself to also dissipate safely. Grounding Rods also have a secondary function in providing lighting from thunderstorms a target to keep people safe outside should they choose to frolic in the bad weather.
Mobs
Being struck by a lightning bolt will severely electrocute the target, often lethally. Huddling around an anchored grounding rod will protect from the tesla's direct wrath.
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.
Containment
In order to keep the Energy Ball inside the engine room a containment field must be employed. The containment field consists of two parts that function in tandem.
Field Generators
When provided power this will spread a containment force field beam across open space to nearby field generators. The generators must be placed orthagonally (north/south, east/west, at right angles) from each other to properly create the field, however they can be many tiles apart. Field generators cannot be powered by wires or area power controllers, and are instead powered by emitters or gyrotrons. In a typical setup each field generator gets its own emitter. Field generators must be wrenched down, then welded, then activated with an empty hand to function.
Emitters
Emitters are essentially large lasers which are used for a variety of engineering tasks, however their function in a tesla engine specifically is to power up the Field Generators so that the containment field remains active while the engine is on. Emitters draw electricity from a wire knot beneath them to function, typically provided by a dedicated SMES battery. Make sure that the emitters never lose power or else the containment field may fail.
Particle Accelerator
The Particle Accelerator fires waves of radioactive energy at the Tesla Generator to form the Energy Ball, and then at the Energy Ball to increase its power. The Particle Accelerator consists of five parts which must be placed in the correct location and orientation to function. While it's not important to know exactly what each part does it is important to understand where each part connects to each other.
At the back of the Particle Accelerator is the Alpha Particle Generation Array, then comes the EM Acceleration Chamber followed by the Particle Focusing EM Lens. At the front end are three EM Containment Grids, consisting of a center piece and two end pieces which must be in the correct side and orientation. Facing towards the front of the Particle Accelerator from the back, the Particle Accelerator Control Computer should be on the right hand side of the EM Acceleration Chamber, so a Particle Accelerator facing towards the right will have its computer on the south side while if it were facing left it would be on the northern side. All seven parts must be secured to the floor with a wrench, wired with a single piece of cable, and then its service hatch must be screwed shut. Once everything is set the computer can be accessed to scan for parts. If you receive an error then ensure all parts are in the correct spot and facing the right way. Otherwise it will detect all parts and be ready to turn on. There are three intensity levels ranging from 0 to 2, but the console can be hacked to enable level 3 power. The Energy Ball and mini-balls will form the fastest at power level 3, while shutting the Particle Accelerator off completely will gradually allow the Energy Ball to lose energy and eventually dissipate. If the energy ball dissipates (or there's been an accident) then a new Tesla Generator must be ordered from cargo so the engine can be restarted.
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 the 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 right here.
The engine is, for the most part, housed inside the Tether in the north-west portion of Asteroid 1, or the Stellar Delight in the south-east end of Deck 2. 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 capture the power from the tesla, while the grounding rods make sure you don't get fried by the tesla. Both are very important because you 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 weld down all the emitters, then you can 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 weld, then 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 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!
If any of the parts were bumped or pushed around, you may need to put them back into place. All the components must be in the correct locations and facing the same direction. If a part was secured in the wrong place, they can be deconstructed by using a screwdriver to open the panel, wire cutters to remove the wiring, and a wrench to unsecure it.
4.5 Hack the Particle Accelerator (Optional)
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 extreme power levels even faster. The best part is that there are 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 (which is maximum input AND output. Seriously, do this.), 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 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 the power to the engine network is lost, 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 an 80/20 chance because it is attracted to conductible materials.
- The tesla can kill from extreme distances.
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.
Guide Table 
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