User:Kingfish

The Tesla Engine is an alternative power source to the singularity 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.

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, and this 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 conductors, which it prioritizes in this order:

• Tesla coils
• Grounding Rods
• Mobs
• Machines

It will also strike the closest distance-wise of the list after it goes through these criteria.

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 or from the explosions caused by machinery.

Setting It Up

Equipment

The tesla is probably easier than the singularity because you don't have to fill up plasma 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.

The engine is housed inside the station, just south of where you begin off at round start. 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.
• Hardsuit.
• Insulated Gloves, because the Tesla is a giant spinning ball of electricity

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 loose parts (Vital!)

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 well, you actually want to generate power.

2. Remove the singularity generator (Vital!)

Take out the singularity generator, so you don't activate it with the particle accelerator. The Singularity will eat the tesla ball, which 90% of the time results in it breaching containment

3. Start the Emitters (Vital!)

Now that you've gotten everything ready, it's time to start the engine! Run around the singularity area, and turn on the emitters by clicking on them. It's a good idea to start on the port side, as there's a Fire Extinguisher handily floating in space there, and should you slip or hit the emitters, having it in your pack gives you a ghetto jetpack to navigate with. Grab it before you activate the first emitter. Once they're all on, carefully make your way to the inner circle of the area, being sure not to cross in front of any of the Emitters, because you'll get hit by the laser and burned pretty bad.

3.5. Lock the Emitters (Optional)

It is highly recommended 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.

4. Start the Field Generators (Vital!)

Now 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. Gens often have a field of effect 1 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

5. Set up the Particle Accelerator (Vital!)

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!

5.5 (Optional) 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, and this will generate enough power to compete with a Stage 3 Singulo. The best part is, that there's absolutely zero penalties for doing so.

6. Fire it up! (Vital!)

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 the particle acclerator). 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.

7. Activate the SMES Cells (Vital!)

There are four SMESes located in the room at the far west end of Engineering.

Make sure each of the SMESes are set to auto charge, and have the input charge slightly higher than the output. A input/output charge of 200,000/140,000 each will charge the SMES extremely quickly, and ensure the station will always have enough power fed to it. Note that to sustain this level of output, you'll need to have fully filled the plasma tanks from the cylinder in engineering secure storage, and will need to make sure the singularity stays at stage 3. If you can't do one of those two things, setting the SMESes to charge at 160,000 is a safer bet. Watch them for a few minutes to make sure they continue charging. If one or all stops (the light will turn red instead of blinking yellow) adjust one or all a bit to make sure they're not trying to charge faster than the power input to them allows.

After setting them SMESes up, check that they're charging. If it says charging, you didn't fuck up and 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. This part requires a little patience -- if it seems like nothing is happening, give it a minute and check again. After at least a minute, all SMES's should be going slowly from flashing yellow (loading) to red (not loading), but it's just because the singularity is a little unstable as a power source in the early stages.

Also, make sure the APC of the engine is charging, if it isn't, turn down the SMES charge settings AND make sure all the radiation collectors are online.

9. Maintenance (Optional)

The Tesla is very low maintenance. All you really have to do is to check that the emitters are still powering the shield generators. Even a greyshit fiddling with the PA controls won't endanger the containment of the Tesla.

Upgrading

Bug science to upgrade your Tesla Coils with a Bluespace RPED (you have to carry it out into space because some of the tesla coils are pretty far away) so it can generate even !!MORE!! power.

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 a spaceman; you can protect yourself partially with either insulated gloves or a hardsuit, while wearing both will make you immune to electric bolts. 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.