Sails/engines vs hull ratio

[amongstshadows]

So if my engines/sails are double my hull my ship is quick/fast, but if my sails are damaged from flying, or my engines are damaged in battle causing my engines/sails to no longer be double my hull, would my ship become medium agility/speed?

Basically, I want to know if I should have exactly double engines/sails, or if a few extra are useful

[resistor]

It will still be FAST/QUICK, even if you lose some sails or engines.

[amongstshadows]

Apr 11, 2017 12:42:48 GMT -5 resistor said:

It will still be FAST/QUICK, even if you lose some sails or engines.

Would I lose the bonus to fuel consumption from engines/sails being less than double?

[resistor]

Apr 11, 2017 23:54:50 GMT -5 amongstshadows said:

Apr 11, 2017 12:42:48 GMT -5 resistor said:

It will still be FAST/QUICK, even if you lose some sails or engines.

Would I lose the bonus to fuel consumption from engines/sails being less than double?

I'm pretty sure FAST/QUICK gives a fuel consumption penalty, not a bonus, but I might be wrong about that because I haven't played ST1 in a while.

[poryg]

Fast/Quick gives a fuel consumption penalty, just like huge hull. However, you gain a bonus if you have more than 30 sails and another bonus if you have more than 30 engines, which outweighs the penalties. If you have a size 18 hull, 40 sails and 36 engines, with 20 pilot you have like 0.2-0.4 depending on the crew count on Green, which is really low
The more sails you have, the merrier, because fuel consumption goes down (not always though, there are times when more sails actually raise the fuel consumption... It has to do with the crew being able to operate the sails properly), but there's absolutely no point in having more than necessary engines, because other than the 30 engines bonus, engines don't affect the fuel consumption in any way.
If you lose some engines or sails though, your fuel consumption increases pretty considerably, but well, if you have a small enough hull, it won't be a problem if you have a close planet to repair and refuel your ship in.

[athios]

Speed and Agility ratings are permanently set for each ship, based off the stock design. Damage and upgrades don't change this.

Example 1: if you had a 18 Hull Medium speed ship with 35 base Sails, and you got +16 Sails from upgrades, you'd still be a Medium speed ship with 51 Sails. A lot better off in combat than any other Medium ship, but still not as good as a proper Fast ship. (I specifically asked Cory about this before.)
Example 2: if you had a 18 Hull Fast ship but got 20 of your Sails destroyed, your ship would still be classed as Fast, just operating with a heavy penalty.

Regardless of which category your ship fits into (Fast/Med/Slow), having any damaged Sail will drop your fuel efficiency. A single damaged Sail is enough to affect you. >1 damaged Sail is exponentially worse. This damage penalty to fuel efficiency is calculated separately from the Hull:Sail ratio penalties and ≥20 & ≥30 Sail bonuses.

Example 3: if you have 18 Hull Fast ship, you have worse fuel efficiency with 36/40 Sails (4 damaged) than you would with 35/36 Sails (1 damaged). I don't know whether dropping below 30 or 20 Sails will remove the associated fuel efficiency bonus, but my guess is it would not affect that.

So to answer your original question, having exactly double Engines/Sails is sufficient to boost your ship to Quick/Fast. As to extra points (to buffer against damaged ones), Engines for sure would be a double-edged sword, since the more Engines you have, the harder it is for the enemy to fully disable them, BUT more Crew will be tied up to operate them, and you end up with less Crew available to operate Guns or Defend/Board. Sails are passive and can act as a damage soaker, so more points are beneficial in this regard.

[amongstshadows]

Apr 13, 2017 16:11:00 GMT -5 athios said:

Speed and Agility ratings are permanently set for each ship, based off the stock design. Damage and upgrades don't change this.

Example 1: if you had a 18 Hull Medium speed ship with 35 base Sails, and you got +16 Sails from upgrades, you'd still be a Medium speed ship with 51 Sails. A lot better off in combat than any other Medium ship, but still not as good as a proper Fast ship. (I specifically asked Cory about this before.)
Example 2: if you had a 18 Hull Fast ship but got 20 of your Sails destroyed, your ship would still be classed as Fast, just operating with a heavy penalty.

Regardless of which category your ship fits into (Fast/Med/Slow), having any damaged Sail will drop your fuel efficiency. A single damaged Sail is enough to affect you. >1 damaged Sail is exponentially worse. This damage penalty to fuel efficiency is calculated separately from the Hull:Sail ratio penalties and ≥20 & ≥30 Sail bonuses.

Example 3: if you have 18 Hull Fast ship, you have worse fuel efficiency with 36/40 Sails (4 damaged) than you would with 35/36 Sails (1 damaged). I don't know whether dropping below 30 or 20 Sails will remove the associated fuel efficiency bonus, but my guess is it would not affect that.

So to answer your original question, having exactly double Engines/Sails is sufficient to boost your ship to Quick/Fast. As to extra points (to buffer against damaged ones), Engines for sure would be a double-edged sword, since the more Engines you have, the harder it is for the enemy to fully disable them, BUT more Crew will be tied up to operate them, and you end up with less Crew available to operate Guns or Defend/Board. Sails are passive and can act as a damage soaker, so more points are beneficial in this regard.

Never thought of using sails as a damage soak. Interesting strategy