Guide to Shields: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 15:05, 31 July 2026

The shields, as the name implies, protects the SCCV Horizon from all manner of outer space hazards, such as carp, dust, meteors, and rarely, enemy fire. The shield room is located next to Engineering's break room, on deck three.

Setting It Up

Setting the shields is one of the easiest jobs that an Engineer is tasked with. It's simply a matter of knowing the values to set the SMES, capacitor, and generator to.

Set the SMES in the shield room to maximum input (3,00,000 watts), and the output to 2,900,000 watts. This is not a hard rule, and you can lower the values a bit if you want.
Set the shield capacitor to 2,900,000 watts. Click Activate.
Now, check out the shield generator. Set the coverage radius to 100. A coverage radius of 100 will cover all of the Horizon in a blue bubble. Opening the shutters in the shield room will let you see it when on; the shield wraps tightly around the hull.
The charge rate can be set anywhere from 1 to 3.
The maximum field strength can be set to 1 to 2. Using higher values requires hardware upgrades and high energy availability, and generally should only be done when there's an immediate external danger to the Horizon.

After setting these values and turning on the Generator, you should see power usage statistics start to update. Take care not to just walk away- stay for a minute to ensure that the Generator is reporting that shields are Stable and you reach your target Maximum Field Strength. If it stalls out, you won't know until a stray rock blows out a section of hull, or the Bridge starts complaining!

If you've followed these instructions successfully, then congrats! Shields should be spooling up. Assuming you have used a three-megawatt+ Supermatter or INDRA setup, the shields will run mostly stable for the entire round.

Upgrading Shields

Trying to set charge rate and maximum field strength higher than the above values will cause shield generation to stall out; you can tell when this happens because the Hull Shield Generator UI reads a partial Renwick count (i.e. 2.##) and that it is drawing exactly the maximum throughput set on the Shield Capacitor. Both the SMES and the Shield Capacitor are bottlenecks, but both can be upgraded. The SMES can have additional coils installed like all other SMES units, and the Shield Capacitor can receive upgraded parts from Science or Robotics to increase its maximum throughput.

As an alternative to upgrading the SMES, you can also hotwire the Shield Capacitor directly into the main grid! Add a new wire node directly beneath the Shield Capacitor in the direction of the red main grid cable, and splice it in from there. Then you can max out the Shield Capacitor throughput (so long as sufficient power is available in the network) to push the shields to much higher levels!

Shield Tips and Troubleshooting

Sections of shield that are destroyed (by carp bumping into them, meteors hitting them, Security Officers slapping them with a maglight, etc.) regenerate automatically.
You can use a wrench on the capacitor and generator to move them anywhere you'd like. There may be an extremely rare case where it is recommended to seal something on the ship within a bubble, but in that case, you're probably best off using the emergency shields in Engineering Hard Storage instead.
It is also worth noting that shields do not seal atmosphere. Don't try using them to hold a breach.
The shields can be easily sabotaged by snipping the wire nodes underneath them and the SMES they're attached to. Check the wires using your T-ray scanner if the shields aren't working.
Shields can also drain a lot of power; if they're not turning on, check that you have any of the reactors set up properly. It may be that another appliance on the ship is draining the power you need, or your engine isn't functioning at full capacity.

Guides of the Horizon
General	Getting Started - Guide to Combat - Guide to EVA - Guide to Communication - Standard Operating Procedure - Corporate Regulations - Stellar Corporate Conglomerate Occupation Qualifications
Command	Guide to Command - Guide to Paperwork - Standard Operating Procedure - Guide to Faxes - Chain of Command - Guide to Piloting - Guide to Gunnery
Security	Guide to Security - Guide to Contraband - Corporate Regulations - Guide to Cadavers - Standard Operating Procedure
Engineering	Guide to Construction - Guide to Advanced Construction - Hacking - Guide to Atmospherics - Supermatter Engine - INDRA Engine - Setting up the Solar Array - Telecommunications - Shields
Medical	Guide to Medicine - Guide to Surgery - Guide to Chemistry
Research	Guide to Research and Development - Guide to Xenobiology - Guide to Xenobotany - Guide to Xenoarchaeology - Guide to Telescience - Guide to Piloting
Operations	Guide to Mining - Guide to Robotics - Guide to Shuttle Maintenance - Guide to Gunnery
Civilian	Guide to Food - Guide to Drinks - Guide to Hydroponics
Non-human	Cyborg - AI - Guide to Psionics
Special	Odyssey - Mercenary - Ninja - Changeling - Vampire - Raider - Revolutionary - Cultist - Technomancer - Guide to Improvised Weapons - Uplink

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-== Introduction: Shields and you. Why bother? ==
+[[File:SetupShields-ShieldRoom.png|thumb|The shield room in engineering.]]
+The shields, as the name implies, protects the [[SCCV Horizon]] from all manner of outer space hazards, such as carp, dust, meteors, and rarely, enemy fire. The shield room is located next to [[Engineering]]'s break room, on deck three.
-'''''(Please note that this guide assumes you have basic knowledge of the station layout, but limited knowledge of the engineering department layout specifically, and as such, will assume you can do things like “go to the surface level” without being told exactly what steps to take. If you need more help, please ask for help in-character.)'''''
+== Setting It Up ==
+Setting the shields is one of the easiest jobs that an [[Engineer]] is tasked with. It's simply a matter of knowing the values to set the SMES, capacitor, and generator to.
-[[File:Shieldguide1.png]]
+[[File:Shield capacitor.png|thumb|The shield capacitor.]]
+[[File:Shield gen.png|thumb|The shield generator.]]
-So you’ve been tasked with setting the shields and you have no idea what to do, huh? What even are these ‘shields’ you’ve heard of? Why should you set them up anyways? It’s important to understand first off, that there’s two types of shields involved. We’ll quickly touch on what each type does, so you have an idea of what they should be used for.
+# Set the SMES in the shield room to maximum input (3,00,000 watts), and the output to 2,900,000 watts. This is not a hard rule, and you can lower the values a bit if you want.
+# Set the '''shield capacitor''' to 2,900,000 watts. Click <code>Activate</code>.
+# Now, check out the '''shield generator'''. Set the coverage radius to 100. A coverage radius of 100 will cover all of the Horizon in a blue bubble. Opening the shutters in the shield room will let you see it when on; the shield wraps tightly around the hull.
+# The '''charge rate''' can be set anywhere from 1 to 3.
+# The '''maximum field strength''' can be set to 1 to 2. Using higher values requires hardware upgrades and high energy availability, and generally should only be done when there's an immediate external danger to the Horizon.
+After setting these values and turning on the Generator, you should see power usage statistics start to update. Take care not to just walk away- stay for a minute to ensure that the Generator is reporting that shields are Stable and you reach your target Maximum Field Strength. If it stalls out, you won't know until a stray rock blows out a section of hull, or the Bridge starts complaining!
-{| class="sortable" border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" align="center"
+If you've followed these instructions successfully, then congrats! Shields should be spooling up. Assuming you have used a three-megawatt+ [[Supermatter]] or [[INDRA]] setup, the shields will run mostly stable for the entire round.
-! style='background-color:Chocolate;'|Type of Shield
-! style='background-color:Chocolate;'|Style of Projection
-! style='background-color:Chocolate;'|Common Usage
-|-
-!Hull Shield
-|Project shields on the surface of the station hull, like a skin surrounding it.
-|Carp Migrations, Lost Drones from NTV Icarus, Hostile Forces
-|-
-!Bubble Shield
-|Project shields around the station in a bubble, protecting the station and anything else within.
-|Meteor Showers
-|}
+== Upgrading Shields ==
+Trying to set '''charge rate''' and '''maximum field strength''' higher than the above values will cause shield generation to stall out; you can tell when this happens because the Hull Shield Generator UI reads a partial Renwick count (i.e. 2.##) and that it is drawing exactly the maximum throughput set on the '''Shield Capacitor'''. Both the SMES and the Shield Capacitor are bottlenecks, but both can be upgraded. The SMES can have additional coils installed like all other SMES units, and the Shield Capacitor can receive upgraded parts from Science or Robotics to increase its maximum throughput.
-With that said, let’s get to what we’re going to need to set up the shields, and where they’re stored.
+As an alternative to upgrading the SMES, you can also hotwire the Shield Capacitor directly into the main grid! Add a new wire node directly beneath the Shield Capacitor in the direction of the red main grid cable, and splice it in from there. Then you can max out the Shield Capacitor throughput (so long as sufficient power is available in the network) to push the shields to much higher levels!
-== Tools of the Trade: What you’ll need to set up the Hull and Bubble Shields, and where can you find it? ==
+== Shield Tips and Troubleshooting ==
+* Sections of shield that are destroyed (by carp bumping into them, meteors hitting them, [[Security Officer|Security Officers]] slapping them with a maglight, etc.) regenerate automatically.
+* You can use a wrench on the capacitor and generator to move them anywhere you'd like. There may be an extremely rare case where it is recommended to seal something on the ship within a bubble, but in that case, you're probably best off using the emergency shields in Engineering Hard Storage instead.
+* It is also worth noting that shields '''do not seal atmosphere'''. Don't try using them to hold a breach.
+* The shields can be easily sabotaged by snipping the wire nodes underneath them and the SMES they're attached to. Check the wires using your T-ray scanner if the shields aren't working.
+* Shields can also drain a lot of power; if they're not turning on, check that you have any of the reactors set up properly. It may be that another appliance on the ship is draining the power you need, or your engine isn't functioning at full capacity.
-You begin by spawning in the Engineering Foyer. Let’s head to our left through the double doors and into the Engineering Storage room.
+{{Guides}}
+[[Category:Guides]]
-[[File:Shieldguide2.png]]
-[[File:Shieldguide3.png]]
-Once you are inside the Engineering Storage room, now what? The table below will list everything you need, as well as steps following that to gather each item.
-{| class="sortable" border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" align="center"
-! style='background-color:Chocolate;'|Image of Item
-! style='background-color:Chocolate;'|Item Name
-! style='background-color:Chocolate;'|Item Usage
-! style='background-color:Chocolate;'|Where you can find it
-|-
-![[File:Yellowgloves.png]]
-|Insulated Gloves
-|For protecting your precious hands from electrical shock. Note: DO NOT use Budget Insulated Gloves. Ever.
-|Electrical Supplies Locker(<b><font color=red> Red Circle </font></b>)
-|-
-![[File:Metal.png]]
-|Steel Sheets
-|For creating Steel Rods (See steps below)
-|Supplies Rack(<b><font color=blue> Blue Circle </font></b>)
-|-
-![[File:Glass.png]]
-|Glass Sheets
-|For creating Reinforced Glass Sheets (See Steps below)
-|Supplies Rack(<b><font color=blue> Blue Circle </font></b>)
-|-
-![[File:Airlock electronics.png]]
-|Airlock Electronics
-|For creating Airlocks/Windoors.
-|Engi-Vend(<b><font color=green> Green Circle)
-|}
-*Step 1. Grab Insulated Gloves from the Electrical Supplies Locker and put them on your hands. This step is important, as you may lose your hands if you play with the power grid without protection.
-*Step 2. Walk to your right and grab two '''Airlock Electronics''' by dispensing them from the Engi-Vend. Put them in your bag for now, we’ll come back to them later.
-*Step 3. Walk over to your left and pick up the '''Steel Sheets'''. Use them in your hand and it should
-pull up a menu (Shown below).
-'''The Menu'''
-[[File:Shieldguide4.png]]
-After you’ve opened the menu, you’re going to want to create thirty Metal Rods. You can do so by pressing the buttons “20x” and “10x”. You’ll get a message in your chat box that lists how many metal rods are in the stack.
-*Step 4. Take your freshly created Metal Rods (they should be on the floor below you), and use them on the Glass Sheets to create fourteen Reinforced Glass Sheets. A message will once again be in the chat box to inform you of how many you’ve made so far.
-*Step 5. Store the fourteen Reinforced Glass Sheets and remaining sixteen Metal Rods in your backpack for later. This is all the items we’ll need to complete shields setup.
-When you’re done, your backpack inventory should look something like this. Congratulations, you’re prepared to start work on the shields themselves.
-[[File:Shieldguide5.png]]
-== The Shields Themselves: Where are they? ==
-[[File:Shieldguide6.png]]
-After you’ve gotten all of your materials, it’s time to grab the shield generators and their accompanying capacitors. They can be found North of the Engineering Storage room, inside Engineering Hard Storage. The image to the left shows exactly how to get to Engineering Hard Storage from where you were in the previous step.
-Below is what you’ll find inside of an unmolested Hard Storage room. It’s important to remember that other engineers may have moved things around, so it may not look exactly the same.
-[[File:Shieldguide7.png]]
-The <font color=red>Red Circle</font> is the '''Bubble Shield''', while the <font color=blue>Blue Circle</font> is the '''Hull Shield'''. We’ll want to go ahead and drag all four pieces to the surface level. It is recommended that you have someone help you do this, as dragging all four to the surface level will take quite some time. When you reach the surface on the lifts, you’ll want to head to the area below the garden. The '''Bubble Shield''' will barely reach the Surface Command Dock, so it’s very important to put it in the correct place. The '''Hull Shield''' can go wherever, but it’s more efficient to put it right next to the Bubble Shield incase of emergency.
-== Setting Up Shield Containment: Looking Pretty ==

Guide to Shields: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 15:05, 31 July 2026

Setting It Up

Upgrading Shields

Shield Tips and Troubleshooting

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