Functions (Efficiency and Load)
All MKS processing and production parts have a 'load' feature dictating how fast they process things, displayed as a percentage of its stated VAB capacity. It is always calculated with the following formula:
(Specialist Bonus) * (Number of Bays) * (Resource Fill Amount) * (Planetary Bonus) * (Efficiency Parts Bonus) * (Production Governor)
This is a stock feature, calculated with the formula of 0.05 + ((lvl of most skilled relevant specialist on board + 1) * 0.2).
For example, a 3-star engineer would provide a relative specialist multiplier of (0.05 + ((3 + 1) * 0.2) = 0.85
- Manufacturing parts (inc. stock ISRUs) use Engineers and Technicians as their specialists
- Drills (inc. stock drills) use Engineers and Miners as their specialists
- Parts producing Supplies use Scientists and Botanists as their specialists
- Parts producing Organics use Scientists and Farmers as their specialists
- Different bays use specialists independently, so a specialist may only buff one output of a part
- Mobile Processing Units and automated drills do not use the specialist bonus, locking it at 1
- As long as the specialists are on the same vessel, they will affect the load of ALL the related processors/extractors. (aka. it doesn't matter if they are sitting in that part.)
An MKS unique feature, each MKS processing and production part can have multiple 'production lines' installed. The maximum number of bays is dictated by the part (parts can have one to five bays). Each part will multiply its relevant output by the number of bays set to that process (processes with no bays in the part are discounted).
For example, if an Industrial Refinery has one bay set to Silicon and two set to Metals, it will have a bay multiplier of 1 for Silicon and 2 for Metals. This means it will produce double the amount of Metals as it does Silicon.
All MKS processing parts use the Machinery resource over time (producing Recyclables in the process). This can be refilled either by an Engineer or Mechanic on EVA or (automatically, once per day) by one of them in Tundra/Ranger Workshop or Assembly Plant. However, once the machinery tally starts to run down and the machinery level drops, efficiency is multiplied what proportion filled the converter is.
For example, if a converter has 740/1,000 machinery, it will gain a multiplier of 0.74
Over time, Kerbals situated on a planet will accumulate points in the three kolonisation stats. All MKS parts that have a function will tap into these in their own way.
For example, if a planet has a Geology rating of 210%, a drill situated on that planet will receive a production multiplier 2.12 = 4.41
- Drills and processing converters use the Geology rating2
- Supplies and Organics production use the Geology rating * Botany rating
- Habitation time is also affected by this, with each kerbal's habitation time receiving a multiplier of the Kolonisation Rating2
Some parts have the option to set their bays to providing a buff to other parts rather than processing anything themselves. All parts with efficiency modules (which are installed in place of processing bays) have a displayed 'boost power' stat and a category, and parts able to be boosted in this way also have a category and 'consumption' stat. The efficiency multiplier for a processor being boosted by an efficiency part is 1 + ((boost power * No of efficiency modules [calculated individually, this stacks across multiple efficiency parts]) / efficiency part consumption).
For example, an Agriculture Support Module belongs to the 'crusher' category and has a 'consumption' of 4.48. If the vessel has a 2.5m Material Processing Unit with both bays set to 'crusher' and a Ranger Crush-O-Matic set to 'crusher, the efficiency part multiplier is 1 + ((1.728 * 2) + (0.83 * 1) / 4.48) = 1.96
Efficiency parts will only boost parts with the same category as their efficiency module/s.
All processing parts have Governor tweakable, which is simply an output limiter. Its setting between 0 and 1 is the multiplier it applies to the processing speed-for example, in case you don't have the power supply capabilities to be running a resource processor at full tilt all day.
For example, if the governor is set to 0.6, the governor multiplier is 0.6.