Willis Ducts
| Willis Ducts | |
|---|---|
| |
| Category: | Decorative |
| Function: | a maintenance tunnel block |
| Fits large grid | |
| Mass: | 600 kg |
| PCU: | 1 |
| Size: | 1x1x1 |
| Time to Build: | 14 sec |
| Data Controls: | [edit] [purge] (?) |
Willis Ducts are a set of decorative passage blocks that look like maintenance ducts. They were added as part of the free Automatons update.
Usage
Willis Ducts are used to build horizontal tunnels in place of floor or wall blocks to provide less visible access between two areas. You must crouch-walk through Willis Ducts by pressing C key.
Use Willis Ducts in large grids and in stations that have artificial or planetary gravity; you can't use them well in zero gravity since you won't be able to crouch-walk and will simply get stuck inside.
You can try different orientations:
- If you roll the Willis Ducts block 90 degrees to the side, so that the opening is upright at full player height, you will still need to crouch to walk through, and stepping over the "doorstep" is clumsy.
- If you tilt Willis Ducts blocks 90 degrees backwards, you can just barely jetpack up or down inside. To travel up and down, Passages and Ladder Shafts are much more practical. Even though tilted Willis Ducts visually line up with the two ladder openings of Ladder Shafts, they do not allow transitioning to the ladder on the way up.
For role playing, the Willis Ducts' design lets you pretend that the block's closed-off third of volume contains cables or other elements that need direct maintenance by engineers. Fugitives could hide in these crawl spaces, and boarders could sneak around unseen and watch the crew through the grates.
Compared to the similar Passage block, the insides of Willis Ducts have only two-thirds the height. Willis Ducts have a floor and a ceiling, which Passages do not.
Construction
The Willis Ducts exist for large grid ships and stations only, and they are 1x1x1 blocks in size. They cost 1 PCU, except for "Willis Duct Light" which costs 25 PCU due to it being a light source.
There are 8 variants:
Willis Duct — A straight duct segment
Willis Duct 2 — A straight duct segment with a grated window on one side
Willis Duct Light — A straight duct segment that emits light. Mix into the other variants for moody lighting.
Willis Duct Ramp — A straight duct segment that starts at the upper third and ends at the lower third of the opposite block face, as if avoiding an unseen structural part of the ship. It allows crouching through but partially blocks the player's line of sight. It does not match up with a half block.
Willis Duct Corner — An L shaped 90 degrees curved tunnel segment similar to a curved conveyor. The inside has a decorative fan.
Willis Duct T Junction — A T shaped tunnel segment similar to a T Junction Conveyor
Willis Duct X Junction — A four-way junction segment
Willis Duct Grate — A small semi-permanent lid to close off the openings of these blocks. Needs to be grinded off.
Trivia
In the game files, Willis Ducts are called Air Ducts.
Willis Ducts correspond to Jeffreys Tubes in Star Trek. In Space Engineers, they are named after Bruce Willis[1] who climbed through air ducts in the movie Die Hard (1988).
Gallery
Willis Duct T Junction
Willis Duct
Willis Duct 2
Willis Duct X Junction
Willis Duct T Junction
Willis Duct Ramp
Willis Duct Light
Willis Duct Corner
Willis Duct Grate
Recipe
The recipe is the same for all variants, only the T Junction and the X Junction cost a few steel and interior plates less.
| Willis Duct | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Component | Large Ship/Station Required | Large Ship/Station Optional | Small Ship Required | Small Ship Optional |
 Steel Plate | 10 | — | — | — |
 Large Steel Tube | 4 | — | — | — |
 Interior Plate | 20 | — | — | — |
 Construction Comp. | 15 | 15 | — | — |
T Junction and the X Junction:
| Willis Duct T Junction | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Component | Large Ship/Station Required | Large Ship/Station Optional | Small Ship Required | Small Ship Optional |
| Steel Plate | 8 | — | — | — |
| Large Steel Tube | 4 | — | — | — |
| Interior Plate | 15 | — | — | — |
| Construction Comp. | 15 | 15 | — | — |
| Willis Duct X Junction | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Component | Large Ship/Station Required | Large Ship/Station Optional | Small Ship Required | Small Ship Optional |
| Steel Plate | 5 | — | — | — |
| Large Steel Tube | 4 | — | — | — |
| Interior Plate | 10 | — | — | — |
| Construction Comp. | 15 | 15 | — | — |
