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Suggestions / Mid-game logic systems
« on: April 25, 2017, 07:56:29 pm »
Ingame needs
At a certain point of the game, the player will control a good amount of machines. Different machines can produce different things, and most of them can produce different things depending on the inputs.
Almost any player will want to automatize the production of parts, and this can accomplished in two main ways:
The input can be automatized quite a lot, but in both cases there is a main issue: there is not a "real" way to turn on and off machines. A craft can be avoided/stopped just removing the blackrock blue voxels, but it is not a real "human friendly" approach. Advanced actions can be performed with a computer, but it is an end-game approach.
In short: a logic system to control machines is needed.
Short-term implementation
A change that, maybe, could not require a massive effort is the following: the current human interfaces, the indicator light and the input switch, could be able to interact with the most of the artificial voxels.
Example 1
There is an atomic compressor with an adjacent materializer which is connected (with transmitters or conveyor belts) to an automatized production system. Moreover, there is a block above the atomic compressor indicating what will be produced in relation to this input. The player can put a certain amount of blackrock blue voxels inside the compressor and use the switch.
This approach already works, but it is not possible to "stop" the materializer. If an input switch placed above the materializer could interact with it, this would be possible.
Example 2
Production system can be chained. The same output product can be used by different downstream machines.
Input switches could be used to select specific chains and obtain different output without manipulating the production chain.
Medium-term implementation
Adding some voxels could improve dramatically the usability:
It is easy to imagine all the possible applications of these features.
Long-term implementation
Ok, put here everything you could imagine. One important thing would be a sort of content interactor, to allow the detection of the voxel stored inside the machines. We can also think to every possible gates, latches, timers, counters and so on.
What do you think? Do you thing that these could be useful (and funny) mechanics? Do you think they could be implemented in the game with a balanced amount of efforts? Are there more important things that need to be implemented and have higher priority? Feedback appreciated!
At a certain point of the game, the player will control a good amount of machines. Different machines can produce different things, and most of them can produce different things depending on the inputs.
Almost any player will want to automatize the production of parts, and this can accomplished in two main ways:
- Automatization of machines using sequencers, customization of the recipe of the sequencer
- Many copies of the same machine, every machine (and its automatization) is related to only one recipe
The input can be automatized quite a lot, but in both cases there is a main issue: there is not a "real" way to turn on and off machines. A craft can be avoided/stopped just removing the blackrock blue voxels, but it is not a real "human friendly" approach. Advanced actions can be performed with a computer, but it is an end-game approach.
In short: a logic system to control machines is needed.
Short-term implementation
A change that, maybe, could not require a massive effort is the following: the current human interfaces, the indicator light and the input switch, could be able to interact with the most of the artificial voxels.
Example 1
There is an atomic compressor with an adjacent materializer which is connected (with transmitters or conveyor belts) to an automatized production system. Moreover, there is a block above the atomic compressor indicating what will be produced in relation to this input. The player can put a certain amount of blackrock blue voxels inside the compressor and use the switch.
This approach already works, but it is not possible to "stop" the materializer. If an input switch placed above the materializer could interact with it, this would be possible.
Example 2
Production system can be chained. The same output product can be used by different downstream machines.
Input switches could be used to select specific chains and obtain different output without manipulating the production chain.
Medium-term implementation
Adding some voxels could improve dramatically the usability:
- A cable voxel, able to bring the logic signal around. Coloured cables to avoid mixing signals from adjacent cables;
- A sensor. A block able to emit a logic signal whenever a block is present in front of it
- A NOR gate. I am not completely sure, but this (with the cable) could be sufficient to create a turing-complete logic system
It is easy to imagine all the possible applications of these features.
Long-term implementation
Ok, put here everything you could imagine. One important thing would be a sort of content interactor, to allow the detection of the voxel stored inside the machines. We can also think to every possible gates, latches, timers, counters and so on.
What do you think? Do you thing that these could be useful (and funny) mechanics? Do you think they could be implemented in the game with a balanced amount of efforts? Are there more important things that need to be implemented and have higher priority? Feedback appreciated!