Electronic Logic Please

[YouEatLard]

Could we please get logic gates and multiple input terminal bus bars?

This would an ultimate reason to invest into the intelligence and engineering skills. Logic gates would be a huge upgrade. It will add a huge amount of possibility and capability that players would love. It would also teach people about electronics and programming.

Such an update would also serve as a major incentive to Youtubers to revisit the game (advertising).

Limitations could easily keep things in check. Perhaps the first level of a skill would only allow use of logic items that were found. Maybe the next level would allow use, but with a fair probability of failure if they were toggled too many times within a time frame. Increased skills might increase the amount of toggles before the failure rate came into play and/or decrease the failure rate all together. IRL a transistor can be made with a penny. Maybe the final skill level could allow the creation of a Duke transistor?

Hard limits (configurable setting) could limit toggles within a time frame. Such limits would keep people from killing servers with non-stable multi-vibrators.

The dev investment would likely be just a couple hours. The product would be of the hardest hitting additions the game has seen in sometime.

[CoinSpin]

This is a common request / suggestion (I've had a few along these lines myself). Do a basic search and you'll find multiple very full threads of discussions about the topic.

The problem is that electricity seems to have been slapped into the game, taken to a basic degree (only 1 input, always have to wire in series, super simple) and then the devs walked away to work on the other stuff that really needs finishing prior to release. It's not a priority, might not ever be one prior to leaving alpha.

Would love to see electricity get some love. But, I can guarantee you, with the basic coding and implementation of how the electric grid and power flow is handled, there is no universe where it would only require "a couple hours" of dev time. There are lots of details and fringe cases you have to consider when dealing with electricity to begin with, and the wiring system would have to completely change to accommodate allowing multiple distinct inputs for individual electrical components. Right now, it's 1 wiring contact per block, period. Even relays, you can have multiple branches but they are all connected at 1 single point. Multipoint logic and a method to wire to specific points would be a potentially big undertaking alone, before you could even consider dealing with the power distribution logic behind the blocks and grid connections.

[[-=O=-]^FightinCock]

Sorry.... they will stick to the kiss method....

The devs have stated and just watching the evolution of the game over the years that they are making it more easier to plug and play... by streamlining systems.... and not more complicated / harder to understand.

Maybe they will refine it / add to it at a later date, but it wont be getting more complicated.

[YouEatLard]

Originally posted by CoinSpin:

This is a common request / suggestion (I've had a few along these lines myself). Do a basic search and you'll find multiple very full threads of discussions about the topic. ....

Originally posted by -=O=-^FightinCock:

Sorry.... they will stick to the kiss method.... ...

Agreed and understood. I've heard them respond negatively on the topic during live streams. That said, never expect a yes to requests that you don't ask. The dev team has expanded in personnel and experience. Pictures change as time passes. Why not poke on occasion?

[doughphunghus]

Also been watching the forums, and interested in electricity as I feel it could use some love: I believe I have seen a definite "no" to logic gates/devices in the forums. However, I also saw some mod (old mod) that made a switch work both ways (like a manual flip flop), so if not built into the game, once the game goes gold a modder may be able to pull something off. I only mention this because I concur (with the posts above) that electricity is "done" right now ( a.k.a. its "shippable"). Once its "done" modders are more likely to try to attempt something complex like this, and right now every new release changes things, and isn't super well documented.

Additionally: I think part of the issue is ( and I'm relying on things I think I read, so I can be wrong) with electricity being more complex is because of 2 things:
1. It can use a lot of CPU resources to make complex circuits ( like in PvP ), as it is implemented today. So htey are purposely not wanting it to get more complicated.

2. I think they're using a tree like structure (internally) so circuits can only branch out and go "1 way, outwards" but can never form a circle. Basically the circuit starts at "the trunk" and can split outwards only. Its probably fast to implement, and less resource intensive than doing anything more complex. Personally I think some of the "electrical oddities" are the devs overriding some things in the tree structure just to get things to work. This is why you can't connect 2 batteries in series, etc but you can connect them in series if you put a relay in between them. Just my thoughts based on how it behaves, nothing concrete.

[...👑 JOST AMMAN 👑...]

Originally posted by YouEatLard:

Could we please get logic gates and multiple input terminal bus bars?

This would an ultimate reason to invest into the intelligence and engineering skills. Logic gates would be a huge upgrade. It will add a huge amount of possibility and capability that players would love. It would also teach people about electronics and programming.

Programmers and games...

[YouEatLard]

Originally posted by doughphunghus:

Also been watching the forums, and interested in electricity as I feel it could use some love: I believe I have seen a definite "no" to logic gates/devices in the forums. However, I also saw some mod (old mod) that made a switch work both ways (like a manual flip flop), so if not built into the game, once the game goes gold a modder may be able to pull something off. I only mention this because I concur (with the posts above) that electricity is "done" right now ( a.k.a. its "shippable"). Once its "done" modders are more likely to try to attempt something complex like this, and right now every new release changes things, and isn't super well documented.

Additionally: I think part of the issue is ( and I'm relying on things I think I read, so I can be wrong) with electricity being more complex is because of 2 things:
1. It can use a lot of CPU resources to make complex circuits ( like in PvP ), as it is implemented today. So htey are purposely not wanting it to get more complicated.

2. I think they're using a tree like structure (internally) so circuits can only branch out and go "1 way, outwards" but can never form a circle. Basically the circuit starts at "the trunk" and can split outwards only. Its probably fast to implement, and less resource intensive than doing anything more complex. Personally I think some of the "electrical oddities" are the devs overriding some things in the tree structure just to get things to work. This is why you can't connect 2 batteries in series, etc but you can connect them in series if you put a relay in between them. Just my thoughts based on how it behaves, nothing concrete.

Without seeing the code, it's hard to say what the thought process is. It's possible that the "no" was just based off an initial off hand response. Like "Uh, nerd BS really isn't what the game is about..." and they moved on with the initial answer without really thinking about it. Then they talked up the math that went into the flags blowing in the wind.

I know that logic can cause issues on servers; I accidentally crashed a minecraft server a few times before I realized that it was my fault. That said, this could easily be fixed with the state of the world. "Look, this stuff is old and you're not an expert at using it. Over tax it and it will break." More or less, set a delay counter and either a finite toggle limit, or a toggle limit per unit of time. Perhaps all of the above.

Either way, they've said time and again that their target is for small group server settings (like 1-12 people). They're not looking for larger scales of 20-64+ people. This kindof limits the impact that we'd see. Maybe 1 in 5-10 would spend time making something complex. The rest would likely just do simple AND circuits for traps or 3 way circuits for lights. Perhaps the option to turn off electronics logic could be an option for server owners.

Again, I've also seen them say no in the past. Maybe they'd still say no if a one more or a few hundred more ask. Then again, maybe not.

[Pulikutya]

Originally posted by -=O=-^FightinCock:

Sorry.... they will stick to the kiss method....

The devs have stated and just watching the evolution of the game over the years that they are making it more easier to plug and play... by streamlining systems.... and not more complicated / harder to understand.

Maybe they will refine it / add to it at a later date, but it wont be getting more complicated.

Ironically, it would get less complicated with logic gates compared to overloading circuit trick we have to do now.