I've seen the Light - Lights Info: Update 4 edition

[Grizzt]

I'm sometimes a little slow on the uptake. I was the guy who took forever to really understand what a Power Grid actually meant (golly, it isn't hooking Biomass burners directly to specific Constructors?)

And right on cue, I was getting confused about how lights were controlled, not controlled, or how Light Control Panel's prioritized which lights they controlled (if there was any prioritization at all).

As often as not I'd set up some lights, hook them up to a light control panel, or the nearest power connector if the control panel was too far away....and my lights seemed to have a mind of their own. Sometimes they'd listen to their local control panel, other times they'd listen to a control panel kilometers away. Or not listen to the control panel at all, and turn off/on or be set to a colour of their own. Night Mode worked sometimes with some lights, but not others (or so I thought). And hooking a new light to an existing series of lights? Everything seemed to fall apart.

So I set up a little 'demo' test area to finally figure out how things really worked. 2 street lamps, a wall mount and a Light Control Panel. Then next to it a couple foundations away, the same setup. How would they interact with different cabling setups and connections to the Main Power Grid?

Maybe this will help other people who, like me, didn't immediately clue in to what the different power nodes are on a Light Control Panel were about, or how lights 'talked' to Control Panel's - and each other.

Types of lights:

1. Street Lights - can be controlled individually by walking up to them and changing their settings.
2. Flood Light Tower - Like street lights, can be individually controlled
3. Wall Mounted - As the name says, mounted to walls. Cannot be individually controlled. They need a Light Control Panel to change colour, intensity, night mode, etc.
4. Ceiling Light - Like Wall Mounted lights, cannot be individually controlled. They, too, need a Light Control Panel to change their settings.

Common Features: All lights can support 2 cables. One cable 'in' and one cable going 'out'. The idea is that you connect lights to one another in a Series (you may also hear this referred to as a Light Power Grid (not to be confused with your Main Power Grid). At some point the 'first' light in the Series will connect to a Light Control Panel (more on that below).

But they don't *need* to connect to a Light Control Panel in order to function. Any light may be directly connected to your existing Power Grid. They will receive power and will turn on. Any lights connected in series to this light will also receive power and turn on. Street/Tower lights can then be modified individually. Wall/Ceiling lights will only display a default White light *or* will use their last known configuration if they were once connected to a Light Control Panel.


Light Control Panel (LCP):

Can control the colour, intensity and Night Mode setting of lights connected to it ("connected to it" has several different possibilities, described below).

LCP's have 2 Power Connectors: One is 'unlabelled' (it is the shorter, stubbier of the 2 connectors on the panel). It's function is to connect the Light Control Panel to your existing Power Grid. The other is labelled with a small 'light bulb' icon. This is the Light Power Connector (as per it's description in the crafting screen).

The intended function of the Light Power Connector is to connect the Lights Control Panel to a Series of lights. Typically, it will connect to the 'first' (usually the nearest) light in the Series. This light then connects to the next light (using it's 2nd available power connector), and so on, forming a self-contained 'light grid' -- or 'Series -- all attached to, and controlled by, the Light Control Panel.

However, similar to Lights themselves, BOTH Light Control Panel's power connectors can instead be connected to your existing Main Power Grid. What happens then is (or was) the source of most of my confusion regarding control of lights. Here is what happens when you do this:



Connecting the Light Power Connector to Main Power Grid (a cautionary tale):

Any Light Control Panel whose 'light bulb' connector is attached to your main Power Grid (instead of a specific Series of lights) will then have full control over EVERY other light in your world that is also *directly* connected to your Main Power Grid.

This means that if you have LCP's scattered around your world, each with their "Light Bulb" connector attached to your Main Power Grid, they will all have control of any other lights *anywhere* also directly connected to your Power Grid. So you can walk up to any of these Light Control Panels and change the setting of any lights on the Power Grid (ie: not in an isolated Series of their own - more on that below), the lights will 'obey' the settings of the Light Control Panel you most recently adjusted.

So if you are connecting lights, and think it's is easier to connect a remote Street Light, Flood Light, or maybe an entire building full of lights directory to a Wall Mount or Electric Pole that's on your main Power Grid, be aware that their colour, intensity and Night Mode settings can, and will, be modified by any Light Control Panel also attached this way...no matter where it is.

To summarize this section: Connecting a Light Control Panel's "Light Power Connector" (the one with the Light Bulb icon) to the Main Power Grid is generally to be avoided, unless you need such LCP's to be able to control a widely separated group of lights scattered around your world, giving them all the same colour/intensity/Night mode settings.


Isolating your Light Power Grid:

If you want to avoid the above situation you must isolate and separate a light, or a series of lights, from your main Power Grid. You do this by only connecting lights to each other, and ultimately one light *must* connect to the "Light Bulb" connector on a specific Light Control Panel.

It is only the Light Control Panel's other, unmarked, power connector that will attach to the Main Power Grid and thus supply power to the entire Series of lights.

If you set it up this way, the LCP will control only those lights attached to it's "Light Bulb" connector, and no others. Not even lights elsewhere that may be *directly* connected to the Main Power Grid. That Light Control Panel, and it's attached Series of Lights are on their own isolated "Light Power Grid", and will be protected from any 'mischief' if you adjust settings on lights or Panel's elsewhere.

Dedicating a separate Wall Mount & Power Pole grid for Lights

Cable management and keeping things tidy is always a concern for the discerning Factory Engineer. It may not be possible to connect every light to one another and avoid a tangled 'spider web' of cables criss-crossing your factory. So, to keep your Light Series isolated, you may need to create and install a completely separate wiring grid, or cable network, dedicated only to connecting lights to one another.

When placing a Wall Mount or Power Pole designed to transfer Power to factory machines, you may also want to place another, separate wall mount, or power pole not connected to this grid. You connect these separated wall mounts & poles to one another, and then to a light or group of lights you need to control.

Ultimately, a single cable will be run from this isolated Light Grid (from a light, or a wall mount) to the "Light Bulb" connector on the Light Control Panel. Remember it is only the 'unmarked' 'stubby' Power Connector on the Light Control Panel that must 'touch' or be connected to your Main Power Grid.

Summary of Isolating a Light Power Grid

To avoid having any light connected directly to the Main Power Grid, and risk some far-away 'foreign' Control Panel adjusting it's settings, you have to isolate lights, or series of lights, on their own separate cable network. This will usually mean placing Wall Mounts and Power Poles in convenient areas close to these lights to supply them with a connection to the isolated Series they are a part of. Just remember to *never* connect these wall mounts or power poles directly to your Main Power Grid.

It may be convenient to come up with a standard when placing Wall Mounts (Power Grid above, Light Grid below, etc) to always know which mount is 'okay' to use for which purpose.

To drive the point home further: Let's say you have an isolated Light Grid of 50 lights. They are all connected in series, and ultimately connect to the "Light Power Connector" of a Light Control Panel. So far so good. The LCP will control those lights as desired. But...if you connect so much as a single one of those 50 lights to your Main Power Grid (either directly or via a Wall Mount/Pole that is also connected to your Main Power Grid), all 50 lights in the series will then be subject to control by any other LPC that has it's 'Light Bulb' connector connected to the Main Power Grid. Always double check any Wall Mounts or Light Pole's you connect a Light to from a Series, to confirm if it's 'isolated' or not.


Stand-By Switch (Lights/Light Control Panel

The Stand-by Switch is comnmn to both Light Control Panels, Flood Towers and Street Lamps. It acts as a kind of 'power switch' for the LPC or lights, as well as a 'reset/reboot' button in the case of the Light Control Panel.

By toggling the Stand-by switch to the 'Off' position (button pressed down), you will effectively 'turn off' the Light or the Light Control Panel, and by extension any lights in the Series connected to the Light Control Panel's 'Light Power Connector'.

By toggling the Stand-by switch back 'On', you will turn the lights back on. But you will also effectively 'reboot' the settings of each connected light, forcing it to obey the Colour, Intensity and Night Mode settings of the Light Control Panel.

Therefore, after initially setting up and connecting any lights or Series of lights to a Light Control Panel, it is a good idea to toggle the 'Stand-by' switch off and back on. This will force all connected lights to update their settings to match those on the Control Panel.

*Edit: On further testing, it seems as if the Colour settings of a Series may not reset themselves to match their Light Control Panel if you have been 'juggling' lights between different Series. It may also be necessary to force a 'colour reset' by changing back and forth between 2 colours in the Light Control Panel.

(Edit 2: I think this part of the Light engine needs a buff by Coffee Stain. Lights connected to a LCP should automatically conform to the settings on the LCP without having to do these 'resets' or wait for day/night cycles to occur).


Night Mode

Night Mode is a handy feature that tells a light (or Series of lights controlled via the Light Control Panel), to only turn on when it gets dark, and to turn off when the Sun comes up. By turning Night Mode on, the switch will light up, and from that point on the attached lights will turn on and off automatically based on the time of day.

However....the Night Mode setting may not take affect immediately. It may be high noon with the sun high in the sky, you connect a new Light to a Light Control Panel and press the Night Mode button and...nothing happens. The light remains turned on. Not only that, but the colour does not match the other lights in the connected Series. What gives?

At this point in Experimental this is 'by design'. Lights will not immediately reprogram themselves to recognize the current day/night status (or colour/intensity settings) of the Light Control Panel they are attached to. There are currently 2 solutions to this:

1. Wait for a full (in-game) day/night cycle to pass naturally. The newly attached lights will receive a 'signal' to begin 'obeying' their Light Control Panel some point either when day changes to night, or visa versa.

2. Toggle the 'Stand-by' switch on the Light Control Panel. As described above, this acts as a kind of 'reboot/reset' switch for the LCP and any light attached to it via it's Light Power Connector.

If toggling the stand-by switch is not working, it's best to recheck all wiring. Ensure the light is properly connected to the Series / Light grid, and there are no accidental connections to your Main Power Grid that might cause 'interference' by other Light Control Panel's also directly connected to the Main Grid.

If all connections are sound, simply give the light time by waiting a full day/night cycle. You may find it 'resets' itself properly once a full day/night cycle has completed.


Colour, Intensity, Copy/Paste

These settings should be fairly self-explanatory in their design and function. You can mouse-over a colour in the settings of a Street, Tower or Light Control Panel and the [Edit] option will appear. You can adjust the colour, saturation and contrast similar to what you do with a Paint Gun.

WARNING ABOUT COLOUR CHANGES

You have exactly 7, and ONLY 7 available colour 'slots' across all Lights/Light Control Panels. Meaning that all lights and Light Control Panels share the same 7 colour slots, regardless of where they are or how they are connected. Any changes to a specific colour slot in one Light 'device' will apply that change to the same slot in all other light devices. So be mindful if you think the 'blue light' in slot 5 should be lighter/blue-er etc in one particular building or location. All other Series that use that 'blue' slot 5 will also be changed to match.

Intensity can adjust the, well, intensity or sharpness of the colour 'spray' from a given light. Lowering the intensity can help give the impression of 'diffusing' the light to a more natural amount from the stark and piercing defaults. Although their chosen 'light engine' to save costs on rendering/GPU means the lights will always seem a little 'laser beam'-ish in how they project on to objects. Finally, unlike colour slot changes, Intensity is specific to the Light or Light Panel in question. It will not affect the Intensity settings of any other light or Control Panel not connected to that Series.

Copy/Paste does just that. Copy the settings from one light or Control Panel to another.


Adjusting individual Lights in a Series

It is possible to override the settings of an individual Street Light or Flood Tower that is also a member of a Light Series/Grid that is attached to a Light Control Panel. You can set it's colour, intensity and Night Mode settings and it will change it's setting immediately.

However, be aware that As soon as you Interact in any way with the Light Control Panel it is attached to, even simply opening the LCP's menu screen (but making no changes), the settings on the aforementioned light will revert immediately to match the Light Control Panel.



Conclusion

Hopefully this helps you to understand better how Lights and Light Control Panels currently interact with one another. And will help you to get your various Light Grids, or 'lone light rangers' under control. My main mistake was assuming that somehow Light Control Panels worked on some sort of 'proximity' system with everything (including lights), hooked up to the Main power grid. I just didn't know the importance and logic behind the "Light Power Connector" node on the LCP, and fully isolating lights from 'foreign' power sources. Once I got that, everything else fell in to place. And I finally understood why things worked, or didn't work. And why my carefully set up 'natural warm homely light' for my HUB area kept changing to the eye-burning red phospher setting I was using halfway across the planet.

I like the power and flexibility of what hooking a "Light Power Connector" to the Main Power grid entails. It's just a 'power' that does have to be used carefully and responsibly to avoid suprises and hassles...

Cheers, Engineers!

Grizzt

[Tipoff Giggots]

I'm still confused on this, and im trying to make roads of lights but I want to be able to change specific roads if I need to, so I am thinking about making a big building for light control panels, and they will all have their different roads and such, or should I just place the lights individually not connected to anything other than the grid?