Blueprint Designer Oddity

[XLjedi]

If it does not allow you to connect the creation in the blueprint box to the world, then why does it require materials?

Aggravating to be working on a blueprint solution and then have to pause what I'm doing because I ran out of resource X.

There also seems to be situations (that are not uncommon) that cause you to lose your materials. I seem to have encountered at least 2.

1) If the Blueprint Designer chest is not completely empty, clearing the current blueprint does not stack the materials; they just disappear.

2) If there is a design in the blueprint and you load a new design over it, the parts from the previous design are just gone. You would expect that before each new blueprint loads, it would automatically first perform the clear function. (although you would still lose parts for item 1 noted above)

...but all of this seems nonsensical since it's only supposed to be a "Blueprint Designer". I should be able to develop any blueprint I want without using materials. Then I could seleect the blueprint and add it to my "To Do" list to see what parts I need to add the design to the world.

If the Blueprint Designer allowed interaction with the world (power connection and conveyor/pipe hookup) then I can see the need for materials; but as it is now... it just doesn't make sense.

If the Blueprint Designer did allow interaction with the world, I'd carpet my factory floor with them to make rapidly reconfigurable production lines.

[Omega420]

My guess is every item you can build has a item requirement attached to it.

You would have to code in logic that says what is built inside the designer doesn't need resources to build along with logic that says don't return material back on dismantle.

Seems easier to just need said resources from player like every other item in the game expects.

Another way to look at why it's this way. In the real world, if you decided to invent something new, yes you could draw it out on paper. However, you won't know if it works till you build it which would require actually material.

[XLjedi]

Originally posted by Omega420:

My guess is every item you can build has a item requirement attached to it.

You would have to code in logic that says what is built inside the designer doesn't need resources to build along with logic that says don't return material back on dismantle.

Seems easier to just need said resources from player like every other item in the game expects.

Another way to look at why it's this way. In the real world, if you decided to invent something new, yes you could draw it out on paper. However, you won't know if it works till you build it which would require actually material.

Yes, but in the real world you could also test the device on the workbench by hooking it up to power.

There seems to be a disconnect in the logic. Either make it a blueprint system, which is a design tool that is not resource dependent, or require the materials and allow it to be connected to the world so you can actually do testing you mention. It seems to have the worst of both options: Material requirement and non-connectivity.

At a minimum, they should look into the material loss scenarios I mentioned above.

[Omega420]

Originally posted by XLjedi:

Yes, but in the real world you could also test the device on the workbench by hooking it up to power.

And how did you build the device your now trying to test?

I believe both the issues you mentioned have been posted on the Q&A site.

[XLjedi]

Originally posted by Omega420:

Originally posted by XLjedi:

Yes, but in the real world you could also test the device on the workbench by hooking it up to power.

And how did you build the device your now trying to test?

I believe both the issues you mentioned have been posted on the Q&A site.

Built in the blueprint designer, but not sure how that is relevant to my point.

Ultimately, I suspect the only reason it is the way it is would be related to some sort of foundational game design limitation. ...perhaps there is a way it can be reworked to function more logically and still function within their game engine.

[Omega420]

Originally posted by XLjedi:

Originally posted by Omega420:

And how did you build the device your now trying to test?

I believe both the issues you mentioned have been posted on the Q&A site.

Built in the blueprint designer, but not sure how that is relevant to my point.

Ultimately, I suspect the only reason it is the way it is would be related to some sort of foundational game design limitation. ...perhaps there is a way it can be reworked to function more logically and still function within their game engine.

My point is if you were to invent something in real life, you would need actually materials to build it.

You can't just go to your garage and say I'm going to build a device that teleports items to the other side of the planet without materials.... You can't create anything from nothing.

I'm sure its a game limitation, every item in the game has build requirements attached to it and you would need to put a mechanic in place that made building free within the designer.

To make sure you couldn't use the designer to cheat to get free items, you would also need a mechanic in place that says do not return dismantled items to the player.

[XLjedi]

Originally posted by Omega420:

Originally posted by XLjedi:

Built in the blueprint designer, but not sure how that is relevant to my point.

Ultimately, I suspect the only reason it is the way it is would be related to some sort of foundational game design limitation. ...perhaps there is a way it can be reworked to function more logically and still function within their game engine.

My point is if you were to invent something in real life, you would need actually materials to build it.

You can't just go to your garage and say I'm going to build a device that teleports items to the other side of the planet without materials.... You can't create anything from nothing.

I'm sure its a game limitation, every item in the game has build requirements attached to it and you would need to put a mechanic in place that made building free within the designer.

To make sure you couldn't use the designer to cheat to get free items, you would also need a mechanic in place that says do not return dismantled items to the player.

No, in real life I would start in a CAD program... or Blueprint Designer. Then I would get materials and attempt assembly. Hence the phrase, "Oh well, back to the drawing board".

[Omega420]

Originally posted by XLjedi:

No, in real life I would start in a CAD program... or Blueprint Designer. Then I would get materials and attempt assembly. Hence the phrase, "Oh well, back to the drawing board".

LOL, I said exactly that in my first post. "sure you can draw it on paper".

You think building in the designer should be free as if it was a CAD program? Which does makes sense since they did put "designer" in the name.

Currently it acts as if your ready to build a prototype which even in real life would require having physical materials.

To me, this makes sense. If I'm going to build something in the designer, I've already came up with a concept or "CAD draft" that I want to use. Now I'm building the prototype ....