Point of wiring components?

[Energist]

Hello.

So far, I find this game intriguing. Been having a good time with it.

...but, I'm a bit lost as to what the point of all these components are for the sub. It seems to me that the prebuilt subs already do everything I need them to do. Why would I want to buy new wiring components, and what exactly can I do with them?

So far the only two ways I see to meaningfully improve the subs is to upgrade them at the mechanic NPC, or buy a different sub.

It feels like I'm missing some layers to this game beyond doing the same few fetch quests over and over again.

[kratos]

You can use math and logic to make anything with an input do a thing. You have many choices but for example, you can turn the lights into a disco party, to the sub alerting you to problems, or even automatically using the discharge coils when appropriate.

The workshop has a few good ideas in it already if you are still stumped.

[rgarrett]

no point everyone disables wireing because of griefers

devs have not added a allow this specific guy to be able to rewire stuff on your own server

hell even the admin should be able to rewire while rewireing is disabled its LAME
by design the whole wire system is ALWAYS OFF because the admins refuse to add a allow this guy to rewire setting

[Keni]

You can turn doors automatic, hook up reactor controllers (that are still better than automatic), create early warning systems (though only 10m max range wired up ingame), create ballast purging or even station clearing methods, automated emergency battery system... Almost everything you can do in the editor, you can do ingame, and small improvements can make vanilla submarines a lot more comfortable.

[Sianae]

Here are some beginner setups to get your toes wet on the possibilities:

Dynamic Capacitors
Memory Component [90] -> Subtract Component signal in 1
Capacitor Current Charge % -> Subtract Component signal in 2
Subtract Component clamp MAX 70 MIN 20
Subtract Component -> Capacitor Set Charge Rate

Explanation: The capacitor will automatically charge faster as it is depleted, and slower when it is near full (max rate of 70, min of 20). So when you are in combat and draining it, it compensates automatically.

Poor Man's Overvoltage Protection
Wire up your battery charge rate to be (100 - navigation console Y output). So when you make rapid manoeuvres, (eg. fast -> sudden stop), the battery charge rate spikes and mitigates some of the overvoltage damage. There are better methods, but this is a simple setup.

Faster Submarine Drainage
You can have a lever -> signal relay -> set state on doors/internal hatches/ballast hatches etc to improve water drainage once ship has recovered from any damage. Some ships like the Typhon 1 will have water stuck in ladder compartments unless you manually drain. This lets you "open all doors" briefly so to speak. Note that signal relays can chain to signal relays to cover all doors, or just the important ones that "trap" water often.

Automated Electrical Discharge
Put a motion sensor/detector near the discharge coil. You'll need to test a bit the X/Y offsets and ranges. Turn on "go through walls" and don't detect dead. Wire to to the discharge coils and have fine zappy zappy anything that gets close automatically. Some subs come with this setup, others you have to manually add it.

There's countless things (if you like tinkering/engineering)
* Auto spool chain gun or pulse laser
* Smarter water duct blocks that seal if only 1 room is compromised and doesn't flood the whole sub.
* Overclocking the power grid to provide up to 170% power to improve performance of all machines (eg. engine go ZOOM).
* Silent Running mode (run engine at 20% power, shut off reactor, battery only, shut off lights/oxygen generator)
* 360 degree external nearby monster detection wired to lightbulbs to indicate direction (or output to radio)

Have fun!

[Energist]

Originally posted by Keni:

You can turn doors automatic, hook up reactor controllers (that are still better than automatic), create early warning systems (though only 10m max range wired up ingame), create ballast purging or even station clearing methods, automated emergency battery system... Almost everything you can do in the editor, you can do ingame, and small improvements can make vanilla submarines a lot more comfortable.

Thanks for the feedback.

What I'm frustrated about is figuring out how to integrate new ideas into the existing wiring system. These doors and other objects have wires coming out of nowhere, and I can't trace them back to anything but walls.

So I totally understand the logical aspect, but no idea how to actually go about adding it to the ship.

[Energist]

Originally posted by Sianae:

Here are some beginner setups to get your toes wet on the possibilities:

Dynamic Capacitors
Memory Component [90] -> Subtract Component signal in 1
Capacitor Current Charge % -> Subtract Component signal in 2
Subtract Component clamp MAX 70 MIN 20
Subtract Component -> Capacitor Set Charge Rate

Explanation: The capacitor will automatically charge faster as it is depleted, and slower when it is near full (max rate of 70, min of 20). So when you are in combat and draining it, it compensates automatically.

Poor Man's Overvoltage Protection
Wire up your battery charge rate to be (100 - navigation console Y output). So when you make rapid manoeuvres, (eg. fast -> sudden stop), the battery charge rate spikes and mitigates some of the overvoltage damage. There are better methods, but this is a simple setup.

Faster Submarine Drainage
You can have a lever -> signal relay -> set state on doors/internal hatches/ballast hatches etc to improve water drainage once ship has recovered from any damage. Some ships like the Typhon 1 will have water stuck in ladder compartments unless you manually drain. This lets you "open all doors" briefly so to speak. Note that signal relays can chain to signal relays to cover all doors, or just the important ones that "trap" water often.

Automated Electrical Discharge
Put a motion sensor/detector near the discharge coil. You'll need to test a bit the X/Y offsets and ranges. Turn on "go through walls" and don't detect dead. Wire to to the discharge coils and have fine zappy zappy anything that gets close automatically. Some subs come with this setup, others you have to manually add it.

There's countless things (if you like tinkering/engineering)
* Auto spool chain gun or pulse laser
* Smarter water duct blocks that seal if only 1 room is compromised and doesn't flood the whole sub.
* Overclocking the power grid to provide up to 170% power to improve performance of all machines (eg. engine go ZOOM).
* Silent Running mode (run engine at 20% power, shut off reactor, battery only, shut off lights/oxygen generator)
* 360 degree external nearby monster detection wired to lightbulbs to indicate direction (or output to radio)

Have fun!

These are entirely the types of ideas I want to implement, and I could figure out the logical signaling required. I'm stuck at the part where I don't know how to modify the existing wiring. It's a UI issue for me, I think, rather than a concept or logic issue.

For example, in the campaign, I want to alter a door to open and close based on the water level in the airlock room. That door has wires coming out of nowhere in its UI terminal, but I don't know how to trace that wire back to the other component. Says something about "And" component, which I understand from a circuitry perspective, but where is that component? How do I interact with it? Wires just disappear into walls it seems.

[Buggy Boy]

Originally posted by Energist:

These are entirely the types of ideas I want to implement, and I could figure out the logical signaling required. I'm stuck at the part where I don't know how to modify the existing wiring. It's a UI issue for me, I think, rather than a concept or logic issue.

For example, in the campaign, I want to alter a door to open and close based on the water level in the airlock room. That door has wires coming out of nowhere in its UI terminal, but I don't know how to trace that wire back to the other component. Says something about "And" component, which I understand from a circuitry perspective, but where is that component? How do I interact with it? Wires just disappear into walls it seems.

Go into the sub editor, load the sub you want to edit, go into the electrical editing mode. Now you can see where all of the wires go, where the mysterious AND components etc are (hint: they are hidden in walls / floors), you can make notes on settings inside those components to work out the logic in use, then head back to your game and go to work. You will need to cut away walls using a plasma cutter, if it's an outside wall then make sure you're the only one in that room (or preferably the whole sub - move bots onto the station or whatever), then get to work while wearing a diving suit. Sometimes it's actually easier to work in a flooded sub so that you can reach the components. You *could* do this while sitting on the ocean floor but it's easier when docked because then you know you won't be attacked and the rest of the crew have somewhere else to be.

If it's just you (solo campaign with bots) then I'd just place the components where they can be reached, if it's a public multiplayer campaign then it might be an idea to hide the components behind a wall, so cut away the wall, place your components (and wire them up etc), then weld the wall back into place. If you see anyone cutting away your wall without permission then you know they're up to no good!

[Keni]

You can disconnect the existing wires if you want to do something else, no need for them if you want to make something new. In the airlock the And component is there to make sure the two doors can't be opened at the same time by sending out a 0. You can disconnect and wire up something else.
If you want to make sure the door can't be opened when water is present in the airlock, then just use (or place down first) the water detector, and a Not component (connected to signal out to invert it's signal), and wire it to the door's Set_state. IF you place down a water detector, you can change the Output and Output false so you don't need a Not component. 0 keeps door closed, 1 opens it.
I have to add though, that this can get very annoying fast when you're in a hurry and can't open it, so better add a disconnector for the signal in a form of a Button and a Relay that can stop the signal and you can open it manually.
Also the outer door can be breached, then you won't be able to open the door due to water being constantly present. So the disconnector is very recommended.

[Energist]

Originally posted by Buggy Boy:

Originally posted by Energist:

These are entirely the types of ideas I want to implement, and I could figure out the logical signaling required. I'm stuck at the part where I don't know how to modify the existing wiring. It's a UI issue for me, I think, rather than a concept or logic issue.

For example, in the campaign, I want to alter a door to open and close based on the water level in the airlock room. That door has wires coming out of nowhere in its UI terminal, but I don't know how to trace that wire back to the other component. Says something about "And" component, which I understand from a circuitry perspective, but where is that component? How do I interact with it? Wires just disappear into walls it seems.

Go into the sub editor, load the sub you want to edit, go into the electrical editing mode. Now you can see where all of the wires go, where the mysterious AND components etc are (hint: they are hidden in walls / floors), you can make notes on settings inside those components to work out the logic in use, then head back to your game and go to work. You will need to cut away walls using a plasma cutter, if it's an outside wall then make sure you're the only one in that room (or preferably the whole sub - move bots onto the station or whatever), then get to work while wearing a diving suit. Sometimes it's actually easier to work in a flooded sub so that you can reach the components. You *could* do this while sitting on the ocean floor but it's easier when docked because then you know you won't be attacked and the rest of the crew have somewhere else to be.

If it's just you (solo campaign with bots) then I'd just place the components where they can be reached, if it's a public multiplayer campaign then it might be an idea to hide the components behind a wall, so cut away the wall, place your components (and wire them up etc), then weld the wall back into place. If you see anyone cutting away your wall without permission then you know they're up to no good!

I see. This is most helpful. Didn't realize, at the time, that components could be embedded into the walls. Mind blown.

Edit: How can I move NPC helpers? So far, all I know how to do is set them up for roles like repairing electrical and mechanical components, or keeping the generator on. They can be quite frustrating though. Often times they will go into flooded rooms or allow not so friendly wildlife into secure rooms of the sub. Is there a deeper way to control them I may be missing?

Thanks

[Energist]

Originally posted by Keni:

You can disconnect the existing wires if you want to do something else, no need for them if you want to make something new. In the airlock the And component is there to make sure the two doors can't be opened at the same time by sending out a 0. You can disconnect and wire up something else.
If you want to make sure the door can't be opened when water is present in the airlock, then just use (or place down first) the water detector, and a Not component (connected to signal out to invert it's signal), and wire it to the door's Set_state. IF you place down a water detector, you can change the Output and Output false so you don't need a Not component. 0 keeps door closed, 1 opens it.
I have to add though, that this can get very annoying fast when you're in a hurry and can't open it, so better add a disconnector for the signal in a form of a Button and a Relay that can stop the signal and you can open it manually.
Also the outer door can be breached, then you won't be able to open the door due to water being constantly present. So the disconnector is very recommended.

Thanks! this is exactly what I was thinking, minus the disconnector. I even bought a Not component specifically for the purpose, but I couldn't figure out what I needed to do for the wiring itself.

The disconnector is a great tip, though. Didn't consider that. STill not sure of all the different logical options available to me.

You guys are very helpful. Much appreciated.

[Moldon]

Originally posted by Energist:

Edit: How can I move NPC helpers? So far, all I know how to do is set them up for roles like repairing electrical and mechanical components, or keeping the generator on. They can be quite frustrating though. Often times they will go into flooded rooms or allow not so friendly wildlife into secure rooms of the sub. Is there a deeper way to control them I may be missing?

Thanks

I'm not an expert, but I can at least say that NPCs tend to avoid ballasts and airlocks rooms. In the sub editor, you can specify yourself which room they shouldn't linger in. Other than that, I don't know.

[Sianae]

Originally posted by Energist:

Edit: How can I move NPC helpers? So far, all I know how to do is set them up for roles like repairing electrical and mechanical components, or keeping the generator on. They can be quite frustrating though. Often times they will go into flooded rooms or allow not so friendly wildlife into secure rooms of the sub. Is there a deeper way to control them I may be missing?

Thanks

The AI is fairly limited (at least compared to the magic you can do with wiring) in this respect. This is what I mostly go by: https://www.reddit.com/r/Barotrauma/comments/1315ac2/new_to_the_game_how_can_i_best_use_my_ai_crew/

[jeetrix]

Originally posted by rgarrett:

no point everyone disables wireing because of griefers

wiring on is fun. The host just needs to understand what systems the ship is running, and some basics of wiring, how to reconnect , repair broken lines, revert actions based on server logs and ship knowledge , etc.

We did a great campaign with lots of random people, and a lot of regulars wiring a dozen of custom systems. and we caught a lot of griefers. You can usually spot them easily. If you know the hum of your ship, you can even know what they did. I would recommend leaving custom wiring on for online. It gives a lot of flavour and player-ownership to the campaign and the people running with you can make it their home. + you learn a lot from others.

If you wire up things neatly and hide critical components in walls its all good.

, and if wire griefing is turning out to fubar things in a way you cant repair you can revert to a backup. Altho i tend to think its best to leave default in vanilla ships so you dont loose critical functionality, and you can still allow extended wiring with which you can do most of stuff.

[Buggy Boy]

Originally posted by Energist:

Edit: How can I move NPC helpers? So far, all I know how to do is set them up for roles like repairing electrical and mechanical components, or keeping the generator on. They can be quite frustrating though. Often times they will go into flooded rooms or allow not so friendly wildlife into secure rooms of the sub. Is there a deeper way to control them I may be missing?

Thanks

You can give bots the 'follow' command, go to where you want them to be, then give them all the 'halt' command (instead of 'follow'), they will then stand there come what May!

[Jerubius]

Originally posted by rgarrett:

no point everyone disables wireing because of griefers

devs have not added a allow this specific guy to be able to rewire stuff on your own server

hell even the admin should be able to rewire while rewireing is disabled its LAME
by design the whole wire system is ALWAYS OFF because the admins refuse to add a allow this guy to rewire setting

Would be kind of neat if they added locked junction boxes as a thing in the game, kind of similar to the safes or certain doors, so you'd need a specific key item to open them or some kind of permission to open them up. Keep it so critical wiring can't be messed with by just anyone that gets their hands on a screwdriver.

Could have something like the captain gets a pair of keys they can hand out to trusted crew, and certain traitor missions could include a forged copy of the key if relevant or something like that.