Rimworld needs improved wiring

[MeGrrrr]

Rimworld needs improved wiring !

So this seems to come up in various places (e.g. https://ludeon.com/forums/index.php?topic=4614.msg44514#msg44514 and an earlier post by me  ) but I thought another go around was worth it.

A major limiting factor in Rimworld right now is wiring and automation. An improved wiring implementation will not only provide an improvement in the current form of the game but enable fresh innovation in the modding community. My thoughts...

1) Multiple and overlapping wiring runs are required. Currently all sorts of weird contortions are required to do anything beyond basic power cabling. Suggestion is to implement wiring conduits (again). No need to actually go back to conduit wall types, just conceptually allow for multiple wires to run through walls and the floor.

2) Wiring designation is required. A basic implementation could use coloured wires (have a look at Terraria, though might be worth waiting for their 1.3.1 release which includes improvements). Designation would be better if it could be named. e.g. Wire 1, Wire 2, etc. with an over-ride rename option (like zones).

3) Multiple connections per object. All powered devices will need power. But maps may include various power runs and sources so power cables should be the same as other wiring. However, some objects might require or have optional other requirements. An example could be doors and gates which would have a power requirement (if they are of that type) but may also include a connection point for a remote switch or sensor. Maybe an advanced door may have a special hardened locked mode which is again triggered through a wire at the additional connection point.

4) Connection UI. Perhaps when you build an object, or click on it, you can prompt for the connections. e.g. Power => select wire; Open/Close => select wire... Where  the select wire option will cycle a list of connected wire designations.

5) Switches on walls or junction boxes. There is a need for on-wall switches. Currently they are a crude 1 block square on the floor which require all sorts of mucking about to be able to apply to specific rooms and detracts from room quality. Maybe two items, a basic switch which serves a single wire and a junction box for many. Interface would be similar to the general object interface but would typically just ask for which wire it services. Enhanced switches may offer additional features such as light or movement sensors.

6) Signalling. This would be based on the object requirements and specified in the object configuration. There should be general framework support for variable and logical state values. For example currently there is a sufficient power calculation based on the sum of the outputs of the connected power generators. There is also the logical on/off switch state. There also needs to be support for a range of values and perhaps other logical conditions.

7) Other. Some other thoughts, there should be underground conduits that can be run between buildings or locations. Shielding for conduits or cables to prevent/reduce the impact of damage or solar events.

Connected ideas with similar implementation that come to mind, pneumatics/hydraulics and heating/cooling

Suggestions, corrections, disagreements.....

[thedee05]

Lineman like additions would be good for modders to take care of I think. Single phase and three phase systems with transformers, cutouts substations, circuit breakers and so on could even be good teaching tools if done right.

[LulaNord]

Hi...As it sounds like you don't want to actually create a circuit, but 'send energy from a to b' you would want a tree like structure with 'nodes' at each point where there is a branch. Each node has one parent node that connects back to the power source and as many child nodes attached to them. The power source turns on all its child nodes, then they turn on all their child nodes and so on.

www.7pcb.com

[Aerial]

The ability to have overlapping but isolated circuits would be really useful.  Right now, you can't run wires across each other without making everything on both loops part of the same circuit.  I'd like to be able to run appliances A, B and C on circuit 1 and appliances X, Y and Z on circuit 2 with a different power source without having to somehow physically arrange those things so that the power conduits of circuits 1 and 2 never cross.  Colors could be used to designate wiring for different circuits. (We already have the glowy blue wires for the current view of power connectivity.  There's no reason we couldn't have glowy yellow, glowy red, etc.)

[b0rsuk]

I would really enjoy blue and red conduits (or whatever pair of colors is the most friendly to daltonists). I have to bend over backwards when designing switchable circuits.

[Brutetal]

So much +1 for this.
I needed to connect my sun lamps to solar panels so they would shut off automatically. Welp, was quite a lot of work because I had to watch out so the conduits don't accidentaly connect.
It's just ridicilous to not have that option. Qould be really neat to have different conduits running through the same walls.
Would help me keep my sanity when setting up power lines

[SpaceDorf]

Yes +1

long long time ago, I made a similiar suggestion

I would be totally satisfied by different colored phases that connect to junction boxes. Nothing fancy, easy to implement.