[MOD] (Alpha 8) A2B: conveyor belts & co. [v0.8.0]

Rock5 · February 07, 2015, 12:56:09 AM

Hi, I'm updating my mods for my next colony and I notice you don't include the version in the about info. Can you add the version in future versions please.

xDahaka2012x · February 07, 2015, 03:43:19 AM

Just a single question: what is the length of teleportation and where can I change it?

Mechanoid Hivemind · February 07, 2015, 02:31:01 PM

What do you guys use the belts for? could i get a screen shot i am just confused at what you use em for?

noone · February 08, 2015, 04:56:22 PM

Quote from: Rock5 on February 07, 2015, 12:56:09 AM
Hi, I'm updating my mods for my next colony and I notice you don't include the version in the about info. Can you add the version in future versions please.

Will do.

Quote from: xDahaka2012x on February 07, 2015, 03:43:19 AM
Just a single question: what is the length of teleportation and where can I change it?

The distance is set automatically based on the location of the receiver. Just built the teleporter and the receiver where you need/want them, and voilÃ . Note that both must be aligned and with the same rotation. If multiple receivers are on the same 'line', the items will be teleported to the first one.

Quote from: Mechanoid HiveMind on February 07, 2015, 02:31:01 PM
What do you guys use the belts for? could i get a screen shot i am just confused at what you use em for?

Here's what I usually use them for (cleaning up my farms):
https://github.com/noone57/RW_A2B/wiki/Screenshots

The idea basically to reduce the amount of repetitive hauling for your colonists. They still need to load the belts, but the hauling distance is greatly reduced, which speeds up the process. long story short, my fields were always field with zillions of potatoes in the past - they are now clean and tidy, as the belt reduced the hauling time by a lot.

In am sure others will be happy to oblige and share varied screenshots.

plaYer2k · February 09, 2015, 03:05:16 PM

Hello there.

I just recently started playing Rimworld and i used to play Space Engineers for many months, since release even. So automated systems and especially conveyor belts are quite important to me.
So thanks for making that nice mod aswell as giving some good examples.

I also had 2 suggestions for new belt types:

> A merge/join-belt which has three inputs and one output.

> A "congestion detector" that always forwards materials if the belt at the normal output is empty. If the output however is occupied due to a congested belt (no movement as seen in your kitchen belt example https://github.com/noone57/RW_A2B/wiki/Screenshots) it acts as selector where your defined storage gets redirected to output 1 and the rest to output 2.

Edit:
I am well aware that the "merge/join-belt" could be done otherwise, but only at the cost of 2 tiles instead of one. Hence why i suggested that smaller item.

Thanks for the great and enjoy :-)

Rock5 · February 09, 2015, 11:41:32 PM

I suggested the 3 way merger here, as well as some other changes. Have a read if you're interested.

plaYer2k · February 10, 2015, 03:21:01 PM

Yes i have seen that post, though i have to admit that i did not read about your second edit when i posted it, must have skipped it. Probalby because you explained everyting else so well with images but not that one, so take my first suggestion as addition to complete your previous suggestion. That said, the demand for it is there :-)

noone · February 15, 2015, 12:48:45 AM

We at A2B are pleased to announce our latest release (v0.8.1), in which 'ye old Splitter was replaced by a) a 3-ways Splitter and b) a 3-ways Merger.

You requested them, here they are at last, and with an improved (?) design for even more clarity ! These new components will allow for smarter and less convoluted designs, especially in tight places. All credit goes to TehJoe for this update, available on the Github page of the mod: https://github.com/noone57/RW_A2B/releases

Disclaimer 1: this is an A8 update. A9 is right around the corner, but there's no knowing when A2B will be updated.
Disclaimer 2: there are still other issues I need to look at (https://github.com/noone57/RW_A2B/issues)
Disclaimer 3: should not say this, but I did not test the update myself. I fell victim to the 2011 MBP GPU issue, and can't run Rimworld anymore. I am forced to non-GPU demanding tasks for now, but can fix the mod "if you can tell me where the bug is" ... Run the mod at your own risk ! (this is why it is not yet announced on the main post, btw...)

Rock5 · February 15, 2015, 04:00:10 AM

Those 2 component are going to make all the difference. Thank you. I see you didn't add the other splitter I suggested. That's a good call as it's easy enough to simulate a left/right splitter and it would only take up 1 extra square.

The color codes are an improvement too but why didn't you color code the splitter too? You could have made the arrows red and the numbers green. Like this.

That would have been helpful to me.

And even though you rounded out the corner a bit it's still not round so I imagine items will still getting stuck in the corner.

It needs a nice even curve so items get pushed around the corners smoothly, like this.

Although at least now it'seasier to see which way it's facing.

[attachment deleted due to age]

TehJoE · February 15, 2015, 03:26:25 PM

Quote from: noone on February 15, 2015, 12:48:45 AM
Disclaimer 2: there are still other issues I need to look at (https://github.com/noone57/RW_A2B/issues)
Disclaimer 3: should not say this, but I did not test the update myself. I fell victim to the 2011 MBP GPU issue, and can't run Rimworld anymore. I am forced to non-GPU demanding tasks for now, but can fix the mod "if you can tell me where the bug is" ... Run the mod at your own risk ! (this is why it is not yet announced on the main post, btw...)

To anyone who runs the mod at their own risk, please do post issues here or preferably on the GitHub page if any are encountered, and I'll see what I can do. It's not like there's a team of beta testers checking this for bugs.

noone · February 15, 2015, 04:47:03 PM

Quote from: Rock5 on February 15, 2015, 04:00:10 AM
The color codes are an improvement too but why didn't you color code the splitter too?

Actually, I did ... I just forgot to post it on Github ...

Also, I like your suggestion on the curve. Are you ok for me to swap mines for yours ?

[attachment deleted due to age]

Rock5 · February 15, 2015, 11:41:10 PM

Ah, your selector looks much nicer.

Quote from: noone on February 15, 2015, 04:47:03 PMAlso, I like your suggestion on the curve.

That's what I meant all along. Are you saying you never understood what I meant? And I tried to be as clear as possible. Grrr.

Quote from: noone on February 15, 2015, 04:47:03 PMAre you ok for me to swap mines for yours ?

Sure, if the work is good enough for you.

noone · February 16, 2015, 12:23:41 AM

Quote from: Rock5 on February 15, 2015, 11:41:10 PM
That's what I meant all along. Are you saying you never understood what I meant? And I tried to be as clear as possible. Grrr.

Oh, I understood perfectly ... I was just waiting a) to be convinced about it, and b) for the proper opportunity to implement the change

I will update my own SVG vectorial copy along what you did ... I like to work with vectorial graphics - it makes updating the textures a lot easier.

TehJoE · February 16, 2015, 09:18:44 AM

A quick example of what the 3-way mergers/splitters are capable of:

It might look like the belt structure is wasting a lot of space in that stockpile, but keep in mind the unloaders will push their items out into the stockpile once the chunks in front of them are removed, so each unloader is effectively a stockpile slot in that regard. If all the unloaders are full, the chunks will get backed up into the splitters which will still push them into the stockpile eventually, so in reality this stockpile is as big as it would've been without the belt structure!

Rock5 · February 16, 2015, 09:46:41 AM

Nice.

Which reminds me, I had an issue with the Splitters I wanted to bring up. This is with the old 2 way splitter. I don't know if it was changed in the 3 way splitter. I haven't tested it.

Currently the way a Splitter works, I believe, is to alternate sending items to each output. If an output is blocked it sends the item to the unblocked output. This is good but... if both outputs are blocked I think it assigns the item to one of the blocked outputs anyway. Then if an output becomes free and it's not the one the splitter chose to send the item then the splitter becomes stuck until the other output clears.

Hm... That might be hard to follow. Let me go through a scenario.

Splitter receives an item and sends it left.
It receives another and sends it right. Right becomes blocked.
It receives another and sends it left.
It receives another. Right is blocked so it sends it left. Left becomes blocked.
It receives another. Both are blocked. Right was to be next so it waits to send it right.
Left becomes clear but the splitter is still waiting for right to become clear.

It would be better if the splitter didn't pre decide which way it is going to send the item but instead waited to see which way becomes free first then send it that way.

What do you think?