Dev Diary #245 Fun Energy Wanted!

[anna_svecova 375]

Hey there, fellow Ylanders! 🌴

There are some things that for a long time didn't work as we all would like them to and which we fixed. Then there are parts of the game that still need a massive amount of love. And today we'll talk about one.

The Energy. ✨

It does work. You can build generators and engines and link nodes and light up the darkness and... well, that's about it. There are indeed some cool things like logic gates (AND, OR, XOR and such) but that's not quite... fun.

When introduced Energy into the game we had big plans for various machines and things that would either help you do tasks better, faster or easier or things that would be simply fun to play with. And we would still like that. So what we need to do is get the Energy from "it works" to "it's so much fun to mess with".

Next year we're definitely going to do something about it and so it's high time we started thinking about it.

This is where you step in. Can you please let us know what you don't like about the Energy as it is right now (in addition to being able to hide the links )? What would you like to have us add to the game? Is there anything in other games you would like to see in Ylands?

Every idea is appreciated, so go nuts!

Until next week...

Stay Classy! 

[Molenusaczech 4]

The energy does very little, there should be some practical use for it... here are some examples

Pistons/rotors - so you can move/rotate stuff around and make cool things (take inspiration from scrap mechanic
Factory buildings - automated crafting and farming of resources (take inspiration from Foundry, factorio or shapez)

Note: This should be late game content

[zarwil 393]

First of all, like I suggested in this thread, energy links need to be retained in game blueprints. I honestly feel like it's a travesty that this feature was removed, because now there is no way to neatly integrate energy components into our blueprints. Aside from that, there are a few fundamental pieces missing for energy to be truly useful in my opinion;

1) More automated doors (similar to the force field door, but with normal doors instead). The energy door just locks/unlocks the door instead of opening/closing it, which is what I want.

2) Sorting items into various containers is an endless pain in games like ylands, and anything to help this problem is greatly appreciated. Pehaps take some inspiration from Minecraft in how items can be collected and sorted into different containers using redstone. At the very least I would love a "trashcan" item which you can throw your random junk into, although this doesn't need to use energy of course.

3) There needs to be different ways of activating energy circuits aside from manually using a lever. I would love a light sensor which could, for instance, be used as a day/night trigger for street lights. A pressure plate would also be nice. Any kind of sensor to detect world events would be nice tbh.

4) I you want us to be able to create cool digital circuitry without using scripts, there are two crucial items missing to complete the current set of logic gates; a clock and a storage unit (for data). Actually the storage unit can be made with logic gates, but you would at the very least need to make an SR NOR latch to store a single bit, which is unnecessarily complex when you could just add a simple logic block to store a bit instead. The clock is more important, because without it we can't really create anything complex that's self-perpetuating. The clock would be a logic block that switches on and off with a certain frequency that can be selected by the player. With this, and a storage block, you could do quite a lot.

 

Edit: I wasn't gonna comment on this, but I didn't love reading this part: "There are indeed some cool things like logic gates (AND, OR, XOR and such) but that's not quite... fun."

Maybe I didn't read it with the tone you intended, but this is the sort of stuff comp-sci people love. Flatly opining that such things are boring in a dev diary is a bit odd to me.

Edited October 14, 2022 by zarwil

[Molenusaczech 4]

39 minutes ago, zarwil said:

First of all, like I suggested in this thread, energy links need to be retained in game blueprints. I honestly feel like it's a travesty that this feature was removed, because now there is no way to neatly integrate energy components into our blueprints. Aside from that, there are a few fundamental pieces missing for energy to be truly useful in my opinion;

1) More automated doors (similar to the force field door, but with normal doors instead). The energy door just locks/unlocks the door instead of opening/closing it, which is what I want.

2) Sorting items into various containers is an endless pain in games like ylands, and anything to help this problem is greatly appreciated. Pehaps take some inspiration from Minecraft in how items can be collected and sorted into different containers using redstone. At the very least I would love a "trashcan" item which you can throw your random junk into, although this doesn't need to use energy of course.

3) There needs to be different ways of activating energy circuits aside from manually using a lever. I would love a light sensor which could, for instance, be used as a day/night trigger for street lights. A pressure plate would also be nice. Any kind of sensor to detect world events would be nice tbh.

4) I you want us to be able to create cool digital circuitry without using scripts, there are two crucial items missing to complete the current set of logic gates; a clock and a storage unit (for data). Actually the storage unit can be made with logic gates, but you would at the very least need to make an SR NOR latch to store a single bit, which is unnecessarily complex when you could just add a simple logic block to store a bit instead. The clock is more important, because without it we can't really create anything complex that's self-perpetuating. The clock would be a logic block that switches on and off with a certain frequency that can be selected by the player. With this, and a storage block, you could do quite a lot.

you actually cant make a latch, cuz you cant connect an output to a previous input...

[jchob 354]

Like zarwill said, would be nice to make outside lamps light up only at night. It could be linked to a special generator, then activate it for all the lamps connected to it.

For indoor, again, like zarwill said, a sensor that you enter the bedroom and light ON.

A timer would be nice, this maybe could also be used for the outside lamps idea.

Also, a dimmer if it ever be possible (maybe somone might dont know, basically a dimmer is a device to control the lamp intensity)

Also, i think it time to have a normal switch like a button for the energy (those switchs we have at home to light the lamps) instead of only a energy lever. A lever looks cool for factory builds etc, but for a modern house it looks ugly honestly. I know i can fake a button in editor, but this is for exploration only, right?

 

[Yo HasLEGO 193]

It would be ideal if the crafting proces could be fully automated.
Look at games like Satisfactory for ideas like conveyor belts. You could have a machine that automates the existing crafting stations when coupled to them. It would receive all resources that get fed via the conveyor belt and also drop the finished resources on a next conveyor belt which in its turn brings them to a chest. Talking about chests, 

Automatic sorting systems for chest rooms!
I don't know how you would do that since it's stated that logic gates aren't fun. So i'm guessing it's not going to be like you can in Minecraft.

Although more logic gates would create endless possibilities to create cool stuff. I mean heck, minecraft players made working computers within the game with the few components available.

Energy sources that come to mind which i would really love; solar panels, more wind turbines, reactors! water mills and dams...if we'd have moving water 😥
paddle wheels for ships and new engines, airplane and zeppelin engines? *wink wink* or a more expensive sports car engine that would make vehicles go even faster.

You can also look at what we have in the editor and make a devices based on that. I'm thinking of sounds: speakers, trigger zones: movement/light sensors and so much more!

and last but not least, better lamps 😅

 

edit: i see now that a lot of these have already been suggested above. Whoops

Edited October 14, 2022 by Yo HasLEGO

[Mello1223 591]

takze. v prvom rade sa chcem vopred ospravedlnit ze to napisem hlavne v mojom rodnom jzyku,pretoze toto je tema na ktoru cakam uz strasne dlho . pridam aj anglicky preklad,ale nechcem aby sa nieco stratilo v nespravnom preklade. takze: 

v prvom rade sa mi nepaci velkost energetickych objektov. rozumiem tomu ze je to urobene koli tomu aby sa dali jednoducho prepajat,ale nemyslim si ze je to efektivne. 
podla mojho skromneho nazoru by bolo efektivnejsie keby sme k aktualnej moznosti prepajania pomocou nastroja na prepajanie energie dostali moznost prepajat ich pomocov zadania mena alebo id. kazde energo zariadenie by malo UI ktore by sa zobrazilo pri interakcii. tu by sme mohli nastavit prepojenie z ostatnymi energo zariadeniami v okoli,zadamnim cisla id zariadenia,alebo by sme si mohli vybrat z tabulky zariadeni ktore su umiestnene v okoli. inspirovane hrou creativerse. 



druha dolezita vec,doplnit dalsie zakladne logicke hradla ktore pozname, napriklad NAND,NOR,a podobne a zakladnu pamat ako spomenul zawril.
k tomu je ale potrebny aj casovac,o ktorom som uz robil samostatny navrh aj z videom(,najdete ho v sekcii navrhy.) casovac by mal v UI okrem moznosti prepojenia z inymi zariadeniami aj moznost nastavyt cas cyklu. posluzilo by to aj na vytvaranie impulzov pre logicku pamat . 

dalej kondenzator: v podstate suciastka ktora by mala rovnaky princip fungovnia ako dobijacia stanica,ale bola by mala,a po nabyti by pustila energeticky tok dalej na niekolko sekund ( cas by sa dal nastavit) 

merac energie. tiez princip zariadenia ako mame na lodiach,akurat ze tento by sa dal zaradit do energetickeho obvodu. 

potenciometer : suciastka na regulovanie mnozstva energie , kombinovane zo svetlami nieco ako spominal Jchobs ,svetla by sa dali stmievat a zjasnovat . alebo by sa tym dal regulovat tok za rozdelovacom energie. 
taktiez rozdelovac energie a generatory z viacerimy vystupmi by mali fungovat tak ze ked generuju urcite mnozstvo energie,tak by malo byt jedno z ktoreho vyvodu pojde rozne mnostvo energie,pokial nieje vycerpana cela kapacita. 


 tolko k malim suciatkam a podme k zariadeniam :
bolo by super keby sme mali vsetky vyrobne stanice v levely energy. zakladny level tavnej pece by bolo kurenie drevom,stredny by pouzil ako palivo uhlie,a posledny by vyuzival energiu .
rozmanitost generatorov uz spominal yohas,takze to preskocim .
energeticke zbrane/pasce . pri dodani energetickeho impulzu alebo energie by sa zapli. teslov generator ale na viac sposobov. napriklad autommaticke delo. malo by zasobnik,a pri dodani energie by strielalo po vsetkom v urcitej oblasti. 

senzory : senzor den/noc, senzor na detekovanie NPC ,(zvierata atd) ,senzor na entity :  po vlozeni urcitej entity do oblasti snimania sa senzor zapne ) tento senzor by mohol obsahovat kontajner z jednym slotom - slot by sluzil ako nastavovac pre to aku entitu to ma zaznamenavat . ((priklad : vlozite do kontajneru senzora travu- senzor bude detekovat ci sa v oblasti nachadza alebo nenachadza trava. 
senzor na zmenu pocasia. 

dalsia podla mna velmi zaujimava vec by mohol byt ciselnik a zariadenia na vysielanie a prijmanie numerickeho signalu(ciselne prevodniky )  . (tiez inspirovane hrou creativerse ) pridalo by to niekolko nasobne viac moznosti prepajania logickych obvodou. 
k ciselniku by bolo super mat aj ciselny display,tie ktore mame teraz bud svietia alebo nesvietia,k tomuto by sa dalo zobrazit cislo podla dodaneho signalu z ciselnika(prevodniku) 

dopravnikove pasy uz tiez spominali vyssie,tiez som k nim ale robil video,a v pripade zaujmu ho mozem neskor pridat. ,k tomu by som ale este doplnil zariadenie na vkladanie predmetov do kontajnerov,ako lievik v minecrafte , akurat by to mohlo byt spojene aj zo senzorom na entity,takze by sa dal urobit sklad s automatickym triedenim predmetov. predmety by padali do energetickych kontajnerov ktore by mali aj moznost vydat material spat von,napriklad nazat na dopravnikovy pas. 

klimatizacia,toto asi netreba ani vysvetlovat. 

no a k zariadeniam by som urcite naozaj uvital pohiblive platformy,napriklad vytah-ale s tym ze by sa dali kombinovat na seba : priklad zakladna platforma by sa zdvihla o 10 blokov,alebo menej,no keby sme nd nu pridali dalsiu platformu,zmenilo by sa to na jednu platformu ktora by sa zdvihla o dvojnasobok,atd... 
k vytahovym pltformam by bolo super mat dake zasuvacie steny,okna,a podobne. samozrejme aj dake rotacne platformy by boli super,tiez napriklad rotacne dvere ako v supermarketoch a podobne... mal by som toho na dalsich 10 stran,ale necham priestor aj pre ostatnych . 😁



ENG- 

so. first of all, I want to apologize in advance that I will write this mainly in my native language, because this is a topic that I have been waiting for a very long time. I will also add an English translation, but I don't want anything to be lost in an incorrect translation. so:

first of all, I don't like the size of energy buildings. I understand that it's done so that they can be connected easily, but I don't think it's effective.
in my humble opinion, it would be more effective if, in addition to the current possibility of connecting using the energy connecting tool, we could connect them by entering a name or id. every energy device would have a UI that would be displayed when interacting. here we could set up a connection with other energy devices in the area, enter the ID number of the device, or we could choose from the table devices that are located in the area. inspired by creativerse game.

the second important thing is to add other basic logic gates that we know, for example NAND, NOR, etc. and close the basic memory as mentioned.
but for that you also need a timer, about which I already made a separate proposal from the video (you can find it in the proposals section.) the timer should also be able to set the cycle time in the UI in addition to the possibility of connecting with other devices. it would also be used to create impulses for logical memory.

Next, a capacitor: basically a component that would have the same operating principle as a charging station, but it would be small, and after charging, it would let the energy flow continue for a few seconds (the time could be set)

energy meter. also the principle of the device as we have on ships, just that this could be included in the energy circuit.

potentiometer: part for regulating the amount of energy, combined with the lights something like Jchobs mentioned, the lights could be dimmed and brightened. or it could be used to regulate the flow behind the energy distributor.
also, the energy distributor and generators with multiple outputs should work in such a way that when they generate a certain amount of energy, there should be one outlet from which a different amount of energy goes, unless the entire capacity is exhausted.

so much for the logic things and let's talk about the devices:
it would be great if we had all production stations in levely energy. the basic level of the melting furnace would be wood burning, the middle one would use coal as fuel, and the last one would use energy.
Yohas already mentioned the variety of generators, so I'll skip it.
energy weapons/traps . they would turn on when an energy pulse or energy was delivered. tesla generator but in more ways. for example, an automatic cannon. it would have a magazine, and when the energy was supplied, it would shoot at everything in a certain area.

sensors: day/night sensor, NPC detection sensor (animals, etc.), entity sensor: after inserting a certain entity into the sensing area, the sensor turns on) this sensor could contain a container with one slot - the slot would serve as a setting for what the entity must record it. ((example: put grass in the sensor container - the sensor will detect whether or not there is grass in the area.
weather sensor.

Another very interesting thing, in my opinion, could be a dialer and devices for sending and receiving a digital signal (digital converters). (also inspired by the creativerse game) it would add several times more possibilities of connecting logic circuits.
it would be great to have a digital display for the dial, the ones we have now either light up or don't light up, it would be possible to display the number according to the supplied signal from the dial (transducer)

The transporter's passports were also mentioned above, but I also made a video for them, and if you are interested, I can add it later. , but I would also add a device for putting objects into containers, like a funnel in minecraft, it could also be connected with an entity sensor, so a warehouse with automatic sorting of objects could be made. the objects would fall into energy containers, which would also have the possibility to release the material back out, for example attached to the carrier's passport.

air conditioning, this probably doesn't even need to be explained.

well, I would certainly really welcome movable platforms for the equipment, for example an elevator - but with the fact that they could be combined on top of each other: for example, the basic platform would rise by 10 blocks or less, but if we were to add another platform, it would change that on one platform that would be raised twice, etc...
it would be great to have retractable walls, windows, etc. for the elevator platforms. Of course, rotating platforms would also be great, also, for example, revolving doors like in supermarkets and the like... I would have it on the next 10 pages, but I will leave space for others as well. 😁

Edited October 17, 2022 by Mello1223

[zarwil 393]

6 hours ago, Molenusaczech said:

you actually cant make a latch, cuz you cant connect an output to a previous input...

Oh right, I remember now you mention it. 

[Jarda 157]

Už máme ohřívací zařízení, tak bych byl rád za nějaký ventilátor nebo něco co ochlazuje.

A byl bych rád kdybych viděl někde v popisku energetického zařízení kolik odebírá energie, něco jak je u zbraní napsáno jaké poškození mají. 

 

ENG

We already have a heater, so I would like a fan or something to cool it down.

And I would like to see somewhere in the description of the energy device how much energy it consumes, something like what damage is written for weapons.

[Deadeye_Rob 908]

Here’s a few from my list:

ENERGY GENERATION

Whilst it’s very convenient to have a recharger on a ship, it does offer an endless, illogical supply of energy for engines. I think that energy generation should follow in line with basic physics in that I must be obtained from a fuel, or renewable source. Thus introducing a whole new market for energy generation. Maybe solar, oil, wind etc.

 

STORAGE

We have Power packs, which are a great portable start. I would like to see this improved with large, static batteries that could increase the operational lifespan of a ships engine.

 

RECHARGER

The recharger should no longer charge with an ‘area of effect’ and should have dedicated receptacles for power packs to be plugged in. Probably a controversial suggestion but one that favours logic.

 

ENERGY-POWERED CRAFTING

Each major workbench should have a powered equivalent, which would offer benefits. A furnace for example, would be more efficient in its operation, producing more ingots per Ore.

Some stations could be automated, such as a Hydroponics station, where so long as it’s powered, would automatically plant and harvest a small collection of crops each week.

 

MISC DEVICES

Daylight detectors, motion detectors would be a great start.

Also, current heaters and Tesla coils don’t show their area of effect when placing. I would like to see this implemented in a similar manner as the oxygen generator is.

[anna_svecova 375]

Hi all,

Thank you so much for all these amazing ideas. I'm noting them down and will bring them up in a meeting

Have a lovely Monday!

[Yo HasLEGO 193]

On 10/14/2022 at 7:05 PM, Mello1223 said:

so much for the little bitches

EXCUSE YOU! 

Wash your mouth mello! 😂

[Mello1223 591]

3 hours ago, Yo HasLEGO said:

EXCUSE YOU! 

Wash your mouth mello! 😂

loool... ...translator... 

[teempade04 0]

I don't know how you would do that since it's stated that logic gates aren't fun. So i'm guessing it's not going to be like you can in Minecraft.

9apps
cartoon hd
 

Edited March 28, 2023 by teempade04