[HOW TO] Signals setup for teleporters & shields

Discussion in 'Experimental Features Discussion' started by Pantera, Apr 21, 2020.

  1. basingleton

    basingleton Commander

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    Yup, and in SP its really obvious because if you teleport to another playfield, the one you left from the teleport pad does not finish processing your sensor's "not occupied" status to shut off the teleporter. also, when you come back and land on that teleport pad, the Sensor says "occupied", and then the power is calculated based on it being 'on' the whole time, when in reality, you *just* stepped on the pad because you teleported in. The teleporter needs both a pressure sensor built in, and a rework of how it knows when it should be 'on/off' and what the actual duration are based on playfield load/unload logic.

    It should have a low power drain while installed AND while you're standing on it selecting a target (why would it drain so much just to SEE what is available??)... then it should have a countdown to transport where it "powers up" by consuming in a predetermined amount of Energy (or as I previously stated, a few refined pentaxid crystals instead) for the actual transport, then returns to standby without 10 sensors trying to work around it.

    I'd be ok with a low power drain like 10-20 that is always present when its turned on, and then after you select a target, a consumption of refined pentaxicd ONLY for the transport itself. Since refined pentaxid is used for warp, it makes sense also that pentaxid (like dilithium crystals) would have tons of energy potential for long-distance teleport.. that works around the power drain issue all at the same time.
     
    #21
  2. Pantera

    Pantera Administrator Staff Member

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    Just to say the issue with the TP not turning off in SP will be looked into.
     
    #22
  3. basingleton

    basingleton Commander

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    Also, the workaround I found was teleporting to a friendly POI teleporter like POL on the SAME playfield, and then from there teleport out of the playfield.. same thing coming in.. teleport IN to the POI, and then to your own teleporter.. that allows the playfield to finish the calculations correctly for the on/off and actual duration. Terrible immersion breaker, but.. it works.

    Edit: Thank you @Pantera yes I was told it would be fixed.. but just adding some situational things as it might not just be a turn off issue, but it could be a 'turn on before energy calculation' issue instead, since you materialize on the pad. and yes, @Taelyn™ has been kind enough to take note of my comments in the A12 thread on the scenarios.
     
    #23
  4. Khazul

    Khazul Rear Admiral

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    I wonder how they are planning to fix this - hopefully they will address the whole signal system. Would it take much to simply tick the entire signal system for each construct before they unload a playfield?

    This problem isn't just teleporters, its anything that needs to happen after you have left a sensor by means of leaving the playfield, so I hope the fix isn't some band aid over teleporter leaving the rest still non functional.
     
    #24
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  5. Pantera

    Pantera Administrator Staff Member

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    Can you link to the thread ?
     
    #25
  6. basingleton

    basingleton Commander

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    @Pantera it was the general discord "experimental-a12" public channel. Apparently, I type a lot. I've extracted the relevant section and removed 'other topics'.. so below should be a pretty straight forward read, and at the bottom I highlighted in yellow @Taelyn™ confirmation that he's seen my comments.



    basingleton05/05/2020
    Yup, and now I see the transporter does not 'shut down' a playfield correctly when you leave in Single Player.. all the solar and fuel gone.. 2,400 rotton food.. It might not be an issue on a server for MP, but on SP, my "tranporter ready" sensor is used to turn it on only while I'm standing on that spot, so when it teleports me away, it should see that the space is not occupied and shut off the transporter before unloading the playfield. Ugh! . Unless this was reported and will be fixed, transporters are not feasable because you will always come back to a drained base powered down.. all plants dead if you have any.

    Dathe05/05/2020
    I saw a couple bp's using sensors to know when someone was on the teleporter pad, seems like an easy and logical way to limit teleporter power drain, though honestly that standby power drain is pretty high too
    [3:33 PM]
    I'd like to see them work like shields, high power drain while they charge up, maybe 30 seconds, with perhaps some pentaxid drain as well. Then go into a very efficient standby mode. The current setup really encourages stand-alone teleporter bases (accidently draining fuel from a single tank would not affect main base) and those can easily be buried under a base to get around the shield-off requirement.

    Fionn MacCumhail05/05/2020
    both apollo19 and I have teleporter bases for doing this on workshop guys
    [3:37 PM]
    just need a motion sensor

    Dathe05/05/2020
    Just re-read your post basingleton, are you sure it wasnt just the high standby load that drained your fuel?

    [​IMG]
    basingleton05/05/2020
    @Dathe no because this all happens within 1-2 hours of SP gameplay, and the base before I step on the pad which the sensor then turns on the teleporter, the base says over 69 Hours of time left based on current drain. Remember the Transporter only has an on/off switch, and the sensor controls that.. Before stepping on the pad, Transporter is off, step on pad and sensor turns it on.. once the Transport is initiated, the sensor should see that I am no longer on the pad and turn the teleporter back off. There's no standby drain, just on or off, and when it's on it's crazy. I might try teleporting out to another base, then look at the Transporter on/off state from a distance so not to trip the occupancy sensor, to verify my theory that it's not turned off correctly. I think the sensor cannot do its work BEFORE the SP playfield unloads.(edited)

    Dathe05/05/2020
    I see what your saying
    [4:12 PM]
    heh, i could swear there was 124 PU standby load, but your right, its not
    [4:14 PM]
    i've often wondered if my lights stay on when i logout, these sorts of things could easily happen in MP now, with so many planets.
    [4:16 PM]
    I also wonder what a quick toggle of the main power from the registry would do, after you teleport, if that would force a status check and properly set the sensors

    [​IMG]
    basingleton05/05/2020
    I don't think it happens in MP because the server is still running, and managing that playfield, it probably stays loaded in cache for a certain amount of time before unloading.. with transporting to another playfield in SP, there is no failsafe where it keeps running, your computer unloads it, it just stops everything and exits that playfield. I think they will work this out but the 'unload' order when exiting SP might be out of order because sensors should act before exiting. . On the other hand.. the issue might be when you teleport IN to the base, because you immediately are already located on the pad when you spawn, which tells the sensor to turn on the teleporter, and then the game calculates fuel used while away.. this could be it.. and I will test this by setting a 'delay' logic so that when I step on the pad, it does not turn on for 5-10 seconds.. that might work...

    [​IMG]
    Taelyn05/05/2020
    Sensors are executed in a special way in SP by the Game Manager(edited)


    [​IMG]
    Taelyn05/05/2020
    In MP yes indeed the playfield stays loaded for like 30 seconds after everyone leaves

    [​IMG]
    basingleton05/05/2020
    @Taelyn there's no power issue when xporting in the same playfield in SP.. I think that because you spawn in a different playfield right on the pad, the pad turns on first, and then power is calculated as if it has been on the whole time, but in reality, you just got there, and because you landed on the pad, it turns on because of the sensor above it. Power should be calculated before the player is spawned in and triggers anything.


    [​IMG]
    basingleton05/05/2020
    So I setup a complicated set of Inverter, Set/Reset Latch, and 2x And circuits for the teleporter.. the area outside the teleporter "sets" it to be ready.. and "Occupying" the teleporter plus the ready state turn it on.. Walk out and the "not occupied" (inverter) resets the latch and the teleporter "ready" status is turned off, and so does the teleporter. Transport from one base to another on the same playfield, and when you arrive at the destination, the teleporter is OFF, because it never got its own "ready" signal set. Walk out, it stays off because its not occupied. . Same setup but teleport to a different playfield, everytime I arrive, the teleporter is "on", because when I teleported out from that location the last time, the Single Player playfield unload did NOT process the "not occupied" signal, so it stayed on. . Conclusion: Single Player, you will run the power down if you teleport out, no way around it. Multiplayer, the playfield stays active for 30 seconds like @Taelyn said, and so the last signals of you 'leaving' are processed successfully. SP broken, MP fine (Assuming you use some sensors and some logic to control it). bummer(edited)

    Ravien05/05/2020
    I hope they just change it so it uses power when you actually teleport (and a considerable amount) or maybe it can use pentaxid as fuel per teleport or something.
    [7:41 PM]
    Ships and bases can already have a pentaxid tank so you can add a pentaxid cost to teleporting.

    [​IMG]
    basingleton05/05/2020
    Coupled with when you teleport in, it uses the immediate teleporter state to assume that's what it has been the whole time, which in SP is 'on', but in reality it was 'off', so all your fuel poof
    [
    7:42 PM]
    @Ravien that was my original suggestion.. require like 100-300 Power Units, plus 1-5 pentaxid crystals per 'teleport' out. Standby power of maybe 10PU with no "off" switch anymore. Simple and would have worked so much better(edited)
    [7:43 PM]
    Teleporters were my favorite "want" feature, and I can't wait for them to be fixed in SP.
    [7:46 PM]
    As long as you're not growing plants in that base, you could drain all the power into cells and store them.. leaving just enough to teleport out. When you teleport back, just add the power in to turn the base back on. Cumbersome, but a work around. I can't believe I had over 22,000 power units drain within 2 hours, and when I returned, it calculated it was all gone, and therefore the power was "out", and therefore all my food should be spoiled (2,400 food in the fridge).. Live on Emergency Rations!!! LOL

    Ravien05/05/2020
    Yeah or just use a separate teleport base (but workarounds like that shouldn't be needed).

    [​IMG]
    basingleton05/05/2020
    the separate base attracts dual attacks from the drones.. I've decided to mod the config file down to a respectable 10PU constant drain until the devs change how this operates or fixes the not shutting off thing... honestly, it should have a BUILT IN sensor so when you step on the pad it's on, and when you step off or the teleport code activates, it shuts it off... would have kept all the coding together for it as a device without us using multiple sensors and complicated logic.

    [​IMG]
    Vermillion05/05/2020
    The teleporter only consuming power when activated, at least a lot of it, will only cause problems. The playfield will unload when the player teleports out of it leaving it in the current power drain state when reloaded (which is already a problem with the sensor-teleporter setup) or it'll consume more power than the generator can handle and damage the ship, or it'll do so fast that you'll be able to run a teleporter on solar since power doesn't cap at the generator output limit with no impact on generator damage system.(edited)
    [9:06 PM]
    The shield generator-style approach might be better. Teleporter drains power until it's fully charged, then goes into an idle state where it only consumes a small amount. Players can only teleport when the teleporter is fully charged and depletes it to 0%.(edited)

    [​IMG]
    basingleton05/05/2020
    Maybe the teleporter should "charge up" for 15 seconds requiring high power drain, and then remain 'charged' until it's used, then it charges again..
    [9:08 PM]
    yeah, there's tons of better concepts than how it's currently powered.. it's ruined 3 of my bases (large farms).
    [9:08 PM]
    The repair station is still broken too.. I modded that to a power drain of just "5", like everything else (armor locker, etc).(edited)
    [​IMG]
    Vermillion05/05/2020
    Since there's also a delay between shield depletion and recharging, using it on a teleporter allows the playfield to unload in the cooldown when it's not consuming extra power.

    [​IMG]
    basingleton05/05/2020
    They still need to fix the unload order / logic; the teleporter has just brought out how that is not programmed logically.
    [9:13 PM]
    Config mod in place.. sad it was necessary, but I did survival all the way up to teleporter level, so excited, and then the fun drained out when I would return to a base, no only would it be drained of power, but I'd almost immediately get 'under attack' message.. sitting there scrambling to load coal in the generator to get the shield up, just nuts, sapped the fun.

    [​IMG]
    basingleton05/06/2020
    any thoughts on the base power drain calculation when leaving a play field and returning? Seems to be related to the high drain of the transporter and it not turning off correctly, or turning back on when you enter the play field and then wrong calculations occur. I posted a lot of information and observations yesterday but wasn't sure if anybody had a chance to look at it. Since Transporters are a huge new piece to the game, I thought there would be some changes in experimental 3. . Also, there was a comment in here that generator output was going to be adjusted again, but I didn't see anything in the release notes. Was it adjusted? If so is there anything else that was changed that isn't in the release notes?
    [​IMG]
    Taelyn05/06/2020
    There are always things not mentioned in the changelogs. Things that arnt "need to know" stuff. I saw all things you said about the Teleporter but this isnt something we look at on such sort notice since the EXP Build got build last evening already. Maybe Part 4 or later.


    basingleton05/06/2020
    @Taelyn No worries on the Transporter, just curious. I'm sure it will all get sorted.
     
    #26
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  7. Pantera

    Pantera Administrator Staff Member

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    @Lord Sapito thanks no problem I thought it was a thread here on the forum you meant.
    I'll update here when something is ready for it.
     
    #27
  8. basingleton

    basingleton Commander

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    @Pantera Taelyn confirmed this was not fixed in EXP 4, do you think EXP 5 will fix it, or will it come 'much later' ?
     
    #28
  9. Taelyn

    Taelyn Guest

    We dont give ETAs to fixes. Its logged and will be looked at
     
    #29
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  10. Pantera

    Pantera Administrator Staff Member

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    As soon as something is ready we will announce it I cannot give a ETA at the moment for this specifically.
    Apologies for any inconvenience caused with this.
     
    #30
  11. basingleton

    basingleton Commander

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    @Pantera @Taelyn™ was this fixed in Phase 5? If not, are you going to fix it before the mid-june public release because this is a game killer for Single Player.. which most of the players are SP.. they're going to come back to bases out of fuel if they have a teleporter. I'd just like an update on where a fix is, not looking for promises..
     
    #31
  12. Pantera

    Pantera Administrator Staff Member

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    No.

    When something is ready we will announce it like always.
     
    #32
  13. basingleton

    basingleton Commander

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    Ok, I've worked around with custom config, just was thinking to not have ticked off SP players when it goes public ;)

    Thank you, I appreciate all the work you devs do!
     
    #33
  14. 7thScar

    7thScar Ensign

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    Just chiming in:


    This also happened to me several times in my SP playthru since 12.4 before I figured out what was going on. Since it was SP I spawned in more fuel and was on my way but if it was MP I would have been stranded several times. This should be fixed before 12 goes stable since it breaks TP use and will cause no end anguish on server play where the sever hosts are not always around to save stranded folks...both for players and the server hosts.

    Thanks for your efforts, Eleon.
     
    #34
  15. Pantera

    Pantera Administrator Staff Member

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    Just to update we won't be able to fix this right away for public release for SP but will try to get to it as soon as we can.
    Apologies for the inconvenience/expectation I'll update here when something is ready for it.
     
    #35
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  16. DarkMaid

    DarkMaid Commander

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    Messed with my first teleporter yesterday. It was nice being able to do some trading without flying in a SV but...

    First off, no power button like for constructors. Seriously? I have to open the control panel, hunt for it in the device list, and turn the thing on/off from there. Or set up a switch/toggle/sensor/thingy. I'm not asking for laser beams on my sharks here, just a power slider so I can easily turn off the one device that consumes 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 times more power than all the other devices in all of my bases combined...

    Two, I'm OK with the power requirement, actually, but, I have to mess with motion detectors/sensors/circuits/crap to have the thing turn off after I've beamed out. Which apparently doesn't even work reliably for SP anyway from what I've read so I'm not even going to bother trying. I'll just have to keep my use of the thing to super short visits to trading stations and get back ASAP before half my base power is drained.

    Because the power drain is so high people are going to be setting up some sensor/circuit scheme everytime they install one. Which forces people like me who despise messing with signals to search and read pages of how-to's on signals. If this is some intentional ploy to force people to learn signals/logic then I resent it. I had to do the same with doors that I want to stay normally shut (like toilets/showers w/doors or staterooms) located near areas you always walk. I keep the info on a sticky near my computer everytime I need to set one up. I don't know how it works (and I don't want to know, frankly) and half the time I mess up the set-up anyway. But I have to do it to preserve my sanity when walking around my base or CV.
    -
    -
    1) Please give teleporters a power slider.
    2) Have it turn off automatically after you teleport. 100% of people will be setting this up anyway so it might as well be made a feature of the device and so save everybody's time.
    3) (Since I'm here) Give doors/shutters a manual/automatic checkbox. You plop the thing down, set it to Manual or Automatic and you're done.

    Sorry for the rant.
     
    #36
    Last edited: Jan 8, 2021
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  17. basingleton

    basingleton Commander

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    Note: teleporters not shutting off due to signal processing in SP was fixed a long time ago. The last comment here was before v1.0 was even public. We are now on v1.3.

    1) Please give teleporters a power slider. - This already exists, it is called "active" and is a slider on the device. If you want a Control Panel slider on the main screen, just setup one on the right hand side (put in "teleporter"), and then change the teleporter on/off to that signal.

    2) Have it turn off automatically after you teleport. 100% of people will be setting this up anyway so it might as well be made a feature of the device and so save everybody's time. - been around this block many times, it functions like it functions..

    3) (Since I'm here) Give doors/shutters a manual/automatic checkbox. You plop the thing down, set it to Manual or Automatic and you're done. - Just setup a signal (AND logic) put the output name as "manual door", and then for any door you want manual, just set the open/closed on the door to that signal.

    Basic signals are really not hard at all.. the teleporter auto on/off is super easy.. one sensor with an output signal name, and you assign it to the teleporter.. takes 30 seconds. If you're willing to learn a little about signals and sensors, you'll find they can solve many issues you've never even thought of before. I'd be more than happy to share some simple signal solutions for common setups. You can also save this all in your blueprint, and just use the factory to make the base/CV (that's how most people do it or you are building the same thing over and over in survival mode).
     
    #37
  18. DarkMaid

    DarkMaid Commander

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    #38
    Last edited: Jan 9, 2021

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