A idea on automaton for scripts

[zywaar]

Hi,

 

New to the forums here but I had a Idea while watching the DUExplorers series on youtube. Super excited about the game and love the direction it is heading!

 

Had a quick search here and wasn't able to tell if it been brought up before. My idea has to deal with the automation with the scripts. If the scripts had a area of influence and control other elements of the same type in that area in series.

 

Example, Say the influence is 50m and you had 5 defense turrets in the area. If the scripts had a time stamp of when it was installed the newest one would be used and would do the same operation for all of the turrets one after the other. So one turret will lock and shot then another turret will lock and shoot and so on. If that turret with the latest script is destroyed it falls to the next newest one. This way if being attacked you'll have X number of turrets for the enemy to destroy but only one is firing at them at once. If you had them all manually operated you could have them all firing at once giving a good reason to operate objects in the game.

 

From how I understand industry will work this could also work. Only one script in area will work at once so the production line in a factory is automated but the 'next step' will only go after the previous one is completed. The factory will have to have a order of what the scripts are done in. Manually controlling every 'step process' will have all 'steps' being done at once. You could build the 'factory steps' apart from one another to separate the influence zones and have them all operate at once but then you are constantly moving goods around to get them to build the final product which would be a time sink. Could also have it that if someone in the organization is in the influence range it works faster.

 

Just a idea on how something could be done to 'balance' the automation of things in the game with the scripts and to have a clear advantage of having people to operate things.

[Lord_Void]

Welcome to the forums zywaar! That's a good habit to search for topics. I believe there was a similar thread before https://board.dualthegame.com/index.php?/topic/10051-limiting-script-automation-will-hinder-economic-growth

 

Your idea would be an interesting way of limiting automation, but I think it is a bit too much of a time sink, since it would operate a reduced efficiency at all times. Plus, having only one script running at a time would make it hard for large ships to function as they may have many scripts running at the same time in order for them to work. The idea right now is that scripts only work when players are near them, and at slightly reduced rates versus fully trained players. So people are encouraged to automate things and to innovate but balance is maintained by the fact that manpower can trump automation, but clever engineering and investment can give people an edge. 

[ATMLVE]

Welcome to the forums zywaar! This is a creative solution to the issue of automation, one I have not personally seen yet. It sounds good in practice, but my question for you is, how does the game differentiate between a script that is harmless (such as one controlling the thrusters on my ship) and a script which is automatically building my ships or controlling my turrets? Basically, how does the game know which scripts should be limited to one-at-a-time and when, and which ones are okay to run freely and continuously?

[Anaximander]

The real question is, if you have to be near, or on, a cosntruct for the scripts to operate. That being said, a factory, may be one PART of a construct, that operates on a larger construct like a city or a station or w/e.

So, by definition, you are still running the factory, but you are limited to the city / station it is in or on.

If it does follow that rule, it's gonna solve a lot of issues. And it makes certain the people who run industry on board a city, to act as its guards or law enforcement, since, let's face it, they can't go anywhere as it's rolling.

[DarkTemplar]

They (NQ) have said that you need to be nearby for the script to be in use as it runs on the client not serverside afaik.

[Anaximander]

They (NQ) have said that you need to be nearby for the script to be in use as it runs on the client not serverside afaik.

Which is exactly what I am referring to. If the construct is an instance on its own, then by definition, if you are on it, you are linked to a "mini-server" or microservice. Scripts would simply run for you, as you are the one who owns the machinery, not me, who is responsible for running some other scripts.

 

It could be tied to proximity due to gameplay reasons, ala EVE's industrial skilsl that allow you operate factories from one side of the star region to the other, or more likely, the drone control training skills, that enable you to operate drones from a greater distance.

 

But he former makes far more sense from a technical standpoint. You wouldn't be able to leave the city and go fight on another planet, as a planet is technically a microservice of its own, insdie a server that is the solar system in general. But for the same construct, scripts would be easily ran.

 

Otherwise a ship like a Titan, or a Super-Mega-Special-Snowflake Destroyer would not be even possible t be blown, if it was based off of direct range. But as an instance-wide script running range, it works like a charm.

[zywaar]

Hello again,

 

I guess that not all elements need to have a influence range for working. Like the thrusters/anti-grav engines on a ship, automatic opening doors or auto loaders for a cargo ship. This was only a idea to allow balance so large orgs could not spam automation systems when they have spare minerals. Don't get me worng I'd love to see automation in the game but I want people to feel a need and purpose to go man elements in times of need instead of a ship of some sort or just building another automated factory next to the other one for just another person to man.

 

I like the idea more of 10 factories with 5 people in each instead of 50 with 1 person in each for efficiency. The larger orgs will still spam because it is just easier but the smaller ones can then take a advantage of time. 

 

As for to much of a time sink it could just be on a time sequence instead of one after the other so the next script could start to run every second or so and then this way it can be tunable even to balance things out.

 

I sure they could add different influence ranges and times pauses to different elements, element types or maby just only for weapons to be able to balance out to how they invision the game.

[Ripper]

It would be nice to learn about sensors and how they interact with characters and other elements.

 

We know constructs (and most likely scripts) will automatically download the first time you get within a specific range. That doesnt mean you've activated the construct yet. Its just downloaded to the client. Then, depending upon the construct, its activated via user interaction or proximity. My guess is the "proximity" would be determined by the type and size of the sensor attached to the construct.

 

An air lock would be entirely different than a global defense platform.

[Lethys]

Hello again,

 

I guess that not all elements need to have a influence range for working. Like the thrusters/anti-grav engines on a ship, automatic opening doors or auto loaders for a cargo ship. This was only a idea to allow balance so large orgs could not spam automation systems when they have spare minerals. Don't get me worng I'd love to see automation in the game but I want people to feel a need and purpose to go man elements in times of need instead of a ship of some sort or just building another automated factory next to the other one for just another person to man.

 

I like the idea more of 10 factories with 5 people in each instead of 50 with 1 person in each for efficiency. The larger orgs will still spam because it is just easier but the smaller ones can then take a advantage of time. 

 

As for to much of a time sink it could just be on a time sequence instead of one after the other so the next script could start to run every second or so and then this way it can be tunable even to balance things out.

 

I sure they could add different influence ranges and times pauses to different elements, element types or maby just only for weapons to be able to balance out to how they invision the game.

 

Exactly. Such scripts have to foster emergent gameplay and teamplay, not lonesome wolfs. I would love to see such scripts where a smaller gang can do pretty well (not as fast/good as a huge org because of numbers but still) in using intelligent scripts to get an edge but at the same time they need a dedicated team to do so