A data transmission and processing system for traps and puzzles #122
Description
Requirements
- Data transmission, this could for example be a wire(or wireless) connection from a lever to a door.
- Data validation, this could be a bunch of logic gates, analog circuitry or actual code.
- Measurement devices(levers, pressure sensors, buttons)
- Output devices (doors, secret doors, lights, arrow traps)
- Time utilities (delay, clock, timer)
Additional ideas:
- toggleable blocks: they are only visible and solid if they get a signal. This would be an easy alternative for piston doors and it would allow making time-limited parkours in dungeons
Possible implementations
Redstone
Pros:
- It doesn't require additionaly GUI overlays
- It is observable in action
- It can be fun to try to figure out how to integrate redstone into a confined space
Cons:
- It is expensive for the client: The mesh needs to update every time the signal changes
- It is expensive for the server: A redstone tick needs to update a lot of blocks
- It has high latency: Redstone ticks are rare and complex calculations require many ticks
- It can clutter your buildings if you don't know all the tricks, like using slabs to transmit a signal upwards
- It would be quite complicated for procedural dungeon generation to generate traps without relying on pre-built structures.
Integrated Circuits and Wireless Transmission
Essentially you could attach a circuit board to each block, like a lever or a door.
Each circuit board is a square grid, with inputs(e.g. lever state) and outputs(e.g. door state).
The player can place circuit elements(wires, bridges, logic gates) inside a special GUI. These actions would consume items from the player's inventory.
There are wireless receiver and transmitter components. These could be paired up using the same oscillator crystals. Additionally there should be pair up a sender with a receiver to avoid limiting the system too much.
Pros:
- Efficient: no mesh updates, boards could be compiled to simple code and lookup tables.
- No extra space required
- Easier to debug, each circuit could be tested in the GUI.
- You can hack the puzzle if you brute-force the frequency crystal of the door. This fact could be used to make new puzzles as well.
Cons:
- Less immersive than redstone
- Connections are invisible(maybe a tool could make them visible?)
- How to introduce it to the player?
- Is it as fun to use as redstone?
String
A string has two states: under tension and loose.
Two strings attached to the same endpoint can be used as an OR gate.
A NOT gate can be created using a small weight. The weight tensions the output string, unless the input string lifts it up.
Pros:
- String logic could be built in real life
- It doesn't require additionaly GUI overlays
- It is observable in action, by changing the color of strings that are under tension
- Strings can believably go through walls, so it shares the advantages of the wireless approach
- There might be some fun interactions when players can break strings inside of dungeons
- Doesn't need mesh updates, except from updating the string colors
Cons:
- Collisions could be a problem: Without collisions it would be less immersive, but collisions on the other hand would be expensive, and would tension the strings which can have unforeseen consequences, maybe even make circuits unusable.
- It would still be somewhat expensive for the server, but maybe less expensive than redstone.
- It can absolutely clutter your buildings, maybe multi-colored strings could help
- How does the string interact with ambient light?
- Is it as fun to use as redstone?
Slime Mold (visually based on Physarum polycephalum)
The mold has two states: idle/sleeping and eating, when eating the texture of the entire organism is animated as nutrients are transferred throughout it.
When eating it can exert some force on objects, which allows it to e.g. open a door or push away food from another instance (→not gate).
Overall this makes it act kind of like redstone, except it can stick on wall and ceiling, and it's alive (be careful not to give it too much food at once, or your circuit breaks).
Pros:
- same as redstone
- more immersive than redstone, it fits better into the world of Cubyz
- placing on walls
- being alive would allow other fun interactions (be careful where you place it, or it will eat it and expand)
Cons:
- expensive (same as redstone)