Lurkily

Drills do still eat ore, I'm afraid. Someone else suggested drills should have a tech tree upgrade to permit them to mine directly. I like this.

The behavior of springs; two paired blocks maintaining a certain distance with a stiffness to the connection that can be configured - is a good starting point to this. Make the distance between the two blocks a variable controlled by inputs.

I really really like the idea of permitting the drill to collect resources. I'm not sure range and spread is appropriate, since they're supposed to be contact weapons, but digging and energy use are absolutely candidates.

Oh, there are more important things; I'm not suggesting it needs priority, just that it should exist one day.

This is pretty important for the autonomous miners I want to build, in addition to the 'direction to bin,' and 'altimeter,' modules, as well as the 'do not damage ore' weapon upgrades all of which would also be very useful. An intelligent miner will have to know when it needs to return to drop stuff off, and when it can keep rolling. I want to say this should be a core output, since it can take all bins into account. But I would also like detachable miners to be able to functions. Perhaps a new detector is needed for this, with an output available for whether all connected yellow/red bins are full/empty.

I'll keep the thread with the most votes on it. These are threads asking for additional detection sensor criteria. My biggest want is a way to sense the deposit bin. After that, my wish list for criteria goes: Drone self (EDIT:Already implemented) Drone part (any drone part regardless of connection) Nimbatus (Because, who knows, one day I might want to.) Enemy unit Snake Enemy structure Ore Terrain Collectible

Everything can benefit from a tech tree. Give solar panels a tech tree that allows you to specialize it in storage or regen, and perhaps upgrades to more efficiently power certain devices, like shields or weapons. Give logic parts a tech tree that allow you to access new logic parts, and perhaps enable more complex behaviors from those parts. Give detectors angle upgrades, enable detection of self or your mother ship, enemy or enemy bullets. Engines can have their output upgraded, and grant access to the more interesting adjustable engine. Shields can gain upgrades so you can reduce their angle for more strength or range, or less energy use. Every part in this game can benefit from that tech tree, but only weapons are treated like they can be special or interesting.

I would like to see detectors gain an 'angle' setting. This setting, for balance, should also reduce the maximum range. As a starting point to experiment with, I'd suggest 25% max range for a 360-degree detector, with a linear scale up to 100% range for a 0-degree detector. (Current behavior.) Alternately, a tech tree with upgrades for more parts than weapons could take care of this. EDIT: In addition, I'd like to see checkboxes for what they can detect. Self parts, mothership/deposit container, terrain, enemies, ore. If you want to be REALLY nice, a separate output for each detection event, so that one detector can be used to control many complex behaviors.

I'd like to see the ability to made modular pieces that can couple and decouple. This would enable devices like deployable parts that can be swapped out - you could detach a mining rig to go into combat, then re-equip it to continue the mission, as an example.

I'd like to see hinges operate similarly to the adjustable engines. I would like to be able to set a rotation speed for both CW and CCW rotation, separately, because scanners and thruster rotation and the like can benefit from slower rotation in one direction than the other, and impulse givers can result in some hinged parts shaking themselves to death. EDIT: It would also be nice to have angle limits, a range within the hinge will operate, so that doors or grabbers can't over-deploy and destroy themselves. It would also be really really nice to have at least one set angle that you could rotate them to with a single input; for instance, I had a ship that used vectored thrust, via thrusters mounted on motorized hinges. These, and the legged drones with thruster-anchored feet, would have really benefitted from an input that would rotate their facing to straight down.

Specific altitude selected in arbitrary units - distance from center. Key to increase set altitude, key to decrease it. Output if higher than, output if lower than, and tolerance to set a dead zone around your target altitude. This will let you create drones that try to hold an altitude, and can modify that altitude based on feedback, and enable some methodical behaviors, like carpet bombers and strip-miners.

I've already made relatively complicated systems; I think our current logic blocks are a feasible approach, but more specialized blocks are needed. A modification to impulse is needed, I think. An input, which if set, will wait the delayed time, then activate the output for the output time. If not set, it will behave as it does currently. This little modification will allow 'macros', chains of linked and sequential behaviors that can be triggered by a single event; it will enable much more complex behavior. I've put a feature request for it here:

A modification to impulse is needed, I think. An input, which if set, will wait the delayed time, then activate the output for the output time. If not set, it will behave as it does currently. This little modification will allow 'macros', chains of linked and sequential behaviors that can be triggered by a single event; it will enable much more complex behavior. You could open armor segments to expose and fire magnetic spring-harpoons, or build legs that articulate more intelligently. This is, I think, the main block preventing really detailed and complex drones - it's very difficult to 'program' complex behavior. This will change that; one keypress activating various impulse modules, with different delays and outputs, could start very complex chains of behavior.

For a mining ship, it'd be nice to be able to have a weapon that is specialized for safe use around ore; -damage, +digging, 0 damage to ore. That, plus the fact that it occupies an upgrade slot, should keep it a useful but very specialized upgrade.

Sorry! I fell out of the forum for a while. I don't still have it, as the old saves don't work. I can tell you how I made it, though. I put thrusters and an orientation sensor on a hinge. I used an impulse giver and some AND logic so that the hinge's rotation turned half as fast - that's why it's hurky jerky, the hinge is on-off-on-off in half-second increments. The sensor is downward-facing when the craft is level. If it gets close to the ground, it turns the thrusters counter-clockwise at full speed - this boosts that part of the craft upwards. Then the thrusters level off more slowly. The logic required is that the impulse giver gives an output of (for example) A, the orientation sensor gives an output of either B and C on the left sensor. If B AND the impulse are active, turn the left hinge one way - if C AND the impulse are active, turn it the other. If the Directional sensor is tripped, activate the hinge directly. Same setup for the right thruster. If I recall, they are independent in this example.

Give the shields an energy storage of their own. Pull from batteries. But make them incapable of drawing power fast enough to sustain continuous heavy fire. The end result will be that you can't just stack up tons of energy to keep shields up; you'd have to add more shields, which will add inefficiency to defensive ships, because of a shield's base power drain, to take some focus off of goliaths that just cruise through with fifty million guns and crush everything.

Exit to the main menu before closing the game out; I think that's the only time it saves at this alpha stage. I worked on pistons a bit, too, but for a different use; I wanted to make it as part of a walker. Limited success. Changes to the impulse block are supposed to be considered, which will make sequencing and thus complex behavior like walkers easier. The closest I got to a tread was a giant ring, using the drone brain and some mass blocks as an internal weight to roll the entire craft, interlacing some blocks so that an unconnected segment held together. You might try something with springs captured in angle blocks, but your tread will be very heavy and I think any tread will be prone to stretching and slipping off its drive gear. Also, treads can be broken, so chains of parts may not be the most robust build for them. I think i'd prefer to have 'tread blocks' that, like motorized hinges, have controls to rotate forward and backwards, and are linked as a group. Draw a line stretched between all tread blocks in this group that provide a CW or CCW force. Dealer's choice as to how much work the devs want to put in making sure the treat can't be penetrated - I'd be happy putting some mass blocks (give us some lightweight mass blocks?) behind the tread to make sure stuff doesn't pass through, but if it can resist terrain and enemies passing through it, that'd be nice, too.

I think you may have meant to post in the Niche subforum. This is the bugs forum for Nimbatus.

That's an interesting way to form a circle . . . the pulsation mystifies me. That's some janky physics. Nice. I'll have to see what I can do about treadlike things with captive springs - I suspect they'll slip between other blocks under tension, though.

The KS said that beta access looked like Q2 2018, if I recall, so look for it around March-May. but also keep in mind that man plans, and God laughs.

I'd be fascinated to see paired parts - sensors that detect each other's distance or range. I want very badly to create a drone with independently maneuvering weapon pods that move in formation with your ship. And paired parts would make it possible; Gradius-style 'options' that move in formation with your ship and supply firepower. If I could pair a directional sensor to a drone part (such as the drone brain) and if I had a 'range' sensor that could produce an output if further away, or closer than a certain value (with a sensitivity setting, like the directional sensor), then I could logically instruct a drone to maintain a certain distance from the main body, at a certain angle. I could make snakelike ships that aren't subject to the physics of hinges, but with each segment following the next segment in series. My last project is a drone that connects its parts by magnets - but when a toggle is hit, breaks up, reconfigures itself, and re-attaches its parts for a new firing profile. You could have ship parts manuever to different angles and re-attach themselves to fire at different angles. Line up lasers to fire a straight super-beam, or re-attach them to angled parts to create a digging laser array. I want to create Voltron! Or something like that.

I agree with you that making simple things that can be built into more complex things is usually a cleaner solution. There are some very limited circumstances that I can't replicate even with those tools, which is why I tried to think of something else. Let me provide an example. I want a drone with sensors fixed to the body to direct the weapons. It if senses an enemy above, I want it to turn all guns straight up, without necessarily knowing their initial rotation, and without having to put entire gravity sensors (which don't respect the ship's orientation) on a hinge. It's a limited case, but it's part of what I considered. Without pre-set 'move to' angles or having an angle output of some kind from the hinge, I don't think it's possible. The reason I bring it up is because I feel like, with the logic I see in the game, it's something that SHOULD be possible. I don't know how to enable it with simplicity, though.

I've been wanting hinges that can follow complex sequences. Like a leg with digitigrade or plantigrade joints, which needs specific sequencing to work properly. Merely timing things doesn't work yet, because I can't offset the start of an impulse block, and impulse blocks aren't very discriminate. (an easy way to make a delayed sequence, like on keypress, wait a defined period of time, then output another keypress for a defined period of time, and do not repeat, would help. A modification of impulse would suit this need, and impulse could still act in its current manner if its output was its input.) Here's what I propose. A programmable hinge would have a specific angle of rotation. Activating it would rotate it in a player-defined direction (CW or CCW) at a player-defined speed, and stop when it reached that angle. A programmable hinge would be capable of storing several of these settings. (Two would suffice for most things, but three would allow quite complex behavior. I'd prefer three, or even a 'plus' button to add as many settings as you need. Thus, you could have a door that flew open quickly to a certain angle to allow your TNT missiles to be fired. Then upon closing, to minimize collision with the drone and damage to the frame, one keypress could rotate the doors to an almost-closed position quickly, and the same keypress could rotate them fully closed, but at a slower speed, to safely closed missile hatches. Legs could be easily synchronized to angle the legs to compress the stance, then angle forward, then extend flat. each of these very complicated phases of walking could be packed into three keypresses for the entire sequence.

I'd prefer a galaxy-based unlock system. Provide some parts as rewards for completing planets, as guns are now. Have some stations provide intel on where to find certain parts. Distribute those parts to certain regions of the map, according to what technology type they are - engines in the east, weapons in the west, etc. Have a number of research stations specializing in engine tech, weapon tech, etc etc that can upgrade those parts, as weapons are upgraded now. Thus, based on what parts of the galaxy you get to, you may have a ship that is very nimble, with very good weapons, or with other advantages. Upgrading weapons should require money and a second set of resources that you get by recycling rare and epic weapons. Getting different types of upgrades (range, extra shots,) can require different combinations of these, so that the player can't just load up on the perfect upgrades - they'll have to use some sub-optimal upgrades until they get enough of the specific resource that their favorite upgrades use most heavily. Drone construction should have some computational cost. Perhaps a brain upgrade can increase your capacity for drone construction - a very expensive, but a permanent upgrade. I'd also like to see separate upgrades for the capacity to handle more weapons, more logic blocks, and more fuel/energy reserves. Off the top of my head, that's what I feel like I'd like to see in the economy.

Alpha access was a Kickstarter reward, so it's not likely there'll be more alpha access until early access on Steam opens up. A lot of these seem pretty obvious, so I'll focus on what isn't obvious. I second the idea of spaceships. Let us design our drone manufactory, and give us deep-space challenges - asteroid fields to maneuver and dig through, some enemy gauntlets to run, maybe have to design a drone that can handle an orbital solution, and have parts for refueling the drone from the player-designed Nimbatus, or for orbital fire support. Mirror mode is planned. I think you mean a mechanical hinge that can be rotated to a specific angle? I'd like to see that, too, but making it possible with simple logic parts is something I'm still working on right now. I'll have a post shortly about that, once I'm done thinking.