Multi-coloured Light Block

[Lone_Puppy]

I've seen other similar suggestions for hull and light blocks, but I see referenced an issue with meta data.

I'm thinking of a single light block that has all the allowable colours. This kind of lighting block would be useful with the logic blocks.

If meta data is an issue, limit the light options to match only existing light blocks in the game.
Then you can free up the ID's the all the other light blocks.
You could make the change to the Plex Light block and have its default colour setting as white.

I understand this could cause an issue for existing blue prints, but it could be remedied with some kind of converter for blueprints to read the existing light and insert the new multi-coloured light configured with the correct colour.

I hope I haven't suggested something someone else has already. I'm at work and didn't have the time to read through every suggestion relating to light.

I'm guessing, you may be able to apply this logic to textures and block strength for any block. Perhaps a universal block with configurable attributes, or perhaps assign ID's to attributes rather than blocks?

 

[PizzaPress]

One problem I see is currently they use different ores, IIRC. Thus, this could not replace it and would have to be a separate block that requires all the ores, an expensive block used rarely. Otherwise it would cost too little or too much.

 

[Lone_Puppy]

Ah! I hadn't considered the ore components.
Perhaps a new ore could be found to use in the construction of this new block.

It would be nice to have a light block that is like a multi-coloured LED that could work with the logic blocks.
So many applications.

• control panel indication
• alert lighting in ship, like yellow,red alert as in Star Trek
• battle lighting, from white to red
• you could make a giant screen if you wanted.

Oh well, perhaps in a future iteration of the game using smaller cubes. Say 1x1 MM or 1x1 CM. Processing power/Memory permitting of course.

 

[Megacrafter127]

Perhaps a new ore could be found to use in the construction of this new block.

An ore, that only exists for the purpose of crafting 1 item will either clutter up inventories because of it's abundance and lack of a sufficient drain, or it will be so rare, that the original puprose cannot be fulfilled.

Also, from what I know, adding more ores is impossible, as the orientation-bits used to store the ores are fully used by all the ores.

 

[iceman6491]

As for crafting it, why not have the recipe for one 'multi coloured block' require one of each of light blocks. Thus making it more flexible but with that advantage comes increased cost. Thus you are not reducing the need for the standard single colour lights.

Then have the colour defined by logic and existing single colour lights? i.e an activation module with a red light placed adjacent to it is turned on. The activation is linked to said multi colour block, which takes on the red light.

But I like the premise of this idea, allows for compact displays and lighting systems and some clever peeps could indeed make super funky monitors XD

 

[jayman38]

I like this idea, but it needs some work. Logic already turns a light on and off, so something new will be needed to alter color. (I think I read some ideas about a secondary logic system, or scriptable blocks that could do the job.) Or maybe just keep it one static color until you manually change it. Once those details are figured out, you'll save 14 BlockIDs by removing the original colored light blocks! (You should be able to do this with light bars also, which is where the additional 7 freed BlockIDs are coming from.)

I don't care about ore requirements in lights. As far as I'm concerned, we can make 'em solely out of mesh and crystal with amounts leading up to a proper cost.

 

[Winterhome]

We'll need Arithmetic gates in addition to Logic gates for this to work properly.

 

[Edymnion]

What about being able to combine two existing light blocks into a single block that has no off?

For example, you could make an indicator light by combining Red and Green lights, and any logic or manual switching would cause it to toggle between red and green. Its always on, cannot be turned off, you just change the color.

 

[NeonSturm]

http://starmadedock.net/threads/my-logic-blocks-v2-r1-2-change-function-keep-data.3361/#post-50765

1010 -10- Orientation-Flipper
1011 -11- ID-Flipper
Bin ID - Decl ID - Name/Description
0000 -00- NAND
0001 -01- AND
0010 -02- NOR
0011 -03- OR
0100 -04- NXOR (all or none inputs)
0101 -05- XOR (not all, not none inputs)
0110 -06- NButton (copies inverted output of last changed input) == Not
0111 -07- Button (copies output of last changed input) == Activation Module
1000 -08- Odd-Parity
1001 -09- Even-Parity
1010 -10- Orientation-Flipper
1011 -11- ID-Flipper
1000 -12- NExclusive (all but one input)
1001 -13- Exclusive (only one input)
1110 -14- NDelay - None Repeating
1111 -15- Delay

 

[Plazmatic]

We'll need Arithmetic gates in addition to Logic gates for this to work properly.

What are you talking about? Arithmetic gates? You realize you can create adders multipliers, dividers comparators etc already in starmade right?

Any way we already have the frame work for how something along the lines of changing block color would look, you can see it in rails (linking activator blocks to an orientation, or in this case a color, and linking to the main system)

 

[NeonSturm]

What are you talking about? Arithmetic gates? You realize you can create adders multipliers, dividers comparators etc already in starmade right?

Multipliers will become very big logic-chunks.

You basically need to add A to R for each bit in B ((A, B = input, R = result))
If you want a very fast multiplier, you need 1 adder per 1+1 bits + 1 adder per 2+2 bits + 1 adder per 4+4 bits ...

And some logic to optimize the adders inter-linking to not add A*1 to A*0 but directly continue with the next step?

​

I don't know how you build a fast divisor, but I see that building it with 1-bit logic is a waste of computing power.

 

[Winterhome]

What are you talking about? Arithmetic gates? You realize you can create adders multipliers, dividers comparators etc already in starmade right?

Any way we already have the frame work for how something along the lines of changing block color would look, you can see it in rails (linking activator blocks to an orientation, or in this case a color, and linking to the main system)

Arithmetic gates because of non-binary outputs.

 

[Plazmatic]

Arithmetic gates because of non-binary outputs.

I think I'm missing something here, where are you getting the idea that we have non binary outputs.

 

[Winterhome]

I think I'm missing something here, where are you getting the idea that we have non binary outputs.

I'm saying that we *need* non-binary outputs.

 

[Plazmatic]

I'm saying that we *need* non-binary outputs.

Sorry, I meant to say, where are you getting the idea that we have to have non-binary outputs, as in why do we *need* non binary outputs.

 

[NeonSturm]

I'm saying that we *need* non-binary outputs.

Open-Source outputs? :D

Binary is not bad for all blocks.

For example it allows you to use 4+byte to count the number of active inputs for AND/OR and compare it with the number of total instead of counting each manually each time.
With 1-byte logic, you would have to build a binary-tree (output is the head) or much more meta-data.
​

But using binary logic for everything produces much more data - block data overhead!

For most counters 8 bit would save a lot of blocks.

It could condense light blocks into one or two (even armour/crystal blocks if the GPU uses these bits for HUE colour-shifts, ...).

You could send synchronized signals. (clock, crtl, data, data = easy serial|parallel ports)

You would need much less wires and space, which speeds up building of password-locked doors.
​

Perhaps a good combination could be found - how often do you need a binary-tree or trinary-tree (3x in, 4x out) for more than 3-4 elements?

 

[Noc]

RBG light blocks (possibly with a material cost of all colors combined) with a text value input would be amazing and balanced as an "advanced light" block.

 

[Honytawk]

Woop woop!

Now seriously.
A light costs one capsule made into a rod and a glass block.
It wouldn't cost that much more if multicolored lights costs a couple of capsules made into rods and a glass.

It would even be better if was somehow modular to the colors it is crafted with.
Like, crafting a yellow and a red rod with a glass would make a multicolor block that switches between yellow and red when it is activated.
Crafting blue, then green, then purple would make it go in that order every time it is activated.

The way fireworks are made in Minecraft.

Then things like "red alert" could change every light on the ship to red with the press of a button.
It would also mean that blueprints won't be affected, since it only adds stuff.

 

[Asvarduil]

Ah! I hadn't considered the ore components.
Perhaps a new ore could be found to use in the construction of this new block.

It would be nice to have a light block that is like a multi-coloured LED that could work with the logic blocks.
So many applications.

• control panel indication
• alert lighting in ship, like yellow,red alert as in Star Trek
• battle lighting, from white to red
• you could make a giant screen if you wanted.

Oh well, perhaps in a future iteration of the game using smaller cubes. Say 1x1 MM or 1x1 CM. Processing power/Memory permitting of course.

I so agree. I'm working on a frigate* right now, and I've got a working "Red Alert" system. Each deck has groups of Red, Yellow, and White lights that are hooked up to switches in the tactical control room. It would be so nice to drop the other groups and be able to program the light blocks to be red if switch A is on, yellow if switch B is on, or white if !A & .

*: I said battlecruiser before, but then I read the manifesto on ship classifications.