Always been wondering if it was faster to use relays or connectors to gap large open spaces, so i tested it ;)
Pre-start setup:
(http://a.imagehost.org/0738/Screen_shot_2010-05-29_at_8_34_36_PM.png)
and the winner is:
(http://j.imagehost.org/0215/Screen_shot_2010-05-29_at_8_37_51_PM.png)
RELAYS!
there ya go ;) obviously, collectors give you some energy, so use them at earliere times...
I made a map with an artifact at the end of a row of collectors and relays then used the artifact text to determine the winner. :)
I might still have the map somewhere, once my comp is in full working order I'll try and dig it out.
Yep, it's the delay between building that makes the difference. This indeed only works for larger distances, as the delay grows and finally gets worse than the 10 extra units of energy that you pay for the string of relays.
Actually, you're right upper, i noticed that, in a earlier test, but forgot it eventually...
i think collectors take more energy to make per building, and also there are less of them, and when you cover large distances, the delay that happens when the last packet is still coming towards the most recent building becomes greater.
Relay; 20s+distance from OC
Collector; 10s+distance from OC
Relays have 1 tile more max distance than 2 collectors. (In that way both cost 20 packets and the relay is faster builded)
If you build near OC it's better to use collectors because the energy collection to use later in fight.
to bad they don't give energy
I can see it now, ENERGY RELAYS! :P :P :P
Depends on the map ,
but it seems like collectors should be build first , then relays if you have enought energy to do so .
I think the balance between collectors and relays is incorrect.
Relays give one a bigger reach. Apart from that and the marginal speed advantage, collectors are always better since they also add to the energy pool.
I would have liked to see a speed advantage added to relays so packets traveling over relay links re substantially faster.
But it is moot now, the gameplay for CW1 is fixed and very unlikely to change in any meaningful way.
Agreed. That's why I proposed here (http://knucklecracker.com/forums/index.php?topic=537.0) that a relay should be able to take some damage, like most military units, as a speed increase will be hard to implement (although it also has my preference). Maybe something for CW2....
I just made an map that does'nt have any Emitters ,
but it might can be used to test this .
If not , it still can be fun to see who manage to get the best score =)
Edit : The path is way to long i guess =/
( Might be the map with the longest gameplay without fighting anything )
Relays should give a larger bonus (and it can move up one and down one level)
Collects can move up/down levels too? :P
Why are there speeds at the top in the finish screenshot but none in the start screenshot?
That's actually a good question; I hadn't noticed that. The gain of the relays lies in the fact that their packets keep going during the additional delays of the collectors. Without speed nodes the difference in finish time would be less.
Oh lol, dident think that would influence it, so i build some with the spare energy xD
Quote from: UpperKEES on June 05, 2010, 10:21:43 AM
That's actually a good question; I hadn't noticed that. The gain of the relays lies in the fact that their packets keep going during the additional delays of the collectors. Without speed nodes the difference in finish time would be less.
The difference would actually be a lot more without speed nodes, considering that the only reasone relays finish faster is that the time it takes packets to travel overall is roughly double.
That's what I figured when I first thought about it and I'm not sure what made me change my mind, because the delay between sending the last packet and receiving the request for the first packet of the next collector becomes indeed less with the use of speed nodes. I guess I should sleep more.... :P Thanks for correcting me twice in 24 hours mthw2vc! :)
Edit: It would be nice to compare the results of this test without speed nodes, with 4 speed nodes (double speed) and with 8 speed nodes (triple speed).
Quote from: UpperKEES on June 05, 2010, 11:10:26 AM
Edit: It would be nice to compare the results of this test without speed nodes, with 4 speed nodes (double speed) and with 8 speed nodes (triple speed).
Kees: maybe you could test this in your "spare" time. ;D
Without a Phd in physics, I figured out that collectors are faster closer to OC, relays are faster the further away you get. However, if you are near the totem and only have a short distance to traverse, one last collector is faster than one last relay because it takes fewer packets to build.
The true fastest way to traverse long distances is to use weapons as relays between collectors. I have used this technique to set the top scores on "Tech Time" by TheBuilder, where many unnecessary prebuilt weapons were provided, and the two versions of "Closed Off" by jem, where many more blasters were needed for one section of the map than the others, so I had them left over.
Of course, I realize it is not faster to build weapons just to be used as relays, but at the end of a map they are often no longer needed for their original purpose and can be pressed into service to cover distance faster.
Edit: I realize after reading Kees comment, that I sound snotty in this post. I apologize for that. It was not my intention to offend anyone.
Yeah, I always (ab)use pre-built weapons to pwn a map.
But in this case Echo just wanted to compare collectors and relays over a longer distance. It's nice to see there is a break-even-point somewhere and this is influenced by the numrber of speed nodes built.