I know that blasters can't shoot above/around/through objects but they can shoot over canyons. Why can't collectors have their energy field cover over a canyon? Is it a bug or intentional? I added screenshots to help clarify what I'm referring to. Thanks
(http://img651.imageshack.us/img651/827/blasterrange.th.png) (http://img651.imageshack.us/i/blasterrange.png/)
(http://img195.imageshack.us/img195/7499/collectorrange.th.png) (http://img195.imageshack.us/i/collectorrange.png/)
(http://img641.imageshack.us/img641/6803/collectorrange2.th.png) (http://img641.imageshack.us/i/collectorrange2.png/)
The collectors has always been so , for the time i've played the game .
So you have to think where you put them , so they are as effective as possibel .
There is some threads about collectors ,
but sadly the topic names make them "impossibel" to search for =(
Quote from: SPIFFEN on March 13, 2010, 07:22:05 PM
but sadly the topic names make them "impossibel" to search for =(
Searches are always performed within the topic itself as well. Bear in mind that only the current board (subforum) is searched when you use the search box on the right top. Better use the advanced search (http://knucklecracker.com/forums/index.php?action=search;advanced;search=).
Oh thats nice info =)
I usally search from the main page , and get littel info =P
Or to much info , and that makes it easyier to make an new topic about it .
About the collectors: I'm sure it was meant to work that way.
However I just noticed something odd myself. When a wall on the projection surface of a collector decays and disappears, the squares where the wall used to be don't become green....
That is weird I've never noticed it before with the walls.
It kind of make sense , since they collect power from the awalibel aera around it ,
but still kind of odd .
Dont think this happends when an Collector is build next to an tower that can be moved ,
but Drones cant be moved , does this happens when an Collector is build next to it ?
I don't think it does because when you build a collector next to a relay you see green in the relay's squares
Quote from: SPIFFEN on March 13, 2010, 08:49:16 PM
It kind of make sense , since they collect power from the awalibel aera around it ,
I'm talking about the moment that the wall has disappeared already. Neither the squares where the wall was, nor the squares behind the wall (but within the projection area of the collector) become green.
Oh , then it should be fixed , it doesnt make sense that it should'nt turn green .
You mean it doesn't make sense that it doesn't turn green?
Actually I don't mind if it turns green or not (although it would be nice). I do mind however if I get all the energy I worked so hard for! ;) At the moment I'm not sure about that....
Yes =) i just edit it .
And i agree with you , my placement of collectors might have slowed me down alot .
Even when i have tryed to build them so i get more from them later .
I also have to review my answer at the initial question:
Quote from: Vinkor on March 13, 2010, 06:52:38 PM
Why can't collectors have their energy field cover over a canyon? Is it a bug or intentional?
Quote from: UpperKEES on March 13, 2010, 08:34:52 PM
About the collectors: I'm sure it was meant to work that way.
After reading this:
Quote from: virgilw on December 27, 2009, 01:14:25 PM
Energy collection is directly proportional to the amount of green area that you have. So the number of collectors doesn't matter, only the total green area. Note that a collector will 'project' a green area around itself, but that this green area will only project onto ground that is the same elevation as the collector. So you you build a collector on a tiny little hill, or in a tiny hole, you get minimal return.
It seems the line of sight rule is applied here, while this might not be applicable. You would assume a tiny hole or narrow canyon does not interfere with the energy collection, as long as the projected area is on the same elevation level. Apologies for my quick conclusion.
And back to the collection of energy after a wall has decayed:
Quote from: UpperKEES on March 13, 2010, 08:34:52 PM
However I just noticed something odd myself. When a wall on the projection surface of a collector decays and disappears, the squares where the wall used to be don't become green....
Quote from: UpperKEES on March 13, 2010, 09:03:48 PM
I'm talking about the moment that the wall has disappeared already. Neither the squares where the wall was, nor the squares behind the wall (but within the projection area of the collector) become green.
I've made a screenshot to make this clear. Have a look close to the 2 blasters on the left. You'll see exactly where used to be a wall. These squares have not become green, nor has the area that was behind the wall.
I'm operating from memory and deducing what I probably did, but I believe that a collector deploys its energy collection field when built. This does a LOS (basic elevation check) and deploys energy wherever it can (but not through walls or 'under' them). When a wall segment gets destroyed the node does not recalculate its energy deployment field. So any square no longer covered by a wall, but previously covered by a wall won't turn green and start producing energy. The only way to get it to produce energy would be to get the collector to redeploy (or blow it up and rebuild it). You can do this by disconnecting and reconnecting the collector from Odin City. This isn't something you would want to do during a game, but it might be interesting to try it and see if I am right.
I'm guess this is what I did, since it is more CPU efficient to not have the collectors check for newly opened up cells. It's a fairly small edge case so I probably left out the check in favor or spending the CPU cycles on other things. Now, If I had a way you could deactivate and reactivate collectors manually, you could turn it off and back on really quickly and pick up those missing cells.
Wouldn't it be possible to check for this in the function that determines when a wall has decayed?
And what about the initial question in this topic? Is the line of sight function applicable for squares on the same elevation level, but behind a tiny hole or narrow canyon?
When a wall segment decays it could have to know what collectors are nearby and tell them to rescan their deployment area. It would probably be better to just have each collector rescan its deployment areas every 1.random() seconds.
As for the LOS, it looks like it is strict line of sight... if you put a single celled hill or valley right beside a collector, that hill or valley will case a shadow. So the projection grid made by a collector does not wrap around depressions. See this image to see what I mean. There is a collector that has a single cell valley on the left and a single cell hill on the right. The green collection grid does not wrap around the terrain anomalies.
Quote from: virgilw on March 14, 2010, 07:54:45 PM
It would probably be better to just have each collector rescan its deployment areas every 1.random() seconds.
Oh, I would expect that to be more CPU intensive than checking just once when a part of a wall has decayed.
Quote from: virgilw on March 14, 2010, 07:54:45 PM
As for the LOS, it looks like it is strict line of sight [...] The green collection grid does not wrap around the terrain anomalies.
Well, that's clear then, thanks!
Ok that makes sense about the LOS but with the wall thing, since collectors can use energy of buildings or other things on top of it's energy space why not walls?