How Sprayers Work

Nephthys · January 28, 2014, 04:43:24 AM

I had a Sprayer set to send back excess AC. I moved it to some excess AC that was also near C (AC had "floated" into space & I wanted to try & retrieve it) & it began to Spray AC instead of suck up & send back the excess. I realize Sprayers are set up to work only when in range of creeper (if the new "always on" box isn't checked), but I guess I thought the option to send the excess back would override that. I didn't explain this very well, but I hope you get the drift. It's late, I'm tired.

To make a long question short, will a Sprayer always spray when within range of Creeper even if it is set to send excess back, and consequently stop sending the excess back? Just want to know what to expect if I should happen to run into this situation again. Thanks.

Yinan · January 28, 2014, 06:11:19 AM

You have to "unarm" the sprayer to make it stop spraying (i think). Otherwise, it will always spray, not matter what option you have activated.

But yes, those options could need some tooltips, because I had to try out the different options for some time until I completely understood what the sprayer is actually doing (and sometimes i'm still confused about what it is doing -.-).

Grayzzur · January 28, 2014, 09:14:48 AM

All units have 3 buttons on the left of the interface when selected.

Deactivate/Activate - Shuts down the unit. Will not receive build packets or ammo packets, will not fire.
Disarm/Arm - Stops firing. Will still receive packets until full (well, sprayers only go to 50%).
Stop Resupply/Resupply - Stops ammo packets going to the unit. Can still fire.

The situation you describe can be achieved by checking the sprayer's [Enable AC Collection Field] and [Dispatch Excess AC] boxes, and Disarming it. You may also want to Stop Resupply if the sprayer is already below 50% and you don't want it pulling AC ammo from your Command Nodes until it hits 50%.

Cavemaniac · January 28, 2014, 06:03:23 PM

Something I was unaware of that Virgil pointed out - Sprayers that are set to return excess AC actually reconvert AC back into ore.

This has possibilities...

Grayzzur · January 28, 2014, 06:16:57 PM

Quote from: Cavemaniac on January 28, 2014, 06:03:23 PM

Something I was unaware of that Virgil pointed out - Sprayers that are set to return excess AC actually reconvert AC back into ore.

This has possibilities...

Yup. Say someone was kind enough to build a map with no ore deposits, but there's a nice little AC emitter somewhere. Send a regular Guppy over there to build an Ore Guppy and a Collector and send or build a Sprayer (you need a collector or relay for the Sprayer and the Ore Guppy to connect) in the AC pool, and command the Ore Guppy to return to your main network. Once it's all built, you can re-task the regular Guppy to other things. If the AC emitter is strong enough, you can boost production with multiple Sprayers.

Nephthys · January 30, 2014, 04:16:04 PM

Sorry for the late follow up.

Great info from everyone. Thanks very much for the clarifications!

TLMike · February 02, 2014, 06:19:11 PM

I have a Sprayer-related question!

What's the maximum AC depth that a sprayer can create? Does it top out at a certain point, like an emitter does, or does the AC just pile up endlessly?

Grauniad · February 02, 2014, 06:23:35 PM

it piles up endlessly, but is subject to the normal flow algorithms. Essentially before you can stabilize it it will have to fill the entire map. Good luck with that.

TLMike · February 02, 2014, 07:05:27 PM

Well, I figured that'd be the case. Just wondering if there was an upward limit. Makes sense that there wouldn't be.

Thanks, G.

Cavemaniac · February 02, 2014, 07:06:30 PM

Quote from: Grauniad on February 02, 2014, 06:23:35 PM
it piles up endlessly, but is subject to the normal flow algorithms. Essentially before you can stabilize it it will have to fill the entire map. Good luck with that.

Is there an evaporation element?

Or does it simply get thinner at the edges as it spreads?

TLMike · February 02, 2014, 10:18:43 PM

I assume AC is subject to the same evap rules as regular C.

4xC · February 05, 2014, 10:39:11 AM

Quote from: TLMike on February 02, 2014, 10:18:43 PM
I assume AC is subject to the same evap rules as regular C.

Of course it is.

That's why I used to be a total cheapskate when I was playing CW2 and had any (much/little/no) reason to worry about running out of ore. I noticed AC evaporate in that game and it was while I was vaccuming it with makers but still never seemed to get a full return.

But since ore deposits are as infinite as possibilities themselves, I have toned down my cheapness a lot and rather enjoy the AC usage format.