Packet types

[knucracker]

Yeah, I read this the other day.... and yes I just got a blog comment asking me to look here :)
I'll respond here, not on the blog.

This is a good idea, at least it sounds like one.  I'll have to play with it, since it is an advanced option.  For instance, if you turn off "ammo" packets then a silly player might wonder why their weapons never charge.  But, as an advanced player option it could be a fairly interesting way to provide some more control over energy management.

[jasvinderm]

Ah okay, well thanks for considering :)

That silly player could be eliminated with a section in the tutorial that explains the use? although i can see the problem of accidentally leaving one off and not realising it until its too late...hmmm

[SPIFFEN]

Some red(flashing) and green lights in the menubar could help , if there is an way to fit it in .

[UpperKEES]

Yeah, or lights on the assault ship

[Sqaz]

I think it takes away the problem of energy management that's part of the charm of this game.
You just have to learn to not build to many things at a time... and to use the pause button :P

However, it would be good as an upgrade, this would also make sure new players don't put it on by accident.

[UpperKEES]

I think it takes away the problem of energy management that's part of the charm of this game.
You just have to learn to not build to many things at a time... and to use the pause button :P

I don't think so; it just allows for a temporary switch between building and attacking without a lot of manual actions. When you're building with a deficit this functionality won't help you because you would turn off building completely (so that reactor or collector won't get build either).

I also remember that you asked for similar functionality regarding the firing of weapons, see here. ;)

[jasvinderm]

Hmm I'm no too keen on a lights idea, what about if the location of the buttons were constantly in the UI? I know your probably already short on space but only you know that xD, but if they were green buttons with the names, click to turn them off, the button corresponding to that packet (that you just clicked) turns red. This solves too problems I can see, 1. Making users aware of this feature, and also alot simpler to access, 2 much harder to forget what change you made (with an OC panel you could easily click off and forget) nee players that is.

Written on my iPod so sorry for mistakes, if there are I will edit tomorrow

[Karsten75]

Yeah, or lights on the assault ship

Or a little drone that circles  mother ship, carrying a banner with a reminder message?  :P

[jasvinderm]

Yeah, or lights on the assault ship

Or a little drone that circles  mother ship, carrying a banner with a reminder message?  :P

I was thinking of maybe the packets orbiting the ship xD but then I thought it would look too confusing

[UpperKEES]

Yeah, or lights on the assault ship

Or a little drone that circles  mother ship, carrying a banner with a reminder message?  :P

I was more thinking of something like the health bar of Odin City, so it looks nice and obvious to someone who just used this functionality. Besides that I think you'll notice it very quickly when these packets suddenly don't fill your screen. This is not the kind of thing you'd use for several consecutive minutes.

And what reminds you in CW1 when you've disabled certain weapons besides the red bar/shading? Just one thing: BOOM! ;D

On the other hand there is a good reason you might want this functionality in the menu/HUD: the assault ship won't always be on your screen, as it's always on the top part of the map and I didn't think of that before.

[knucracker]

Why do I let you guys talk me into this stuff? :)

So I've implemented this in CW1 (yes, CW1 not CW2).  It looks like some form of it will show up in the next drop.  You can see from the attached screen shot the little control panel I put on Odin City.  Three check boxes for the three packet types.  I currently have construction and totem packets unchecked since I foolishly decided to start building a bunch of reactors and hook up to a totem all while trying to power my two weapons.  In this case my weapons are getting resupplied and the building and totem charging are on hold.

I still don't have an indicator on the city... I'll have to think about that.

I'll also have to decide how to handle the requested packets that aren't being delivered.  Right now, they show up in deficit since they have been requested and aren't being fulfilled.  They also dispatch at 32 per second once a checkbox is re-enabled.  So if you have a ton of energy stored up, and you turn back on construction... a gazillion packets come streaming out machine gun style and build everything.  If you don't have bunch of energy stored up then you get a little burst and your energy is drained.

I guess I could do something better... but it's a computational pain to go selectively remove individual packet types from every structure's personal queue... I'll have to experiment and see what works...

[Shroom Agent 27]

Why do I let you guys talk me into this stuff? :)

I don't know. Why do you?

And this might be useful...

[UpperKEES]

Even for CW1! Once again prove that you are the best!

I can't wait to use this! I guess it will even be possible to set some higher scores for certain maps now....

I'm glad you hadn't released the final patch yet. :)

[jasvinderm]

Thanks big V (maybe a nickname you like?? XD) I have noticed in the screen shot it says double speed xD just wondering? :)

And thank you all for supporting my suggestion, what a first post success xD

Now I must go to sleep as I get my A-level results in 7 hours xD

Thanks again, Jasvinder

[Karsten75]

Well, unless you code for this, it's going to mess up some maps where the authors designed it so OC connects to totems to drain resources right off the bat. Other wise, I think it is a substantial change in gameplay and I'm not so sure what the effects will be.

But nice that you took time out to do it.