creeper strength?

[florrat]

Hi everyone,

I had a question: what does emitter strength actually mean (you know, the number displaying how much creeper an emitter emits)?
(1) Is it the amount of creeper which is added to the center (sub)cell every interval?
(2) Or is the amount of creeper in the center (sub)cell set to this value every interval?
I think myself that in story and bonus missions (1) happens, and in code missions (2) happens. Is this true?
Or is something else going on (because most emitters in story/bonus missions have a very low interval)? Is it maybe just that every emitter has a maximum amount of creeper density it will produce (and that this density is the same as the strength in code maps)? So that there's a formula like this.
new_amount_of_creeper = min( old_amount + emitter_strength , max_density )

I was wondering about this, because in code maps, the creeper density near emitters in a very small confined space is much lower than expected if (1) was always true.

[knucracker]

Emitters do the following:


Let ccl = Creeper at center subcell.
ccl += amt;
if (ccl > maxAmt) ccl = maxAmt;

So an emitter will add some amount (amt) to the creeper that is already in the center subcell.  If that total exceeds the maxAmt, then clip the value.

An emitter has five configurable values associated with it:
1: Health - Number of nullifier shots it takes to destroy it.
2: Start - Initial delay before any creeper is emitted.
3: Density - The amount to add to the center subcell.
4: Max Density - The amount to not exceed when adding to the center subcell.
5: Interval - How often to add to the center subcell.


So imagine you place an emitter in a confined chamber that is initially empty.  Imagine the emitter has an interval of 30 (1 second), a Density of 1000 and a Max Density of 10000.  At 1 second the emitter will emit 1000.  At 2 seconds it will emit another 1000, bringing the center subcell to between 1000 and 2000 (some of the original creeper would move away between the seconds).  This would continue until the entire confined chamber reached an even 10000.  Over time the emitter would increase the amount of creeper by smaller and smaller amounts... this is because it can't exceed the Max Density when it emits.

[florrat]

Thank you for your fast answer! So it is indeed equivalent to the formula I stated at the end of my post  :)

And I guess that for all code map missions "Density" = "Max Density"?

And we can change all these five stats in the map editor ourselves? *drools*  ;D Does this also mean that an "emitter" with "Density"=*very high* and "Max Density"=0 will remove all anti-creeper in that cell, but nothing make any creeper itself? Can't think of any map where I want that, but it is funny.

[Ebon Heart]

For code maps, density is density... Which is the amount of creeper an emitter spits out in a burst.

[Kithros]

Thank you for your fast answer! So it is indeed equivalent to the formula I stated at the end of my post  :)

And I guess that for all code map missions "Density" = "Max Density"?

And we can change all these five stats in the map editor ourselves? *drools*  ;D Does this also mean that an "emitter" with "Density"=*very high* and "Max Density"=0 will remove all anti-creeper in that cell, but nothing make any creeper itself? Can't think of any map where I want that, but it is funny.

If the creeper over the emitter is already greater than the max amount the emitter will still set it to the max amount, so emitters can reduce the density around them too - so in that case the emitter would pretty much always set it to 0 regardless of how much creeper/anti-creeper is there (unless there is an amount of anti-creeper greater than the intensity of the emitter).

[knucracker]

And I guess that for all code map missions "Density" = "Max Density"?

Correct.

And we can change all these five stats in the map editor ourselves? *drools*  ;D Does this also mean that an "emitter" with "Density"=*very high* and "Max Density"=0 will remove all anti-creeper in that cell, but nothing make any creeper itself? Can't think of any map where I want that, but it is funny.

Yes, these 5 values can be changed.  Note that anti-creeper is a negative number so the clipping doesn't apply to it.  But, I suppose you could set an emitter to a max density of 0 and that would effectively zero out any _creeper_ that surrounds it.

[florrat]

Of course, I forgot that it would remove existing creeper, too  :-[ :) Hmm... That might be funny in custom maps. A row of "friendly" emitters which holds back most of the creeper... ;D

[UpperKEES]

Of course, I forgot that it would remove existing creeper, too  :-[ :) Hmm... That might be funny in custom maps. A row of "friendly" emitters which holds back most of the creeper... ;D

This exists in CW1 as well and some nice maps have been created with this feature. This one for instance. ;)

[UpperKEES]

Yeah, The Lifeguard one uses them too, but only to slow down the waves. X-Ray Visor uses them as a wall to hold back the Creeper entirely, like florrat was writing.

[Ranakastrasz]

If max is negative will it correctly "Min" the anti-creeper in the same way? I suggest that be added if it doesn't.