Danice123's Dev. Log

Computers and control chairs. How these work is really quite
simple. When you provide either a computer or control chair with its required
power, you will be able to open a GUI. The two devices’ GUIs are similar
enough. The GUI looks a bit like one of those menus you might find on the setup
of a television, car, or computer (the screen, generally). It has a long list
of certain groups of functions, then you can click on these groups to open up
all the functions or sub-groups within the specific group. One of these
functions is “add device”. This will initially be the only one available, as
the computer is not connected to anything else. From here, you can search and
add any devices within range (any devices touching the computer/control chair,
or connected to it via wire/Redstone, or routed into the ship). Of course, once
a computer/control chair has a physical connection to a wireless transmitter,
all other wireless devices (and whatever they may be attached to) become
available to the computer. The advantages of a control chair is that it can be
attached to an unlimited number of devices, while a computer can’t, and it has
a built in wireless controller, so it doesn’t need to be attached to one.


Initially, this is how I want computers to work. Later in
development, computers may have their own programming language, and chairs will
gain a much more interesting GUI (like a hologram of the ship/terrain, with all
available devices highlighted. You will be able to fly through the terrain/ship
and activate devices like you could in the physical word, but with the
advantage of instant mobility (“teleporting”), no-clip, and unlimited speed.).

Wireless controls: Great for controlling such thing as (larger) doors, shields, towers,
and other things. Each wireless controller needs to be linked to a control
chair to work, and it uses 5 energy units per command. These can also be placed
on ships. Each emitter can link to two other wireless emitters and up to 4
Redstone/wiring out/inputs. This means that you can have a weapon on top of a
mountain, that has its own power source, and a control chair (also with a power
source) linked via a wireless transmitter, allowing the control chair to fire
the weapon. On ships, you can of course stick a diverter into the ship’s hull
so the weapon and chair can be powered directly from the ship's main power
source.



Consumable energy
this will mean that mechanical devices will use up energy. There are several
ways to power devices:


·
Batteries, they store 500 energy units. As
they only can be used on fighters and robots, the amount of energy they put out
is irrelevant. Rechargeable batteries would also be creatable, and you would
put them in a “battery recharger” device (block) that would require a constant
input of power, and be able to store several (rechargeable) batteries.


·
Vehicle
batteries, they store 5000 energy units. They release energy at 5-50 energy
units per second, depending on the requirements of the devices they are
powering.


·
Generator, give it fuel (coal, wood,
bookshelves, etc.) for each “use” that they would normally have in a furnace,
they produce 50 energy units, at a rate of ten seconds, like burning something
in the furnace.


·
Solar panels, needs to be outside, generates 10
units of energy per second, per block


·
Nuclear fission reactor generates 1000 energy
units for every lump of uranium put into it. The small one (1x1x1 block) puts
it out at a rate of 10 units per second, while the large one (2x2x2 blocks) put
it out at 100 units per second


·
Fuel rods made from uranium or plutonium, can be
put into either reactor for 5,000 energy units each (burns at the same rate).


·
ZPM (Zero Point Module), draws energy directly
from sub-space, 1,000,000,000 units of energy, stores its energy, and can be
released at any rate.




All of the energy sources would need to be directly linked to the device(s)
that they are powering by Redstone, except for the reactor and ZPM, which
contain too much energy to be transferred by Redstone, and must instead be
transmitted by a special mix of Redstone, diamond and iron piping.
For the fighter space ship (as you can't place any of these blocks in it, and
it can't have a line of Redstone connecting to a power device), you must place
batteries in its inventory (similar to a plane form the planes mod)


Also, on ships and ships only;
you will be able to construct a special wire, that I have named a router. It
will go from a wire into the ship’s hull. If you have one of these going from a
power output device (solar panel, ZPM, etc.), it will allow you to access power
from anywhere in the ship, as if the wires were going through the walls, rather
than requiring a whole lot of space to fit in your ships.


I think that some sort of
capacitors, that can hold a large charge and release it all at once, or at any
rate required, could be useful. Possibly a capacitor for 1 000, 5 000, and 10
000 EU storage, as well as the 3 000 EU capacitor on an Accelerator Cannon
(specifically for the cannon though).


Also, radioactive goods (the plutonium, uranium
and fuel rods), will need to be stored in a “radioactive containment unit”.
Essentially, it is a fancy chest that can only hold those aforementioned
radioactive goods.

I was perusing (what a great word) the Industrial-Craft mod, and realised that
how the energy in that mod worked is similar to how it could work in this one. We
have permission to use their base code for energy.