Element suggestion--Improved electronics

  • AndrewPoint3
    19th Mar 2019 Member 0 Permalink

    I've been on tpt for about a year now and i noticed something that really discourages creativity and guides new players away from computing. 

    The problem is that wires arent (usually) constantly being sparked, The only way you can have a wire that is constantly sparked is by subframe, which you have to constantly fool around with and use lots of tricks just to get it to stay in a level when you save it. it would break lots of existing saves if big changes were made to wires. So i propose a new set of elements which would make the whole process a whole lot easier, and encourage more people to pursue electronics.

     

    ISIN - infinite spark inst, This element is like INST, but it can be constantly sparked like a subframe laser. the basic premise is, no spark cooldown. That means if you were to power it with PSCN, it would hold the spark as if it were subframe. 

     

    ISBY - infinite spark battery, its like the battery element but it powers infinite spark materials when placed next to them. 

     

    ISLG infinite spark logic. This element is very interesting, depending on the LIFE value, it can change into different logic gates. Computers made with this might be 1/2 smaller even.  It would offer a signifigant advantage in inverters because inputs wouldn't have to be timed perfectly. The tmp value could control if a AND gate could be flipped to be a NAND gate. 

     

    Benefits of these elements being in the game

    -Computers could be more dense and preform better

    -Attracts more new players to computers

    -Dont have to mess with subframe to make something decent

     

     

  • phox
    19th Mar 2019 Member 0 Permalink

    I like this idea because you could make more complex creations without having the computer take up half of the play area.

  • LBPHacker
    19th Mar 2019 Developer 1 Permalink

    I don't like this idea because all it would do is remove one layer of complexity from subframe mechanics... and still leave about twenty. You're only targeting conductors and spark sources here, but subframe involves much more than those. As things are, this would just introduce more elements without any real use.

     

    Having inverters work without perfect timing implies (to me anyway, I apologise if that wasn't intended) that everything else would work without perfect timing as well, which is just blatantly false. You'd still have to keep particle order in mind, except your logic gates and spark sources would probably be smaller. (Do note though that FILT gates already operate on 30 bits at once and that we can make spark sources a single pixel in size, not including the particle they activate.)

     

    This brings us to the real problem with subframe: particle order. It's the basic principle of subframe and once you master it, solid spark is trivial. This suggestion would not at all "fix" the steep learning curve of subframe (it may actually steepen it by requiring less knowledge to get started, though I'm unsure as to whether that'd be the case). You can't really fix subframe except by removing it.

     

    Edit: You could always make a few subframe tutorials though, if you're really concerned about newcomers. There's also #powder-subframe on Freenode, where you can discuss them with like-minded subframe freaks :P

    Edited once by LBPHacker. Last: 19th Mar 2019
  • MachineMan
    20th Mar 2019 Member 0 Permalink

    @7VY (View Post)

     Conductors ARE constantly sparked.  Just place a battery next to it, and voila.  Unlimited, consistent electricity.  So what do you mean by "constantly sparked"

    Edited once by MachineMan. Last: 20th Mar 2019
  • LBPHacker
    20th Mar 2019 Developer 0 Permalink

    He means solid sparks. Not the kind that slowly passes through wires. Look a bit into subframe (a building technique, and by look I mean search saves), you'll understand what we mean.