Questions for RD / LS players

Garry's Mod coding
#1

For everyone who enjoys Resource Distribution and/or Life Support (or anyone who just wants to help), I’d like to hear which option you think would be better for each of these questions. Answering may be worth your while, as it’ll shape my current project…

  1. Resource connections between parts should be made with:
    a) A special Connection STool.
    b) Regular Gmod Welds, Ropes, Elastic, and so forth.

  2. If there was a “Hub” or “Pump” or some other sort of centralized controller of resources, should it:
    a) Attempt to spread all resources between all areas evenly.
    b) Transfer specific resources where they are needed, but otherwise leave things alone.

  3. If you detach a storage tank from the resource network, should it:
    a) Be filled as much as possible, to facilitate physically transporting resources.
    b) Be filled only a little bit, so the resource network doesn’t lose many resources.

  4. If there was an (optional!) money system for buying parts, how should money be made?
    a) By filling storage tanks, then selling them at a profit.
    b) With special devices which drain resources, but give you a steady stream of money.
    c) I’d always disable the money system, so don’t even bother making it.

  5. When it comes to sound effects:
    a) Lots of parts should have them, to create an awesome industrial ambiance.
    b) Sounds should be used sparingly, so they don’t get annoying.

  6. By default, who should be allowed to use the parts you spawn?
    a) Everyone, since I like building collaboratively.
    b) Only me - everyone else will just mess up my stuff.

  7. Should parts wear out and break over time?
    a) Yes, repairing the machinery is a fun addition to gameplay.
    b) No, having to repair stuff is a boring waste of time.

  8. What’s ideal?
    a) Simplicity - playing a game shouldn’t be work, and new players will love you for it.
    b) Complexity - an overwhelming number of options makes for a good challenge.

EDIT)
9) Should parts be able to be destroyed by weapons, explosions, etc.?
a) No!
b) Not destroyed, but perhaps damaged or disabled.
c) Yes, but make it optional.

  1. Should the addon come as a single package, or separate core and expansion packages?
    a) A single package. Messing with optional expansions is a major hassle. What if I join a server with different packages than I normally use?
    b) Separate packages. I don’t want to have to download two-hundred things I’ll never use to get the twenty I really want.
#2
  1. A
  2. A
  3. A
  4. C
  5. B
  6. B
  7. A
  8. B

There you go. I’m looking forward to your project.

#3

What he said.

#4

I don’t run either so I should be a fair opinion :buddy:. Last time I had them was before the orange box update.

  1. B - Extra tools clutter the menu ( as do extra tabs ). Roping them together should be enough.

  2. B - Unsure, but it would need to be named “tank” or something for it to be a logical bucket for resources. Resources on demand would be a pump or hub - piping it to where they are needed rather than everywhere

  3. A, mostly - Liquid or gaseous resources should “drain out” into the container, but no other resource would should auto-drain, but rather must be there to begin with.

  4. A, B, C. - I’d probably have it disabled most of the time, but I like the idea of machines manufacturing your money at the cost of using the resources themselves. Buying and selling could be feasible if you have a “global economy” setup like the most RTS games, where the more of X resource in the market there is, the the cheaper it is to buy, but it also sells for less, which would allow players to affect the value of certain resources.

  5. A if they aren’t loud or grating, else B. Soft noises are alright if they turn into background noises, but if they are loud enough I have to walk away from them after a while to hear everything else, I’d get sick of it.

  6. Mostly A, but with some B - people shouldn’t have access to taking your resources by default, but they should be able to contribute to the stores ( such as a team of people settling a planet or something ).

  7. Mixed - RD did this fairly well, where some components were able to be damaged by running without cooling or were able to be destroyed in explosive manner. That’s how I feel it could work best.

  8. A - It shouldn’t require tutorials to use or learn. Complex enough to not be brain-numbing, but not to the point where people will need to find the how-to videos to figure out how to get fuel into a tank. So I guess it’s mixed, but I lean more towards A than B.

Like I said, I don’t run RD / LS and haven’t used it in a long time, so I might be wrong in what’s good, it’s my opinions.

#5

1) Resource connections between parts should be made with:
A specific connection Stool, this way you have more freedom.

2) If there was a “Hub” or “Pump” or some other sort of centralized controller of resources, should it:
Spread resources evenly.

3) If you detach a storage tank from the resource network, should it:
Keep most of the resources in the network, not the tank.

4) If there was an (optional!) money system for buying parts, how should money be made?
I don’t really like the idea of money, would make things too complex in my opinion. But if I had to have a money system I think selling resources at a pump and selling by container would be best. Allow us to set prices, and always keep the customers informed as to what the price is for what is being sold. If they aren’t informed someone might be able to trick them into buying an overpriced resource when someone else is selling it for cheaper, but then again that could be a strategy.

5) When it comes to sound effects:
Make subtle ambiance sounds, but have very distinct sounds when something is going wrong.

6) By default, who should be allowed to use the parts you spawn?
Only me, if I want to build something with someone I can add them to some type of trusted list. But also have a pump that only I can attach to my resources but everyone is allowed to use. Allow us to set a rate to pump and a cutoff in case our resources are getting too low.

7) Should parts wear out and break over time?
No, I think it’d be too much work, I prefer things to stay simple.

8) What’s ideal?
SIMPLICITY! Use the KISS principle when making this.

Note this is based on what I remember from playing SpaceBuild a long time ago, I haven’t tried any of the newer SpaceBuild stuff because I think it’s gotten way to complex. I liked it a LOT better when you worried less about your resources and more about how awesome your ship looks.

#6

Thanks for the answers, guys, keep 'em coming. This is very useful stuff for me to know!

To address a few questions people may have:

  • By default, part protection is a simple “only the creator can use it”, if it’s enabled. However, it also supports CPPI, so you should be able to share your parts with others using your favorite prop protection addon (including FPP and UPS).
  • I don’t plan on an actual economy if I make the money system: Just some simple prices for each part, with resources being worth a fixed amount. I may add a “give money to player” command for large projects, trading parts/resources, and so on.
  • While the questions may seem very polar, I’ve added a number of cvars which admins can use to tweak the game to their liking, including resource multipliers, storage multipliers, and (most importantly!) lag control. Basically, I’m trying to give admins as many useful options as I can.
  • RDA, as I’m tentatively calling it, is being built to be as moddable as possible. A new Device can be created just by changing a few variables in a simple table.
#7

I suggested the idea that devices and hubs could be connected by constraints.

In my mind, the idea will allow you to simply weld your device to your spaceship and have it instantly sharing resources with the other devices.
The constraints would not have to be direct, it would flow through welds to depths of up to 3 or more.

This would be very simple, and allow for easy creation of ships’n’stuff. However, any form of customisation in the way that resources are shared is sacrificed. You cannot control what has access to what.

Perhaps make it possible to ‘constraint link’ devices?

#8

I would rather see all containers be entirely pipe based. Like, you can only go so far with the connector and have to manually plug in things. I feel this is more realistic, in my prospective.

#9
  1. A
  2. B
  3. Maybe this should be an option? If people are doing it for money they may want tank fill priority but if they are doing it to move equipment, they may want to keep their contraptions running.
  4. A
  5. A - If this can be done harmoniously it would work well with a multitude of sounds, this will most likely require play testing to get it right.
  6. B - Default to single user, but give options like a password or unlock key to allow others to share at builder’s discretion.
  7. A - This might change depending on how it affects balance of the game. It might not be neccessary if the game can be easily balanced without.
  8. B
#10

This

#11

To whoever rated each post “Disagree”: I can only use the answers I get - your rating is useless.

To everyone else: Now that Christmas is over, development continues. I have yet to start implementing a number of the features mentioned in the questions, so it’s not too late to let me hear some more answers.

#12

People are allowed to state their opinion by using the rating system. If you take the ratings into consideration or not doesn’t matter. I did rate a few posts “disagree” because they said that this mod should be complex, which I disagree with. I believe it should be simple.

#13

But you also responded and told me what you’d like to see. /That/ is helpful. Since I’m going to be tallying up how many people want which option, rating “Agree” or “Disagree” without responding isn’t going to change the vote.

#14

Ah, new question I just thought of:

  1. Should parts be able to be destroyed by weapons, explosions, etc.?
    a) No!
    b) Not destroyed, but perhaps damaged or disabled.
    c) Yes, but make it optional.
#15

c

#16

b and c

#17

The “Motors project”, the second of RDA’s three main milestones, is taking more time to write than I had anticipated. Voting is still open until further notice. Also, I’ve added a tenth question to the first post.

If anyone is interested in keeping up with RDA’s progress, you can check the RDA Dev Team Steam group page. If you have some free time and want to help us by becoming a tester, send a message to myself or Ensayia and we’ll see about getting you hooked upwith a test build.