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+--- Thread: Idea: Dynamic PTL Mirror Array – Risky, Profitable, Engineering-Dept' Busywork (/showthread.php?tid=15048)
Idea: Dynamic PTL Mirror Array – Risky, Profitable, Engineering-Dept' Busywork - MarkNstein - 09-09-2020
--Goals--
- Give more persistent but optional work for engineers during a round.
- Make it a little dangerous, with a benefit.
- Make it cool to see in-use.
- Fix Oshan's PTL hitting-a-wall nonsense.
--Current Context--
- The PTL sends & sells excess power to other (fictional) stations experiencing a power deficit.
- The PTL beam is static. It cannot be aimed or otherwise redirected.
- The PTL's damage scales with output power.
--Proposal Thesis--
The static beam is poor at aiming to needy stations, so profits made are unoptimized. Creation of a self-adjusting mirror array allows for the beam to be aimed at more stations, increasing marketability. The larger and more complex the array, the better the sales.
--Details--
Default PTL behavior and payout remains unchanged.
"Auto mirrors" can be crafted/fab'ed/decon'ed. Mirrors cannot be controlled manually, they are controlled by the associated PTL computer. Mirrors can either pass-through, redirect "left", redirect "right", or send "out" (through the ceiling) for sale to a station. Mirrors that are cardinally aligned form a "grid" of mirrors. A whole grid is only valid if one of it's mirrors is aligned to a PTL.
The PTL's internal computer controls the grid it is aimed at. Every 5(?) minutes, it selects a new station to target, and adjusts the mirrors in the grid. — The PTL randomly picks one mirror in the grid as the "out" (for sale) mirror, calculates a path through the grid from the PTL to the "up" mirror, then adjusts all mirrors in the path.
Mirrors can be added to the grid at any time.
Some math would need to be figured out that makes the PTL-payout be multiplied by grid-complexity and the PTL's beam-power. Specifically, defining "grid-complexity" to favor many mirrors, but long spaces between the mirrors; a large spread-out grid is better than a dense grid.
Other ideas included an adjustable "redirection frequency"; setting the PTL computer to redirect every 1 minute would be yet-more profitable, while unnerving anyone trying to navigate the grid.
Clarifications:
The mirrors are anchored & dense. They cannot be pulled around, but they can be deconstructed and rebuilt elsewhere.
The mirrors cannot be directed to the station, as their orientations are controlled by the PTL. Maybe an emag-behavior / decon'ing-an-in-use-mirror causes unintended beam-pathing.
Maybe: The controls start locked to auto-mode. An ID with Chief Engineer access or higher can unlock the controls. Using an emag will also unlock the controls. Manual control allows for arbitrary orientation.
RE: Idea: Dynamic PTL Mirror Array – Risky, Profitable, Engineering-Dept' Busywork - MarkNstein - 09-19-2020
More thoughts I want to get written down:
A reflector is made from a reflector kit. Producible at general fabs, or through QM, or maybe that red tools vend?
To make it seem less "arbitrarily anchored in space" and to give it a sort of lane-warnings like belt-hell: A reflector must be built on a scaffold turf - possibly requiring scaffold turfs between each reflector.
Construction is done by using the kit on a scaffold turf (similar to the heat-gen kits of Oshan).
RE: Idea: Dynamic PTL Mirror Array – Risky, Profitable, Engineering-Dept' Busywork - Frank_Stein - 09-19-2020
One thing I think would be nice is if the beam itself had to be adjusted.
Since it's being redirected to different stations, it might be the case that the station you're helping get powered needs the beam within certain parameters to be effective.
Too weak of a beam means less power and less cash.
Too powerful of a beam and you damage their equipment and possibly get fined