[CLOSED PR] Rework Molitz Beta to be more dynamic

[github_bot]

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[REWORK][INPUT WANTED]

About the PR

This is a rework of Molitz Beta's mechanics. The Resonance material property of Molitz Beta now plays a central role.
Increasing Resonance is dependent on Density and current Resonance.
Producing Oxygen Beta is dependent on Hardness, Radioactivity, and Neutron Radioactivity, and decreases Resonance in the process.

This will hopefully make Molitz Beta a viable, interesting alternative to pipeburns.
The power level of this rework needs some testing in a live environment, but there should be enough knobs to turn to balance it if necessary.

Why's this needed?

Molitz Beta is currently very linear. There is not much room for tradeoffs or experimentation, and it pays lip service to the Resonance property. I have never encountered an experienced Engineer who was excited to do a Molitz Beta burn, compared to a pipeburn, where Engineers are fairly willing. This rework aims to solve this.

Let's say you want to increase Resonance. Will you smelt ores together to increase density? Which material will you choose, and how will you get them? Will you try to get as close to the saturation threshold as possible to avoid loss, or would you rather use up the Resonance and blow it up again later?
Now let's say you want to increase Oxygen Beta output. Again, will you smelt ores together to increase Hardness? Will you avoid or embrace radioactivity? Maybe you'd even prefer farming Oxygen Beta instead of producing it mid-combustion, since higher temperatures increase the rate of Resonance loss.

All this and more must be considered when using Molitz Beta, and it's my hope that this will translate to more engaging gameplay.

Changelog

Code:

changelog
(u)maybeserendipitous
(*)Rework Molitz Beta to be more engaging

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[ohjoy]

I'll note that I'd rather this get merged, turn out to be too powerful, get Engineers used to it, and get toned down in future PR's than to have it be "balanced" on merge, get no Engineers using it, and be dead on arrival.

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Solid line is central value 3 (density = 75), long dotted line is central value 2 (density = 50), finely dotted line is central value 1 (density = 25)
x is explosion severity
y is resonance multiplier, which scales the amount of resonance added to the crystal

[MetricDuck]

While I like more dials to twiddle, this behaviour will be pretty hard to experiment with in game due to the difficulty in measuring the outputs and the number of input variables.

A good parallel would be plating the semiconductor : the amount of ‘experimentation’ that goes into plating the semi-con is very little nowadays because:
a) An accepted (if slightly suboptimal) solution has been found and gets parroted.
b) It’s really difficult to isolate the effect of your changes without a massive amount of effort to control variables, and you can’t even be sure you know what variables matter without someone code-diving.

[Azrun]

^^^

In a vacuum this PR is pretty sweet. This is an interesting, perhaps overtuned, method of adding some variability into a process.

That said I don’t think this necessarily builds lasting engagement with the Molitz Beta burn itself.  It offers additional ways of adjusting gas provided but due to the complexity and in my opinion lack of intuitiveness will simply become a solved problem after a few folks code dive and determine optimal solutions.

I may be off base but I don’t think additional complexity is what people are looking for in regards to Molitz Beta and Oxygen Agent B.  Would love to hear if that isn’t the case though.

Thematically do you have a concept for how processing the crystals improves the release of the gas?

[ohjoy]

While I like more dials to twiddle, this behaviour will be pretty hard to experiment with in game due to the difficulty in measuring the outputs and the number of input variables.

A good parallel would be plating the semiconductor : the amount of ‘experimentation’ that goes into plating the semi-con is very little nowadays because:
a) An accepted (if slightly suboptimal) solution has been found and gets parroted.
b) It’s really difficult to isolate the effect of your changes without a massive amount of effort to control variables, and you can’t even be sure you know what variables matter without someone code-diving.

Resonance increase can be measured with the material analyzer, I agree that molitz beta output is hard to measure, but the formula is pretty simple and IMO doesn't deserve much attention. All the "meat" of this PR is in the resonance gain, I don't mind nixing the molitz beta output fuckery if that's an issue.

1. The semiconductor plating formula is very simple so there is little room for optimization
2. There are two peaks in the resonance gain formula, so there are two possible solutions, so parroting the solution is more difficult, not mentioning the difficulty of landing exactly on the tip of the peak
3. There are only three variables that affect resonance gain -- Density, Severity, and Resonance. There are only four variables that affect agent B output -- Hardness, Radioactivity, Neutron Radioactivity, and Temperature (and technically Resonance). This can be easily listed on the wiki, even if the exact formulas are not provided.

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^^^

In a vacuum this PR is pretty sweet. This is an interesting, perhaps overtuned, method of adding some variability into a process.

That said I don’t think this necessarily builds lasting engagement with the Molitz Beta burn itself.  It offers additional ways of adjusting gas provided but due to the complexity and in my opinion lack of intuitiveness will simply become a solved problem after a few folks code dive and determine optimal solutions.

I may be off base but I don’t think additional complexity is what people are looking for in regards to Molitz Beta and Oxygen Agent B.  Would love to hear if that isn’t the case though.

Thematically do you have a concept for how processing the crystals improves the release of the gas?

My goal is to get us a little closer to a more engaging Engineer experience. I think my PR adds more engagement than Molitz Beta currently.
Define "optimal". Max oxygen B released? Longest lasting release? I doubt many people would be delighted to dump all their oxygen B immediately, then have the burn choke out when it gets used up in the first 5 minutes, unless they have an Engineer on standby to re-resonate the crystal. "Optimal" IMO depends on the number of Engineers (and Miners, and Chemists/Bartenders...) you have that are willing to run around and collect the materials to get the crystal juiced up, and I think that puts it above a mere code dive.

I want additional complexity. I find the current state of Molitz Beta to be "lame", basically (not a personal attack). I'm adding this complexity to make it feel more Engineer-y. I'd love it if Molitz Beta had the same level of engagement as pipeburns. I have some reservations about whether this PR is a step in that direction, but I believe it's closer than Molitz Beta currently.

Please define "processing". Do you mean smelting, turning the material into rods/tiles/etc.? Rationale for Hardness, Radioactivity, and Neutron Radioactivity are in the code comments. A way to "refine" the crystal to make it output more gas would be nice, but the longer the prep stage is, the more annoying it is to get running, and I'd prefer engagement mid-burn to engagement pre-burn.

I had some ideas about making the crystal do more stuff when it hits some Resonance threshold or burns for long enough for mid-burn engagement. Resonance Cascade (Half-Life), stunning nearby Engineers like the Changeling's shriek, pokemon evolving into a different form that maybe prefers a different gas composition, producing n2o/farts/whatever to fuck with the Engineers that come in to baby it, maybe breaking if it hits minimum Resonance (actually this one might actually be a good idea), you get the idea. Just SOMETHING that turns it from "yea chuck it in" to "we gotta watch this shit or we're gonna have a bad time" because "yea chuck it in" is kind of how Molitz Beta is right now, and it's not very engaging. The 1000 Resonance shriek is kind of a placeholder for that.

[tamakona]

Nice idea, but unfortunately I don't think it'll be worth much with a couple of fundamental issues still at play.

1. The pipe leak changes are for lack of a better word absolutely horrendous. It changes the gameplay focus from monitoring and manipulating variables to optimize the burn to standing still welding pipes for 60 minutes because it would die out otherwise.

If that wasn't enough, the specific method in which the change is implemented isn't fun for everyone else too. A larger amount of hot gas leaking out is as anyone would expect more difficult to control. High power burns are more likely to cause station damage and ruin other people's day now.

So it's less fun for the engineer, and less fun for non-engineers. It's a net loss of fun for everyone overall. I understand where Azrun was coming from when he made the change, but the specific change he made to address the issues is one of the worst imaginable.

It does not matter how many wacky ways we have to get funny hot fire; as long as this change is still in effect I doubt anyone other than the most psychopathic of individuals will consistently have an enjoyable experience with the role.

2. The issue with molitz beta is that compared to pipeburns it is much nore tedious with similar results. Plus, you need to wait for the miners to go get it, which might be never since you'd normally need them to focus on mining molitz asteroids to get enough to last the shift within the first few minutes; a specific ore type relatively low on the miners' priority list (in addition there's their tendency to go MIA once they get indie suits lol).

Coordinating multiple departments towards something that rewards only one of them is proven to be quite the challenge. Maybe a system where the QM can manage the money generated by the PTL or the increase in engine power allowing the miners to make upgraded gear might help with that.

There's also the agent b extraction process. Some believe the toxin lab is necessary, while I personally have had success just using the combustion chamber. I personally agree with you; acquiring and refining molitz beta should be made trivial, while actually optimizing it's usage should be the complex part (the engagement should come mid-burn). Specific changes to achieve this are going to be hit or miss, but I say it's better than never trying at all. I believe we should make a separate post to discuss that.