things in mechcomp

[Zamujasa]

i have been adding/changing a few mechcomp things

i have been trying to also update them on the wiki: https://wiki.ss13.co/MechComp


you can use this thread to spitball random suggestions for things to hook up to it because it turns out it's not terribly difficult



recent changes:

added a "Counter" component that you can use to count things, or do simple addition/subtraction
- configurable: "change" - how much the value changes on a "count" signal
- signal: "count" - causes it to change the current value by "count" and outputs it as another signal
- signal: "count immediate" - causes it to change the current value by the signal, and outputs it
- reset: resets the counter to its default

you can use this to make a simple "number of times passed by" with a trip laser, or various buttons that add different amounts, like score




added a "Clock" component that can act as a stopwatch (determine duration from one point in time to another) and also output the current round timer
- configurable: units; either 0.1 seconds, seconds, minutes, or hours
- signal: send time: sends the current round time
- signal: start stopwatch: records the current time and outputs 0
- signal: send stopwatch time: outputs (current time - stopwatch time)
- signal: send stopwatch time and reset: same as above and sets it to the current time (like a "lap" button)


added floor health scanners to mechcomp
- you will need to click on the health scanner and choose "connect", click-drag does not work
- outputs a signal when it scans someone's health
- signal format: health=100&oxy=0&tox=0&burn=0&brute=0
- use a wifi signal splitter to filter out the specific value you want




added a new feature and a few more symbols to the letter display component
- you can now display periods, dashes, percent signs, and asterisks ( . - % * )
- you can right-align text by using negative numbers; e.g. the letter index would normally be "1 2 3 4 5", but you can left-align it by using "-5 -4 -3 -2 -1"

[NightmarechaMillian]

podbay doors and emergency shutters, mayhaps?

[TDHooligan]

heater pads that output current heat/reagents,
beaker holders that transfer to any/all reagent containers on a tile, can pipe to each other and do cool stuff like fill 6 shot glasses at once
perhaps rate-limited reagent & drink dispensers based on https://github.com/goonstation/goonstation/pull/11688? - have them be unable to pipe into the world.

i think there's some rad things you could do piping strings into a reagent dispenser component hidden under a table and hooked up to a bath/beaker. even if you got a max flow rate of 10u a second. way more effort than the current chemgroup system generally but it could make a really good bit.

[Zamujasa]

atmospherics scanner sounds like an interesting idea; could report the current temperature and air mixture, kind of like the networked ones that are in the toxins mixing rooms in most maps


anyway, new feature

mechcomp letter displays now have four color options
- new config option: color (gives you a popup list)
- new signal: color - send "red", "blue", "green", "gray"




mr. green / de luuk suggested an interesting change for the arithmetic component that i'm looking into doing, where it outputs its value immediately when an input changes rahter than requiring a second signal.

[Jakson]

add conveyor belts in mechcomp please
good luck

[RelentlessGarbage]

add conveyor belts in mechcomp please
good luck

Slightly off topic, but can you make conveyor belts with the ruckingenur kit?

Even if you could, I'd still second this idea - mechcomp conveyor belts would be neat, and would fill a role as a less extreme version of the graviton accelerators for moving things around.

[Kotlol]

add conveyor belts in mechcomp please
good luck

Slightly off topic, but can you make conveyor belts with the ruckingenur kit?

Even if you could, I'd still second this idea - mechcomp conveyor belts would be neat, and would fill a role as a less extreme version of the graviton accelerators for moving things around.

Let alone fix some conveyers in the game when they get blown up.

[Zamujasa]

the only way to make conveyor belts right now is, iirc, the engibox, which is not something you can ordinarily get outside of very rare chances in stockings

buildable conveyors has been something i'd like to see for a while but i'm not sure how to best handle it

---

i did add message signs:



they have two inputs and configurations, both the same: set text, and set color. they do what you think.


payment components also got changed from outputting whatever signal you set to outputting a set signal composed of the amount paid, the total amount collected, and the name of the customer.

[RelentlessGarbage]

buildable conveyors has been something i'd like to see for a while but i'm not sure how to best handle it

---

i did add message signs:



they have two inputs and configurations, both the same: set text, and set color. they do what you think.

Neat! I like the text signs a lot, too - kind of surprised they weren't implemented already. My first thought about their implementation is that they might make teleporter setups much more elegant than having people write the teleporter destinations on the floor with crayon, but they seem quite versatile for gimmicks.

My two cents about conveyors is that their orientation should be fixed upon construction, and can't be changed by mechcomp signals. The direction that the conveyor is moving (and whether or not it's on) should obviously be changed by these signals, and maybe even their speed (if we're taking inspiration from the Cargo Carousel on Oshan, where extra power = extra speed), but to prevent a massive headache in implementation I think you'd have to use a wrench or screwdriver to set up the orientation before the conveyors become operable. So, like, what direction the conveyors are facing, and even if they're bent conveyors/angled conveyors - all of that can be set up during construction, and changed after installation with the right tools, but not changed with input signals to the device. Trying to make omnidirectional conveyors that can take signals in to move things in any direction seems...overly complicated.

[Zamujasa]

conveyor belts would be either forward or reverse; i think the most mechcompy thing that would be there is some kind of diverter. there's a whole bunch of really disused recycling/disposals-related stuff around that concept, like how the scrap that comes out of the crusher actually has some values depending on what went into it (mostly just 'metal / glass / waste' or whatever)


anyway, some more changes:

- relay component
-- cooldown lowered to 0.4 seconds (down from three seconds) - in line with the wifi component

- association component
-- new option to output the stored list in signal format (a=1&b=2&...)

- counter component:
-- reset no longer outputs the new value
-- new "set current value" input that does output the new value
-- you can use "change reset value" and reset to silently change the value

- message sign component:
-- inventory in the vendors increased from 5 to 10
-- new configuration for text alignment (top/middle/bottom, left/center/right)
-- new configuration for fonts

- new mechcomp component: pixel display
-- 26x26 canvas for you to draw on, electronically
-- takes a signal in the format of x=0&y=0&color=#FFFFFF (parameter order doesn't matter)



- new mechcomp component: automatic signaler component
-- automatically repeats a signal on a given interval
-- the repeat interval can be from 0.5s to 60s
-- configurable to repeat the signal a limited number of times
-- runs very slightly faster than the Control Unit (about 20% faster) and at a more even rate, rather than the CU's sporadic one


- new stupid feature
-- mechcomp buttons have a special feature when plated with a certain material



----

the sprites for the automatic signaler component and the other new ones i added are very Temporary Programmer Art

[CatzCatzCatz]

A Magnet Mechcomp part would be interesting to see, kinda like a reverse gravitron or something

[RelentlessGarbage]

- new stupid feature
-- mechcomp buttons have a special feature when plated with a certain material

Hint: This brings a new meaning to "ghost in the machine."

[valtsu0]

Some sort of randomizer component. Maybe outputs a random integer between 2 selected integers. Or maybe 10 outputs and chooses out of those randomly using adjustable weights.

[RubberRats]

Some sort of randomizer component. Maybe outputs a random integer between 2 selected integers. Or maybe 10 outputs and chooses out of those randomly using adjustable weights.

Pretty sure arithmetic components can already do this as one of their functions.

[Zamujasa]

not only is that one of their functions, it is in fact the default option for that component (though you do have to change the min/max values since they default to 1)