Expanded Active Block System

Discussion in 'Blocks and Crafting' started by HellKnightX, Mar 7, 2012.

  1. HellKnightX

    HellKnightX Void-Bound Voyager

    One of my favorite parts of base building in Terraria was using Active Stone Blocks to build secret entrances or toggleable bridges and doors, among other things. However, I felt that having only Stone Blocks severely limited the appeal of its practicality. Most bases certainly weren't made of stone (maybe stone brick, but not regular stone) so aesthetically, it had its share of problems. Another factor was that the system was limited to just toggling blocks between foreground and background.

    In Starbound, I see a lot of potential to expand upon the original concept greatly. Expanding the types of active blocks would be a good start, adding in different types of common building materials to the list, such as steel or concrete. In addition, moving blocks could possibly be added in, or timers that controlled the speed at which active blocks are toggled/moved. Consider this for a moment:

    A player builds a 3 block wide platform out of active moving blocks. You put down a speed control block (similar to a timer block) and a direction block (toggles between the 4 directions), and wire them both to the platform, and finally to a switch. When activated, the platform will move in the chosen direction at the chosen speed until it hits a solid block and stops.

    Optionally, you could place down a special type of wire (we'll just call it pathing wire) which controls the movement of the platform. The platform will follow the path of this wire until it reaches the end. When activated again, it will retrace its path back to its starting point. This way you could get a cool moving platform or elevator system that can move in more than one direction. This could even be expanded into a continuous moving cycle if you have a closed loop of pathing wire. You could put several platforms into this loop and they would move indefinitely along this cycle. Think of it as a Ferris Wheel.

    Also, proximity-activated blocks would make a cool addition to the standard active block system. When a player walks towards blocks of this type, they toggle. When a player walks away, they revert back to default. Using a system like this, players could make bridges that activate for them, but not for enemies, or doors that open when they walk near and close when they leave. The primary distinction between this and switch-activated blocks is that the system only activates for players. Or you could just make a pressure plate that only players could activate. That would realistically achieve the same effect.

    I appreciate additional ideas or feedback on this matter :)
     
    PabloM, Ner and darkshot like this.
  2. Mercury Gilado

    Mercury Gilado Existential Complex

    I think this definitely would give Starbound a sci-fi feel. About the moving blocks, there should be a portable controller that activates when you first get on it that allows you to control the direction by moving accordingly, and allows you to stop wherever you want to avoid be left behind on accident, or waiting for it to return.

    As a whole, I think it'd be smart to implement active blocks geared toward a specific purpose to avoid convoluted circuitry (like the moving platform and railing), in order to make it more user friendly. For those who'd want more complex circuits, they're can be different tiers of customization for said blocks, the easier ones to use being less flexible, but to the point.
     
    PabloM likes this.
  3. Alpha_Squad

    Alpha_Squad Cosmic Narwhal

    An expanded list of active blocks would be awesome, but the biggest problem with these is that they tend to be the buggiest. Especially since these will be custom built there would be a lot of problems cause by this. Still, it would be fun to see in game.
     
    PabloM likes this.
  4. darkshot

    darkshot Void-Bound Voyager

    While I think these ideas would be fairly complicated to implement (especially the various types of blocks for speed and direction control), I think its a good idea. Your moving platform could be expanded to be more than just a 3 block platform that follows a path. I was thinking it could be something more like a conveyor belt, you place special movable blocks along a wire which would act as a path. The blocks would then follow this wire to the end, or travel in a continuous loop if in a closed circuit. The only difference is they don't retain their original shape that you place them in, they always hug the wire, and form around its corners, much like a conveyor belt.

    The idea of having a special wire to control a path is interesting, but there needs to be a way to connect a power source or a "trigger" mechanism to the circuit on a wire that is not part of the path. Perhaps instead of using a wire for the path, you could instead use some kind of "track" which appears in the background and is visible at all times. The track would be wired up to a trigger or power source, and the moving blocks would simply follow the track.

    As a programmer, however, this all sounds like a nightmare to implement :p
     
    PabloM likes this.
  5. HellKnightX

    HellKnightX Void-Bound Voyager

    Oh, I certainly know it would be quite a challenge, but refinement of the idea would help. You're right about the track; I wasn't specifically interested in using wire, just something that was similar. Using a track would allow the player to know where they were headed. It would make programming a lot easier if the developers just used prefabricated platforms instead of letting the players build them with blocks, but some players may feel it limits their creative freedom. Realistically, any implementation of this system would still be a vast improvement over having to jump up a series of platforms to get out of a shaft.
     
  6. Starheaven07

    Starheaven07 Pyxis Tube

    This would give a lot more creative tools to questmakers and would definately allow for some exciting things to happen
    Passages changing around at random
    Enemies being unleashed in turns
    suddenly waterfall
    suddenly floor drops out
    suddenly fun is had

    this idea has my vote
     
  7. Tyler Tenebrae

    Tyler Tenebrae Pangalactic Porcupine

    Simple and effective way to expand creativeness. Map making, base building, secret doors, traps, refineries with conveyor belts, hangars, automatic defense systems, pranks...
     
  8. Starheaven07

    Starheaven07 Pyxis Tube

    My friend Cowskee is going to set up an "epic quest" which will result in a room where he dumps a mob of exploding penguins on me
     

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