Here's a quick update on what I've been working on over the last month or so!
Linker tool
After a long hiatus from working on it, I finally went back and completed the linker tool. The first attempt at this tool that I did a while back was hard-coded to work with the pulleys, so I had to generalise the implementation to support different link types. A part can now have one or more link nodes that are associated with its part behaviour(s). When the linker tool is active these link nodes can be highlighted by the player, which they can then click on and drag to another link node to create a link between them.
These are the different link types that I've done, or am planning to do:-
- Pulley - used to route belt between pulleys, implementation now complete.
- Power - used to link motors, batteries, solar panels, this is also now done (see "Electric Power" below).
- Data - allows one part behaviour to query data from another linked part behaviour, an example could be a screen that can be linked to a motor to display its current RPM.
- Control - allows one part behaviour to control another part behaviour, an simple example being a switch that can be linked to several motors, lights, etc. to turn them on / off together.
In this example you can see some pulley links and a power link being added between a motor and battery:-
As there are now different link types, I've made a few tweaks to make it easier to manipulate them. The indicators for each link type are colour coded so that they can easily be distinguished from one another, and there is now a linker tool UI that allows links of different types to be shown or hidden.
Electric power
As I mentioned, I've now implemented "power" links so that motors, lights, and so on can be linked to batteries. I implemented code in the motor and light part behaviours to calculate a power value that is then used to discharge energy from the linked battery / batteries. Also, when braking, a motor will now regenerate energy back into its linked battery / batteries.
The battery part behaviour itself does very little other than tracking the battery's current state of charge.
I've also added solar panels, these have a simple part behaviour that calculates a power value based on the panel's surface area and its current angle relative to the sun. This is then used to charge energy into its linked battery / batteries.
It's fun to play around with this stuff in conjunction with the day / night cycle in the game, using solar panels to charge a battery during the day which then powers your lights at night:-
Knuckle joints
I've also just added a new type of hinge connector, what I'm calling a "knuckle joint", where the parts connect in line with one another like this:-
I made two versions of the knuckle joint connector, one that can rotate through 180 degrees and another that is limited to 90 degrees. Here's an example of using the 90 degree version, as well as the ball and socket connectors I added ages ago, to make a ragdoll in the game:-
