Architect Archive
Thread: Proposal/Thought: Day Use on Components
Page 1 of 1
Iplyvi
Tue Apr 20, 2004 7:15 am
#1
I posted this yesterday on page 3 of one of the harvester threads and thought maybe it could be it's own topic........:
Instead of any decay, how about putting uses on the OMUs or other components? Let's say you buy a heavy harvester with a 10-day mining unit. Each time you place the harvester you tick away your 10-days of using that OMU.Eventually you run out so you come back to architects to buy another OMU, insert it in your exisiting harvester, rinse and repeat. Granted we aren't replacing the 150-200K harvester, but we now have an income based on reuseable commodities. And those who power-harvest will be buying crates of OMUs from us. This could be extended into components for houses as well (power cores) etc. and manufacturing machanisms on factories, etc.
Better yet, a master Architect with more experimentation points, could experiment his 'day use' to 15 days perhaps. This would allow us to have a great-average-bad element to our crafting which we don't have enough of. (IMO).
If I go really nuts, I would then create only 1 generic harvester. (get rid of all the different choices). And the generic harvester would then take any style of mining unit. Take the harv out and place it for ore, then drop the OMU BER13 in place and run. You could change the type depending on which mining unit you place into it. The mining unit would determine type and also the extraction rate. The generic harv would determine the hopper size. Don't drop a high extraction rate in a low hopper, etc.
This would allow for variable pricing and quality of both harvesters and mining units. And again, this would also work with buildings and factories too.
Iplyvi
Master Architect
ArchTech Designs
1010 -6090 Dantooine, Ahazi
only 600m from the Agro Outpost
xKhaziCx
Tue Apr 20, 2004 7:59 am
#2
Thats a good idea. The problem with it is that there is no way this will happen....yes the harvester economy is stangnant, but the dev's have too many other proffesions to fix that are really borked. Not to mention that that would probably be a total rewrite of the harvester code.....or at least a big portion of it. The only possible solution that I can see that would really fix it is to have regular decay....a function already in the game. Just add decay to all harvesters. As easy as that.
Arratarr
Tue Apr 20, 2004 8:30 am
#3
Not to mention, the storage we'd have to have on OMU's would be really annoying considering they don't stack in crates.
Iplyvi
Wed Apr 21, 2004 12:18 am
#4
I don't think the storage is an issue. There has been numerous posts on fixing that so that they stack and why it probably can be done pretty painlessly in the code that already exists. Obviously, the mining units would have to be stackable for this to work.
The question on whether it is feasible in the current code is a lot more relevant. It may indeed be nearly impossible. Maybe the idea is better suited for Galaxies II. 
However, we do have structures, like factories, that require an input to work. THe factories require a 'schematic' and the code is setup already to request, accept and act on it. Perhaps a harvester could utilize this code so that they ,too, can accept an input, in this case the mining unit. The harvester requests the mining unit, receives a OMU BER13 (for example), and then acts on it - becoming a mineral harvester. Then later on, you can remove the OMU (like a schematic), and insert a new one for flora ("a new schematic").
Yes, it would require a more considerable effort on the devs part, but I think it could still be feasible. AND if the idea is solid, it is worth the effort.
Iplyvi Olis
Master Architect, Chef & Artisan
1010 -6090 Dantooine, Ahazi
only 600m from the agro outpost
Iplyvi
Wed Apr 21, 2004 12:35 am
#5
Not to mention that a schematic is limited-use - the most items you can make is 1000. The mining unit would fit, as it too would be limited. I have suggested by days or time, but it could also be limited by quantity. For example, the unit could be limited by how many units it can harvest. Maybe it will only harvest 100K units. Or 500K.
So, the structure would ask for a mining unit ( a schemaitc). You insert an OMU BER13 that can harvest say 200K units. The structure reads the details, becomes a mineral harvester. You open the hopper and choose "carbonate ore" and turn the unit on. It begins extracting resources. You keep the structure powered and maintained. After it has pulled out 200K units, it shuts down, the mining unit has run out or 'been spent' (the schematic is done). You then must pull out and discard the old OMU, and reinsert a new one to keep going on another 200K units.
Take what we know about food crafting and clothing assembly. And now imagine experimenting on the mining unit so that YOU can make them harvest more than average, say 300K (let alone experiment to increase their BER). Or imagine, like clothing, that we could add bonuses to the mining unit. Imagine making an OMU BER13 for general mineral harvesting. BUT, also imagine if we could put a 'Carbonate Ore" bonus, so that if you usethat unit specificall for Carbonate Ore, you might get BER14....or instead of the normal amount of units, it could extract 100K more with the bonus.
Even better, these bonuses could come from Master Artisans (similar to BE supplying chef/tailors). It would give them more of a role in the economy by adding to the list of components they might supply.
Iplyvi Olis
Master Architect, Chef & Artisan
1010 -6090 Dantooine, Ahazi
only 600m from the agro outpost
d0qtrX
Wed Apr 21, 2004 10:10 am
#6
The only downside to that is good OMUs require very good steel.
You'd need a fleet of 100 harvesters to keep up with demand.
Jedigeneration
Thu Apr 22, 2004 4:56 am
#7
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
d0qtrX Wrote;
The only downside to that is good OMUs require very good steel.
You'd need a fleet of 100 harvesters to keep up with demand.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yeah, and that's 100 OMU's of your own you'd need on top of the demand, and will the 'Good Steel' last? Probably not long enough to get to the next shift.
I do like the idea though Iplyvi. Anything to keep us above the red.
Iplyvi
Thu Apr 22, 2004 1:49 pm
#9
I don't know if you'd need a fleet quite so large, but yes the steel requirement would be high. I imagine if the day use limit was 20-30 days of life, or if using a units limit at 600K-1M the demand might not be as high as you are leading on to. It may also open up a market for both the high end OMUs and average ones. Some players may not want to spend 15K-20K each. (assuming our price for average OMUs would be much lower than that).
The power miners of course won't mind 20K a pop to get, say, a million units. Their profits will more than cover that cost. So I still think your alarm over the steel requirement, or someone else's alarm over selling price are rather minor concerns and would both be in an acceptable range under the proper circumstances.
Iplyvi
Thu Apr 22, 2004 2:27 pm
#10
Actually, if I calc'd it right, a BER13 at 100% concentration (highly unlikely) would need just under 23 days to harvest just 300K units. So maybe once a month a power user would have to replace that OMU for 20-25K a piece. Totally acceptable in my book. Personally I'd like to see the OMU run out between 15-20 days, or just about 3 weeks. This could allow the limit to be more like 200K units each. Again, acceptable and worth it IMO.
I also realize that a power harvester with all 10 lots would then have to pay 200K every few weeks - but again, why not? Running a mining company at full speed SHOULD cost a bit. And they will have taken in almost 2 million units. What do they sell it for on your server? 3cpu? 5cpu? 10cpu? the 200K fee is relatively small. And I'd rather pay 20K each every few weeks than have to pay 150-200K for a whole new harvester each month.
So, I still think this could be fleshed out into a very dynamic and exciting change....
Page 1 of 1