Suggestion: Customizable Generator Outputs (For SolarPower nerf for those who want it)

1st Official Post

    Suggestion
    I came to this forum hoping to find a way to nerf solar panels, I found a few threads saying it should be nerfed and many more replies saying it shouldn't. So why not leave it up to the individual server owners? Just make all the generators output multiplied by a variable (one for each type) and get this from the ic2.ctf file. This way everyone gets what they want, the people who want it nerfed get what they want and people who don't get to keep their server the same.
    The ic2.ctf file already allows you to customise the size of your nuclear explosion.


    I would guess that the work involved in doing this would be relatively small, and the functionality may already be in the code


    Example:
    generatorMultiplierGenerator=1
    generatorMultiplierWindpower=1


    generatorMultiplierHydropower=1


    generatorMultiplierGeothermal=1


    generatorMultiplierNuclearReactor=1



    My own Server Settings
    This way for my server I'd have it set like this (and I know some people disagree with me, that's great; diversity in servers and players is what makes multiplayer interesting):


    generatorMultiplierGenerator=1.1
    generatorMultiplierSolarpower=0.25


    generatorMultiplierWindpower=0.8


    generatorMultiplierHydropower=1


    generatorMultiplierGeothermal=1.1


    generatorMultiplierNuclearReactor=2.5


    Why I would choose these settings
    Nuclear is a big risk, and a lot of fun, I want it to be a really valuable reward so lots of people do it. I see too many people using solar as a sole supply, they log off, get on the next day and there solar has charged every battery in the house, I know I can't stop that but at-least I can make people need 4 times the stations. Same problem with Wind and Hydro but I haven't got enough experience with it. The benefit of using the config file is you can update the multipliers if you ever feel something is too OP. Geothermal is also pretty cool looking (compared to solar, my personal opinion, I'd prefer to see big lava stations then fields of solar)


    :Chainsaw: <- This Chainsaw will be used on all Grammar Nazi's

    i, for one, would like that, if possibly, this idea wood bee... added too the game: because it is a gooder idea then nerfing solar panels.
    :thumbup:

    I think simply reducing the power production of solar panels won't accomplish anything, because then people will just build even more of them. That's why I suggested changing not the solar panels themselves, but rather the cables that connect to them. If the power loss was changed to floating point instead of integer and calculated per block rather than 1 EU per X blocks, then the size of a solar array would automatically be limited.

    Quote from Trifler

    I think simply reducing the power production of solar panels won't accomplish anything, because then people will just build even more of them. That's why I suggested changing not the solar panels themselves, but rather the cables that connect to them. If the power loss was changed to floating point instead of integer and calculated per block rather than 1 EU per X blocks, then the size of a solar array would automatically be limited.

    I'll meet you half way and agree that reducing power production wont accomplish everything. Really its just a band-aid fix but it would have other uses like being able to make only solar power work on a PVP server so people can't hide bases too well (just a interesting idea one might want to try), so many options.

    Quote from n1ght5talker

    I'll meet you half way and agree that reducing power production wont accomplish everything.


    All it will really accomplish is to push players to make more solars than before to get the same output. I'm not sure what that solves.


    I guess we still have to identify what the real "problem" is, and if it's actually a problem or not. Most of the time, nerf calls boil down to "I don't like the way the other guy plays" but really, how does it affect you? You can do the same things, everyone's on a level playing field. So it's not an issue of haves and have-nots.


    If the problem is that it discourages use of other methods of power generation, then those methods need to be examined for improvement. If it's a matter of server performance, nerfing solars cannot fix that issue unless you make them utterly useless.


    So I'd be interested in knowing what, exactly, you do think reducing solar power production will accomplish.

    With MCP and 20 minutes of work you can adjust the outputs right there in the source code. I'll PM anyone the modified files I used if you ask me, and if you want a different nerf ratio than I choose (I just cut solar output in half) then I'll make it that way if you'd like.


    On my server, solar out = 1/2, wind = 0.7, water is unchanged, and nuke = 5x more fuel life.

    Quote from BrickedKeyboard

    With MCP and 20 minutes of work you can adjust the outputs right there in the source code. I'll PM anyone the modified files I used if you ask me, and if you want a different nerf ratio than I choose (I just cut solar output in half) then I'll make it that way if you'd like.


    On my server, solar out = 1/2, wind = 0.7, water is unchanged, and nuke = 5x more fuel life.

    This sounds great, I've sent you a PM but I think your balance is kind of what I would use.


    And to answer Trifler, I think you're focusing totally on the wrong point. I'm not going to argue about what should be done with power generation of whether there is a balance issue. I didn't even realise there even was an issue with solar panels and CPU. I just think the user (or server admin) should be able to set there own balance. So Trifler, please ignore everything I said about what I would do and just focus on the main part of the suggestion: Allowing the user (Server Admin) to balance power how THEY wish. Everything else is just what I would do with this new configuration ability.

    • Official Post

    Due to the ridicolous upcoming of complaints and flamewars caused by the whole solar-op-discussion (started by an entirely unknown Let's-Play-Maker) i will implement exactly this idea.


    Gives everyone the ability to fix the issue for himself/his server in whatever way he likes.

    Quote from Alblaka

    Due to the ridicolous upcoming of complaints and flamewars caused by the whole solar-op-discussion (started by an entirely unknown Let's-Play-Maker) i will implement exactly this idea.


    Gives everyone the ability to fix the issue for himself/his server in whatever way he likes.

    lol


    Any fears that this option, while being the best option, will cause major divides in the IC community as far as which energy generation is the 'most proper' energy generation method to use?


    (while granted, it is a silly point to argue due to the amount of choices that we have.. lol)

    Would anyone like to try a Slowpoke Tail?! Only 1 Million Yen!


    Quote

    this isn't about arrogance or ego, I have a block that I put a lot of freaking work into


    Every Mod Author, in existence. And yet, you STILL say otherwise.

    Quote from MagusUnion

    Any fears that this option, while being the best option, will cause major divides in the IC community as far as which energy generation is the 'most proper' energy generation method to use?


    It will, among the group of people who feel that everyone should play the way they want you to... in other words, the ones that called for blanket nerfs and got this instead. But it won't concern me - I've never bothered to govern my entertainment by someone else's standard of applicability or propriety.


    The irony is, those so-called "purists" would be viewed the same way by those who think that Vanilla Minecraft is the only "right" way to play.

    Quote from HeadHunter67

    It will, among the group of people who feel that everyone should play the way they want you to... in other words, the ones that called for blanket nerfs and got this instead. But it won't concern me - I've never bothered to govern my entertainment by someone else's standard of applicability or propriety.


    The irony is, those so-called "purists" would be viewed the same way by those who think that Vanilla Minecraft is the only "right" way to play.

    Well... it's not as bad as BTW community in terms of purist... that's for sure...


    But it's a damn shame that some people don't understand why the technology exists in the first place.. kinda wish ALba had coded in some pollution effect to go along with some of the machine usage... (smog, industrial acids, etc.)

    Would anyone like to try a Slowpoke Tail?! Only 1 Million Yen!


    Quote

    this isn't about arrogance or ego, I have a block that I put a lot of freaking work into


    Every Mod Author, in existence. And yet, you STILL say otherwise.

    I don't think it would give most people pause. Steve is a one man strip-mine, leaving deforestation, terrain deformation and uncontrolled runoff in his wake. He's a walking ecocaust of animal cruelty and irreversible ecological change.


    Then again, as the presumed Last Man In The World, he isn't exactly accountable to anyone, is he? :P

    Quote from HeadHunter67

    I don't think it would give most people pause. Steve is a one man strip-mine, leaving deforestation, terrain deformation and uncontrolled runoff in his wake. He's a walking ecocaust of animal cruelty and irreversible ecological change.


    Then again, as the presumed Last Man In The World, he isn't exactly accountable to anyone, is he? :P

    Wow... with that kind of statement... I almost want to root for the creepers/zombies/skeletons for doing the MC world(s) a favor.. lol


    And I do forget the fact you can just restart on a 'new world' if the pollution gets out of hand. Wonder where the restart button is on Earth...

    Would anyone like to try a Slowpoke Tail?! Only 1 Million Yen!


    Quote

    this isn't about arrogance or ego, I have a block that I put a lot of freaking work into


    Every Mod Author, in existence. And yet, you STILL say otherwise.

    Oddly enough, he's about right... lol

    Would anyone like to try a Slowpoke Tail?! Only 1 Million Yen!


    Quote

    this isn't about arrogance or ego, I have a block that I put a lot of freaking work into


    Every Mod Author, in existence. And yet, you STILL say otherwise.