Jeremydeath's Various Wire Addons

[TomyLobo]

why do you change them at all? i thought it just wires stuff up

[Jeremydeath]

It's a visual system so that it's easier to see if you are aiming at the correct entity and that you have the correct input/output name like the data transferrer. Mostly it's just for aesthetics though.

EDIT: Also, I'm updating the EyePod (I'm still testing it though) so that it updates at regular wire speeds, accepts pitch/yaw view lock angles, and lags a lot less.

[Lyinginbedmon]

Well I'm changing colours for it so that I don't have a big fat white beam sticking out of it when I'm not using it. Just trying to change the alpha doesn't work.

[Jeremydeath]

Ok, it's done. It will now completely save the alpha you set it to, and if you change the color of it in any state, it will change its default color (normally white) to the color you set it to.

[TomyLobo]

ok next question: why does it change its color/alpha in a think hook?

[Jeremydeath]

It changes its color in the think hook because this is where it also does it's trace, and the color change is dependent on what data the trace turns up. Also, it actually changes it in the ENT:TriggerInput(iname, value) hook, which is called by think so that its color gets updated without having to change any input.

[TomyLobo]

why does it trace in a think hook?
why doesnt it just only trace when needed?

all of these things cost CPU time on the server
the color changes even cost bandwidth on both server and client.

[Jeremydeath]

For the same reason that the Data Transferrer does traces in the think hook. If you move the wirer without changing the inputs, it will not be able change color or update.

[TomyLobo]

the reason data transferrer needs a think hook is that it actually needs to know when something moves out of its beam.

wired wirer only needs to know that when it's triggered.
what is the color for? cant you just make an overlay that updates once every 0.5 seconds or something?

[Jeremydeath]

I do see what you mean, and it would be easy to implement, but it would also reduce some of the functionality not only in the coloring of the wirer, but other features such as the target assist feature and the outputs that tell you the inputs/outputs of the device you are currently aiming at, which is very useful for things such as Lyinginbedmon's Cronus bot. If this was made this way, it would require that any time you wanted to get or update the inputs/outputs you would need to update the inputs of the wirer. I'll go ahead and post up a revised version, but it might be more difficult to work with.