ZeroGravitas
The Destroyer
Hey group! The following is a first draft exclusive for T-MEC , collecting all my teleporter micro-tutorials together in one place. The culmination of 6 months of aspiration! Crossing my fingers this many embeds will work, in a single post (It did not, I had more than 10, so had to split it! ).
Anyway, I'm posting up here first so that you lot can point out any gaping holes in the details I've covered so far, or mistakes, etc. I'd really like to avoid re-recording any of these (as there was a lot of effort and luck involved), but I might try to add broken down sub-sections of some, or additional very short mini-Gifs, or diagrams.
Tell me what you each think could most do with highlighting or clarifying. Also, if you think it's interesting, but can't reply right now, please click top right to "watch" the thread and get alert notification of update posts.
Anyway, I'm posting up here first so that you lot can point out any gaping holes in the details I've covered so far, or mistakes, etc. I'd really like to avoid re-recording any of these (as there was a lot of effort and luck involved), but I might try to add broken down sub-sections of some, or additional very short mini-Gifs, or diagrams.
Tell me what you each think could most do with highlighting or clarifying. Also, if you think it's interesting, but can't reply right now, please click top right to "watch" the thread and get alert notification of update posts.
1.3.1.1 Update Changes: Teleporters have been relatively untouched, with most of their tricks and idiosyncrasies remaining intact (e.g. floating trick, half block auto-porters, etc). Corrections/notes for below guides:
- Can no longer place teleporters behind the player, so can not use them as a 'novelty ladder'.
- Yellow wire added - executes after green wire, extends several example Gifs:
- Can teleport instantaneously 4 times off 1 switch click (one pair of pads activated by each wire colour, in order).
- Basic 6 destination example raised to 8.
- 12 destination wire length trick up to 16.
- 18 destination demonstration probably up to ~24.
- Logic gates - outputs execute in layers of new wire activations, after the previous layer (or original source activation) has completed search along each of it's connected red, blue, green, yellow wires.
- Can be used as relays in various ways, including in chains to teleport player an unlimited number of times, instantaneously.
- Weighted pressure plates and player above sensors (both new) can not directly trigger player teleportation. Nor can they do so via logic gates.
- Weighted plates also currently interrupt multiple step teleportation in unusual ways.
- Teal (projectile) plates activate teleporters just like regular plates. A relay using a teal plate and spear trap (for example) can foward a signal from a weighted plate or player sensor.
- Day and night logic sensors and liquid sensors all work as activation sources.
- Teleporters for dummies, by a dummy (by @TheEcho).
- Order of Operations, Smoke and how to prevent it (by @NiraExecuto) - for detailed gate and wire execution order guide.
- [Index] Every T-MEC Teleporter Hub (by @Preece).
Teleporter pads
must be purchased from the Steampunker
, who will move in to suitable housing only in hard mode, after someone has slain one of the mechanical bosses (destroyer
, twins
, skeletron prime
).
For teleporter operation, two pads must be connected to each other and a 'trigger' device (i.e. a switch
, lever
, pressure pate
, detonator
, timer
). An unbroken length of wire
must overlap at least 1 tile of a device's footprint to be connected to it.
For teleporter operation, two pads must be connected to each other and a 'trigger' device (i.e. a switch
There are 6 different colored pressure plates on sale from the mechanic, but only 3 distinct types: those activated only by players (grey, brown, blue), only by NPCs (yellow) and by both (red, green). The rare Lihzahrd temple plates are also player only.
So, while you can select your plates to make traps player safe, unfortunately there is no easy way to distinguish between monsters and friendly NPCs (townsfolk). However, unlike most NPCs, critters do no teleport, so can be saved from your traps by teleporting monsters into pits of death. Pretty much all mobs that collide with blocks activate plates (unlike bosses, and other floaty background creatures). Those that hit plates also teleport, except critters and also sharks, who just don't get on with new fanged technologies...
Liquids, furniture, loose items (including health hearts, mana stars, etc), projectiles, etc, do not teleport either.
So, while you can select your plates to make traps player safe, unfortunately there is no easy way to distinguish between monsters and friendly NPCs (townsfolk). However, unlike most NPCs, critters do no teleport, so can be saved from your traps by teleporting monsters into pits of death. Pretty much all mobs that collide with blocks activate plates (unlike bosses, and other floaty background creatures). Those that hit plates also teleport, except critters and also sharks, who just don't get on with new fanged technologies...
Liquids, furniture, loose items (including health hearts, mana stars, etc), projectiles, etc, do not teleport either.
More straight forward this one. I really like the intuitive feel of using this kind of mouse-free setup. But another main point is that laying wire routes is easier than ever in 1.3. Wrenches (and cutters) received massive buffs to range and speed, synergising with smart cursor really well for making big networks fast.
More subtly, you only really need to lay one (single colour) surface wire to have many destinations if you simply use this kind of stepping stones approach. Adding in new stops is trivial and a second wire colour can be reserved for vertical routes crossing over, or other things.
More subtly, you only really need to lay one (single colour) surface wire to have many destinations if you simply use this kind of stepping stones approach. Adding in new stops is trivial and a second wire colour can be reserved for vertical routes crossing over, or other things.
Rationale: those little aesthetic touches can make a big difference to your daily game experience. Also, those constantly blinking pad lights drive me bananas! Shadow paint is a godsend and there are lots of clever little wall/block combos that make for compelling door-frames. (You can even make the verticals using actuated blocks.)
I think I must of first seen this idea here on Reddit, last year, but Baih's "Simple Building Tips and Tricks" guide reminded me of the idea. I hope I added a little extra too.
You can make an 'unskippable' doorway (or trap) by sticking a plate on a single platform (both painted), directly above the pad. (Note: to be truly unskippable, there'd have to be no other way around the doorway and the top lintel would have to be 1 tile lower down that pictured here.
I think I must of first seen this idea here on Reddit, last year, but Baih's "Simple Building Tips and Tricks" guide reminded me of the idea. I hope I added a little extra too.
You can make an 'unskippable' doorway (or trap) by sticking a plate on a single platform (both painted), directly above the pad. (Note: to be truly unskippable, there'd have to be no other way around the doorway and the top lintel would have to be 1 tile lower down that pictured here.
At 5 silver per tile, laying a wire the width of a small map costs about 2 platinum (and a fair few minutes). Double that on a large world. So why lay another dedicated length for each destination, when you can just break that one stretch with rapid station stops?
The trick here is carefully connecting the pads (as shown) to keep the lengths either side from linking up. Then positioning the levers or switches in exactly the same mouse position at each stop along a line. This lets you click down the whole length very fast indeed, negating the benefit of taking ages setting up a central hub with separate lines for each destination.
Showing this concept was the idea of @Sulejman in this post on the T-MEC forums. He uses a different switch layout there, which is equally as valid.
Pad offset is arbitrary too. I've recessed my teleporter pads one block down, in the demo, so I can have a switch directly below the player's feet. There's no reason you can't have that downward jump switch entirely below the pad (or above player's head, whatever). No real reason not to use entirely levers either (for their bigger click area), my only reason for switches in the middle is that (due to pads being 3 tiles wide, the 2 tile wide) levers would make the layout asymmetric and ugly.
The trick here is carefully connecting the pads (as shown) to keep the lengths either side from linking up. Then positioning the levers or switches in exactly the same mouse position at each stop along a line. This lets you click down the whole length very fast indeed, negating the benefit of taking ages setting up a central hub with separate lines for each destination.
Showing this concept was the idea of @Sulejman in this post on the T-MEC forums. He uses a different switch layout there, which is equally as valid.
Pad offset is arbitrary too. I've recessed my teleporter pads one block down, in the demo, so I can have a switch directly below the player's feet. There's no reason you can't have that downward jump switch entirely below the pad (or above player's head, whatever). No real reason not to use entirely levers either (for their bigger click area), my only reason for switches in the middle is that (due to pads being 3 tiles wide, the 2 tile wide) levers would make the layout asymmetric and ugly.
Having a 3x1 'footprint', teleporter pads have a spot either end where you can connect each wire colour without the wires touching and potentially interfering. So, 2 (spots) x 3 (wire colours) equates to 6 robust, two-way destination pairings from a single 'hub' pad.
Clicking a switch/lever or hitting a pressure plate sends an activation pulse along any wire it overlaps. But each impulse will activate only 2 teleporter pads (per wire colour): the first and the last pad the impulse reaches, while exploring the network of connected wire. It spreads out 1 tile a time in each available wire direction.
So (for various applications) you can connect many pads together with a single wire colour, as long as you position the activating switch/plate close to your origin pad. You can make sure the one same pad is a common destination for many origin pads by making it's wire connect loop around, for a long path length.
Note: major wiring algorithm changes in V1.2.3 mean that non-Desktop users might sometimes experience different results than shown in the second part.
Clicking a switch/lever or hitting a pressure plate sends an activation pulse along any wire it overlaps. But each impulse will activate only 2 teleporter pads (per wire colour): the first and the last pad the impulse reaches, while exploring the network of connected wire. It spreads out 1 tile a time in each available wire direction.
So (for various applications) you can connect many pads together with a single wire colour, as long as you position the activating switch/plate close to your origin pad. You can make sure the one same pad is a common destination for many origin pads by making it's wire connect loop around, for a long path length.
Note: major wiring algorithm changes in V1.2.3 mean that non-Desktop users might sometimes experience different results than shown in the second part.
I think I went a step (or two) too far with this Gif, so here is the tutorial (re-recorded) in 3 separate parts (Links to Imgur Gifs):
#6 - Using actuators - and then removing them, teleporter pads can be set permanently to the background. Characters overlapping the pad teleport fine.
#7 - The active catchment area of teleporter pads - Any part of a character's hit box overlapping the area 3 tiles above the pad's top surface will catch them. Hammering down the pad's blocks to half height will lower this area half a tile too. In fact the height is determined by the majority of the 3 blocks of the pad, so only 2 out of 3 need be hammered down.
#8 - An 18 destination hub.
Together in one album.
#6 - Using actuators - and then removing them, teleporter pads can be set permanently to the background. Characters overlapping the pad teleport fine.
#7 - The active catchment area of teleporter pads - Any part of a character's hit box overlapping the area 3 tiles above the pad's top surface will catch them. Hammering down the pad's blocks to half height will lower this area half a tile too. In fact the height is determined by the majority of the 3 blocks of the pad, so only 2 out of 3 need be hammered down.
#8 - An 18 destination hub.
Together in one album.
Second half of guide in next post due to exceeding media embedding limit...
[Edit 2017-08-19: trying to fix the embeded Gifs failing to play.]
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