New Inset Connectors on the same grid behave like they are locked even when they are not
Previous behavior: Placing two regular connectors on the same grid aligned together does not transfer items, allowing for conveyor networks that can be isolated and rejoined together conditionally.
Use case for behavior: Using connectors on the same grid is a helpful way to conditionally isolate conveyor networks from each other. An example is to have an oxygen tank on its own network to be used in an airlock system, disconnected from the regular conveyor network to keep it from being completely filled by O2 generators. If the oxygen tank is ever emptied and thus cannot pressurize an airlock, the connectors can be temporarily locked to allow for the tank to fill with oxygen before being unlocked again.
Problem: Placing two of the new inset connector blocks aligned to each other on the same grid allows items and gasses to flow between the blocks even when they are not locked together.
Reproductions and testing:
A simple rig demonstrating the connectivity of the blocks. On the right is the old connectors aligned on the same grid. They are unlocked. On the left side are the new inset connectors, also unlocked. Pressing the button turns on the 02 generator. The tank on the right side does not fill because the connectors are unlocked. The tank on the left side does fill despite the inset connectors being unlocked.
I noticed a while back that conveyor tubes light up green when connected to T intersections, which seems like the T intersections are treated like a conveyor junction block with fewer ports on it in the conveyor code. This made me wonder if the inset connector block is programmed the same way, as if it were a junction block. I made another grid that uses the new inset connector block as if it were just another piece of a straight conveyor line and found that its connector face functions like a normal conveyor port instead of just a connector port.
As suspected, the conveyor tube treats the inset connector face as a conveyor port. Oxygen can be transferred between both tanks in the above example without requiring the conveyor to be locked to anything.
Conclusion: The new inset connectors are great, and since they provide an additional face for conveyor connections they have the potential for making these kinds of conveyor gates more compact. Unfortunately, until this bug is fixed, they cannot be used in this way.
Hello,
Thank you for reporting this issue. I was able to reproduce the issue and it will be forwarded to our dev team for investigation.
We will change the status of this topic and inform you about its progress here as soon as we have new information.
Kind Regards
Keen Software House: QA Department
Hello,
Thank you for reporting this issue. I was able to reproduce the issue and it will be forwarded to our dev team for investigation.
We will change the status of this topic and inform you about its progress here as soon as we have new information.
Kind Regards
Keen Software House: QA Department
For bookkeeping purposes, I posted a feedback request by accident before opening a bug report. https://support.keenswh.com/spaceengineers/pc/topic/44498-new-inset-connectors-on-the-same-grid-behave-like-they-are-locked-even-when-they-are-not#comment-88192 Unfortunately, I don't see a way to close a feedback post. There are some other comments on there that may be helpful to the issue.
One bit of info is that with the build info mod we can see that the inset connector blocks use a conveyor port on their front face unlike the regular connector blocks which use an inventory/terminal access interface on the front face. The conveyor port seems to be allowing the block to make conveyor connections. It needs to be swapped out for the inventory/terminal access interface on all inset connector blocks (Large grid, and both small grid variants).
For bookkeeping purposes, I posted a feedback request by accident before opening a bug report. https://support.keenswh.com/spaceengineers/pc/topic/44498-new-inset-connectors-on-the-same-grid-behave-like-they-are-locked-even-when-they-are-not#comment-88192 Unfortunately, I don't see a way to close a feedback post. There are some other comments on there that may be helpful to the issue.
One bit of info is that with the build info mod we can see that the inset connector blocks use a conveyor port on their front face unlike the regular connector blocks which use an inventory/terminal access interface on the front face. The conveyor port seems to be allowing the block to make conveyor connections. It needs to be swapped out for the inventory/terminal access interface on all inset connector blocks (Large grid, and both small grid variants).
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