Earlier this week I posted an early look at a new conveyor concept I had on Reddit [[url="https://www.reddit.com/r/LaunchWindowGame/comments/1ub7jzn/instead_of_traditional_conveyor_belts_im_making_a/"]link[/url]], to mostly enthusiastic though some sceptical responses (I appreciate both!). This concept basically went through these stages:
"I like conveyor belts"
"Every logistics game has conveyor belts"
"This game is sci fi, can I make something more fitting than standard conveyor belts?"
Now, don't get me wrong. I think conveyor belts are great and need no improvement, there is a reason why they are the goat of logistics. But in this futuristic universe I'm building where spaceships operate like clockwork with enormous amounts of resources being transported between worlds, I feel there is room for extra science fiction. Yet I do want this fiction to be grounded, so here's my WIP concept and rationale for the MagBelt Conveyor:
How It Works
In a world where magnetic superconductor technology is far beyond our understanding, the MagBelt Conveyor is possible. This system is comprised of a continuous line of Magnetic Base Plates each with their own accompanying Magnetic Hover Plate.
When not in use, the hover plates passively float above the base, drawing no energy from the system.
When a container is present over the hover plate, its weight compresses the plate closer to the base which charges up the plate behind to become active, flipping it 45 degrees and pushing the container from behind.
The container will then in turn compress the next inactive plate, causing the container to smoothly move along the track as if carried by a frictionless wave.
This results in a pretty satisfying visual, as you can watch the containers float along and see the magnetic plates ripple as they do:
This also has broader gameplay implications, as there is a lot of room for interesting inter-belt interactions, but I don't want to get ahead of myself.
This system is early in development, but I've gotta say, does feel pretty satisfying to build and watch! Please do share your thoughts, ideas, criticisms, whatever! Any feedback from the community is extremely valuable and appreciated by me (the dev).