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Make the computer a monitor


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#1 Jummit

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Posted 24 September 2018 - 03:32 PM

The Idea is simple: Your computers front display becomes a monitor. Its not very large, but you can do some nifty stuff with it, like displaying cool screen savers or something. It is simply used like any peripheral, you can wrap it using peripheral.wrap("front"). This removes the ability to interact with peripherals in front of the computer, but that doesn't make a lot of sense anyway, because how would a computers connect to something by its screen?

#2 JplaysStuff

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Posted 24 September 2018 - 11:03 PM

If you REALLY want the computer to be a monitor, just get a peripheral mod with keyboards, connect your computer to a screen, then pair the keyboard. Wah-lah,

#3 Bomb Bloke

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Posted 25 September 2018 - 01:38 AM

Plethora has them, for example.

https://squiddev-cc....s/keyboard.html

#4 Jummit

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Posted 25 September 2018 - 10:23 AM

View PostJplaysStuff, on 24 September 2018 - 11:03 PM, said:

If you REALLY want the computer to be a monitor, just get a peripheral mod with keyboards, connect your computer to a screen, then pair the keyboard. Wah-lah,
But it doesn't make sense. You have this computer with a screen that shows a command prompt, but it acts like a tower computer; You have to connect a screen to it.

#5 SquidDev

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Posted 25 September 2018 - 12:09 PM

Honestly, I feel the best solution here would be to go the OpenComputers route and just display the computer's terminal on the front as well. This means you don't need to have a whole separate peripheral, and IMO makes sense thematically.

Truth be told, this wouldn't be too hard to implement (given that it'd be largely an adaption of monitor rendering code), but it does raise the question about how to handle the wildly different aspect ratios of the actual terminal and the block's screeen (see this PR for an example of a similar issue).

Edited by SquidDev, 25 September 2018 - 12:09 PM.


#6 Jummit

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Posted 25 September 2018 - 06:29 PM

But the oversized blinking command prompt is kind of computercrafts trademark :), but showing a minitature version of the screen would remove that...

Edited by Jummit, 26 September 2018 - 10:35 AM.


#7 Bomb Bloke

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Posted 26 September 2018 - 05:28 AM

View PostJummit, on 25 September 2018 - 10:23 AM, said:

But it doesn't make sense. You have this computer with a screen that shows a command prompt, but it acts like a tower computer; You have to connect a screen to it.

You don't "have to connect" a screen to a computer block. You simply have to open its GUI, same as with most all other interactive blocks. Complaining about this is akin to complaining that items placed on crafting benches aren't visible in "the world" - but pretty much everything in Minecraft is stylised in this way.

That leaves only practical concerns, such as "what would this let you do that you can't do already": and to my mind the answer is "nothing", as dedicated monitor blocks not only allow exactly what you're asking for, but they also handle direct touch input without the need for a GUI at all.

View PostSquidDev, on 25 September 2018 - 12:09 PM, said:

Honestly, I feel the best solution here would be to go the OpenComputers route and just display the computer's terminal on the front as well. This means you don't need to have a whole separate peripheral, and IMO makes sense thematically.

I haven't played with OC all that much, but isn't their approach "peripheral only"? You either place a separate monitor block next to your computer, or you don't have display output at all.

#8 SquidDev

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Posted 26 September 2018 - 08:20 AM

View PostBomb Bloke, on 26 September 2018 - 05:28 AM, said:

I haven't played with OC all that much, but isn't their approach "peripheral only"? You either place a separate monitor block next to your computer, or you don't have display output at all.
Yes, though the model of interaction is relatively similar to CC - you still right click on it to type, etc... I guess my argument was more on the aesthetic being similar.

View PostBomb Bloke, on 26 September 2018 - 05:28 AM, said:

That leaves only practical concerns, such as "what would this let you do that you can't do already": and to my mind the answer is "nothing"
This is definitely true. I'd argue it'd look jolly cool, but I'm really not sure it's worth the additional implementation costs and network/render overhead.





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