Grid Power - AC Phase Mechanic

[MapleWheels]

EDIT: I am dropping my support this idea for a new one I will post soon.

New Dependency Requirement:

• Mod: Modding Toolkit
• Reason: Network Synchronization with Server Authority (vanilla grid system is 100% client-side).

Mechanic: AC Voltage Phase.
Gameplay: The phase controls are only available and visible on an AC generation device. When you open the UI, you can see the phase alignment as a super-simplified oscilloscope view of two sine waves showing sync status, one sine wave is the generator, the other is the grid the generator is connected to.

Frequency is controlled by turbine RPM and phase sync movement is caused by two frequencies being different. So phase sync is actually super simple. You increase the RPM VERY SLIGHTLY and the generator's phase sine wave will slowly start to move. You then engage it with the rest of the grid and the frequencies will sync.

Technical:
There is a grid-level "global" NetVar<float> that stores the phase of the grid. Each generator in Mechtrauma will check and compare their phase variable versus the global.

The current phase output is recalculated on grid tick and the generator output is adjusted based on the difference in phase. See the below picture to visualize:

Vanilla generators will not be aware of this and so will just ignore this mechanic altogether so it's vanilla compatible. Even more so, as a result of the fluctuating amplitude differences between the two phase numbers, the generator's output will oscillate a bit and the instability will be observed through out the grid using vanilla mechanics.

GUI: The display of the sine waves is just two transprent PNG GUIImages that we just move their position with a filter around the display area.

Other Effects:
Out of phase generators cause mechanical wear to the prime movers of all connected generators due to transient torques. This will primarily cause bearing wear and reduced mechanical speed in motors. In game this can be implemented by simply checking for power instability.