Shadowed Conversions
Now that we have a better understanding about the ordering used to process thistle conversions, we can make some observations about some of the conversions and which ones are more useful, and which ones are less useful to use due to being overshadowed by other conversions.
A "shadowed conversion" is one that uses a subtractive base material that is the same one used in another conversion, and that the requirements and ordering are such that if the later one were to be active the earlier one would also be forced to be active during that tick. This can cause issues if you are trying to take advantage of certain shadowed conversions because the only two ways to use a shadowed conversion is to either A) have enough nutrients on hand in the base nutrient to process in both conversions or B) have a daily void to remove the earlier conversion. Obviously, you have no control over the daily voids, so this is not a reliable method with which to use a shadowed conversion. On the flip side, if you use method A and feed both conversions you may end up with nutrients in a column you don't want, excessive nutrients in quantites that you don't need, or run out of subtractive nutrients to get your additive nutrient to the level you need.
Below is a list and discussion about Shadowed Conversions on a nutrient by nutrient basis organized by the subtractive nutrient (i.e. 10Thi -> 20Car would be under Thi.)
Asc
- 10Asc -> 10Thi
- This conversion is shadowed by 10Asc -> 20Nia during Sun = 0
- Shebi first discovered this Shadowed Conversion brought up on the Sun0 page.
- Since both these conversions are active in all H2O and Oxy levels there is no way to turn one of them off while the other is on.
Bio
- Bio has no conversions at Sun = 0 where it is the subtractive nutrient.
Car
- 10Car -> 20Thi
- This conversion is shadowed by 10Car -> 5Asc during Sun = 0
- 10Car -> 20Thi is active at Oxy < 49, and 10Car -> 5Asc is also active at Oxy < 49. Since 10Car -> 5Asc comes earlier in the order and is always conditionally active while 10Car -> 20Thi is, this means this is a shadowed conversion.
- This is not so much of an issue as many of the other shadowed conversions, as all Asc is virtually guaranteed to be instantly reconverted due to the large number of Asc subtractive conversions. But, it can still lead to Car depletion if you are trying to use this conversion to fuel C+ or T+.
Fol
- Fol only has one subtractive conversion at Sun = 0 making it impossible to have a shadow situation.
Nia
- 10Nia -> 5Thi
- This conversion is shadowed by 10Nia -> 30Fol during Sun = 0
- 10Nia -> 5Thi is active at H2O < 49, and 10Nia -> 30Fol is active at H2O < 59. Since 10Nia -> 30Fol comes earlier in the order and is always conditionally active while 10Nia -> 5Thi is, this means this is a shadowed conversion.
- This could be useful if you need to generate F+T~ or F+T+ thistles with enough Nia built up you can easily split it to both nutrients. However, if you need only Thi generation, the 10 Nia loss to generate Fol you do not need can get in the way.
Pyr
- Pyr has two subtractive conversions, but one is conditionally based on Oxy and the other is based on H2O. Both of these can be turned on or off independantly.
Thi
- 10Thi -> 10Nia
- This conversion is shadowed by 10Thi -> 20Fol during Sun = 0
- 10Thi -> 10Nia is active at Oxy < 39, and 10Thi -> 20Fol is active at Oxy < 49. Since 10Thi -> 20Fol comes earlier in the order and is always conditionally active while 10Thi -> 10Nia is, this means this is a shadowed conversion.
- Again, a Fol conversion is overshadowing another conversion during Sun = 0.
If you look at the list of Shadowed Conversions, most of them deal with creating Thi and one of them deals with the subtraction of Thi making Thi fairly difficult to work with at Sun = 0 precisely (if at all.)
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