Puzzle Game Connection Management

I totally get where you’re coming from! Managing connections in a game like yours can be tricky. Here’s a simple idea that might help you implement a branching algorithm using depth-first search (DFS) to find and maintain connections among your `ConnectorHub` instances.

Using DFS for Connecting Hubs

Instead of using nested loops to traverse connections, you can use a recursive DFS approach. Here’s a brief overview of how you can set it up:

        
            class ConnectorHub {
                public bool start;
                public List<ConnectorHub> connectedHubs;
                
                public List<ConnectorHub> FindConnectedHubs(ConnectorHub current, List<ConnectorHub> visited) {
                    if (visited.Contains(current)) return visited; // Base case: already visited
                    
                    visited.Add(current); // Mark the current hub as visited
                    
                    foreach (var hub in current.connectedHubs) {
                        if (!visited.Contains(hub)) {
                            FindConnectedHubs(hub, visited); // Recurse into connected hubs
                        }
                    }
                    
                    return visited;
                }

                public void CheckPowerFlow() {
                    if (start) {
                        List<ConnectorHub> allConnectedHubs = FindConnectedHubs(this, new List<ConnectorHub>());
                        // Handle power flow logic here for allConnectedHubs
                    }
                }
            }
        
    

The idea here is to maintain a visited list to keep track of hubs you’ve already checked. This way, you don’t end up looping through every single hub every frame!

Real-Time Updates

To address the real-time aspect, you might want to implement a trigger or an event system that recalculates connections only when a pipe moves or a new connection is made. This way, you can lessen the number of times the `FindConnectedHubs` method is called, enhancing performance.

Also, think about using a flag system that determines whether a hub’s state has changed (like becoming connected or disconnected) so that you only recalculate when necessary. This can help prevent performance issues from constant recalculations!

Experiment with this approach, and don’t hesitate to tweak the logic as you see fit. Good luck, and have fun with your game!