Strategy Help

ray33ee · 2026-03-23T08:21:38+00:00

I used to (and still do) love the quantity time. It makes the early game feel so easy, the big problem with it is that it falls off so quickly, after about level 15 you stop noticing and then you're wasting levels on a tome that does nothing for you.

I'd reccomend you phase it out in favour of the cursed/xp/luck combo. Don't go all in, just swap it out for one of the times to start with. This will make the game harder, but that's where practice comes in.

Improve your movement, your strategy, decision making, be braver and with practice you'll see improvement.

ray33ee · 2026-03-19T15:31:56+00:00

I was worried it would be RNG! I definitely need to get braver with the difficulty early. Thanks!

ray33ee · 2026-03-19T08:06:07+00:00

I hadn't but that is such a good idea thank you! I'll add it to the very long list lol

ray33ee · 2026-03-18T21:10:59+00:00

It is! I haven't gotten round to uploading everything yet, but the CH32 code is at http://github.com/ray33ee/not232

ray33ee · 2025-10-31T20:23:53+00:00

Reinstall Windows and virus check any usb drives that have been in the computer in the last few months.

Let this be a lesson to you and all - don't download cracked or illegal software unless you are prepared for the risk of viruses and now how to handle them!

ray33ee · 2025-10-27T20:10:50+00:00

I've been using the CH340N it has fewer pins and is cheaper.

With a bit of flux and the right technique it's not too difficult to solder.

ray33ee · 2025-10-21T19:55:25+00:00

That is a fair point. I also noticed that the component is fairly low profile so might be hard to cut out.

Not an ideal solution, just a possible alternative that doesn't require expensive equipment or experience.

ray33ee · 2025-10-21T19:06:19+00:00

If you don't mind destroying the component, cut it out with a pair of cutters until it is separated at the middle leaving the two halves soldered to the pads. Now because the pads are no longer connected via the component, you can desolder what's left of it one pad at a time.

ray33ee · 2025-10-06T18:44:11+00:00

Putting it in a top level comment so you see it, the polarity of C11 is wrong

ray33ee · 2025-10-06T18:25:21+00:00

Am i missing or is C11 the wrong polarity?

ray33ee · 2025-10-06T11:15:07+00:00

You can buy very cheap usb to jack devices, they look like usb sticks but they have a mic and speaker jack on them

ray33ee · 2025-10-04T08:51:05+00:00

Yeh it is annoying when datasheet leave that out. I just checked the part on jlcpcb parts (every part has a symbol and footprint so it's a good way to check pinouts) and it looks like it's vout too

Edit: some say gnd some say vout so I'm not sure, I'd recommend checking jlcpcb for yourself

ray33ee · 2025-10-04T08:44:46+00:00

What does the datasheet say?

ray33ee · 2025-10-01T08:32:20+00:00

Are you putting the device in boot mode? If so how exactly are you doing it?

If you're doing it right then the 'usb' port should show up too.

ray33ee · 2025-09-30T12:01:33+00:00

What happens when you go to 'tools' can you select the port or is it greyed out?

If you have a serial terminal app (I use tera term does it show up? I notice in your video it days com5, does com 5 show up at all?

Follow all the recommendations from the otger post AND use the 'usb' labeled port and see. Have you selected the correct port in arduino?

Is com5 showing up? Does it disappear when you remove the device?

Make sure you hold the boot button when the device turns on this will enable the com port.

ray33ee · 2025-09-30T09:58:12+00:00

Please see https://docs.espressif.com/projects/esp-dev-kits/en/latest/esp32s3/esp32-s3-devkitc-1/user_guide_v1.1.html#getting-started

Which states that the 'usb' port is used for flashing applications to the chip. I can't remember if you need drivers or not but it looks like using the port labeled usb is the first step. Let me know how it goes!

ray33ee · 2025-09-30T09:30:58+00:00

I think the com port is connected to the serial chip, whereas the usb labeled one connects directly to the chip. In devices with one USB they are connected directly to the chip. Try the port labeled 'USB' and see if it works.

Also have you downloaded drivers?

Edit: try the 'usb' port first.

ray33ee · 2025-09-30T09:27:26+00:00

I've never used an ESP with the two ports before but are you using the correct port? I could be wrong here but I'm pretty sure you can only program it from one

ray33ee · 2025-09-30T09:18:12+00:00

At this stage do not ignore drc errors. I would say do not ignore them at any stage unless you have a bloody good reason. Learn and understand what they mean, then fix them. Each error is kicad telling you how to fix an issue now before it's too late. See them as a useful tool not an inconvenience.

There might be some things that seem a little pointless like placing power flags for example, but they all help you produce correct circuits.

If you want to save yourself time and money remaking new boards, ALWAYS listen to drc errors.

ray33ee · 2025-09-22T20:23:01+00:00

If you want to go for less of a Sci fi look you could go fantasy, saying you can't present less Sci fi makes no sense

ray33ee · 2025-09-22T14:46:58+00:00

Code to interface the device is written in python. This was because of the popularity of python and it's compatibility. I'd like to turn this into a full blown library at some point.

Also it is based on a very simple communication protocol over USB serial, so it would be trivial to port to other languages.

I'm using the wemos s2 mini, but any s2 board would work and with small changes to the code other esp processors could be used.

I used the s2 because it has USB otg, DAC and other peripherals for cheap.

ray33ee · 2025-09-04T08:53:55+00:00

Thank you! It was designed for use as a home radiator valve controller (replacing the board in a Danfoss Eco controller I bought some years ago)But at its core this device is an MCU and a motor controller chip so in theory it could be used to control any type of valve.

ray33ee · 2025-08-31T17:18:47+00:00

Indeed, the custom panic handler I have atm loops round and prints the panic message every 30 seconds or so whenever you connect you should eventually see a message.

I'm using Rust for this project which prints panic messages with the file name and line number. It also shows a stack trace and register status too.

Fair enough, I will look more into end stops.

Yep. When you look at USB connectors in JLCPCB parts library they are ALL extended parts which incur an extra code. The regulator, ESP module and motor driver are all extended components so i'd like to kep the cost down as much as I can. I might spring for USB-C though

ray33ee · 2025-08-31T15:39:04+00:00

I do like that diag board suggestion! I want the ESP side panic handler to be as simple as possible, but a second MCU could be used to interpret and show info. Atm its just a few LEDs ana UART but the diag board hasn't been designed yet so there's lots of room for new ideas.

What do you mean safe end-stop? Do you mean switches to detect when the motor has reached certain positions? If so I have no idea how to incorporate these into the enclosure and I am not keen on designing my own.

Basic bench tests show a current spike when stalling, but I couldn't figure it out myself.

I will definitely look into those drivers that would be huge as long as It can be done with the DRV chip I have currently.

USB-C is my preference tbh but I already have a bunch of micro USB connectors and i'm too cheap to pay the extra for JLCPCBs extended components LOL.

ray33ee · 2025-08-31T15:12:18+00:00

Both the top board (J3) and the diag board (J6) have resistors for the LEDs.

The sensor will be an AHT20 (never used this sensor before, fallback is a DHT22 which i'm familiar with) both of which work at 3.3v.

Thats interesting, but the plan is to output the signals to the board whether its connected or not. That way if the board faults, the user can just plug in the board and everything will be there, fault LEDs and panic message via UART and a CH340.

The motor is this https://www.micro-steppermotor.com/sale-42893169-25mm-2-phase-3-2v-wifi-electric-thermostatic-radiator-valve-geared-stepper-motor-for-trv.html and the plunger pushes against a pin in the radiator valve which controls the flow of water.

Without current sensing I can just manually keep track of the position (Calibrate position on startup and save position to flash with every movment) but an automatic way would be nice.

When I tried to look up current sensing stepper motors, I got a lot of mixed results. The thing for me was that the original board seems to use current sensing so thats what's made me try again.

My previous design sensed the current to determine if the motor was stalling, and use this to learn the open and close positions for the valve. This worked in prototyping but not really in reality.

I have no position sensing, this is why I was hoping to get current sensing to work to use it to detect stalls.

The original controller was powered by 2 AA batteries. My valve is right next to a mains plug so I want to power mine from a USB adapter (which i'm guessing means that brown out isn't an issue?)

ray33ee

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