Tai'lahr wrote:

I really wish Cyan had invested more in this "storyline" to provide us with the ability to investigate the issue in an IC manner and deduce legitimate goals that we could work towards (or against).

I do, too. In this particular instance, it is unfortunate that I do not control the universe. :)

A few clarifications (major spoilers within):

1) The lake lighting was designed to be an interactive project over a long period of time (measured in months and years, not days and weeks), and the DRC members were meant to be around to help contribute to the algae research (providing nudges and additional information) as time passed. They aren't around now, so you're working even more "in the dark" than you were intended to be, but you're doing great. Keep it up, but only if you are so inclined. :)

2) "Lake Health" is a misleading label for the "Lake Total" number given in the first post of this thread, think of it more as the total "calories" that have been given to the algae since the Cavern reopened. Even though the algae has consumed most of that food in the meantime, that variable is keeping track of the total amount of food deposited since the beginning. Because of the confusion inherent in this number, it was not intended for public display.

3) Though there are repeated claims that there is absolutely no effect in the Cavern, that is not the case, even today. It is true that nothing in the client does anything with that "total calories" number. It was never intended to... directly. The lake lighting project is much, much more complex than "We've given the lake x amount of food since the beginning, so the light level should be y."

In fact, every day that number is entered into an "algae simulator" which then determines what effects it had on the algae colonies that day based on the number of calories that were provided that day, that week, etc.

At the time the Cavern closed, there wasn't enough "live" data for me to want to lock down the algae simulation. It was being done by me offline, and the effects in the Cavern were to be done by hand by me, with the idea that it would some day be able to be automated once I felt the simulation was ready to be locked down.

As it is, the algae simulation is still done by me offline based on the daily pellet contributions. The simulation has been adjusted a few times to make it more forgiving, based on the "live" data collected this past year. The effects in the Cavern are still updated by me by hand, when necessary.

[Note: Since the lake lighting project is still in progress, further details of the simulation will not be released. Thanks in advance for resisting the urge to ask for them. :)]
4) The effects on the lake are subtle, and they are not analog. There are a very limited number of states for the lake light, so the light level in the Cavern is only intended to be changed at specific light level thresholds.

[Aside: This was the major problem with the "Dalek" meter by the lake. The number it reported represented the number of the current lake light threshold, so it would have been months before it ever changed. It was actually counter productive, as it didn't show any of the progress between those thresholds. "Hey, we've been putting in pellets for weeks, but the number on the Dalek isn't increasing at all." IC response, "Oh, the meter is broken, we'll try to fix it at some point." which is a very rough translation of the OOC reality, "It was really just meant to provide evidence that the DRC are tracking the light levels, not to provide immediate, short-term pellet feedback; which it cannot do because the algae simulator is not locked down, and the server currently only has that threshold number available to look at."]

The lake light "threshold" has been updated (raised and lowered) as necessary several times this last year. The effect in the Cavern is visible today. No code update required, as I have stated in previous posts.

5) When the Cavern closed, the lake lighting project was very low priority. The first light threshold was still months away at the earliest, and there were many higher priorities to work on in the meantime. The original intent was for there to be more significant changes at the various light levels. But those updates were never made. Such is life.

What we have available now, as I have said before, is not flashy like the Great Zero activation. It is very subtle and only visible from specific vantage points, but what I have to work with is there and working right now. But if you're doing it for a giant visual reward, you'll be disappointed.
I know I'm repeating myself from previous posts on this subject, but it bears repeating that this is definitely a "the journey is the reward" type of project. If that isn't your cup of tea, I'm definitely ok with that. Do something else that you enjoy more. Please.

However, if you want to contribute to a long-term, group effort project, keep it up, you're doing great! :)

/me wonders if the algae simulation model will eventually be open-sourced