The Mover Cell is likely the most well known cell. It's known for being almost the logo of Cell Machine, but also for its highly important functionality: moving. Although generators have similar abilities when a push cell is behind them, the generator can not move by itself. Nothing can move by itself (in remakes that do not add any new cells) other than the mover. It also has a few other properties, like bias and suppression.
Key Attributes
- Pushable, and also can push
- Rotation-dependent
- Updates last in the update order
Special Properties
The Mover Cell can move on its own, which is highly important, but comes with its own issues. Are generators or movers more powerful? The answer, according to common Cell Machine mechanics, is movers. Generators, when their path is blocked by a mover, cannot generate. This is a form of suppression. The other form of suppression is when movers are moving in the same group, in the same line. If all movers moved at once, it would form gaps and move twice. However, movers do not move again if they have been moved in the same subtick. Finally, one very important ability of movers is bias, where movers that face in opposite directions in the same line will cancel each other out if there are equal amounts of them, or move in the generation with more of them if one direction has more than the other.
Uses in the community
In contraptions, the Mover Cell is used in practically everything. That being said, some uses are listed below. It is impossible to cover all uses.
- Keys
- Printers
- Timers
- Loops
- Logic gates
- Longboats
- Nukes
- Data storage
Movers are by far the most commonly used cell in puzzle solutions. Although they aren't used nearly as frequently in the puzzle themselves, they are crucial for most solutions. After all, they are by far the most convenient way of moving things. Enemies are usually at least some distance away from the placeable area, so there has to be some method of moving cells to the enemies.
In vaults, the Mover Cell again plays an important role in solving vaults. It is one of two main components of a smuggler, it can be used to lock a vault, and it is often the final cell used to kill the enemy. Movers and generators in conjunction form the majority of the active part of a vault solve.