Gato's build journal

[Gato70]

I love how so many beasts around here have made a name for themselves by sharing their creations in a journal type format, and I have written journals in default minecraft before, so why not do the same? I give all credit to @epidemia78 for the idea to do one, but I just feel like sharing my builds too. Specifically, the Cor Virtis.

Maybe in the future I'll do more of a narrative approach to how I do things, but for now, I feel like I'm going to simply start with a few stories of how I got here in my singleplayer survival FTB Infinity world...

The Past
This is my sister, joining me on the LAN server for the first time.

Spoiler: Valleymoonlight

So yeah, it's not totally singleplayer, but it still counts. She mostly did Witchery stuff, whereas I did the Thaumaturgy. That rapier she's carrying did enough damage to kill me on more than one occasion, although it really wasn't of much consequence, it really was quite an overpowered weapon for so early on in the game. I think at this time I was standing next to my house (which I had stolen from a villager).

Spoiler: Old Research room

The quaint tower in which I did most of my beginning research... Out of frame to the right, above the clock, there was a sign with a quote on it. "Out of difficulties, grow miracles." It was a nice quote to keep me going when I got bored, but it also meant something more. It truly did feel like the art of Thaumaturgy began to sweep me away back then, I started to neglect some of the more basic mods that had allowed me to progress to this point. Thermal Expansion and Big Reactors, old favorites of mine, have seen very little action in this world thusfar.

Spoiler: Scruff, The Dapper Dog

Scruff, my loving companion of many hats, died in a freak accident in which yellow imbued fire nearly devoured my old base. The fire surrounded him, turning the ground to sand. To my horror, he was swallowed into the lake beneath the grass facade, and he was instantly trapped beneath the cover of sand and water. I do not know if he drown, suffocated, or burned to death, but what I do know is that I had to sacrifice him in order to save my world, and it was all my fault. If I hadn't tried scanning the imbued fires for the research points, then there wouldn't have been the catastrophe that caused the outbreak of the sandy fires. It has been a long time since I found him in the twilight forest and brought him home, and I miss his companionship. However I suppose the Eldritch whispers keep me company in his stead. RIP Scruff. You lived a long and dapper life...

Spoiler: Old/Current Infusion Altar

In terms of Thaumcraft... So far I've just unlocked Ichor, and I've nearly completed my research for Thaumic Horizions and Automagy, although I haven't made any of the structures associated with Horizions. I plan on hollowing out a large portion beneath the existing basement segments and adding a giant dungeon with various mobs in cages, some of which will be hanging from the ceiling or hanging from the floor (via iron bars and cosmetic arcane levitators). The Cor Virtis is very close to being completed, and it is currently completely functional in that all of my items are kept within it. The only thing I have to rush back to my old base to do is fill up my wands at my old energized node in the old-tower, and to complete infusions. Nowadays the infusion altar has a lot less jars strewn about chaotically. Instead there's a little essentia mirror linked all the way over at the essentia reservoir deep in the castle, some 400 blocks to the east.

I have a small wheat farm...

Spoiler: ...a small wheat INFESTATION

...a small exp farm...

Spoiler: ...with problematically small barrels.

And a small...

Spoiler: (wait for it)

...okay not so small...tower...thing.

Spoiler: (you may now drop your jaw. Leave it at the door, you may retrieve it later.)

It's construction has been going on for about a month now, and if you don't have that good an eye for symmetry, the Cor Virtis is clearly not complete. It needs 2 more towers to be completed in the back, as well as a very large upper-piece to the castle that I have yet to add/come up with the details on. It is a nexus of all things magical, Thaumcraft especially, but also Witchery, Botania, and eventually Blood Magic. (Also, a fair bit of Tinker's Construct but who doesn't have that)

Spoiler: Cor Virtis before...

The castle has come a long way, and so have I. I've been using a Thaumostatic Harness for flight (they are highly underrated forms of aviation) and progress has been steady, however I really haven't scratched the surface of any mods besides Thaumcraft (& Tinker's+a little Thermal Expansion). I understand both Witchery and Botania, but rarely use items associated with either of them that aren't being used to further progress my Thaumaturgy. For instance, I believe the only use I have for mana currently is feeding my Euclidaisy to get ethereal essences. I've recently begun to delve a little deeper into Botania lately, so maybe I'll get my greedy hands that mod a bit more rather soon. I like the sense of humor both Thaumcraft and Botania have, but what really has got me is their aesthetic. For instance, this is my brand new Botania room. I like the glowing crystals I've made. https://i.imgur.com/SUbgIR0.gifv

For now, I'm content to sip my coffee and complete my research while I wait for the Arcane Bore to replenish my shards (as I have used all of them continually because I need so much effing arcane stone) and waiting for something to happen. Occasionally an Eldritch Guardian pays me a visit, but usually the numerous guards escort him out of this realm rather quickly. But at least I can thank you for giving it a visit, and stay tuned for more updates!

 

[Gato70]

Update 1:

Today I've completed the top of the Thaumcraft themed tower, well within the cloud layer. I quite like equidistant and symmetrical floating primal crystals. The most important thing about this is that I can now preform my infusions safely in my home base, rather than running all the way back to my old base. I quite like the Botania terraces on the level below. This is actually lower than the original design, however I decided to cap off the gothic castle here before I struck height limit. I look forward to the imposing hurricane of ash clouds I plan on dominating the sky with.

 

[epidemia78]

Nice work on the statue, and well...everything. What kind of wood is that in your research room btw?

 

[Gato70]

Nice work on the statue, and well...everything. What kind of wood is that in your research room btw?

Thank you! I believe it was a chiseled variant of Dark Oak planks.

 

[AdmiralKirov]

Sauron, Sir, is that you?
I can' t tell if the tower looks more like Barad Dur or Isengard or both, it looks fantastic anyway, but there' s a floating fireball missing i think...
A draconic energy core tier 4 or 5 would look awesome on top of that tower!

 

[Gato70]

Sauron, Sir, is that you?
I can' t tell if the tower looks more like Barad Dur or Isengard or both, it looks fantastic anyway, but there' s a floating fireball missing i think...
A draconic energy core tier 4 or 5 would look awesome on top of that tower!

Too be fair, how else could the tyrannical tower of a Void Thaumaturge such as myself look like? But really, in all honesty I was very influenced by the Orthanc. Tear down the forests, burn the Ents, build an army of golems. All of it gave off very Isengard-y vibes and my dark-gothic theme played right into it.
And I was thinking the same thing about the Draconic Sphere!... Although my FPS is already hovering around 30 to begin with so that remains an "if".
It would be nice to have mana to RF conversion and storage though. It would give me a proper excuse to get into RFTools.

Spoiler: And remember...

 

[AdmiralKirov]

Take a look at tehcnomancy, it offers a nice way to integrate botania, thaumcraft, blood magic and I don' t remember wich one mod into an RF network!

And I was thinking the same thing about the Draconic Sphere!... Although my FPS is already hovering around 30 to begin with so that remains an "if".

I thought the same, but after some testing it looks very FPS friendly, I'll spam some in creative together with some random power generation and see how they behave, they look really nice
FPS are a pain in the arse for everyone I guess, damn minecraft and your single thread-ness!

PS: that pic makes me wonder... I want evil kobolds at my command!

 

[Gato70]

Take a look at tehcnomancy, it offers a nice way to integrate botania, thaumcraft, blood magic and I don' t remember wich one mod into an RF network!


I thought the same, but after some testing it looks very FPS friendly, I'll spam some in creative together with some random power generation and see how they behave, they look really nice
FPS are a pain in the arse for everyone I guess, damn minecraft and your single thread-ness!

PS: that pic makes me wonder... I want evil kobolds at my command!

Near the upper sections of the tower the FPS isn't so bad. I think my computer is simply having trouble with the sheer amount of stuff there is going on within the castle interior. That's a LOT of particle effects going on just passively. I've taken a look at Technomancy before, but it seems a tad out of touch with the balancing of the world. And by that I don't mean to say it is unbalanced, but rather, it simply adds too many forms of energy-transformation without lore to describe the mechanisms behind those processes. I don't want to go into detail but I will regardless because my mind connects a lot of things and it is the reason I love minecraft so there it is:

Spoiler: Magic Theory (beware the wall of text)

Most forms of magical energy within the Minecraft universe are based upon the drawing out of existing magical energies or auras that exist on a plane of existence just out of reach of us mere mortals. This realm is one of the "Original World" in which all ideal forms of matter, energy, and ideas exist in a pure form. This line of thought of mathematical perfection lying slightly outside our realm and merely being discovered through math and science is one that many mathematicians in the real world actually agree upon.

Electromagnetism is very similar to Redstone Flux. Electromagnetic Waves (AKA Light, Radiation, Radio waves ect.) can be thought of as a burst of energy that is rapidly changing states between Electricity, Magnetism, Electricity, Magnetism, and so on. In a very similar sense, Redstone Flux is the energy produced by Redstone flickering on, off, on, off, ad infinitum. Just as one can burn coal to generate heat (radiated as Infrared EM radiation), one can burn coal in Minecraft to generate RF. But what exactly is the force behind Redstone Flux? What is it flickering between? Where does the energy come from? If Thermodynamics applies to this universe, then why are their infinite sources of energy and matter that require no input? Where does it go? Simply put, it's magic. It is a singularity, beyond which we can only speculate and attempt to peer into. Such thought isn't for the weak willed, as peering directly into the metaphysical sun so to speak, will cause you to go blind. Hence why the Warp is so dangerous, it is less of a forbidden knowledge so much as it is a forbidden experience. Mortals are not meant to comprehend, let alone exist, outside of the Planes of existance that we call home (the Overworld, Nether, and to lesser extent, the End.) But magic isn't just simple limitless energy, it is a form of energy drawn from a dual universe that exists beyond the universe. Just like mathematical truths apply outside of the real Universe. Here's why I think that:

In Thaumcraft, and indeed every other form of magical mod that Minecraft has, Magic is largely thought of as a power drawn from another realm, the Original Realm/The Void/The Aura. Some forms of magic draw their power from "gods" or from the emotions or sympathies of these gods, and even they too inhabit this otherrealm. Many many forms of modification follow this primary line of thought because it is not so far from the truth, and makes Magic a truly believable Force of nature in the universe of Minecraft. Thaumcraft asks a deep and mysterious question that resonates across all things: "Take an object, remove the matter, and remove the energy. What are you left with?" That thing which you are left with is Essentia--a liquified abstraction of pure Concepts. But I digress...

My primary point to make here is that Redstone Flux is a part of a fundamental Force that exists in all dimensions because it is leaking from a different universe. That Force is called "Magic" The multiverse, the Space between the Dimensions, The Firmament, The Void, the Original Realm... It could be called any of these and it will be both true and false, because in this theoretical otherrealm from which all things spring forth, there is no truth that is not ineffable. Redstone Flux is a form of Magic, and Magic can be directly compared to the fundamental force of Electromagnetism. Just like forms of energy in real life (Heat, Kinetic, Magnetism...) are all fundamentally just forms of matter-energy (more accurately called Information), Magic is a Force which provides the foundation for many forms of energy-matter in minecraft to exist. Mana, Essentia, Vis, LP, (Witchery) Power, Redstone Flux... All of them are energy-forms of Magic, just like Electromagnetism contains many forms of energy-matter (Radiation, Magnetism, Electricity). In this sense, and knowing this, I feel deeply content with the FTB universe as a whole. It is as complete a system and almost as real as our universe itself. If one had enough processing power, you could play Minecraft inside of Minecraft, and that could be extended ad infinitum. (Does that make any of the latter versions any less real?)

Now, this is some pretty deep stuff, and it makes me want to draw up maps of the Planes of Existence + the Firmament and truly become a madman... (or at very least geek out to @Azanor about it for a while) But alas, I have no parchment to scribe my insane revelations upon. Let's just hope I don't accidentally start a small religion off of this theory. xD

Oh, and sorry I had to put this all in a reply to you @AdmiralKirov, I've been meaning to type this up for a while...

Anyway, I'll probably not install Technomancy just yet because it is extremely early in its development and it just isn't terribly imaginative in the methods it uses to transform energy from one form to another. It takes a massive, dangerous, complicated behemoth of technology just to turn radioactive energy released by Yellorium into RF, why not have equally complicated machines for turning Mana to RF and vise versa?

 

[AdmiralKirov]

Got your point on Technomancy, you' re rignt, too simplified and not enough "scientifical magic" involved, maybe you should open up a thread about that magic-to-technology thing!
And you don' t need to apologize, it' s all good excercise for our brain cells

 

[dragon_fang101]

Wish my brother helped in my worlds
anyway nice work!

 

[dragon_fang101]

Oh also where are you from and do you like cats?

 

[Master_Builder_800]

Thank You for making a build journal- I was hoping you would so we wouldn't just see it half done and then suddenly all complete its nice to be able to put builds in real time

 

[Gato70]

Oh also where are you from and do you like cats?

I am from Michigan and I love cats.

 

[dragon_fang101]

oh, because gato means cat in Italian

 

[AdmiralKirov]

Nope, It' s "Gatto", Gato is more likely to be spanish.

 

[dragon_fang101]

Nope, It' s "Gatto", Gato is more likely to be spanish.

Oh right

 

[Gato70]

Gato is cat in a whole bunch of languages

 

[dragon_fang101]

fps is weird. sometimes I can load a huge modpack with 256mb and have great fps for like an hour.

 

[Gato70]

Update 2:
The Botania floor is coming along nicely!

Spoiler: Progress in Botania

The little redstone circuit below controls the Golem Fetter (which I finally found a use for). The Orange Ender Chest because of this wonderful little temporary tree farm.(seen below) The comparators extend the pulse released by the magic hourglass every 30 or so seconds, just long enough for the golem to grab the 16 charcoal and drop it into the center of the Endoflames. Having 25 Endoflames in each corner is a tad overkill, but its what works. I did some math in the creation of the setup, but I'm still guessing as to how fast the mana spreaders can keep up with the mana production. The Endoflames remained powered (most of the time) as there are Tallow Golems with an Earth and Air upgrade on each set of 25 flowers. My biggest problem with the setup so far is that the tier 1 mana spreaders seem completely unable to cope even with potency lenses.

Spoiler: Tree Farm

Note: I only accidentally found out that Golems with Chop cores will chop down all the trees in their vicinity. From everything I've read, it seemed that they would only chop down the tree they were spawned against, however this one seems more than happy to cut down all of the trees at once. The red Ender chest simply is linked to a Golem which shovels all of the logs he can into a furnace which then fills the Orange chest with charcoal that feeds my mana production, and eventually anything else I may need endless amounts of charcoal for. I really love how functional it is, but I'm still itching to build a glorious glassy Arboretum. It would be a nice wing of the castle, functional as well...

My mana production is somewhere below 75 Endoflames, and it's been enough to begin Terrasteel production.

Spoiler: Terrasteel level

I really do want to begin trading with the Elves of Alfheim, but in all honesty I have no idea if my mana production is sufficent, or if I should begin work on some form of lava generation to feed even more powerful generating flora. The end plan is to have large "tubes" of lava surrounded by Thermalilys surrounded by warded glass and structurally accented by brassy support beams, though I know not where I will get the lava from. I'm not entirely done with the node room yet, as I'm still waiting for the hungry node to reach about 225 of each primal aspect (I'm feeding it the excess wood in the form of crafting tables)

I still have yet to add the huge swirling ash cloud above my tower, but that will come in time...

 

[epidemia78]

Looking good! I wouldnt worry too much about maintaining the portal, once its activated it uses very little mana. Im sure so many endoflames can keep up.