AE2 VS Refined Storage?

[Daihok]

Is it worth it to learn AE2 or just stick with Refined Storage? I would like to hear honest opinions on this subject i have learned refined storage fairly well, but wondering if AE2 is worth learning. I realize AE2 is alot more complex but that doesnt bother me, but if its not say as good as Refined Storage just wondering why bother learning it.

 

[Cptqrk]

Refined Storage is basically a copy of AE1.

Both have their plus/minus points, and depending on the application, one may be better than the other (see Direwolf20's let's play where he automates Botania Runes using AE2, something that could not be done with RS)

It's also a matter of play style and personal aesthetics. Some people like the pipes displaying channels used in AE2, and the look of the blocks more. Some like the extra challenge of being restricted in the number of channels you can use (until you discover the Super Soryn(sp) drive that virtually negates them).

In the end, what can it hurt to try out AE2? You never know until you give it a go.

 

[Henry Link]

I would say AE2 is better. But that is my opinion. But here are my reasons for it.

• In terms of storage a 1k disk in AE holds 4096 of a single item. Same in disk in RS hold 1024 items. Granted RS doesn't have 53 type limit like AE does. But if you look at using a 64k disk for mass storage of a single item it will hold 524,288 of that item same 64k disk for RS only holds 65,536 items. Which means you need 80 64k RS disks to equal one AE 64k disk for holding a single item.
  • So my typical setup for AE is to use 1k disks for general storage. Then move items I need bulk storage for to a partitioned 64k disk. This helps avoid the 53 type limit of the AE disk and maximizes the usage of the 64k disk.
• Raw materials used to create the system. Overall for the amount of storage you get AE doesn't cost as much raw material to make.
  • AE2 1k disk takes: 3 iron, 8 redstone, 9 certus quartz, 4 glass, 1 gold & 1 silicon
  • RS 1k disk takes in FTB Beyond: 3 iron, 4 redstone, 1 nether quartz, 5 glass, 4 silicon ---> now multiply this by 4 to equal one AE 1k disk.
  • Disk drives - AE drive holds 10 disks, the RS drive only holds 8.
• General quality and looks. AE just looks better. All of the RS blocks looks sort of well blah.. ugly.

The big drawback that most people complain about with AE2 is the crafting of the crystals in a pool of water. But there are ways to automate this so it usually isn't a problem. The other big complaint is the channel limits. But this again can be worked around. And I view it as a good thing because it forces you think a little instead of just laying down one long chain of cable.

But to each his own. And I can see the draw some people have to RS.

 

[GamerwithnoGame]

I would say AE2 is better. But that is my opinion. But here are my reasons for it.

• In terms of storage a 1k disk in AE holds 4096 of a single item. Same in disk in RS hold 1024 items. Granted RS doesn't have 53 type limit like AE does. But if you look at using a 64k disk for mass storage of a single item it will hold 524,288 of that item same 64k disk for RS only holds 65,536 items. Which means you need 80 64k RS disks to equal one AE 64k disk for holding a single item.
  • So my typical setup for AE is to use 1k disks for general storage. Then move items I need bulk storage for to a partitioned 64k disk. This helps avoid the 53 type limit of the AE disk and maximizes the usage of the 64k disk.
• Raw materials used to create the system. Overall for the amount of storage you get AE doesn't cost as much raw material to make.
  • AE2 1k disk takes: 3 iron, 8 redstone, 9 certus quartz, 4 glass, 1 gold & 1 silicon
  • RS 1k disk takes in FTB Beyond: 3 iron, 4 redstone, 1 nether quartz, 5 glass, 4 silicon ---> now multiply this by 4 to equal one AE 1k disk.
  • Disk drives - AE drive holds 10 disks, the RS drive only holds 8.
• General quality and looks. AE just looks better. All of the RS blocks looks sort of well blah.. ugly.

The big drawback that most people complain about with AE2 is the crafting of the crystals in a pool of water. But there are ways to automate this so it usually isn't a problem. The other big complaint is the channel limits. But this again can be worked around. And I view it as a good thing because it forces you think a little instead of just laying down one long chain of cable.

But to each his own. And I can see the draw some people have to RS.

Now, I actually have to disagree with you on the aesthetic - while the colour scheme is a little more limited, I actually think the textures and especially the block models on RS are equally good - some are better! I love the drives, how they stick out slightly from the surface I really like RS's aesthetic - but that is entirely personal subjective opinion.

I think that its unfair of @Cptqrk to call it a "copy" of AE1 - if anything I would say it's inspired by both, but falls much more into a sort of "AE 1.5" position if anything. I think the autocrafting is very nice - more intuitive than AE1's was (with the giant MAC, or alternatively using the interfaces).

What bothers me is the fact that everyone puts it as a "versus" - they don't have to compete! A nice thing about RS is that it adds no world gen. That's not to be underestimated either. But, AE2 has a nice feature (if memory serves) whereby when an item is being crafted, you can get the system to emit a redstone signal - that could be a really handy feature for all sorts of things!

 

[dragonmaster0283]

From using both, I'd have to say that AE2 offers more power to do things but at the price of more complexity. For me personally the only thing missing for me that i really with AE2 would add in by default is ExtraCells and fluid storage/crafting. RS wins out here right now since you dont have to craft multiple "buses" for fluid or item use and can auto-craft using fluids currently. Fluid storage is a part of the main mod. And as above said, theres no gen to worry about with RS vs the meteors and certus with AE2.

 

[GamerwithnoGame]

From using both, I'd have to say that AE2 offers more power to do things but at the price of more complexity. For me personally the only thing missing for me that i really with AE2 would add in by default is ExtraCells and fluid storage/crafting. RS wins out here right now since you dont have to craft multiple "buses" for fluid or item use and can auto-craft using fluids currently. Fluid storage is a part of the main mod. And as above said, theres no gen to worry about with RS vs the meteors and certus with AE2.

YES. I hadn't mentioned the fluid storage, but you're spot-on - that's really nicely implemented and part of the mod.

 

[Daihok]

Yea I think i have maybe figured it out, Im just gonna keep both in the pack I try and learn AE2 for my item storage stuff then use RS for my fluid stuff. Shame though i been trying to cut the modpack down some Like for instance compared to everything else I have in the modpack am really considering removing IC2, in comparison to everything esle in the pack I dont see much value in having it. Not that i dislike it just things from other packs do it all so much better.

 

[Henry Link]

Also, you can move fluids around with AE2. But, without extra cells it can't store fluids. Take a look at the Peer 2 Peer tunnels that allow energy and fluid transfer.

 

[Inaeo]

The thread is buried several pages deep now, but I feel the discussion is still pertaining...

https://forum.feed-the-beast.com/th...o-people-prefer-it-or-refined-storage.195893/

 

[Daihok]

Yea i have finally about got my modpack tweaked I think lol. My problem is i keep adding and not substracting lol. Little worried once i actually started to put pack together I was around constant 200fps, Now with new things added stay around 120 fps and my concern is when i actually start building and automating things.

 

[Cptqrk]

Now, I actually have to disagree with you on the aesthetic - while the colour scheme is a little more limited, I actually think the textures and especially the block models on RS are equally good - some are better! I love the drives, how they stick out slightly from the surface I really like RS's aesthetic - but that is entirely personal subjective opinion.

I think that its unfair of @Cptqrk to call it a "copy" of AE1 - if anything I would say it's inspired by both, but falls much more into a sort of "AE 1.5" position if anything.

I did say "basically" LOL I know it was heavily inspired by AE1.

But I'm glad it has boiled down to "Do i have to chose one? Why not both?"

 

[Daihok]

Yea i wish i knew how to make a mod list that i could post for you guys see what ya think. I probably still have some tweaking to do but eh its gettin there, I really want RTG in there but all the configuration for BOP and everything else kinda outta my league they dont make it easy. RTG or BOP. Dont see why they cant simplify the configs for people who know nothing about code ect.

 

[Henry Link]

You can add RTG & BOP if you add climate control/geographic. It will produce some beautiful terrain. But expect a lot of lag while generating that terrain. I've done this on Builder's Custom if you want to load the pack and take a look at the terrain gen. Make sure to use RTG to get the custom RTG + BOP generation.

 

[Daihok]

Yea i been messing with it but for some reason when i use geographicraft it sticks on Loading world it wont go any further and when i use biome tweaker which i spent hours trying to config it all loads up but it stops generating chunks after few minutes, and reloading the world doesnt seem to help. Then i have the problem of figuring out how to do the config for BOP to disable the gems spawning and grasses and few other things i dislike so much with BOP. Turning into huge hassle lol. Im trying to get it all there, even without though im running into chunks not loading to fast anyhow. Desperately trying to figure out which mod i added recently that is causing it.

Gonna check yours out real quick

 

[McKitten]

Assuming your world loads meteorites (recent issues with that) then I am inclined to now go back to AE2.
AE2 is more initial pain to setup but after trying to create a multi-mod setup the power consumption with RS became counter-productive. Connecting multiple farms up to keep generators running and costing more RF to power them then is produced from the farm. Perhaps I could have cabled better but why have a toy that you can't use to its full advantage.
I also was chagrin at RS patterns randomly not finding a device when one is not needed beyond a standard crafting grid (tinkers torches were a repetative issue).

 

[SlightlyLost]

My first exposure was to RS in Sky Factory 3. My second world play was on Forever Stranded which had AE2. My third world is FTB Beyond and I've gone back to RS now that I have the choice.

For me, the primary reason was the lousy JEI integration in AE2. "AE2 Stuff" helps a little, but it's still vastly inferior to RS in this regard. eg: in RS, I can use '+' to copy a processing pattern (eg: furnace or alloy smelter) recipe directly from JEI. In AE2, you have to make everything first. The "AE2 Stuff" addon fixes this for crafting recipes, but not processing patterns.

That said, things I like about AE2 over RS:

• Unified "Interface block with crafting" vs separate Crating block and interface block in RS.
  
• Being able to switch interfaces into tiles for sharing block space with a cable.
• Integration with EnderIO as ME conduits.
• Autocrafting is far more robust (eg: RS lets you take intermediate items and break a job)
• Being able to modify pre-existing patterns.
• Asthetics - I think AE2 looks nicer.
• Having access to a crafting monitor on every crafting terminal.
• Blocking mode on crafting interfaces, I used this for AA's Empowerer.
• AE2 handles suboptimal chunk load states better than RS. It recovers where RS ends up with a permanently partitioned network.

Things I violently dislike about AE2:

• Item types in the drives
• Archaic sidedness of the Inscriber.
• Lack of seamless fluid handling like RS has.
• Bad integration with things like Quantum Storage, because "reasons". (Yes, I'm aware of all the closed-wontfix tickets on the subject)

For now, I'm happy with the choice I made. I'll keep using RS when I have the option. I miss not having Reborn Storage in my FTB Beyond world, I'm considering adding it back.

 

[ShneekeyTheLost]

I significantly prefer Refined Storage over AE2.

* No meteorites to have to hunt down to get involved with the mod.
* No resource doubling using an obtuse but still easily automatable in-world mechanic
* More CPU efficient
* No channel management (as SIGNIFICANT reason it takes up fewer system resources, no Super Soaryn Drives necessary to bypass channel limitations which can bog a server down to its knees)
* No meteorites clogging up worldgen and generally being a useless eyesore and blight on the landscape
* Ability to handle fluids as well as items, including being able to place fluids in-world as well as suck them up, without requiring third-party addons.
* More elegant recipe dynamic. It still requires resources, in fact more resources than AE2 does, but as it is all in subcombines, you don't really 'feel' it because it is all intuitive
* No $#%)*!ing meteorites.

 

[Pyure]

I significantly prefer Refined Storage over AE2.

* No meteorites to have to hunt down to get involved with the mod.
* No resource doubling using an obtuse but still easily automatable in-world mechanic
* More CPU efficient
* No channel management (as SIGNIFICANT reason it takes up fewer system resources, no Super Soaryn Drives necessary to bypass channel limitations which can bog a server down to its knees)
* No meteorites clogging up worldgen and generally being a useless eyesore and blight on the landscape
* Ability to handle fluids as well as items, including being able to place fluids in-world as well as suck them up, without requiring third-party addons.
* More elegant recipe dynamic. It still requires resources, in fact more resources than AE2 does, but as it is all in subcombines, you don't really 'feel' it because it is all intuitive
* No $#%)*!ing meteorites.

Agree with everything here, especially the fluid handling, except the channel thing as a personal preference.

That said, I almost think in both case "channels" should actually be an add-on intended for niche packs.

 

[Cptqrk]

At least in Beyond, the FTB folk have turned off AE2 Meteor wold (scaring... err umm) generation. They added a recipe to make the plates and the Skystone.

I'm still sticking with RS tho'

 

[SlightlyLost]

I don't "like" channels, but I can tolerate them. I hate the drive type limits.

I forgot to mention that I do like AE2's Interface Terminal, very much. An encounter with a reborn storage multiblock crammed full of recipes makes you miss that fast.