Some of you may have noticed. But if not I'll tell you here. I just released a new version of my mod RFTools. One of the notable new changes in this version is a new RF power generator (yes, *another* one!).
But this one is different. At least I hope so. What I want to do is to add a powerful new power generator that can produce a lot of power *but* not easily. The power generator that I added is a kind of multiblock where you need several generators working together in a precisely timed pattern in order to generate a lot of RF and also be as fuel efficient as possible. In this particular case the fuel is ender pearls. To be able to achieve this goal in my mod I want to balance it right. Basically what I want is:
So the challenge is: design an efficient power generator that uses as little enderpearls as possible and still generates a lot of power (thousands of RF/tick). I hope this will not be too easy and I'm very interested to see what people can come up with.
Based on that I would like to balance the power production and pearl consumption to make it reasonable.
The mod can be downloaded here:
http://www.minecraftforum.net/forum...ftools-teleportation-storage-scanner-powerful
Let me know if you have any questions. In a moment I'll post a bit of information on how the generator actually works.[DOUBLEPOST=1414421961][/DOUBLEPOST]And as promised. Here follows a bit of information on the generator (copied directly from the wiki and in-game manual):
Scientists working in The End have discovered an interesting property of ender pearls. When a pearl is thrown in some controlled manner the mystic properties that occur on arrival can be harnessed and converted to RF. If done at exactly the right moment this can produce a lot of power. A pearl thrown this way is called an 'Endergenic Pearl'.
In addition it appears that pearls 'remember' that they have been captured this way. If a pearl is captured and then thrown again as soon as possible its internal power capacity increases which can give big benefits for producing RF from this. However, this means that the pearl has to be fired again as soon as possible, as trying to restrain a pearl from firing is very costly on energy.
Note that even in optimal conditions it is possible that pearls are lost. So a way has to be found to ensure that the system stays operational at all times.
Endergenic Generator
The Endergenic Generator is the main block in the power generator system. This device can capture endergenic pearls and fire them again. It has three basic modes which are controlled by giving redstone pulses to this device:
Charging mode is a 15-tick cycle. The most optimal time to capture a pearl is at tick 8 (starting with tick 1). RF will also be generated if an endergenic pearl arrives at any other point in the charging cycle but the RF that can be generated will be a lot less.
When the charging cycle ends without a pearl being received then the machine will go into idle mode again.
Holding Mode
If a pearl is received then charging mode immediatelly ends and the machine goes into holding mode. In this mode it will consume RF every tick. Be careful holding the pearl for too long as you will then end up consuming more RF then you gained. If the internal storage of the generator does not have enough RF to hold the pearl then it will automatically be lost. Also each tick there is a small chance that the pearl will be lost in any case.
Selecting destinations
You can use a BuildCraft or Thermal Expansion compatible wrench to control the destination of each generator. If you don't set a destination then pearls will be automatically lost as soon as they are fired.
When selecting a generator with a wrench (right click) it will turn red and then you can go to the destination generator (right click it again) to set the destination. Pay attention to the message you get when you do this as it tells you the distance (in ticks) between the two generators. This can help you to time the rest of the system exactly right. Note that the maximum distance is set to 4 ticks so keep that in mind.
Tips
This mechanic of charging, holding and firing endergenic pearls at specific times implies precise timing and cooperation of multiple Endergenic Generators. You will need at least two generators to be able to produce power although it will probably be hard to get optimal RF production using only two generators.
If you have plenty of ender pearls and don't care too much about less then optimal generation you can just throw in as many pearls as you want from one generator and capture them in another. Then it that other generator you just fire them away immediatelly without caring about a destination. You will quickly consume lots of ender pearls this way so this might not be the best way to proceed.
Pearl Injector
This block has to be placed facing an Endergenic Generator or else directly below it. This machine provides the only way to inject an ender pearl into the power system. When it receives a redstone signal it will convert the ender pearl to an endergenic pearl and immediatelly insert it into the adjacent Endergenic Generator. If that generator was already holding a pearl then nothing happens and the new pearl is lost.
Otherwise the endergenic pearl is immediatelly fired from the generator and the system starts.
This injector has an internal buffer that can only store ender pearls.
In addition to the above RFTools also gives you a few logic gates that can help you set up the timing right. But you can of course also use other mods like vanilla redstone or ProjectRed or ...
But this one is different. At least I hope so. What I want to do is to add a powerful new power generator that can produce a lot of power *but* not easily. The power generator that I added is a kind of multiblock where you need several generators working together in a precisely timed pattern in order to generate a lot of RF and also be as fuel efficient as possible. In this particular case the fuel is ender pearls. To be able to achieve this goal in my mod I want to balance it right. Basically what I want is:
- If you have plenty of ender pearls (magical crops or whatever) then you can just spam the generator with enderpearls and it will generate power. However. While this is a possibility I want this to be not very efficient. First it wastes a lot of ender pearls and secondly it doesn't generate as much power as is possible.
- If you manage to get the timing almost right (but not quiet) you should get reasonable power with better ender pearl consumption (i.e. less).
- With exactly right timings you should be able to generate a lot of power with very few pearls (but you'll need to refill every now and then to keep the system running).
So the challenge is: design an efficient power generator that uses as little enderpearls as possible and still generates a lot of power (thousands of RF/tick). I hope this will not be too easy and I'm very interested to see what people can come up with.
Based on that I would like to balance the power production and pearl consumption to make it reasonable.
The mod can be downloaded here:
http://www.minecraftforum.net/forum...ftools-teleportation-storage-scanner-powerful
Let me know if you have any questions. In a moment I'll post a bit of information on how the generator actually works.[DOUBLEPOST=1414421961][/DOUBLEPOST]And as promised. Here follows a bit of information on the generator (copied directly from the wiki and in-game manual):
Scientists working in The End have discovered an interesting property of ender pearls. When a pearl is thrown in some controlled manner the mystic properties that occur on arrival can be harnessed and converted to RF. If done at exactly the right moment this can produce a lot of power. A pearl thrown this way is called an 'Endergenic Pearl'.
In addition it appears that pearls 'remember' that they have been captured this way. If a pearl is captured and then thrown again as soon as possible its internal power capacity increases which can give big benefits for producing RF from this. However, this means that the pearl has to be fired again as soon as possible, as trying to restrain a pearl from firing is very costly on energy.
Note that even in optimal conditions it is possible that pearls are lost. So a way has to be found to ensure that the system stays operational at all times.
Endergenic Generator
The Endergenic Generator is the main block in the power generator system. This device can capture endergenic pearls and fire them again. It has three basic modes which are controlled by giving redstone pulses to this device:
- Idle: this is the default mode. It just waits
- Charging: in this mode the device can receive endergenic pearls
- Holding: in this mode the device is holding a pearl
Charging mode is a 15-tick cycle. The most optimal time to capture a pearl is at tick 8 (starting with tick 1). RF will also be generated if an endergenic pearl arrives at any other point in the charging cycle but the RF that can be generated will be a lot less.
When the charging cycle ends without a pearl being received then the machine will go into idle mode again.
Holding Mode
If a pearl is received then charging mode immediatelly ends and the machine goes into holding mode. In this mode it will consume RF every tick. Be careful holding the pearl for too long as you will then end up consuming more RF then you gained. If the internal storage of the generator does not have enough RF to hold the pearl then it will automatically be lost. Also each tick there is a small chance that the pearl will be lost in any case.
Selecting destinations
You can use a BuildCraft or Thermal Expansion compatible wrench to control the destination of each generator. If you don't set a destination then pearls will be automatically lost as soon as they are fired.
When selecting a generator with a wrench (right click) it will turn red and then you can go to the destination generator (right click it again) to set the destination. Pay attention to the message you get when you do this as it tells you the distance (in ticks) between the two generators. This can help you to time the rest of the system exactly right. Note that the maximum distance is set to 4 ticks so keep that in mind.
Tips
This mechanic of charging, holding and firing endergenic pearls at specific times implies precise timing and cooperation of multiple Endergenic Generators. You will need at least two generators to be able to produce power although it will probably be hard to get optimal RF production using only two generators.
If you have plenty of ender pearls and don't care too much about less then optimal generation you can just throw in as many pearls as you want from one generator and capture them in another. Then it that other generator you just fire them away immediatelly without caring about a destination. You will quickly consume lots of ender pearls this way so this might not be the best way to proceed.
Pearl Injector
This block has to be placed facing an Endergenic Generator or else directly below it. This machine provides the only way to inject an ender pearl into the power system. When it receives a redstone signal it will convert the ender pearl to an endergenic pearl and immediatelly insert it into the adjacent Endergenic Generator. If that generator was already holding a pearl then nothing happens and the new pearl is lost.
Otherwise the endergenic pearl is immediatelly fired from the generator and the system starts.
This injector has an internal buffer that can only store ender pearls.
In addition to the above RFTools also gives you a few logic gates that can help you set up the timing right. But you can of course also use other mods like vanilla redstone or ProjectRed or ...
