AE2 vs Logistics Pipes vs ProjectRed vs RFTools (Storage Options)

[JaRyCu]

OK everyone, I need a little help here. I'm using FTB Infinity Evolved on regular mode, and I'm primarily playing through Forestry so that I can really learn how Bee & Tree breeding works. (I've dabbled in it, but never gotten far.) I've been playing Regrowth, and using Magical Crops has really opened my eyes to alternative resource gathering. For some reasons, many modpacks don't have MC, but almost everything has Forestry in it, so I think it'd be good to learn this side of the game.

Anyways, in previous modpacks I've built out a pretty decently sized ME system through AE2, along with auto-crafting and all, but I never got into wireless terminals or p2p bridges. I love how the system works, and it's probably my favorite of what I listed in the title, but it's very resource intensive and I don't really plan to setup a quarry for a long time.

Then there's PR:Transportation, which is what I used when I hosted a server last year for Infinity Evolved. I loved watching all of my stuff zip around my base, into chests and back out when I'd recall it, but I didn't like how I couldn't autocraft on demand. (I setup passive crafting from an ender quarry, but the autocrafting cards were disabled in Evolved.) Unfortunately, this mod is a little limited and not well documented, but it's completely passive, needing absolutely no RF/EU/MJ generation. It's kinda like magic.

Another option is Logistics Pipes, which I've never played with. On my server, another player had them up and going, and I've watched Direwolf play with them and they look awesome, kinda like PR:T on steroids. The drawback is that I'd need to ramp up power generation. I don't know how much I'd need, but right now I'm doing really well with just a triple IE water wheel to run my Forestry machines.

Yet another option is obviously RFTools. Back on my server, I actually combined with it PR:T and used that setup for a month until I bit the bullet and got an AE2 system setup. I loved being able to carry the 300 item cards with the portable card readers, but I never took full advantage of the mod's storage capabilities. Right before I started typing this, I noticed that McJty posted a nice diagram on how to use his mod, so I'm going to go back and study that while I wait for feedback. The only drawback here is the same one with LP: I need more RF.

Finally, I know there are other options for storage. I've seen Hypnotizd (or was it Direwolf?) use Ender IO's panels to create virtual inventories, similar to AE2. I have no clue how that works.

In the end, I want to find the best option that makes storing bees & trees easy, can enable some sort of autocrafting, and can take me further into the game should I choose go further than just bee & tree breeding on this play through.

What does everyone think, and what do you use?

 

[Plasmasnake]

For some reasons, many modpacks don't have MC,

Yeah it is kind of strange how these modpacks don't have the actual game, just mods for it (the MC abbreviation is taken, yo)

Joking aside, I use RFTools for early-game storage. Having those modular storage blocks around is a ton more convenient and tidy than having multiple chests. They last until I want to get into automating things. I turn to AE2 when I outgrow the modular storage capacities. This usually happens when I have a decent foothold in the world and have adequate resources to utilize a ME system.

You'd be hard-pressed to find something that can beat the usefulness of AE2. Even if you do find great storage solutions, you can connect to it with a storage bus or something else. For example, I used to connect the modular storage blocks with a storage bus. I don't do that anymore in favor of having a drive full of 1k cells (which in my mind mimics a modular storage block). I should also mention that I turn off channels and the mod is probably a ton more useful because of that.

When I look at my past worlds, I do not think I could have gotten that far without having AE2. The amount of stuff that I export and import is just huge and I haven't found any other mod that can handle what I do in my worlds --- that is why I think AE2 is the best. Sure it can take a lot of time pre-formatting cells, organizing storage buses, import buses, etc, but it definitely pays off. The RF cost that grows with the size of the ME system never phases me either because I am a big user of Reika's mods, where a couple thousand of RF/t is laughable.

 

[rouge_bare]

In terms of Compact Storage, nothing beats AE imo. Logisitics pipes may have more potent automation (and even has a bunch of specialised pipes/modules for bees) but it depends on other mods (or vanilla chests) to store things into. One note is that AE is a CONSTANT power drain, regardless of if it's doing anything. LP only drains power when it's actually doing something. Logistics pipe's needs a power junction (not one of the RF/EU power providers, they are for transferring power through the LP system) which does have a fairly significantly large buffer.

 

[GamerwithnoGame]

I'm actually playing a pack at the moment which HAS got AE2 but I'm choosing to eschew that in favour of Project:Red, at least for now.

I would have liked to see Logistics Pipes but the chap who owns the server decided not to go for that. Project:Red, while it cannot accomplish what AE2 can, no question there, it CAN be set up fairly early once you have glowstone and diamonds - there IS now an autocrafting table in P:R, and you can use crafting cards for other crafters, so I'm going to experiment with using just P:R for sorting, crafting and storage. I'll let you know how it goes!

 

[JaRyCu]

I'm actually playing a pack at the moment which HAS got AE2 but I'm choosing to eschew that in favour of Project:Red, at least for now.

I would have liked to see Logistics Pipes but the chap who owns the server decided not to go for that. Project:Red, while it cannot accomplish what AE2 can, no question there, it CAN be set up fairly early once you have glowstone and diamonds - there IS now an autocrafting table in P:R, and you can use crafting cards for other crafters, so I'm going to experiment with using just P:R for sorting, crafting and storage. I'll let you know how it goes!

I built a pretty extensive sorting and crafting system with PR:T in Infinity Evolved: Expert last year. It took a good bit of planning because the crafting recipes were disabled in Expert mode, but it was amazing after I figured out how to setup the remaining pieces. I basically built an entire room for Enderio IO and TE machines, ran PR:T pipes to them all, then setup input/output cards behind each one to maximize ore production. After that, I used Tesseracts to pipe in everything from an Ender Quarry and had an array of diamond chests setup for storage. After that, I ran pipes out to all of the "outposts" on my base on the server, meaning that I could access my chests in my magic area, tech area, fuel production area, etc. Lots of planning and digging, but isn't that what Modded Minecraft is all about?

With this post, I'm just trying to explore all the options and see which one is the most commonly used with bees. Right now I'm just throwing the extras in an Apiarist's Chest, but that's getting messy very quickly so I want to build something else out today and tomorrow.

 

[GamerwithnoGame]

I built a pretty extensive sorting and crafting system with PR:T in Infinity Evolved: Expert last year. It took a good bit of planning because the crafting recipes were disabled in Expert mode, but it was amazing after I figured out how to setup the remaining pieces. I basically built an entire room for Enderio IO and TE machines, ran PR:T pipes to them all, then setup input/output cards behind each one to maximize ore production. After that, I used Tesseracts to pipe in everything from an Ender Quarry and had an array of diamond chests setup for storage. After that, I ran pipes out to all of the "outposts" on my base on the server, meaning that I could access my chests in my magic area, tech area, fuel production area, etc. Lots of planning and digging, but isn't that what Modded Minecraft is all about?

With this post, I'm just trying to explore all the options and see which one is the most commonly used with bees. Right now I'm just throwing the extras in an Apiarist's Chest, but that's getting messy very quickly so I want to build something else out today and tomorrow.

Ah cool! In that case, I'm sorry my comment wasn't too relevant, but I may come to you for advice in setting up the system if that's OK?

Have you used PR's autocrafting table at all? I'm really surprised the crafting recipes were disabled - it seems sensible to have them in, cheap, as an early system before you upgrade to a more expensive Logistics Pipes and then a very expensive AE system!

 

[Celestialphoenix]

If you're specifically getting into bee breeding; logistics pipes has some specific bee modules/pipes that might be useful to you.

I haven't noticed too much power draw running an LP system, however the power junction is also a MASSIVE battery- it'll drain all it can get until its charged.

 

[JaRyCu]

Ah cool! In that case, I'm sorry my comment wasn't too relevant, but I may come to you for advice in setting up the system if that's OK?

Have you used PR's autocrafting table at all? I'm really surprised the crafting recipes were disabled - it seems sensible to have them in, cheap, as an early system before you upgrade to a more expensive Logistics Pipes and then a very expensive AE system!

Nah dude, your comment was great! And apparently you've never played through Infinity Evolved: Expert Mode. LOL! They whole point of Expert mode was to make GregTech look like child's play. We built out an entire machine room with TE, AE2, Ender IO, and IC2 machines centrally-housed at spawn because it was so damned hard to get to all of them and make them yourself. I haven't stuck with any world long enough to build out a system since then, so I've never used the autocrafting stuff.

If you're specifically getting into bee breeding; logistics pipes has some specific bee modules/pipes that might be useful to you.

I haven't noticed too much power draw running an LP system, however the power junction is also a MASSIVE battery- it'll drain all it can get until its charged.

Excellent! This might be the direction I go, just so that I can do something different. I hate how everyone goes AE2 in every world they build...just annoys me to death. It'd be different if you could customize the look of it some, kinda like you can with the smeltery even though everyone always builds the black one. (There's a brownstone one you can build with nether materials if you'd rather go that route.) I'd love to use some type of piping instead of the ME cables, etc etc etc.

 

[GamerwithnoGame]

Nah dude, your comment was great! And apparently you've never played through Infinity Evolved: Expert Mode. LOL! They whole point of Expert mode was to make GregTech look like child's play. We built out an entire machine room with TE, AE2, Ender IO, and IC2 machines centrally-housed at spawn because it was so damned hard to get to all of them and make them yourself. I haven't stuck with any world long enough to build out a system since then, so I've never used the autocrafting stuff.

Hehe nope! The computer I game on is... limited, to say the least. I've previously not been able to play ANY 1.7.10 FTB packs, they just wouldn't run for some reason. But, when a friend put together a more limited range Forge-based custom pack, which I use on a custom 1.7.10 Forge instance (I think that's the phrase!) I've been able to play. I HAVE watched both Krakaen's and Direwolf20's IE:EM:Skyblock series', with great enjoyment though

Cool, in that case I will make a point of at least documenting my progress with setting up that system too, in case its of interest to anyone at some point.

 

[ShneekeyTheLost]

I have become a huge fan of using Storage Drawers to store bulk items, then using an ME Storage Bus to connect to the Controller to put everything on the AE Network without needing to actually store them on disk. To me, it seems the best of both worlds, having a storage facility you can walk through and visually see everything you've got and having a searchable and sortable inventory access panel.

Logistic Pipes were cool... back in 1.2.5. These days, not so much. Granted, it's got some good ideas, but the BC dependency is the reason it will never appear in any pack I develop.

Magical Crops appears in very few packs because it is a post-resource-scarcity mod. Once you get it up and running, you will never need a quarry ever again. In fact, you won't even need a mob farm. Just various magical crops cranking out so many resources that you eventually need to start voiding overflow.

 

[joshwoo70]

I would probably go for the Logistics pipes first for early game and then AE for later.

Sent from a phone running tapatalk OS

 

[JaRyCu]

I have become a huge fan of using Storage Drawers to store bulk items, then using an ME Storage Bus to connect to the Controller to put everything on the AE Network without needing to actually store them on disk. To me, it seems the best of both worlds, having a storage facility you can walk through and visually see everything you've got and having a searchable and sortable inventory access panel.

What about using Ender IO panels with them? Is there a way to do that so that you can see everything without having to put a panel on each drawer?

Magical Crops appears in very few packs because it is a post-resource-scarcity mod. Once you get it up and running, you will never need a quarry ever again. In fact, you won't even need a mob farm. Just various magical crops cranking out so many resources that you eventually need to start voiding overflow.

Regrowth is the first time I've ever used them. I saw some of the Hermitcraft guys do it on FTB Monster, but I've never played that pack. I absolutely love using them and not having to worry about quarries (not that I could use one in Regrowth). I'm almost at the point where I can make machinery, at which point I can setup harvesters and really start cranking out resources.