Lets face it, rails aren't usually used for short or long distance transport which is a shame. However, what if you could encourage it by giving a special bonus for making large rail systems. Now material or power rewards don't make much sense... but what about mana. Botania's mana has the advantage of being able to come from many sources which don't make much sense.
The Idea: A new generating flower that generates mana from travel scenery. It works by placing it next to a rail and binding an eye-of-the-ancients in a cart to said flower and then sending the cart along the rail system. As it travels the eye sees more and more scenery and, when it returns, it gives this to the flower enabling it to generate mana.
Uses: Say you have a choice to build a rail-line, an endertank or pipes to bring oil back to your base. Generally you would use pipes if it was close and an endertank if it was far. Instead you have a rail system and send a tank cart along. You can also send an eye of the ancient cart along and have it linked to the new flower. As well as bringing back oil you get a supply of permanent mana. If you are using trains you could hook the eye of the ancients carts to cargo trains or use a special train.
Balance: Overall longer trips should generate more mana with half a kilometer producing 1/3rd of a mana pool and 1 KM producing a full pool. Additionally, the cart should remember which tracks it has passed over with diminishing mana returns. (I.e. Travelling 1 KM forwards and backwards on the same track would make less mana than if the return was on a different line). Note that this memory is blanked once the scenery is offloaded at the flower.
Also, a second cart and flower combination travelling on the same track as the first should produce less mana with a similar level of diminishing returns so that you can't spam multiple carts on a single set of track. In general, it would be best to have a few mana cart making a grand tour of your entire network than many on a dedicated mana farming track.
The result: Tech players with an interest in botania are rewarded handsomly for building big, cool rail networks.
The Idea: A new generating flower that generates mana from travel scenery. It works by placing it next to a rail and binding an eye-of-the-ancients in a cart to said flower and then sending the cart along the rail system. As it travels the eye sees more and more scenery and, when it returns, it gives this to the flower enabling it to generate mana.
Uses: Say you have a choice to build a rail-line, an endertank or pipes to bring oil back to your base. Generally you would use pipes if it was close and an endertank if it was far. Instead you have a rail system and send a tank cart along. You can also send an eye of the ancient cart along and have it linked to the new flower. As well as bringing back oil you get a supply of permanent mana. If you are using trains you could hook the eye of the ancients carts to cargo trains or use a special train.
Balance: Overall longer trips should generate more mana with half a kilometer producing 1/3rd of a mana pool and 1 KM producing a full pool. Additionally, the cart should remember which tracks it has passed over with diminishing mana returns. (I.e. Travelling 1 KM forwards and backwards on the same track would make less mana than if the return was on a different line). Note that this memory is blanked once the scenery is offloaded at the flower.
Also, a second cart and flower combination travelling on the same track as the first should produce less mana with a similar level of diminishing returns so that you can't spam multiple carts on a single set of track. In general, it would be best to have a few mana cart making a grand tour of your entire network than many on a dedicated mana farming track.
The result: Tech players with an interest in botania are rewarded handsomly for building big, cool rail networks.
