Cheap wide area chunk loading

[GreenZombie]

After having the boilers in my base explode, I realized that buildcraft can be used as a cheap way to extend the range of any chunkloader to cover any desired area.

Its quite easy: First, you will need an actual chunkloaded block.

In that chunk, place a chest, filled with cobblestone, attach a wooden pipe to the chest with redstone pump to extract items, and then, starting from that pipe, build a loop of cobblestone item pipe that crosses through all the chunks you wish to keep loaded, looping eventually, back into the chest.

The constant circulation of items will keep all the chunks loaded, all for the cost of just one chunk loader.

 

[lazaruz76]

Also you could use 2 hoppers. Place them facing each other in 2 different chunks. Add 1 item to the system. The item will flow back and forth from one chunk to another keeping both chunks loaded.

 

[YX33A]

How about, dunno, a Chunk Loader from Chicken Chunks? They're not that expensive compared to, well, pretty much anything. It takes an enchanting table and some ender pearls IIRC(maybe some gold).

Or you could turn that chunk loader into a bunch of spot loaders. IIRC you get 25 spot loaders from one chunk loader.

Mind you, this is just my thoughts on all this. And the most expensive chunk loader is the RC one, seeing as it takes ender pearls as fuel. A distant second would be the MFR Chunk Loader that needs RF to load chunks, making it a HELL of a lot better balanced then the RC ones. Even if you increase the cost by an insane amount.

 

[Pokefenn]

If i remember, that is a 'bug' to speak of, causing orphan chunks to be created.
I think they were very laggy, and bad for servers...
Just do it legit... its better for everyone that way.

 

[PhilHibbs]

Also you could use 2 hoppers. Place them facing each other in 2 different chunks. Add 1 item to the system. The item will flow back and forth from one chunk to another keeping both chunks loaded.

Didn't that get fixed back in 1.5? I thought I saw Doc say it was fixed.

 

[lazaruz76]

Not sure if it was fixed or not. Thought the game did it to prevent item loss when s hopper sends an item to an unloaded chunk.

 

[PhilHibbs]

Not sure if it was fixed or not. Thought the game did it to prevent item loss when s hopper sends an item to an unloaded chunk.

The simple solution would be to treat an unloaded chunk like there's nothing there and don't output the items.

 

[lazaruz76]

The simple solution would be to treat an unloaded chunk like there's nothing there and don't output the items.

Yes I can see that, but wouldn't that add more processing into the system since it would need to continuously check to see if some thing is there or not for each hopper in use. I think that could very quickly give rise to unreasonable overhead causing more lag. Large vanilla style sorting systems come to mind in this. I could easily be wrong as I know very little about programing which is why I ask.

 

[PhilHibbs]

Yes I can see that, but wouldn't that add more processing into the system since it would need to continuously check to see if some thing is there or not for each hopper in use.

Well it has to continually check if the target inventory can accept the item anyway.