Mod Feedback ChromatiCraft questions and suggestions

[Reika]

While I work on proper documentation for ChromatiCraft, I thought it might be a good idea to create a thread where people can ask questions about ChromatiCraft and where I can answer them, to serve as both a preliminary knowledge base and to provide explanations beyond that which will be available in the documentation.

Like the RC suggestion thread, it will also be for people to suggest content.


Just to get it started, can anyone guess what this is?

 

[SkeletonPunk]

While I work on proper documentation for ChromatiCraft, I thought it might be a good idea to create a thread where people can ask questions about ChromatiCraft and where I can answer them, to serve as both a preliminary knowledge base and to provide explanations beyond that which will be available in the documentation.

Like the RC suggestion thread, it will also be for people to suggest content.


Just to get it started, can anyone guess what this is?

I am guessing it tracks those magic structures.

 

[Reika]

I am guessing it tracks those magic structures.

Essentially, yes. The pylon finder is a way to reduce the guesswork in finding a pylon of a specific color.

 

[Mattasdqwe]

To get the questions started is there a way to transport the energy thing on the top of the pylons to your base, or make it? (That is the thing which provides the chromatic energy for use in crafting and stuff right?)
Also do you plan on adding an in game handbook to the mod?

 

[Reika]

To get the questions started is there a way to transport the energy thing on the top of the pylons to your base, or make it? (That is the thing which provides the chromatic energy for use in crafting and stuff right?)

The pylons are what make the energy; they do so slowly and automatically, though they can be boosted with "power crystals", a later-game item. As for transporting it, the mechanic is as follows:
All transmitters and receivers have a limited range, and require a clear line-of-sight to their target/source. So to transport power from a pylon to a distant object, you use a series of repeaters. Each repeater relays the signal to the next one until the last one relays it to whatever made the energy request.

Repeaters come in two types. The default repeater is made of two crystalline stone, one rune, and one repeater block, can only transmit one color, that being the color of the rune on top of which it sits.
As of v3, there is also a repeater capable of transmitting all colors in parallel, but it is larger and much more expensive.

Also do you plan on adding an in game handbook to the mod?

I do plan on adding documentation. I am reluctant to use a handbook like RC because I do not feel it fits the theme particularly well.

 

[Pyure]

Curious, do repeaters incur any energy loss?

PS: these images are beautiful; I'd love to find a way to incorporate this mod and its mechanics into one of my worlds.

 

[Reika]

Curious, do repeaters incur any energy loss?

PS: these images are beautiful; I'd love to find a way to incorporate this mod and its mechanics into one of my worlds.

Yes, repeaters have an inherent loss - as well as a throughput limit, which caps the maximum transfer rate per connection - per block. The network logic already accounts for this, meaning that the loss effectively becomes an increased drain on the pylon. Losses are comparatively small - 20 lumens per standard repeater and 50 per multi-aura repeater; compared to the normal energy costs associated with their use - usually between 2000 and 50000 lumens - this is fairly negligible.

 

[Pyure]

Yes, repeaters have an inherent loss - as well as a throughput limit, which caps the maximum transfer rate per connection - per block. The network logic already accounts for this, meaning that the loss effectively becomes an increased drain on the pylon. Losses are comparatively small - 20 lumens per standard repeater and 50 per multi-aura repeater; compared to the normal energy costs associated with their use - usually between 2000 and 50000 lumens - this is fairly negligible.

Interesting. Do you have any mechanics in place to let players creatively reduce the loss?
Also, are lumens a number players actually see, or do they infer/gauge it from the visuals?

 

[Reika]

Interesting. Do you have any mechanics in place to let players creatively reduce the loss?

No such mechanic currently exists, but it is an interesting idea.

Also, are lumens a number players actually see, or do they infer/gauge it from the visuals?

Actual granular numbers are only displayed in some GUIs in the form of fill bars, but many things are an indication of relative or proportional value; for example, pylons turn gray as they discharge.

 

[Pyure]

Actual granular numbers are only displayed in some GUIs in the form of fill bars, but many things are an indication of relative or proportional value; for example, pylons turn gray as they discharge.

That makes sense for a "magical" mod.

Thanks for the info; I'll be keeping an eye on this mod.

 

[Geckogamer]

Every time i pass those pylons i die like they are "you shall not pass" i feel like they need a bit better dead message rather then (player name) died by magic

send from a thing

 

[Reika]

Every time i pass those pylons i die like they are "you shall not pass" i feel like they need a bit better dead message rather then (player name) died by magic

send from a thing

Such as?

 

[Pyure]

Pyure has been torn apart by a storm of elemental energy.
Pyure has been consumed by a focused metaphysical phenomenon.

Shrug.

 

[Geckogamer]

Such as?

Well i was thinking of color depending dead message
Example for the black 1

(Player name) was crumbeld to pieces by black energy (forgot those names)

Pyure has been torn apart by a storm of elemental energy.
Pyure has been consumed by a focused metaphysical phenomenon.

Shrug.

Those sound very nice ☺

send from a thing

 

[madnewmy]

Is their a way, obviously weaker, to have the energy be produced where their is no pylons? I had a problem, in a previous world, where the closest pylon of a color was over 4k blocks...

 

[Pyure]

Is their a way, obviously weaker, to have the energy be produced where their is no pylons? I had a problem, in a previous world, where the closest pylon of a color was over 4k blocks...

It might be neat if you could passively take starlight as a weak, passive source during the night only. Dunno if you can "store" energy though; this might be easily spammable/abusable.

Oh, and the obvious argument Reika will make is: situate your base strategically with the pylons in mind if you plan on using them

 

[Celestialphoenix]

.. tasted the rainbow.
-sorry.

.. was consumed by darkness [Black]
.. saw the light [White]
.. turned into a fine gray powder [Light Gray]
.. crumbled into dust [Dark Gray]
.. obliterated by lightning [Yellow]
.. annihilated by thunder [Orange]
.. condemned to servitude [Red]
.. driven into madness [Pink]
.. decimated by the arcane [Purple]
.. fell into endless sleep [Magenta]
.. succumed to the endless deep [Blue]
.. was struck down from above [Light Blue]
.. will not be returning [Cyan]
.. was pummeled into oblivion [Green]
.. became transfixed by ethereal beauty [Lime]
.. Needs new pants [Brown]

 

[epidemia78]

I gave Chromaticraft a try when putting together my latest personal modpack, its supremely intense in the visual department which was enough to motivate me to learn about it so I installed it with all the rest and created a test world.

I noticed no FPS loss or anything when looking at the pylons. At first glance it seemed like they might be set to spawn too frequently but then I realized that finding one of each color would probably take a while. And its a cool idea having to link them up over great distances. I dont think there should ever be a way to move them. NEI integration is great, was surprised to see that implemented already but some of the recipes went nowhere requiring items that cannot be crafted...either unfinished or something found in the world. I dont think an in game guidebook is really necessary, but extra information when you hold shift on certain items or something akin to what Extra Utilities does to point us in the right direction would be nice.

As enticing as the Chromaticraft light show is, I just dont think its worth it. At least not yet. Its an incomplete, undocumented mod that adds minutes to the load times "loading custom icons". The game wouldnt load at all without Rotarycraft installed. No offense but after about an hour of trying to get it to work (mostly waiting for the game to load again), I thought "only Reika's mods ever give me this much trouble." Seems theres always a lot of gruntwork involved with them. In the end I decided against including it in my current pack, which I am trying to keep compact and focused so I can have a long term world.

 

[Henry Link]

I'm curious about chunk loading across great distances. With the use of repeaters and and pylons is there chunk loading issues? Or do you have another way to track it without requiring the chunks to be loaded?

 

[Celestialphoenix]

The chunks will probably need to be loaded.

There are other ways- remember vanilla MC tracks the end portal location without it being loaded, or even generated for that matter.