ELORAAM

[immibis]

However, there are things those "magic blocks" are good for, and one is minimizing CPU/GPU impact. The arcane bore is an amazing tool to both use and watch, don't get me wrong, but it isn't as server-friendly as something more "magic block"-like, such as an ender quarry or digital miner...

Why do people think fancy visual effects aren't server friendly?

It's probably true that EQs are more server friendly than ABs, but it's not because of the visual effects.[DOUBLEPOST=1403675887][/DOUBLEPOST]

I agree with all of those mods, except ComputerCraft. ComputerCraft doesn't add magic blocks, it adds a blank slate of a block. The magicalness comes from something that you have to learn and do.

Usually the magicalness comes from pastebin get.[DOUBLEPOST=1403676009][/DOUBLEPOST]

I have two definitions of magic blocks - those that hide their internal states, and those that include entire blocks of functionality (sorry for the confusion). By default computers don't show what's happening inside them (except whether they're powered on), though admittedly this can be altered with peripherals.

If you write your own programs then you know all about the computer's internal state. It's just hidden when you're not looking at it, and not visually impressive, but those aren't criteria for something to be a magic block.

The rest is merely putting magic blocks in the right shape and is only mildy more complicated then whacking one magic box down and only becasue there's more magic boxes to place.

For future reference, there's a word for that - magic multiblocks.

Edit: y u no merge?

 

[Lawbroken]

Edit: y u no merge?

It's on a timer, If you are fast enough it will auto merge.
Fixed it for you however

 

[Kocyk]

Why do people think fancy visual effects aren't server friendly?

It's probably true that EQs are more server friendly than ABs, but it's not because of the visual effects.

Most visuals will cause FPS drops only, since they are client-side. But when you need to constantly update the state of the machine for the visuals to work properly it generates more network movement.

 

[Mevansuto]

Could be, I've never played with magic mods much since EE2.

The definitive magic block mod.

 

[Celestialphoenix]

The magicalness comes from something that you have to learn and do.

Or something you copy from pastebin.

 

[SatanicSanta]

Or something you copy from pastebin.

Eh, that's the equivalent of copying a setup from pictures/videos, but for CC.

 

[RavynousHunter]

The logic is taking over the forums

Good. We must find temper our emotion with logic, or risk the destruction of the cosmos. Do you people want the cosmos to die? WHY DO YOU HATE AMERICA?!

 

[KingTriaxx]

I prefer to temper Logic with emotion.

I have to say that I do use pastebin get sometimes, mostly for programming that's hopelessly out of my league. Darkbobo00's remote control turtle for example. But I prefer to write my own programs for most things. Half the fun is learning to make magic.

TC4 is much less magic block, much more ZOMG awesome. It's hard to explain until you've played with infusion.[DOUBLEPOST=1403706179][/DOUBLEPOST]Also, I'm perfectly fine with 4 FPS in exchange for the shiny.

 

[King Lemming]

Some folks, like King Lemming, focus more on performance over aesthetics, whereas folks like Azanor and Reika tend to go more for a certain aesthetic, be it visual or functional.

This isn't *quite* the case. TE does have a very certain aesthetic to it, and it's actually a very integral part of the mod. I just won't include models that don't "fit" with Minecraft. You're correct that I won't have constant chunk updates, either, but nobody really should - that's just bad design. But any time a block has an on/off state, or any sort of change which is communicated between server and client, you've sacrificed some tiny amount of performance. And that's okay. The point is not to overdo it.

I'm not averse to fancy particles, but we don't want to overuse them. We keep the models blocky on purpose, so it fits with the rest of the world. Round (or really, non blocky) things in Minecraft, or things at higher than default resolution pull you out of the immersion. We didn't want that.

We may give dynamos some sort of optional animation, but it still won't go too much against the essence of Minecraft itself.

Come to think of it, I guess you're right. Maybe that's what seems stagnant about tech mods - to do X, I just plop down an X-er block and it's done; there's one reasonable solution. AE does it to storage, MFR does it for farming, countless mods do it to mining, Computercraft somewhat does it to controlling systems. They're just bland little boxes that keep all their interesting, watchable state inside, unless you take the effort to check it. RedPower's things show their state - you can glance at a tube and see what it's carrying and if it's been marked, or look at a logic gate to see what's inside, or check a battery box's charge level with no GUIs.

I agree completely, that's why I'm surprised anyone would call TE all that magic-blocky. You can pretty clearly tell when things are working (on/off state), you know which sides are which, you can check energy levels at a glance on the cells, fluid in tanks, etc.

This is also why TE doesn't have a mining device.

 

[Planetguy]

TC4 is much less magic block, much more ZOMG awesome. It's hard to explain until you've played with infusion.

As someone who's given up on Thaumcraft because of its research system, is it worth pursuing?

 

[PhilHibbs]

As someone who's given up on Thaumcraft because of its research system, is it worth pursuing?

Depends on which version of research you gave up on and why.

 

[RedBoss]

As someone who's given up on Thaumcraft because of its research system, is it worth pursuing?

I think you gave up too early since the research system has configs for easy now. Plus there's a handy cheat Site that solves aspect chains for regular research. Not to mention that thaumcraft and it's addons have fantastic tools, weapons, and devices. I'd say you gave up too soon.

 

[Gnomeo]

Come to think of it, I guess you're right. Maybe that's what seems stagnant about tech mods - to do X, I just plop down an X-er block and it's done; there's one reasonable solution. AE does it to storage, MFR does it for farming, countless mods do it to mining, Computercraft somewhat does it to controlling systems. They're just bland little boxes that keep all their interesting, watchable state inside, unless you take the effort to check it. RedPower's things show their state - you can glance at a tube and see what it's carrying and if it's been marked, or look at a logic gate to see what's inside, or check a battery box's charge level with no GUIs.

It's a little bit more than just seeing items in tubes. RedPower interacts with the environment where other mods do not. In a mod like Thermal Expansion, you build a single block that performs a specific function. In RedPower2, you build several blocks worth of components that together perform a function.

One example is mossy cobblestone generation. Forestry has the Moistener, which is a single block machine that when you pipe in water and wheat will slowly turn cobblestone into mossy cobblestone. In RP2, placing cobblstone near running water will slowly turn that cobblestone into mossy cobblestone. In order to create an automated system, you need a Deployer to place the cobblestone, a Block Breaker to remove the mossy cobblestone from the world, tubes to transport items around, and redstone wiring to activate it. Instead of a single block, your process takes up several blocks and is present in the environment instead of existing in a GUI somewhere.

 

[Arkandos]

It's a little bit more than just seeing items in tubes. RedPower interacts with the environment where other mods do not. In a mod like Thermal Expansion, you build a single block that performs a specific function. In RedPower2, you build several blocks worth of components that together perform a function.

One example is mossy cobblestone generation. Forestry has the Moistener, which is a single block machine that when you pipe in water and wheat will slowly turn cobblestone into mossy cobblestone. In RP2, placing cobblstone near running water will slowly turn that cobblestone into mossy cobblestone. In order to create an automated system, you need a Deployer to place the cobblestone, a Block Breaker to remove the mossy cobblestone from the world, tubes to transport items around, and redstone wiring to activate it. Instead of a single block, your process takes up several blocks and is present in the environment instead of existing in a GUI somewhere.

You sound like you'd like Resonant Induction

 

[Mevansuto]

You sound like you'd like Resonant Induction

Who wouldn't?
No, seriously?

 

[Arkandos]

Who wouldn't?
No, seriously?

Crazy people. Or people too crazy to be crazy.

 

[KingTriaxx]

I'm not a fan of it. But that's just my preference.

If you gave up on TC3 research, it's worth seeing how you like the new game. If you gave up because you got tired of doing it, like I did after the fifth time, I'd say just grab the creative version of the book and skip the research all together. It's not really necessary for the progression. Plus it's just too much fun to play with not to at least give a chance.

 

[Planetguy]

Depends on which version of research you gave up on and why.

TC4, on a survival server. I made a thaumometer and looked at a whole bunch of things. I got the minigame to a state where it seemed like all the nodes should have connected, but they didn't, and then I ran out of essentia and moved on to other mods.

 

[Mevansuto]

TC4, on a survival server. I made a thaumometer and looked at a whole bunch of things. I got the minigame to a state where it seemed like all the nodes should have connected, but they didn't, and then I ran out of essentia and moved on to other mods.

Yes, you must have played 4.0. The minigame has changed since then, give it another try.

 

[KingTriaxx]

Oh, yeah, that one. I liked it personally, but a lot of people didn't.