Gregtech Appreciation Thread

[DarkWasp]

I've played several MMOs, but I have a very small grind tolerance. Very few of my MMO experiences lasted past one month due to grind. That said, I don't mind GregTech's level of difficulty and time at all. In fact, now that I know how to do it all, I could probably get started on very advanced machines within a day or two if I started over.

I think the closest thing MMOs have to offer in order to compare with GT would have to be EVE Online. There are many steps to several processes, a few procedures can take a few hours straight and waiting for materials from quarries is somewhat comparable to waiting for research/training in EVE.

Both are very interesting and advanced, but EVE takes WAY more time.

Unlike many of you, I actually like the fact that GT messes with other mods. If you don't like the way Greg goes with this stuff, then I can understand how it would be a big problem. However, if you are like me and actually like the balance changes he makes, messing with the other mods is the best way to go. It doesn't lower my appreciation for those mods at all, while it allows for a slightly more consistent difficulty level across the board. When I find something that's too easy I'm more expecting GT to fix it than I'm expecting that mod's team to. And that's perfectly alright for them, not everyone wants to play the game in hard mode, not every modder needs to take the time to develop it. However, since GT is a hardmode mod made to be played on top of a modded game, it only makes sense that GT should make modifications to those mods that their respective teams shouldn't have to make.

 

[Ben.W]

Is the plate bending machine recipe not just four pistons, two compressors, two circuits, and a conveyor module? Was it recently changed?

I don't think even Greg would make an item that is literally impossible to craft.

the conveyor module requires a battery and aluminum plates.

 

[KirinDave]

I find myself much less appreciative of GT over time. For a few reasons:

1. Greg's sort of paving a new path for his mod but not cleaning up the other stuff behind him. The net result is a very scatterbrained mod. For example, do I build an automatic macerator or a universal macerator? How many tools do I need? Is the vacuum freezer actually useful? Doesn't that mean you need chrome before you can make effective reactor designs, but it's typical to use basic reactors to help you on your way to chrome?
2. Greg's attitude is getting wilder over time. He's in a big fight over the OmniWrench and is demanding that the omniwrench have durability in order to be allowed into his wrench whitelist. It doesn't make a ton of sense for "tools to wear out" given that in the real world many well-maintained tools literally are passed down generationally and way exceed spec
3. Greg's notion of progression is too brittle. No one wants big RP2-style mods anymore unless they're incredibly robust in the face of mixed modpack play. Everything Greg does imposes on other mod authors. For example, Greg blames mDiyo for mDiyo's tools being able to cook+fortune any smeltable object, but Greg is the one who introduced the smelting recipe and then demands everyone else interpret it exactly the way he does.

The problem is that IC2 seems very, very, very dated without Greg around. Even with Greg around, the ecosystem stands out as an ugly and somewhat dated mod when compared to current stars of the show like Minefactory Reloaded, Thermal Expansion, and Thaumcraft. So Greg is propping up IC2 with new content, and people want IC2 to live on. Until someone else takes that away from Greg he's probably going to carry on the way he's carried on.

 

[egor66]

The way I see it & I'll not comment for or against, but try give an unbiased view, the core ic2 is somewhat static, addon mods are to some extent propping up ic2, but one thing that ic2 has going for it, is that its machines we all know & have used in the past, there still useful & stable options for most factory builders, the upgrade system makes them very powerful, but no new items are rolled out unlike other mods that we see new items with each new version, now to the addon mods filling this void in no small way, look at of some what RichardG has done with turtle, yes I know thats more CC related but RG is a ic2 dev, then theres GT this mod, I think is heading off in its own direction & one day will be a stand-alone mod, I dont dislike the mod, it does bring a lot to the MC table, but do have issues with the author overstepping his boundaries, elongating the life of a game is a good thing but how this can be achieved is a balancing act that most big software houses cant get right & they have brainstorming sessions & daily meeting to bandy around ideas, one person alone has a blinkered perspective & this is what I beleave we are seeing in this case.

My main gripe as I have stated over & over is that this gets way to much attention, other mods just as deserving or more so, in my book the best mod is one that does whats its intended too with out messing anything else up, atm the mods I enjoy most are Thermal Expansion it just works as its meant too & makes automation easy, forestry brings so much to MC, some parts I am not a huge fan of but can live with, MFR again makes making system automation easy, BC pipes & gates, SC for most all of it, RC who dont like RC, AE well I need not even explain why, then there are mods like CC I am not a coder but find the turtles often very useful & even over powered if used with RG's mod, DartCraft I have started to use & find it a fun mod but needs balance, the Rednet by powercryastal just starting out with that one but have plans & ideas to test, there are many many more I could keep listing, all just as deserving as the one we see day after day reposted.

I wonder if a sticky thread for GT related questions/rants/ideas/debates would be the answer, or is the GT forums the place for that in reality, ether way something should be done to help curb this obsession on these forums, no I am not attempting to act like a forum mod but do beleave we the ftb forumers need to find a solution.

 

[Zengrath]

I like Gregtech a lot. I'd hate to play without it now. I find that gregtech gives me a lot more to do in the long run. Before it was simply too boring too fast, now i have things to keep improving and getting better at the longer i play and don't feel like I've hit a brick wall yet. Funny thing is i don't' really see the mod as hard or complicated at all, in fact even with gretech hardcore mode and all i still find minecraft overall easy. i started playing again about a little over a month ago, and in that time i've explored most of every mod now and I've only died ONCE! And I'm at the point where i actually have majority of the recipes memorized again, so is that really hard??? Should it be easy to make every item in the game within just weeks (like i used to last times i've played minecraft)? no i don't think so, after you made everything then it just becomes dull and you wait a few more months to start over when there is new updates.

Even my aunt who isn't too great at the same loves it. i'm amazed at all things she is able to make and do that i thought was fairly complicated myself, but in end it's really not that hard... It just requires time to understand is all.

 

[Ryiah]

Even my aunt who isn't too great at the same loves it. i'm amazed at all things she is able to make and do that i thought was fairly complicated myself, but in end it's really not that hard... It just requires time to understand is all.

Your statement comes across as "If you don't like GregTech, you probably don't understand it". Maybe that is not how you intended for it to read, but that's how I read it. I never found GregTech to be difficult. As others have stated, it is not difficult but tedious. I simply don't like the degree of tedium it adds to Minecraft so I don't use it.

Researching more into GregTech won't change my opinion.

 

[YX33A]

Your statement comes across as "If you don't like GregTech, you probably don't understand it". Maybe that is not how you intended for it to read, but that's how I read it. I never found GregTech to be difficult. As others have stated, it is not difficult but tedious. I simply don't like the degree of tedium it adds to Minecraft so I don't use it.

Researching more into GregTech won't change my opinion.

Just saying, but you're seeming like a jerk for taking a statement in a way that is offensive to you so you can bitch.

And you may be surprised if you looked into the thing's GT has. Plenty of people can't see past the nerfs. Plenty of people get all kinds of pissed when they see the scaffold nerf or the RP2 Block Breaker Recipe change. And sometimes even I get upset with some of his "balancing". But it's like looking at the toe of a camel and saying "Now I understand Camels" to look at the nerfs and say you hate it. You gotta dig a bit deeper, gut that camel, crawl inside it and don't come out 'til daybreak. Or until your friend says there's a Holiday Inn just across the dune, and at that point, you may have done some Feng Shui in there.

That being said, don't not use GT because Greg is a fool in many ways, but point and laugh at his mistakes and stupid "balance" attempts like the "Omni-Wrench Needs a Durability because no tool outlives the owner". I think Greg is a fool, but I enjoy his mod regardless. If he breaks the Omni-Wrench he'll have plenty of people telling him to change it back and plenty of servers never using GT. But I note that many of the issues he's having with his mod and other mods are because his mod changes things in weird ways.(compressor for ore blocks for example and the smelt them to get ores out again is ripe for ore duping with TConstruct, so brb making a platinum block and a fortune autosmelt pick).

 

[King Lemming]

I'm going to take a fairly standard mod, Thermal Expansion, and compare it to Gregtech. Note that they could both be considered addons.

Incorrect. As far as I'm concerned, this invalidates pretty much any comparison you want to make between the two. TE is BuildCraft compatible because it's a nice thing to do, BC is absolutely not required for TE to run.

 

[ForJagler]

Yes , in any circumstance , a guy would see this and say "BC is an addon to thermal expansion" Same goes to gregtech, its an addon cause needs IC2 stuff , though it looks like a whole new power system.

 

[Loufmier]

Yes , in any circumstance , a guy would see this and say "BC is an addon to thermal expansion" Same goes to gregtech, its an addon cause needs IC2 stuff , though it looks like a whole new power system.

new power system? cant remember that GT had something that changed IC2 power system, like conduits.

 

[ForJagler]

I mean machinery and shiz , all runs on power , Power system [Apply genius face here]

 

[Loufmier]

I mean machinery and shiz , all runs on power , Power system [Apply genius face here]

oh.. that machinery and shiz, seems to be killing EU power generation rather efficiently, because you`re pretty much stuck with low tier generator until you get high tier ones.

 

[egor66]

Incorrect. As far as I'm concerned, this invalidates pretty much any comparison you want to make between the two. TE is BuildCraft compatible because it's a nice thing to do, BC is absolutely not required for TE to run.

Correct me if I'm wrong but as I remember it TE was created as an exercise in how Isided & gui's could & should work, the rest is history as it was such a success, an instant hit if you like, that its now a staple mod for both early & end game builds, the only one issue I ever had with TE is that there should be a loss mechanic for liquid/item tesseracts like we see with power tesseract, but thats just mho, for that kind of OP there should be a cost .

btw its nice to see dev's comment on these forums tnx Lemming, Sengir, Powercrystals for taking the time.

 

[ForJagler]

For liquids it may be possible to reduce it like energy , but people might not like it since they might need a full bucket not a loss , but for item loss ... Not too much appreciated , cause people running there quarrys will have a random chance of diamond for example to be loss , not to handy....

 

[Dravarden]

Gregtech in my opinion: a mod that adds good new stuff, but has stupidly tedious recipes and nerfes stuff it shouldn't (I want my tin buckets and my scarffold back!)

AKA gregnerf.


Ps: waiting for the flamewar/off topic.

 

[egor66]

For liquids it may be possible to reduce it like energy , but people might not like it since they might need a full bucket not a loss , but for item loss ... Not too much appreciated , cause people running there quarrys will have a random chance of diamond for example to be loss , not to handy....

Yep that was the idea, for that kind or power there should be a down side, just mho, btw I think I have an idea why its not implemented.

 

[Grydian2]

I use gregtech. I enjoy some of the things it does with dusts and ores working together. I like the industrial grinder. HOWEVER... My god gregtech is like the bratty step child in the corner that cant get along with others. If its not his way then its no one's way. I get really tired of digging through configs to fix this things it broke. Often time finding I cant quite make it back to the way it was before gregtech. I like what it adds. I hate the nerf bat. I am constantly nerfing the nerf bat. And each release he makes it a little harder for me to undo his well bratty behavior. Perfect example is how he is changing the wrench mechanics and basically giving the bird to Omniwrench.. (might be why KL aint to thrilled with gregtech right now)... This made modular powers suits power tool stop working with ic2 machines. And it was targeted to the omniwrench... It seems wrong to basically change another mods behavior. Work on your own code not others... Yet I am sticking with it for now. If his melodramatic bs continues and he has to force everyone to play the way he wants to then I will abandon gregtech. Like he took out the buildcrat chipset circuts cross compatibility because he doesnt like the assembly table and he doesnt think anyone should use it... its like he is 12... Its frustrating because some of his toys are cool. If he could just get off the ego trip everyone has to like minecraft the way I do these forum fights wouldnt happen. people have a real beef with mr greg and the fans cant see it. Yes its cool. Yes its a pain in the ass. end of story.

 

[KirinDave]

Incorrect. As far as I'm concerned, this invalidates pretty much any comparison you want to make between the two. TE is BuildCraft compatible because it's a nice thing to do, BC is absolutely not required for TE to run.

You know that these folks are straight-up trolling you, right? Like you in particular because of the Omni Wrench kerfuffle. Greg seems to think that because he's the only thing really propping up IC2 right now that everyone else needs to dance around his notion of "balance." I hope mDiyo doesn't waver on his fortune tools.

Honestly, I'm amazed that you are as patient with Greg given all the stunts he pulls with you in mind. Especially given how accommodating you've been, and how Greg keeps making all sorts of attacks on Thermal Expansion in his words and his code. Have you noticed how Gregtech machines behave when hooked up to TE power networks? They will basically always explode within minutes of being placed on the same network as a redstone energy cell, but not before lighting on fire and making every other machine explode.

And he's the guy who always talks about historical precedent, and yet when his machine's buffers are full suddenly it's cool to overturn the entire MJ power system. :\ After all, EU machines can explode, right?

I wish you guys had some high-end power generation fun in Thermal Expansion. If you had this, there'd be no game-wise reason to have gregtech in any pack. None. All he provides is item treadmills for people who like external game goals and some endgame fun with power.

 

[dgdas9]

It took me so long to find this week's gregtech thread...You have milions of them, why don't you see them and use'em...

 

[King Lemming]

Yep that was the idea, for that kind or power there should be a down side, just mho, btw I think I have an idea why its not implemented.

It's not implemented because Tesseracts are already far and away the most expensive way to do teleportation. Phased Transport Pipes and Ender Chests / Tanks are both ludicrously cheaper.

So yeah, we're good here.