I live here now

  • The FTB Forum is now read-only, and is here as an archive. To participate in our community discussions, please join our Discord! https://ftb.team/discord

KingTriaxx

Forum Addict
Jul 27, 2013
4,266
1,333
184
Michigan
What power lines are you running? HV? Or MV? The loss varies depending on what you're running, but I don't recall specifics.
 

Drbretto

Popular Member
Mar 5, 2016
1,886
781
139
I am interested in ideas for where to go from here, power wise. This is enough to run the basics, but eventually, I'm going to feel a need to fill up a glowing ball of energy with trillions of RF while I run an array of quantum quarries, so my little surplus isn't going to cut it.

I've never done high end power of any kind. The most I've generated was 8k with some severely overpowered solar panels. Right now, I am running on basic canola power from AA, the lightning rod, 24 water wheels, and 4 advanced windmills from immersive engineering. That's pretty much the extent of what I've done in any pack.

There are a few things I'm interested in. First, I could fully automate the rest of the canola setup. I've never bothered with the seeds and the empowering. I've heard it can actually become a decent power source? Or am I past that now?

Speaking of past that, I looked into deep resonance. Not only did it seem more complicated than I was expecting, but it also seems like I'm totally past this one too? Or did I stop reading too soon?

So, if the next step is going to get complicated anyway, should I jump into nuclear craft? I do eventually want the DE reactor, is that something I can get started sooner rather than later? How likely am I to accidentally blow up my whole base? There's a 100% chance I'll do it on purpose. But, I'd rather not log in to find everything got blown up because I took a few days off.

And lastly, and I think most likely, I kind of wanted to build a rainbow generator. Apparently, it does 1 million RF/t when everything is running? I don't know how hard that would be to automate, but I like the challenge.

Anyway, any recommendations? Do I have the wrong impression on anything here? Any mod you'd think might be worth adding into the mix?
 

Drbretto

Popular Member
Mar 5, 2016
1,886
781
139
What power lines are you running? HV? Or MV? The loss varies depending on what you're running, but I don't recall specifics.

They were HV, which would seem like the best option. They even go twice as far between connections, but just running from my batcave to the tower and back again cost me a ton. I switched both lines out with dimensional transceivers, which was a huge bargain,

I still kinda want to run the lines anyway, too, just for the immersion. But, I'd need to be generating enough power to not give a crap.
 
  • Like
Reactions: GamerwithnoGame

OniyaMCD

Well-Known Member
Mar 30, 2015
1,438
496
99
I tend to run Immersive Engineering wires over as short a distance as feasible, because I've found that if my session shuts down unexpectedly for any reason (even unrelated to Minecraft), there's around a 50/50 chance that the coil of wire will just vanish. Mildly annoying with LV wires, frustrating with the higher tiers. Sometimes the connectors still register that 'something is attached', but there's no power flow, so I have to break the connector, replace it, and then attach the new wire.
 
  • Like
Reactions: GamerwithnoGame

KingTriaxx

Forum Addict
Jul 27, 2013
4,266
1,333
184
Michigan
To solve the connection issue, you want either a Breaker Switch, complete with Dire Sound effect, or a Redstone Breaker which I'm pretty sure works with HV. 'Pulse' either and it should be the same as breaking and replacing a wire. (No idea on lost wires, I haven't seen any.) Redstone Breaker is new to 1.12 I believe so hard luck if you're earlier than that.

Deep Resonance, last I looked could get up to 25k per crystal and you could have multiple crystals. Every 10k power needs another generator block attached to the generator controller.

Direwolf played with the Draconic Reactor in his 1.10 season, which is the best place I know of to look for an explanation. (Not a DE fan.)

Last I knew, the Rainbow Generator put out 25 million RF/t, but required all the other types of generators running and keeping a pink and potion generator running is an absolute nightmare.

Extreme Reactors Turbines produce a lot of power, and the top of the line Advanced Generators produce 25k each. (That's with 50 turbines at 500 RF/t.) Advanced Generators sip fuel even at full size, so you can probably pump your basic Canola in and get a lot of power out of several of them.)
 

Drbretto

Popular Member
Mar 5, 2016
1,886
781
139
OK, I'll look at deep resonance again. If those are sustainable numbers, it might be worth it. I think I'll do the rainbow just to see it. I may not be able to sustain it, but I can least build a little contraption to sort everything into their respective generators and rig em all to go off at once. I could even rig it to detect when they're all ready to go. Semi automatic. It'll be fun.

I do ultimately want to do the DE ball, but I looked it up and I'm going to need a lot of RF to get going. Maybe by the time I'm done tasting the rainbow, I'll have enough stored up.
 
  • Like
Reactions: GamerwithnoGame

GamerwithnoGame

Over-Achiever
Jan 29, 2015
2,808
1,507
224
If you delve into Deep Resonance, you'll want to invest in Dense Obsidian (made from obsidian and the spent filter material generated when purifying resonating crystal liquid using the Purifier) to make the chamber in which you generate your power. DR has the side effect of producing a sort of radiation, which can induce hunger at low levels and worse at higher levels - the Dense Obsidian helps to attenuate it and reduce buildup, but don't cut corners (literally) - make sure you include the corners and edges in any chamber you build and not just the walls.

EDIT:

I should also add, this radiation lingers; it gradually fades with time, but it doesn't go on and off as the power generation does, so you'll want to bear that in mind too.
 
Last edited:

KingTriaxx

Forum Addict
Jul 27, 2013
4,266
1,333
184
Michigan
I always found it worth making a Pocket Dimension for containing it. At least until I was able to fully purify a crystal with Diamonds. Higher purity reduces radiation.

Pink generators aren't too bad, if you have a sheep farm, just dye them pink and build up a big stock. Potion generators are a nuisance both because the potions tend not to stack, and because they have a by product of bottles.
 

Drbretto

Popular Member
Mar 5, 2016
1,886
781
139
Ooh, good call. I never would have thought of that. And that gives me a good excuse to try out dimensions. Not that I couldn't throw it in the deep dark or something.
 
  • Like
Reactions: GamerwithnoGame

GamerwithnoGame

Over-Achiever
Jan 29, 2015
2,808
1,507
224
Ooh, good call. I never would have thought of that. And that gives me a good excuse to try out dimensions. Not that I couldn't throw it in the deep dark or something.
Imagine though, you go into the Deep Dark, and not only do you have the Vashta Nerada to deal with, but also a huge radiation source :D that would be a bad place to visit...
 
  • Like
Reactions: KingTriaxx

Pyure

Not Totally Useless
Aug 14, 2013
8,334
7,191
383
Waterloo, Ontario
Deep Resonance is just fun to do at least once. I like it for a middle-game energy source. Make sure you scavenge a bunch of the worldgen crystals (they spawn in caves). They're needed to feed the laser machine.

Regarding crystal "efficiency": It seems to be a weirdly named property. As far as I can tell it has nothing to do with efficiency, it just determines how quickly the crystal can output power (rf/t). I only focus on Strength and Purity.

When you get into NuclearCraft, technically the reactors are more dangerous than Big Reactors, but considerably less dangerous than IC2 or ReC. The reactor gui itself tells you whether you're generating excess heat. If you are, and you're not switching your reactor on/off to mitigate it, your reactor will eventually explode. If you're not, your reactor is 100% safe unless you happen to mess with the structure somehow.
 
  • Like
Reactions: GamerwithnoGame

KingTriaxx

Forum Addict
Jul 27, 2013
4,266
1,333
184
Michigan
Ah, and don't forget the Ender-genic Generators. (Had to look up the name.) If you can get it working, it's very powerful.
 

Nuclear_Creeper0

Well-Known Member
Mar 30, 2017
1,013
224
79
Deep Resonance is just fun to do at least once. I like it for a middle-game energy source. Make sure you scavenge a bunch of the worldgen crystals (they spawn in caves). They're needed to feed the laser machine.
Nah, I would go to the nether, they're everywhere.
 

Drbretto

Popular Member
Mar 5, 2016
1,886
781
139
I have excessive hoarder disease, so I'm sure I have all the mats I need for most of this stuff, including the crystals. Love all the advice! I will likely dabble in all of these.

Vashta Nerada


Is this the thing that hurts you if you stay dark too long? I only just popped in there for the first time the other day. It seemed neat, but relatively useless, so I thought it might make a good blast zone. Unlike an RF tools dimension, it's free to keep up, too.

But, then again ftb utils chunk loading is spotty between dimensions, so I don't know if I'll do that at all.

Edit: God I cant wait to go home, lol
 
  • Like
Reactions: GamerwithnoGame

OniyaMCD

Well-Known Member
Mar 30, 2015
1,438
496
99
Is this the thing that hurts you if you stay dark too long? I only just popped in there for the first time the other day. It seemed neat, but relatively useless, so I thought it might make a good blast zone. Unlike an RF tools dimension, it's free to keep up, too.

And here I thought it was a grue. Always packs a lot of torches grue repellent.
 

Nuclear_Creeper0

Well-Known Member
Mar 30, 2017
1,013
224
79
By default in all packs? I don't recall ever seeing them in the Nether (although to be fair, they'd blend into the nether colors pretty strongly for me)
I remember finding a bunch in All the Mods, FTB Beyond, and I think Age of Engineering.
 

Drbretto

Popular Member
Mar 5, 2016
1,886
781
139
OK, I got home and was able to log in and check on the progress from the time I was gone. I have a resting surplus of about 250 in sunny weather (a little more in stormy weather from the windmills). It ran for about 3 days almost exactly. My energy ball had about 500m in it when I left, 2.5 billion when I got back:

250/t * 20 tps * 60 seconds * 60 minutes * 24 hours * 3 days = 1.296b

Which means about 700m came from the lightning rod. That means, with the weather up to the gods, it's only generating about 135/t sustained.

Granted, these are quick and dirty numbers and my lightning rod is not at all set up for maximum efficiency. Apparently, there are two things I can do: I guess more fences attached to the antenna still count. They don't need to be straight up. I can try that, but if it' ugly, that's a no go. Alternatively, I can set up more lightning rods under ground, like a bedrock, and run the fences all the way up to the build limit. I can build this into my eventual castle to keep it from looking terrible.

Or, I can just abandon the idea of powering this way and move on to the other options we just discussed.


Oh, I made a little basic ExU2 cobblestone generator just before I left. That actually produced about 4.5 million (pretty much one septuple condensed) in the same timeframe. I don't know wth I'm going to do with any of it yet, but I hear that at a certain level, they can block a wither explosion? Or is that they're just immune to it and the explosion still happens around it? I dunno, either way, I'm gonna need a wither farm soon anyway.