Ideas for projects? + (timed rainmaker question).

[PoisonWolf]

Hi there! I've been playing FTB for about a month now with a buddy of mine on our personal 2-player server. I must say, kudos to all the developers for this mod, it's simply astounding!

Having said that, I was wondering if you guys had any suggestion/tips on stuff to do, or things to try. We've reached a point in the game where iridium is a non-issue, and now it appears to just be a question of building more and more solar panels (kind of dull). I tried a lightning rod farm, and the rarity of a true thunderstorm makes the lightning rod a moot item (IMHO), in comparison to solar panels.

So right now, I was wondering if any of you guys had any fun things to try or build? It almost feels to me (at least) that once iridium is renewable, you've reached the end-game state for FTB.

Cheers!
P.S. We're still looking for the ever elusive iridium ore block to be silk-touched and placed on our holy pedestal for worshipping. LOL.

 

[Oatmonster]

Use the search bar, there are quite a few threads already asking the same thing.

I personally suggest playing with bees and trees.

I once found an iridium ore block in a game of ABBA rules and still lost.

 

[PoisonWolf]

Use the search bar, there are quite a few threads already asking the same thing.

I personally suggest playing with bees and trees.

I once found an iridium ore block in a game of ABBA rules and still lost.

Thanks! I've finished bees at this point (it's where our iridium comes from, lol). I don't quite get trees and can't get it to work, or at least not in a way that's as easy as bees.

Searched various terms and found some interesting posts such as this.

Having said that, I had a question for those who knew the answer, how does one go about making an automated rain-maker dispenser?

I've tried a barrel setup with iodine capsules and an autarchic gate pulling out of it, that is connected to the rainmaker. The gate is set to pulse on a redstone signal. Using a Timer, it works for a little bit, and then it stops. No idea why.

I'm essentially trying to get it to rain on a timed basis to make my lightning rods viable. =)

 

[Oatmonster]

I think using a deployer connected to a timer works better.

 

[PoisonWolf]

I think using a deployer connected to a timer works better.

Wow, that deployer seems pretty neat. I Just tried it, unfortunately, it doesn't work. Timer > Deployer > Rainmaker. When I put torches in, it did put torches down, which showed that the timer was working. Then I put it next to a rainmaker, and it wouldn't right-click the capsule. I guess not everything works with the deployer.

Then I tried Timer > Deployer > Barrel > Autarchic Gate > Rainmaker. Still doesn't work. Apparently the barrel can't right click stuff into the barrel either.

Any other ideas? I'd love to get regular rain going.

 

[kysoto]

you could always use a command block and to make it more legit have it eat an iodine capsule (with a void pipe) i believe the command is toggeldownfall true

 

[Oatmonster]

Hmm, they must've changed it. I remember deploy ears working while pipes wouldn't.

What do you mean by it worked for a bit then stopped?

 

[PoisonWolf]

Hmm, they must've changed it. I remember deploy ears working while pipes wouldn't.

What do you mean by it worked for a bit then stopped?

Like, initially, it would work, the timer would trigger the autarchic gate. But after a while, the redstone signal would no longer activate the gate, even if I swapped the timer out with an actual redstone torch. I would need to literally place down the autarchic gate again, then it would receive the pulse again. It makes me think that the autarchic gate is not really reliable with redstone pulses. Do any of you have this issue with autarchic gates? My buddy and I have this issue constantly with autarchic gates being finicky like that (we're running the latest mindcrack as recommended by the launcher).

Anyhow, I figured out a way to get it working, thanks to all your suggestions of course. It got me thinking about vanilla blocks and such! Haha. Rocking it old school! I finally got it to rain once every 30 minutes now.

I used a Timer > Cobblestone > Redstone torch attached to cobblestone > Dispenser above redstone torch > and an array of 3 obsidian pipes 1 block away from the dispenser that catches the iodine capsules that are shot out. The capsule is then piped into the rainmaker. Such a crude way, but it works. Lol.

 

[CapturetheBomb]

Engineering at its finest right there.

 

[kysoto]

if you can pipe it in, have you tried tubes?

 

[PoisonWolf]

Engineering at its finest right there.

Lol. I guess I could have gone with transposers and everything...but all the unnecessary power needed.

if you can pipe it in, have you tried tubes?

Do tubes have some sort of an ancillary block that has a timer function? I ask because I rarely, if ever, use tubes.

 

[Wekmor]

So with this aren't you wasting cells when it is raining and the timer triggers the dispenser?

 

[PoisonWolf]

So with this aren't you wasting cells when it is raining and the timer triggers the dispenser?

It does, but rain comes so scarcely that it doesn't bother me much, given the abundant amounts of the ingredients that I have laying around to make the capsules. I could also make a rain-detector via a raintank to save the capsules, but to me, ensuring a constant supply of EU to the mass-fabricator is important. At this point, I'm having a steady 1.5k EU/t to the mass-fab regardless of day/night.

It does interest me whether thunderstorm can "replace" existing rain conditions, however. This in particular, is what I am unsure about as I have no idea how the thunderstorm code is written in minecraft.

I've read in other places on this forum that rods only function at 10% of their capacity in regular rain vs true thunderstorms. Hence when a thunderstorm appears, I get super excited cause it's an instant 100 million EU for 4 rods. Lol

 

[Akeldama280]

You could have made a charged mystcraft age! They produce lots of lightning

 

[PoisonWolf]

You could have made a charged mystcraft age! They produce lots of lightning

Oh yeah, that was definitely one way to go. But I wanted to make do with what I got. Lol.

 

[Akeldama280]

True. And I like being able to say "hey I made my world's weather my bitch! Now it rains all the time."

 

[namiasdf]

Try playing with all the different mods.

Maybe create a new map, with different goals. i.e. Put restrictions on what you can do and see how it pushes you to create better/more efficient systems. Successfully integrating multiple systems that synergize is also pretty rewarding. Something you don't get from mass solar panels I find.

 

[PoisonWolf]

Try playing with all the different mods.

Maybe create a new map, with different goals. i.e. Put restrictions on what you can do and see how it pushes you to create better/more efficient systems. Successfully integrating multiple systems that synergize is also pretty rewarding. Something you don't get from mass solar panels I find.

That's a good suggestion, but not who I am as a player. My philosophy, in terms of restrictions, is to create efficient systems in the sense that it uses the least amount of CPU cycles. Systems are a means to an end, and I find that making a base out of iridium blocks is much more rewarding. This is why I prefer just solar panels and lightning rods.

 

[namiasdf]

That's a good suggestion, but not who I am as a player. My philosophy, in terms of restrictions, is to create efficient systems in the sense that it uses the least amount of CPU cycles. Systems are a means to an end, and I find that making a base out of iridium blocks is much more rewarding. This is why I prefer just solar panels and lightning rods.

I lol'd. (In a good way)

Well then it's really up to you. I guess saying "find something fun to do" defeats the purpose of this thread, but I suggested what is fun to me, heh.

Build super cool bases in the nether and the end, expand and expand until you have an empire to rule over? Import tonnes of villagers and tax them (not really) for using your electricity. Create a society.

Dunno... =)

 

[PoisonWolf]

I lol'd. (In a good way)

Well then it's really up to you. I guess saying "find something fun to do" defeats the purpose of this thread, but I suggested what is fun to me, heh.

Build super cool bases in the nether and the end, expand and expand until you have an empire to rule over? Import tonnes of villagers and tax them (not really) for using your electricity. Create a society.

Dunno... =)

Yeah, super cool bases is definitely what we're working on now. We're doing the cliched underwater city.....without removing the water. The challenge of working in a tortoise-like environment is hilarious. I'm also in the process of tree-breeding, which is really fun to me. Making the largest of every tree is awesome. Have you seen a largest chestnut tree? The amount of timers it creates from calculating the chestnut maturation across the leaf blocks is insane!

And boy is the gravichest stupid. I made it, hated how stupid the controls were and shoved it in a chest and stuck to my usual jetpack.