Looking for a good Auto Maceration and Smelting Line.

[Chocorate]

so first you put the macerator, then you put the pipe and the smelter. Yeah the items overflow and stuff but that's part of the fun!

 

[Exasperation]

I think Thermal Expansion should add a new machine: The Ice Cream Extruder.
Then all will be right with the world.

That seems over-complicated to me. They should just modify the glacial precipitator to accept milk. ;-)

And add a sno-cone mode.

 

[tehBlobLord]

I think regular IC and Buildcraft machines should have the same input output configuration tab as thermal expansion. That'd be awesome.

That would be stealing an idea from KingLemming and make the TE machines less unique. Its like if EE3 suddenly had golems that did exactly what the TC ones do.
There are pros and cons to all system; this is a huge pro about the BC system.
Side-note; Which "regular Buildcraft machines"? In "vanilla" buildcraft there are no machines (except the quarry/pump/mining well).

 

[Vaygrim]

That seems over-complicated to me. They should just modify the glacial precipitator to accept milk. ;-)

And add a sno-cone mode.

Now THAT is a genius idea.

 

[Hydra]

That would be stealing an idea from KingLemming and make the TE machines less unique.

There's nothing wrong in using a good idea someone else thought up. I can hardly imagine King Lemming not wanting for example Forestry machines to adapt that mechanism.

 

[tehBlobLord]

There's nothing wrong in using a good idea someone else thought up. I can hardly imagine King Lemming not wanting for example Forestry machines to adapt that mechanism.

No i'm sure he'd be fine with it, but taking a core mechanic from a different mod takes away that mod's unique-ness (unicity? Uniquification?) and the TE machines would have even less of an advantage over the IC2 ones

 

[Hydra]

No i'm sure he'd be fine with it, but taking a core mechanic from a different mod takes away that mod's unique-ness (unicity? Uniquification?) and the TE machines would have even less of an advantage over the IC2 ones

Aside from that they use a power source that's far superiour to the mess that is IC2?

 

[tehBlobLord]

Aside from that they use a power source that's far superiour to the mess that is IC2?

There are pros and cons to each

PROS:
TE: Awesome intertwining thingy and cool UI and graphics, more machines and diversity
IC2: Better power system built around the early access to energy storage and faster machines + space for upgrades + more advanced machines (induction smelter etc)

CONS:
TE: Clunky power system with no forms of passive generation whatsoever and no upgrade system
IC2: Poor interaction between machines requiring pipes, tubes, autarchic gates etc as well as power transformers.

All in all, IC2 is much easier to use, but harder to automate and TE is better coded but a little clunky (for example, the redstone energy cell is awesome but extremely costly) and uses the inferior BC power system.

 

[Hydra]

How is IC a "better power system"? The actual implementation and the performance implications (not to mention the "aarrgh can't get enough power" console spam on servers) is pretty horrible.

For SMP TE is the superior power system.

 

[tehBlobLord]

How is IC a "better power system"? The actual implementation and the performance implications (not to mention the "aarrgh can't get enough power" console spam on servers) is pretty horrible.

For SMP TE is the superior power system.

TE doesn't add its own power system, it expands on the BC one. The reason that IC2 is superior is that it is easier to use. All of the ways to power BC engines (steam boilers, hobbyist engines, the combustion engine) have to be on for a long time to reach efficiency; its not a "turn on use power turn off" system. Whereas in IC2 you can have a batbox that will only use power if you decide to smelt something in your furnace, with BC you'll have to be using your power all of the time or you lose efficiency; not a problem if you're rich, but if you're OCD about loss like I am this is almost crippling (not to mention the vanilla BC pipes which explode if you don't use their power). The TE redstone energy cell and conduits combat this to a certain extent but it is a relatively mid-game option, which is when it is less useful. In IC2 the batbox is perhaps the third or fourth thing you will make.

 

[Hydra]

TE doesn't add its own power system, it expands on the BC one. The reason that IC2 is superior is that it is easier to use.

Tell that to all the people who connect a generator to a macerator using gold cables and wondering why it isn't working.

All of the ways to power BC engines (steam boilers, hobbyist engines, the combustion engine) have to be on for a long time to reach efficiency; its not a "turn on use power turn off" system.

Simply not true. The simply engines need no / hardly any warm up time. And hobbyist engines are just meant to leave running, they last ages on a single stack of charcoal.

Whereas in IC2 you can have a batbox that will only use power if you decide to smelt something in your furnace, with BC you'll have to be using your power all of the time or you lose efficiency; not a problem if you're rich, but if you're OCD about loss like I am this is almost crippling (not to mention the vanilla BC pipes which explode if you don't use their power). The TE redstone energy cell and conduits combat this to a certain extent but it is a relatively mid-game option, which is when it is less useful. In IC2 the batbox is perhaps the third or fourth thing you will make.

The only benefit of IC2 is that early on it's easier to store energy. Aside from that; transporting power over medium distances is very complex and even more so when you want to go inter-dimensional. For BC power you also have WAY more means of generating power.

The reason IC2 is used more is because people know it better. Once you can create conduits BC is vastly superiour and for a few conduits you only need a few gold, hardly an issue (especially if you cheat and use EE3).

 

[tehBlobLord]

Tell that to all the people who connect a generator to a macerator using gold cables and wondering why it isn't working.

Simply not true. The simply engines need no / hardly any warm up time. And hobbyist engines are just meant to leave running, they last ages on a single stack of charcoal.

The only benefit of IC2 is that early on it's easier to store energy. Aside from that; transporting power over medium distances is very complex and even more so when you want to go inter-dimensional. For BC power you also have WAY more means of generating power.

The reason IC2 is used more is because people know it better. Once you can create conduits BC is vastly superiour and for a few conduits you only need a few gold, hardly an issue (especially if you cheat and use EE3).

The problem is that the saving grace to the BC power comes from Railcraft and TE which both improve the system. If you know how to use the mod IC2 (which you should if you've been playing since before TE because back then it was the core of the mod pack (and yes, the modpack-that-must-not-be-named as well) ) then IC2 /should/ be easier to use.
Of course it will be different for everyone and all of the examples that I stated are my personal opinion; I would like to clarify that I do prefer BC over IC2 anyway

 

[Milaha]

I am getting a lot of automation going right now using a combination of hoppers, Gregtech devices (iStuff, and other machines), and AE. It is actually coming together really well. It has certainly taken a bit more to set up than my old systems (particularly in regards to resources), but it is also far and away the best setup I have ever made in terms of what it can handle, and how well it handles it.

 

[Mudrat12]

I personally prefer the Thermal Expansion machines in their variety to output and input from all sides.

 

[Summit]

Yeah, ever since I got into TE I've forgotten about IC2. I only use IC2 for extractors and compressors. Everything else is TE now. Until I get far enough along to get building GregTech.

 

[Guswut]

Yeah, ever since I got into TE I've forgotten about IC2. I only use IC2 for extractors and compressors. Everything else is TE now. Until I get far enough along to get building GregTech.

Does this also include jetpacks/tools/armor in general?

 

[KirinDave]

The only benefit of IC2 is that early on it's easier to store energy.

And route it. And cut energy routes to disable machines automatically. And it's easier to know when a battery is empty (T2 and greater storage does this for free). And the cabling is easier to make. And the cabling is actually cheaper once you get infrastructure in place to resource-multiply. And it's substantially easier to generate medium workloads of energy (you can get by with generators for a LONG time). Oh, and it tends to be slightly more efficient early on, and has some of the most efficient generation mechanisms in the game.

I personally consider IC2 power to be kinda OP compared to BC power. You need big diamond-hungry infrastructure and like 10kJ just to know if your diamond-based, rather small battery is empty or not. And as for medium-distance and interdimensional transfer of power? Everyone forgets the humble MFSU cart. Which, I might add, is 100% efficient. Is it a tesseract? No... That's true. But one MFSU can dump its contents to another pretty fast, and when one is on wheels that's a pretty cheap power line.

 

[Guswut]

Everyone forgets the humble MFSU cart. Which, I might add, is 100% efficient. Is it a tesseract? No... That's true. But one MFSU can dump its contents to another pretty fast, and when one is on wheels that's a pretty cheap power line.

I know I did when I built a fairly simple two-ender-chest turtle script to move batteries around. For a while, when diamonds were scarce, I'd save up my glass cable by using turtles to move batteries around the general area. It beats running a big long run under a large area.

Between an MFSU cart and a battery mover (using lapcrystals instead of re-batteries), the choice depends on how much power you need most surely.

 

[Summit]

Does this also include jetpacks/tools/armor in general?

Well, I do love the jet pack. As for armour I mostly go for Thaumium armour with super enchants. I can't live without my Traveler's boots. Starting a new world hurts until I have them again. I've never built Quantum. I've used it in test worlds a time or two, but generally don't get that far advanced in legit worlds before getting bored and starting anew. As for tools, since the drill costs so much (GregTech) I spend most of the game using RP2 gem or Thaumium tools. Got to love that Repair enchant.

 

[PhilHibbs]

Tell that to all the people who connect a generator to a macerator using gold cables and wondering why it isn't working.

Why would someone use gold cables when copper ones work? I didn't make any gold cables until I realised that I needed them for something. Is this really a common mistake?

The simply engines need no / hardly any warm up time. And hobbyist engines are just meant to leave running, they last ages on a single stack of charcoal.

I was nervous of BC because the early engines (apart from the pitifully weak Redstone Engine) have a tendency to explode. IC2 stuff only explodes when you progress to higher tier machines and so should know what you're doing and have the resources to replace the occasional smoking hole in your base.

The only benefit of IC2 is that early on it's easier to store energy. Aside from that; transporting power over medium distances is very complex and even more so when you want to go inter-dimensional. For BC power you also have WAY more means of generating power.

TE energy transportation is too easy IMO. REC just seems like a cheat item.