New Thermal Expansion functionality/item: Tesseracts

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Lambert2191

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Jul 29, 2019
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before getting to the end, the Iron -> enderpearl recipe seems too cheap, however, once you get to the end, changing pearls into iron seems too cheap. The problem with putting a value on pearls is that they change in value by an awful lot as soon as you reach the end.
 

Tolgrimm

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Jul 29, 2019
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before getting to the end, the Iron -> enderpearl recipe seems too cheap, however, once you get to the end, changing pearls into iron seems too cheap. The problem with putting a value on pearls is that they change in value by an awful lot as soon as you reach the end.

Yeah, that's the problem if you have almost no additional cost or any kind of "loss" in the process; I won't use the word "balance", because that's always like opening Pandora's Box, but it IMO can never feel right if it's done like that. Maybe I just don't get this mod at all or it will still change fundamentally, but as I said in another thread, to me, personally, this just seems "cheap".
 

Abdiel

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Jul 29, 2019
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Proof of this, Netherrack in Magma Crucibles. KL put it in as a way to get relatively free energy from the Nether without the associated lag that pumping requires. When it was 4kMj/bucket there were two camps.

1: The people who saw it as too expensive since they can just pump lava for free.
2: The people who saw it as too cheap because it didn't require you to set up something as complex as pumping lava.

The fact that it lowered lag on a server never really entered the discussion.
I think that the server load argument was discussed plenty. However, when you change a game mechanic to reduce server load, the mechanic change itself deserves as much discussion as the load reduction. It's not "reduced pump server load by 50%", it's "invented a new mechanic obsoleting lava pumps, which is coincidentally 50% easier on the server". Similar with tesseracts.

In the end the discussion of balance and cost is moot. Notice that every post pointing out how any proposed balance point is trivial starts off with, essentially, "With this other mod you can just..." Why does it make it moot? Because not everyone plays with that other mod. People add, or remove, mods to suit their tastes. So for every person shooting down balance points based on the fact that "with EE3 you can just do this" there's probably just as many people who aren't using EE3. Balance presuming EE3 is present and you screw over those people. Balance presuming EE3 isn't present and the balance is trivial with it in place.
Since this is the FTB forum, I think we should be talking mostly in terms of FTB modpacks. And one of them contains both TE and EE, thus is is a valid point.
 

jnads

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Jul 29, 2019
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Hrm...controversy. My reaction should probably be o_O, but it's more of a :cool:.

If you like 'em, great, have fun. If you don't, disable them - always an option.
I agree.

Just like GregTech -- if you don't like it, disable it. The config options are there. I honestly think they don't need to be nerfed at all, but I was just presenting a reasonable suggestion for those who think they do.


Question: If you pass a RP2 sorted item through a Tesseract, does it preserve the color designation (I don't even know if you can connect Tubes to a Tesseract, but it was just a thought)?
 

Hydra

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Jul 29, 2019
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I agree.

Just like GregTech -- if you don't like it, disable it. ?

That's all fine and dandy if you play solo but that's not the case for most people concerned about balance. Servers tend to have default modpack settings. And finding "the right server" is everything but trivial.
 

Abdiel

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Jul 29, 2019
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That's all fine and dandy if you play solo but that's not the case for most people concerned about balance. Servers tend to have default modpack settings. And finding "the right server" is everything but trivial.
Still, it's possible. And you only have to find one. I myself found a great server playing hardmode everything (and some more via custom configs), just as I like it. I don't want to advertise in here, but if you look up my posts you can follow me to the server thread.
 

ItharianEngineering

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Jul 29, 2019
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I agree.

Just like GregTech -- if you don't like it, disable it. The config options are there. I honestly think they don't need to be nerfed at all, but I was just presenting a reasonable suggestion for those who think they do.


Question: If you pass a RP2 sorted item through a Tesseract, does it preserve the color designation (I don't even know if you can connect Tubes to a Tesseract, but it was just a thought)?
A tesseract does not output into RP2 tubes. When I was testing I had to attach a relay next to it for it to take the items. I assume you could place an in-line sorting machine to recolor the items though.
 

King Lemming

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Jul 29, 2019
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That's all fine and dandy if you play solo but that's not the case for most people concerned about balance. Servers tend to have default modpack settings. And finding "the right server" is everything but trivial.

In my opinion, if the admin(s) can't take the time to poke around in the config files, the server isn't worth playing on. I doubt I'm alone in thinking this way.
 

Abdiel

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Jul 29, 2019
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In my opinion, if the admin(s) can't take the time to poke around in the config files, the server isn't worth playing on. I doubt I'm alone in thinking this way.
Agreed. The downside of easy to use modpacks is that everybody can run a server in their basement, without having any clue how things work or how to deal with problems. Which is great if you want to play with three friends on a LAN, not so much when you're running a public server with dozens of people from the whole world.
 

SaintNicster

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Jul 29, 2019
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In my opinion, if the admin(s) can't take the time to poke around in the config files, the server isn't worth playing on. I doubt I'm alone in thinking this way.
Our server does this, yes. However, this then generally requires that the server owner redistribute the config files so that your client matches what is on the server, as apparently other weird stuff happens when you run it.

To some folks, the fact that you "have" to supply additional configs might make them wonder why you're using a mod pack. Granted, the mod pack does the majority of the heavy lifting when it comes to compatibility, but I'd bet that 75% of the casual modpack users don't think about that and just don't care.
 

Greyed

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Jul 29, 2019
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I think that the server load argument was discussed plenty.

Not in the threads I visited.

However, when you change a game mechanic to reduce server load, the mechanic change itself deserves as much discussion as the load reduction. It's not "reduced pump server load by 50%", it's "invented a new mechanic obsoleting lava pumps, which is coincidentally 50% easier on the server".

Which Magma Crucibles never did. Pumping lava was still there, for free. The minimum cost was 4kMJ. That means that the Netherrack was less efficient than pumping lava. So it was slightly worse than lava pumps but made up for it by being better on server load. And server load is something that everyone, not just SMP admins, should be cognizant of when they are on a server. The SMP server I am on is now debating a map wipe in under a month because of people building structures that are fine in SSP but in SMP have caused the server to crawl to the point where block breaks on the server lag 1-2 seconds after the client, if at all.

Similar with tesseracts.

The way the game is designed pretty much necessitates two things, even in SSP.

1: Forced chunk loading (even in Vanilla).
2: Teleportation blocks for items.

Tesseracts didn't obsolete anything. They do, however, fill a much needed role. One which has been available to us for many, many versions and hasn't yet been included because no "official" version exists for 1.4.x.

Since this is the FTB forum, I think we should be talking mostly in terms of FTB modpacks. And one of them contains both TE and EE, thus is is a valid point.

And other packs don't. Which is kind of my point. Balancing for one or the other screws the one you didn't balance for. We can have those discussions all day by tossing any ol' pack in the mix. We don't. Besides, if there is any fundamental balancing flaw I would say it is best to err on the side of the mod which makes it trivial to enact the other mod's recipe. IE, EE, not TE.
 

ShneekeyTheLost

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Lost as always
Our server does this, yes. However, this then generally requires that the server owner redistribute the config files so that your client matches what is on the server, as apparently other weird stuff happens when you run it.

To some folks, the fact that you "have" to supply additional configs might make them wonder why you're using a mod pack. Granted, the mod pack does the majority of the heavy lifting when it comes to compatibility, but I'd bet that 75% of the casual modpack users don't think about that and just don't care.
It's called a Config Pack, MultiMC makes them easy and painless to use. If people don't want to go through the second step of 'install from config pack into a new MMC instance', then honestly... they're probably not someone I really want to be sharing a server with.
 

Greyed

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Jul 29, 2019
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Seriously though, I don't balance with EE in mind - it's just not feasible. Pahimar is actually pretty on the ball though. There might be a solution here. :)

To be clear, I'm not grousing at Pahimar and EE, either. I mean it's clear to anyone who watch DW20's last SMP series that EE3 isn't anywhere near where Pahimar wants it to be in terms of difficulty.

Oh, and the last time I replied to you I did a Jedi hand wave asking for MJ tools. I hear from someone's video you might be working on getting Modular Power Suits on the MJ network. Not sayin' my Jedi hand wave worked but...

<Jedi Hand Wave>
Logistics network
</Jedi Hand Wave>

...if it is true, thanks much! :D
 

Lambert2191

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Jul 29, 2019
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As I said before, it's impossible to calculate the cost of enderpearls, so the best option is... Don't. Basically, removing the minium stones ability to create ender pearls would solve a lot of the balance arguments :/
 

EternalDensity

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Jul 29, 2019
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That would mean you need 40 iron instead of 16, still no big deal.
And 2.5 times the MJ, which was kinda the main reason for the change.
And since I've almost run out of iron again (I'm building several RC tanks), 40 vs 16 iron isn't completely trivial to me.
 

Saice

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Jul 29, 2019
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Agreed. The downside of easy to use modpacks is that everybody can run a server in their basement, without having any clue how things work or how to deal with problems. Which is great if you want to play with three friends on a LAN, not so much when you're running a public server with dozens of people from the whole world.

That is not really a down side easy to use will always be an upside ... always. It is not the fact it is easy that makes anything an issue. it is peoples core problem with figuring things out on there own or being willing to research on there own. And there is no way to force people to do that without making them give up on what ever it is your trying to make them learn.

At a base many people are stupid. No I'm not being mean but lest be honest. How often do you read a manual to a game before starting it up? When was the last time you honestly read an full EULA before clicking agreed. Do you read the patch notes for every patch BEFORE just installing it and playing? If you tell me you do all that all the time I really can't believe you. The issue is and what makes most of the smart players different from the rest is when you run into something thats odd, you dislike how something works, or you get stuck with something new. Then the smart people will check the configs. Maybe check out wiki. Barring all that even the lazy smart person will pop online as ask the forum users.

So while I agree with the angle you are trying to point to easy to use means more lazy people can get it running without having to check anything. I do not agree it is any sort of downside.
 

Dark0_0firE

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Jul 29, 2019
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While I agree with the good shoop in most respects, I would have to add an "Almost Always" into the equation. With high hopes of not derailing the thread, I say that there are some cases in which "easy to use" tends to cause as much trouble as it solves.
Firearms and Genitalia are two that spring to mind. I'm a firm believer that you should be tested and licensed to use both.
 

Saice

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Jul 29, 2019
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While I agree with the good shoop in most respects, I would have to add an "Almost Always" into the equation. With high hopes of not derailing the thread, I say that there are some cases in which "easy to use" tends to cause as much trouble as it solves.
Firearms and Genitalia are two that spring to mind. I'm a firm believer that you should be tested and licensed to use both.

Really? We are talking about a game here. I can not foresee any point in which easy to use would but a downside for a Mod.