New to Mods/Overwhelmed
- Thread starter Hoss9424
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Oh, they aren't? Well I used them to connect a generator to some lasers. These are the lossy ones ^^
They aren't lossy since a bugfix in 6.4.0 - however, that bugfix restored loops. It's one or the other apparently.
Because BuildCraft pipes have traditionally acted on a pipe-by-pipe basis and not a network, like... pretty much every system. It adds a lot to its behaviour and makes them much more reliable in theory (the practice suffers from a lack of developers) - that makes any clever energy algorithm non-trivial.
The first mods I learned to use were IC2 and Buildcraft. (Because IC2 had no item movement at all.) Of course, my first mod pack was Ultimate, so you can guess where the problem showed up. One of the best starter mods I'd suggest, on thinking about it is actually Thaumcraft. Because it's magically based, but at the same time has the same kind of tech feel and uses a bunch of concepts similar to what the tech mods do. You'll move items, work out how to move 'fluids', and actually be able to automate not only most of what tech can, but even a few things it can't. Add the fact that it's got one of the two best guide books available to help you? I can't think of a better place to start.
The other best guide book, is Botania's. Which is another excellent industrial magic mod. The only complaint that I have is it's more 'power' dependent. You'll find that for some time, all you're doing is finding ways to generate greater and greater amounts of mana. Yes, you're getting cool toys, but so many of them are so you can make more potent methods of making mana. It's got the same issue as a lot of the tech mods, which I refer to as Base Trapping. Essentially you'll keep finding reasons or a need to just sit in your base, tweaking things to make them better or more efficient and you don't get out to explore. Compare to the necessity to hunt down Thaumcraft nodes, and you'll see what I'm getting at.
Of course if you're not into magic mods, which I get that not everyone is, the Triad of Buildcraft, Forestry, and Railcraft are still excellent ones to learn. A lot of depth if you want it, but relatively simple to just dip into. (Bees or not bees, the ultimate question.) Railcraft has never been a fast starting mod, even though it's extremely useful even now. Because Steam is Steam, whether generated by Railcraft boilers, TE dynamos, or Big Reactors. Meaning you can generate power for any more that has a steam method, just by hooking it to a Railcraft boiler. It can also be almost entirely automated with itself. (lacking only a method of farming trees.) Guess what Forestry can do? As for Buildcraft, when it comes to making the other two, you'll want a lot of resources. The quarry is still an epic, lag proof way to do that. Why lag proof? Build one, let it run for a bit and place a block. It'll stop what it's doing, come back and break that block, then return to what it wasdoing. Try that with the ender quarry and it ignores it. And it still does things no other mod does, or doesn't do as well. Need to remove fluid blocks from the world? Place a pump. Need to put them back? Floodgate. Stupidly cool looking item and power transfer? Pipes. Intelligent routing of all byproducts from a multiple byproduct output operation? Buildcraft pipes. (A few others can as well, but BC looks a lot cooler doing it.)
The other best guide book, is Botania's. Which is another excellent industrial magic mod. The only complaint that I have is it's more 'power' dependent. You'll find that for some time, all you're doing is finding ways to generate greater and greater amounts of mana. Yes, you're getting cool toys, but so many of them are so you can make more potent methods of making mana. It's got the same issue as a lot of the tech mods, which I refer to as Base Trapping. Essentially you'll keep finding reasons or a need to just sit in your base, tweaking things to make them better or more efficient and you don't get out to explore. Compare to the necessity to hunt down Thaumcraft nodes, and you'll see what I'm getting at.
Of course if you're not into magic mods, which I get that not everyone is, the Triad of Buildcraft, Forestry, and Railcraft are still excellent ones to learn. A lot of depth if you want it, but relatively simple to just dip into. (Bees or not bees, the ultimate question.) Railcraft has never been a fast starting mod, even though it's extremely useful even now. Because Steam is Steam, whether generated by Railcraft boilers, TE dynamos, or Big Reactors. Meaning you can generate power for any more that has a steam method, just by hooking it to a Railcraft boiler. It can also be almost entirely automated with itself. (lacking only a method of farming trees.) Guess what Forestry can do? As for Buildcraft, when it comes to making the other two, you'll want a lot of resources. The quarry is still an epic, lag proof way to do that. Why lag proof? Build one, let it run for a bit and place a block. It'll stop what it's doing, come back and break that block, then return to what it wasdoing. Try that with the ender quarry and it ignores it. And it still does things no other mod does, or doesn't do as well. Need to remove fluid blocks from the world? Place a pump. Need to put them back? Floodgate. Stupidly cool looking item and power transfer? Pipes. Intelligent routing of all byproducts from a multiple byproduct output operation? Buildcraft pipes. (A few others can as well, but BC looks a lot cooler doing it.)