Universal Electricity vs IC2 pros & cons

[Lonewolf187]

Hello everyone:
I have been looking through the Universal Electricity mods and have been playing around with them, however I have been trying to find documentation/tutorials that can help a newbie like me to the mod and I haven't found much so far. The closest mod to Universal Electricity that I have used is IC2 and I know it well, however I understand the mechanics between the two are different in regards to how energy flows and acts.

Basically what I am asking is if anyone who is more experienced with Universal Electricity could you explain what it does better then IC2 and what IC2 does better then Universal Electricity?

 

[Tristam Izumi]

Con to UE: Try to find a wiki that explains it all.

 

[Lonewolf187]

Con to UE: Try to find a wiki that explains it all.

Yes that is one glaring con against UE

 

[Breon]

You're welcome

 

[ShneekeyTheLost]

Con to UE: Try to find a wiki that explains it all.

It is a work in progress. Part of the problem, however, is that features faster than feature documentation can keep up. I've been trying, but only with marginal success. If others also well versed in UE mods were to help document features, that would help out quite a bit.

Also, with the new Experimental branch to IC2... same argument applies. The rules have changed dramatically and are largely undocumented.

One of the biggest 'Pros' for UE is that it is... universal. It will plug into Buildcraft MJ's seamlessly and flawlessly. It is built-in energy conversion with no additional blocks required.

 

[Lonewolf187]

You're welcome

Thank you for that, that should be useful.

It is a work in progress. Part of the problem, however, is that features faster than feature documentation can keep up. I've been trying, but only with marginal success. If others also well versed in UE mods were to help document features, that would help out quite a bit.

Also, with the new Experimental branch to IC2... same argument applies. The rules have changed dramatically and are largely undocumented.

One of the biggest 'Pros' for UE is that it is... universal. It will plug into Buildcraft MJ's seamlessly and flawlessly. It is built-in energy conversion with no additional blocks required.

I didnt know that it could take MJ's. Do I hook up an engine like a gasoline engine to a UE bat box?

 

[ShneekeyTheLost]

I didnt know that it could take MJ's. Do I hook up an engine like a gasoline engine to a UE bat box?

Sure. Or you can use Mekanism's power generators and translate into MJ by attaching a conduit pipe or redstone energy conduit. Or, you can feed a UE Energy Cube via conduit pipe or redstone energy conduit. Either way. Heck, Universal Cable can feed just about anything exactly what it wants, even if you have multiple different energy source requirements on the same line. So one line of Universal Cable could power an IC2 Macerator, a Forestry Carpenter, and a Mekanism Metallurgic Infuser with zero conversion required.

 

[Lonewolf187]

How do the nuclear options between the two compare to each other? I have never tried running an IC2 Nuke before but I've seen DW20 set up a few.

 

[ShneekeyTheLost]

How do the nuclear options between the two compare to each other? I have never tried running an IC2 Nuke before but I've seen DW20 set up a few.

IC2 nuclear reactors... umm... well, let's just say there's better options for energy generation. It's fun to do, but the energy you get compared to the time and resources you put into it... sucks.

The biggest thing you get out of Atomic Energy from UE are the steam turbines, which can be used in conjunction with Railcraft steam boilers and produces significantly more energy per unit of steam for less cost.

 

[Lonewolf187]

The turbines sound interesting, however I was wondering about the differences between the IC2 nuclear reactors and the UE reactors.

 

[Yusunoha]

It is a work in progress. Part of the problem, however, is that features faster than feature documentation can keep up. I've been trying, but only with marginal success. If others also well versed in UE mods were to help document features, that would help out quite a bit.

Also, with the new Experimental branch to IC2... same argument applies. The rules have changed dramatically and are largely undocumented.

One of the biggest 'Pros' for UE is that it is... universal. It will plug into Buildcraft MJ's seamlessly and flawlessly. It is built-in energy conversion with no additional blocks required.

that's my problem with UE. though it may add things faster then that they can keep up with the wiki, it becomes pointless if people don't know how to use it.
there are ofcourse some people willing to toy around with the mods to document on how to use them, but before they've figured that out things have already been added or changed.

the mod developers of UE should really take some time to document everything first. they don't have to document everything, just a good start, then the community can kick it off from there

 

[Loufmier]

The turbines sound interesting, however I was wondering about the differences between the IC2 nuclear reactors and the UE reactors.

if experimental IC2 branch didn't change much then you can describe IC2 reactor as few boxes with complicated GUI, which kinda suck in term of power gen.
AS(EU) reactors doesn't have that GUI complexity but have great structural variability which affects it`s power output. the bigger the better!

 

[RedBoss]

UE doesn't explode of you hit a block with the wrong tool. It doesn't cheat you out of time by breaking into a lesser version of the block you hit with a pick either. I've always despised the punishment doled out in ic2 for simple mistakes, especially on newbies.

Lower tier energy generation can be more interesting with mekanism. Atomic Science has some mild to wild multi block structures like the fairly tame fission reactor to the ridiculously fun fulmination chamber. The reactors are also designed so that you interact with them mainly in the world. IC2 reactors are dull blocks that are configured via a GUI.

 

[Lonewolf187]

UE doesn't explode of you hit a block with the wrong tool. It doesn't cheat you out of time by breaking into a lesser version of the block you hit with a pick either. I've always despised the punishment doled out in ic2 for simple mistakes, especially on newbies.

Lower tier energy generation can be more interesting with mekanism. Atomic Science has some mild to wild multi block structures like the fairly tame fission reactor to the ridiculously fun fulmination chamber. The reactors are also designed so that you interact with them mainly in the world. IC2 reactors are dull blocks that are configured via a GUI.

Well the nuclear stuff looks really cool, and it dose not look too complicated to set up. I've been watching this video:

The Fusion Reactor looks like alot of fun. It also looks like some items give off radiation, the Hazmat suit protects you from the affects, however is there any block that can be built around the structure to block the radiation and\or protect you in the event of an explosion?

 

[RedBoss]

IIRC there's a max radius of the radiation effects, but i don't know of a specific block that can stop the effect. MPS has radiation protection as well. The Talisman of Remedium from Thaumic Tinkerer should prevent the effect or at least cancel it.

 

[Lonewolf187]

Well I have been messing around with UE for 1.6.4 and had a 36LP boiler up and was playing around with the large atomic turbines , however they did not seem to generate alot of power. They dont have a GUI so I could not see how much power they were creating. I also had a platform up at around the 200 lvl mark and had a wind turbine up there and it seemed to be generating more energy then the atomic turbine. Is there something I was doing wrong with the atomic turbines?

Also what would be the best starting power source in UE. I was looking for a IC2 generator equivalent for UE and I have seen mentions of a coal generator however I didnt see anything in NEI that matched it.

 

[ShneekeyTheLost]

Well I have been messing around with UE for 1.6.4 and had a 36LP boiler up and was playing around with the large atomic turbines , however they did not seem to generate alot of power. They dont have a GUI so I could not see how much power they were creating. I also had a platform up at around the 200 lvl mark and had a wind turbine up there and it seemed to be generating more energy then the atomic turbine. Is there something I was doing wrong with the atomic turbines?

There was probably a choke-point in steam. If you only had one pipe feeding steam to it, then it probably wasn't getting enough steam to run full power. Also, it takes a bit for the turbines to 'spin up' to full speed.

Also what would be the best starting power source in UE. I was looking for a IC2 generator equivalent for UE and I have seen mentions of a coal generator however I didnt see anything in NEI that matched it.

It is the Heat Generator. It can either run on burnables being placed inside, or run passively (but slowly) on lava source blocks adjacent to it. It is the only UE generator which does not require steel to create.

 

[Lonewolf187]

There was probably a choke-point in steam. If you only had one pipe feeding steam to it, then it probably wasn't getting enough steam to run full power. Also, it takes a bit for the turbines to 'spin up' to full speed.


It is the Heat Generator. It can either run on burnables being placed inside, or run passively (but slowly) on lava source blocks adjacent to it. It is the only UE generator which does not require steel to create.

Ah ok, I didnt know about the "spin up" time for the turbines, the animations for the turbines weren't moving however I was hearing the sound they made and I was getting power from them, and I was using the Mekanism fluid pipes for the steam to the turbines, is there a better pipe I should be using? How long does it take for the turbines to get to full speed? Also, I had the steam boiler get a full head of steam before I hooked up the turbine, and when I did the steam in the boiler ran down to the red half way mark and stayed there with just one large turbine, is one large turbine supposed to take that much steam?

 

[RedBoss]

Try the liquid transfer pipes from Ender IO

 

[Lonewolf187]

I'll have to try the Ender IO pipes to see if that improves performance. How much steam do both the Large and Small turbines need to run, and how long does it take for the turbines to spin-up to full speed?