Which do you think is better?

[MikW]

Extra Utilities 1 or Extra Utilities 2?

Extra Utilities 1 have very cool items such as the unstable ingots and bedrockium, etc.

Extra Utilities 2 has some more nifty things and some items are cheaper, but it has that annoying grid power system.

I personally like both as both have their own pros and cons.

Which do you think is better?

 

[Golrith]

I'm with you, the grid power is meh. Especially when part of the functionality is only via a chat command. Total "immersion" breaking.

 

[MikW]

I'm with you, the grid power is meh. Especially when part of the functionality is only via a chat command. Total "immersion" breaking.

GP system is just lame. Unnecessary way to 'balance' XU items. It just adds grind and spam IMO. Spamming Water Mills to get GP is boring IMO. Also, some of the new recipes (like the Angel Ring) is cheaper (doesn't require a Nether Star), but using Golden Lasso with a bat and a Cursed Lasso with a Ghast just adds unnecessary grind. Capturing the Ghast is by no means an easy task. They very rarely fly close to you, and when they do, hitting them without killing is hard (Ghasts have very low hp). I need to get the Ghast in a Soul Vial (cheap, soularium+3 fused quartz) and then trap it inside a box, the hit it with a pickaxe, and finally get it inside the Cursed Lasso.

 

[Golrith]

GP system is just lame. Unnecessary way to 'balance' XU items. It just adds grind and spam IMO. Spamming Water Mills to get GP is boring IMO. Also, some of the new recipes (like the Angel Ring) is cheaper (doesn't require a Nether Star), but using Golden Lasso with a bat and a Cursed Lasso with a Ghast just adds unnecessary grind. Capturing the Ghast is by no means an easy task. They very rarely fly close to you, and when they do, hitting them without killing is hard (Ghasts have very low hp). I need to get the Ghast in a Soul Vial (cheap, soularium+3 fused quartz) and then trap it inside a box, the hit it with a pickaxe, and finally get it inside the Cursed Lasso.

Likewise it's chunk loader is also painful. Find a willing villager that will have it's soul bound into the chunk loader. Gah. These changes make me seriously reconsider including XU in my own future packs, or tweaking them drastically to be "saner".

 

[GamerwithnoGame]

Honestly, I like the changes, but I understand if others don't - I think me and @Drbretto have had a most spirited discussion on this matter!

I wonder if some sort of ExU1.5 would be a nice compromise; there are things in ExU2 I absolutely love, like the demon ingot stuff, the new versions of things like cursed earth and lassos, and especially the wireless battery and transceivers. That last one especially. And I really don't mind grid power to be honest - I quite like the way it works a player-bound power source, that you use for specific things like speed upgrades and stuff. It gives them a cost of use without making them need RF (which would be annoying). I can imagine it being used for other things in future too. And there are other things like the enchanted ingots that I'm interested to find out what they're used for. Plus some nice machines and things! I dunno, I just... I like it. But that's entirely subjective. Objectively on many fronts it could be argued that it's inferior, but for me I think I've already said goodbye to ExU, you know? It's a past mod to me.

 

[Drbretto]

I think me and @Drbretto have had a most spirited discussion on this matter!

OH yeah we did! lol

I don't want to misrepresent my own points, there, though. I was particularly critical of a few specific aspects, but it's still one of my most used mods. Some of that has to do with it being all I've got left from the "old days" of 1.7, though. Rehashing the complaints first:

I loved the angel blocks and they were nerfed in a terrible and unnecessary way that ruined what I used them for, which was early game elevation for building, basically. Cumbersome enough that it won't prevent my from going for a better flight option, but useful enough that I wasn't necessarily limited early on. Those used to be like companion blocks to me. I stopped short of naming them, lol, but I would get excited every time I ran into a few obsidian and had enough gold to spare a few ingots. Now, they're only useful if you already have flight, and have enough resources to not care if they get lost or destroyed. I hate hate hate that change to this day.

I also didn't like that the thickened glass no longer could be broken by hand, but I've since accepted that that was because of the new glass cutter tool they added. I still don't like it, but it's fine.

And thirdly, while I don't minding using it this one time in this one playthrough, I don't like the quantum quarry. It's too automatic to the point of completely breaking the immersion. It runs passively forever for me right now and I generate everything it pulls in faster than I can keep up with it. I have a drawer for every single item in my game, and every single drawer has 4 emerald upgrades and 1 void. And just about every one of them is voiding stuff non-stop, even as we speak because it continues to run when I'm offline with zero maintenance. I am literally going to build an iron block made out of 1 million iron blocks. Just so they don't keep getting destroyed. But, I give a bit of a pass here because I'm guessing it was originally designed for skymall or whatever you guys call that weird play style. Ultimately, I was glad I had a quarry option at all, but I'd prefer not to use this method again.

Now the good! And there's plenty of it!

Despite all this, it's still one of my favorite mods ever. The pipes are as simple as pipes can get. The item filter system is THE best there ever was with essentially unlimited capacity. This is HUGE for me, as I remember having to build some pretty convoluted BC devices to sort with any real volume.

And I love the simplicity of the Grid Power system. No plugs, no wires, no nothing. You can set it and forget it. It just gives you a little something to limit you just enough that everything isn't free.

I love the glass options as I like my glass to be crystal clear whenever possible. I love the angel wing, as there are some builds (like my ice temple thing I've been working on for FREAKIN MONTHS now - BTW, it's not dead, I've made quite a bit of progress, I'm just not uploading anything until it's done. Currently on a Nier Automata break though) would be damn near impossible without it. And again, it doesn't feel totally cheap because it does come with a grid power cost, and requires loaded chunks or you'll just fall to your death.

I like them both. I was looking forward to the little rituals in the original and I liked the *idea* of the exploding ingots, but in the end, it's probably a simpler and more convenient mod than it was in 1.7, without missing too much of the functionality, and even adding a few neat new things to the table.

 

[GamerwithnoGame]

OH yeah we did! lol

I don't want to misrepresent my own points, there, though. I was particularly critical of a few specific aspects, but it's still one of my most used mods. Some of that has to do with it being all I've got left from the "old days" of 1.7, though. Rehashing the complaints first:

I loved the angel blocks and they were nerfed in a terrible and unnecessary way that ruined what I used them for, which was early game elevation for building, basically. Cumbersome enough that it won't prevent my from going for a better flight option, but useful enough that I wasn't necessarily limited early on. Those used to be like companion blocks to me. I stopped short of naming them, lol, but I would get excited every time I ran into a few obsidian and had enough gold to spare a few ingots. Now, they're only useful if you already have flight, and have enough resources to not care if they get lost or destroyed. I hate hate hate that change to this day.

I also didn't like that the thickened glass no longer could be broken by hand, but I've since accepted that that was because of the new glass cutter tool they added. I still don't like it, but it's fine.

And thirdly, while I don't minding using it this one time in this one playthrough, I don't like the quantum quarry. It's too automatic to the point of completely breaking the immersion. It runs passively forever for me right now and I generate everything it pulls in faster than I can keep up with it. I have a drawer for every single item in my game, and every single drawer has 4 emerald upgrades and 1 void. And just about every one of them is voiding stuff non-stop, even as we speak because it continues to run when I'm offline with zero maintenance. I am literally going to build an iron block made out of 1 million iron blocks. Just so they don't keep getting destroyed. But, I give a bit of a pass here because I'm guessing it was originally designed for skymall or whatever you guys call that weird play style. Ultimately, I was glad I had a quarry option at all, but I'd prefer not to use this method again.

Now the good! And there's plenty of it!

Despite all this, it's still one of my favorite mods ever. The pipes are as simple as pipes can get. The item filter system is THE best there ever was with essentially unlimited capacity. This is HUGE for me, as I remember having to build some pretty convoluted BC devices to sort with any real volume.

And I love the simplicity of the Grid Power system. No plugs, no wires, no nothing. You can set it and forget it. It just gives you a little something to limit you just enough that everything isn't free.

I love the glass options as I like my glass to be crystal clear whenever possible. I love the angel wing, as there are some builds (like my ice temple thing I've been working on for FREAKIN MONTHS now - BTW, it's not dead, I've made quite a bit of progress, I'm just not uploading anything until it's done. Currently on a Nier Automata break though) would be damn near impossible without it. And again, it doesn't feel totally cheap because it does come with a grid power cost, and requires loaded chunks or you'll just fall to your death.

I like them both. I was looking forward to the little rituals in the original and I liked the *idea* of the exploding ingots, but in the end, it's probably a simpler and more convenient mod than it was in 1.7, without missing too much of the functionality, and even adding a few neat new things to the table.

I basically agree with you on everything there dude

That's part of the reason I've gone with making an IE Excavator and going into Diesel power in my Beyond playthrough - while it's still theoretically a "make ores out of nothing" tool, it has limits and hoops you have to go through that feel flavourful rather than onerous.

Maybe when I'm really post-scarcity I'll go down the Quantum Quarry route, but not right now.

However the pipes, nodes and filters - largely unchanged from 1.7.10 - are still just SO useful!

I may have already mentioned it, but I feel there is more to come with ExU2, plus it seems possible that the Angel blocks might be reverted - I'd like to at least see a config option for that.

As it stands, they have similar functionality to IE's balloons, so I'll probably just use them

 

[Nuclear_Creeper0]

You guys forgot the most important thing about Extra Utils 1. The Ender Quarry. I love the Ender Quarry.

 

[GamerwithnoGame]

It's a fair point - the Ender quarry, and the way it functioned, was quite nice. Certainly it's less nuts than the quantum quarry, and if you don't use the voiding mode (so everything just gets swapped for dirt), you don't get huge holes in the world or big lag from fluids dropping. And, actually, on that note - I quite liked the mechanic and aesthetic of the QED! The fact that it couldn't be automated was a bit of a pain, but I liked the look (and sound!) of it and it's crystals.

 

[Golrith]

OH yeah we did! lol

I don't want to misrepresent my own points, there, though. I was particularly critical of a few specific aspects, but it's still one of my most used mods. Some of that has to do with it being all I've got left from the "old days" of 1.7, though. Rehashing the complaints first:

I loved the angel blocks and they were nerfed in a terrible and unnecessary way that ruined what I used them for, which was early game elevation for building, basically. Cumbersome enough that it won't prevent my from going for a better flight option, but useful enough that I wasn't necessarily limited early on. Those used to be like companion blocks to me. I stopped short of naming them, lol, but I would get excited every time I ran into a few obsidian and had enough gold to spare a few ingots. Now, they're only useful if you already have flight, and have enough resources to not care if they get lost or destroyed. I hate hate hate that change to this day.

I also didn't like that the thickened glass no longer could be broken by hand, but I've since accepted that that was because of the new glass cutter tool they added. I still don't like it, but it's fine.

And thirdly, while I don't minding using it this one time in this one playthrough, I don't like the quantum quarry. It's too automatic to the point of completely breaking the immersion. It runs passively forever for me right now and I generate everything it pulls in faster than I can keep up with it. I have a drawer for every single item in my game, and every single drawer has 4 emerald upgrades and 1 void. And just about every one of them is voiding stuff non-stop, even as we speak because it continues to run when I'm offline with zero maintenance. I am literally going to build an iron block made out of 1 million iron blocks. Just so they don't keep getting destroyed. But, I give a bit of a pass here because I'm guessing it was originally designed for skymall or whatever you guys call that weird play style. Ultimately, I was glad I had a quarry option at all, but I'd prefer not to use this method again.

Now the good! And there's plenty of it!

Despite all this, it's still one of my favorite mods ever. The pipes are as simple as pipes can get. The item filter system is THE best there ever was with essentially unlimited capacity. This is HUGE for me, as I remember having to build some pretty convoluted BC devices to sort with any real volume.

And I love the simplicity of the Grid Power system. No plugs, no wires, no nothing. You can set it and forget it. It just gives you a little something to limit you just enough that everything isn't free.

I love the glass options as I like my glass to be crystal clear whenever possible. I love the angel wing, as there are some builds (like my ice temple thing I've been working on for FREAKIN MONTHS now - BTW, it's not dead, I've made quite a bit of progress, I'm just not uploading anything until it's done. Currently on a Nier Automata break though) would be damn near impossible without it. And again, it doesn't feel totally cheap because it does come with a grid power cost, and requires loaded chunks or you'll just fall to your death.

I like them both. I was looking forward to the little rituals in the original and I liked the *idea* of the exploding ingots, but in the end, it's probably a simpler and more convenient mod than it was in 1.7, without missing too much of the functionality, and even adding a few neat new things to the table.

I must admit, I've not actually played with the new version, but have seen it used enough to grasp the changes and know what I do/don't like.

What has changed on the Angel Block?


I'm personally not keen on a phantom energy source just to make other things work. Especially when the key ways to generate this energy are all passive, it's a case of, well, what's the point? Just make recipes a bit more expensive, and you pretty much achieve the same result.

I do love it's pipe system (although personally I've always changed the recipes to be something more expensive then just "stone").

 

[Drbretto]

The angel blocks can no longer be broken by hand (not even slowly as if you break them by hand they are destroyed) and they no longer return to your inventory when broken.

I other words, they suck now unless a) you can already fly and b) you don't really care that much if you lose them.

 

[Nuclear_Creeper0]

The angel blocks can no longer be broken by hand (not even slowly as if you break them by hand they are destroyed) and they no longer return to your inventory when broken.

I other words, they suck now unless a) you can already fly and b) you don't really care that much if you lose them.

Or C you have a magnet.

 

[Drbretto]

Or C you have a magnet.

The magnet is AA. Finding a workaround from a different mod doesn't excuse this one. And that still only fixes part of the problem.

I love ExU and ExU2, I really do. But they messed this one thing up, plain and simple.

 

[GamerwithnoGame]

The magnet is AA. Finding a workaround from a different mod doesn't excuse this one. And that still only fixes part of the problem.

I love ExU and ExU2, I really do. But they messed this one thing up, plain and simple.

The more I understand about just how useful it used to be, and how it's particular mechanics made it so, the more annoying it seems that it's changed, and the more I'm in agreement with you. It really should be changed back; I wonder if it would be possible to write a mini mod in the same vein as the elevator blocks one, but for Angel Blocks - you could call them Celestial Cubes, and they'd have the old mechanics.

 

[Drbretto]

The more I understand about just how useful it used to be, and how it's particular mechanics made it so, the more annoying it seems that it's changed, and the more I'm in agreement with you. It really should be changed back; I wonder if it would be possible to write a mini mod in the same vein as the elevator blocks one, but for Angel Blocks - you could call them Celestial Cubes, and they'd have the old mechanics.

I actually thought about it, and I'm not ruling it out. The biggest reason I haven't yet is because I think I would get too sucked into modding and that would be my focus until the end of time. "fixing" the angel blocks would seem to be a really good way to get started, too. Simple, to the point and seems like it should just be some pretty basic flags, not counting the auto-inventory part.

Though, I do have a couple of other little things I've always wanted to see modded. Like something that will let you right-click to "reserve" any slot in an inventory (similar to setting items on a filter, only with every possible inventory). It seems inconsequential, but there have been a handful of times I could really have used it.

Celestial cubes, though! I love it! I would have to add some kind of personality to them. Like little space aliens in cube form, and they just live to serve. This could work... lol