[Suggestion] Electrical-Powered Minecarts

    Ok, I just had a little fun idea about something that could be implemented into IC2,


    We all, one time or another, have made something with minecart rails. I remember back before powered rails, I would use furnace carts to propel my minecarts. Now that powered rails have generally rendered furnace carts completely useless, I had the idea for some form of upgrade to furnace carts (or something very similar to them).


    Electical-Powered Minecarts.


    What if you could craft a cart that would move forward if powered by electricity? The cart would be made by combining either a batbox, MFE, or MFSU with a minecart and something else (yes I have seen the energy carts in railcraft, we don't want conflicting recipes) These minecarts would have an inventory and could store power. A person could drain batteries/energy crystals/laptron crystals into the cart, or charge up the cart in some way, and then hit a button to activate it. The cart would then move forward, powered by IC2 electricity. The higher tier of cart, the more energy the cart could store and the faster it would go.


    I also thought about this in a different way in which, instead of the minecart being powered, the rails would be powered (kind of like iron fences and a magnatizer) the minecart would then be propelled forward on the rails. The machine that powered the rails would also have three tiers (low voltage, medium voltage, and high voltage). The higher the tier of the machine, the faster the cart would go. I don't think this idea of the tracks being powered is a very good one because if your gonna do that, why not just use powered rails? And if you want your cart to go faster because of the rails, why not use railcraft's high speed rails that don't cost the electricity?


    Just another idea from me :), hope you enjoy and give feedback,


    theGeneralRowboat

    Unless I'm very much mistaken, as far as I'm aware electric minecarts are planned for some time in the future.


    Your second idea is something I keep thinking about myself, simply because I'm trying to stick to a self-imposed "nothing free" rule. I'm avoiding minecarts altogether right now (even though i have Railcraft installed doing nothing), because until I get around to setting up a detectorcable system to power the relevant tracks, powering them costs nothing.

    Quote from CiderCraft

    Unless I'm very much mistaken, as far as I'm aware electric minecarts are planned for some time in the future.


    Your second idea is something I keep thinking about myself, simply because I'm trying to stick to a self-imposed "nothing free" rule. I'm avoiding minecarts altogether right now (even though i have Railcraft installed doing nothing), because until I get around to setting up a detectorcable system to power the relevant tracks, powering them costs nothing.

    Well, if they are planned, great! :D Also, my second idea is something that evolved into my first idea, I kind of thought it pointless because of vanilla powered rails. Even if supplying EU to the track made the cart faster, why not use high speed rails? You get similar results and no EU loss.

    Quote from theGeneralRowboat

    Even if supplying EU to the track made the cart faster, why not use high speed rails? You get similar results and no EU loss.


    That's the thing, this is a case where I'd 'want' some EU loss - personally I think everything should cost something.
    Until we get EU-powered tracks, the plan for my setup (and possibly a workaround for your powered rails) is to have an IC2 cable running along the track, and where you'd normally have a redstone torch to power your rails, have an EU detector cable instead. Then use luminators and distance loss to light the track and simulate power being used by the carts.


    Old post re: electric minecarts

    Ah, I see what your saying, you think powered rails are to OP and should be balanced out by requiring EU to function

    Quote from CiderCraft

    That's the thing, this is a case where I'd 'want' some EU loss - personally I think everything should cost something.

    You know electric minecarts used to be in IC1 right? They were so glitchy they were taken out in like 2 versions. But if you want industrial transportation, use a teleporter. Otherwise, use carts. That's the tiers of transportation.

    Quote from SgtChuckle

    You know electric minecarts used to be in IC1 right? They were so glitchy they were taken out in like 2 versions. But if you want industrial transportation, use a teleporter. Otherwise, use carts. That's the tiers of transportation.

    No I didn't know that, also, this is an alternate to teleporters, the lower tiers of which can be crafted earlier on in the game. And about the glitchyness, IC and Forge have evolved substantially since that time, I think its possible.

    why not just add a magnetizer next to Iron Minecart Tracks to magnetize the tracks to accelerate the carts twice ass fast as the golden minecart tracks. you'd have to make then go pretty fast considering that Quantum Boots and Legs with Speed 2 potions can get you just about anywhere REALLY quick even over horribly un-even terrain. so we would need an incentive, that of which being, that they go even faster but cost a magnetizer every 30 or so blocks and drain, lets say, 10EU/t?

    "the more people i kill, the better the chances are that i got the right one" ~Goblin Assassin: MtG

    Quote from Snoochy

    why not just add a magnetizer next to Iron Minecart Tracks to magnetize the tracks to accelerate the carts twice ass fast as the golden minecart tracks. you'd have to make then go pretty fast considering that Quantum Boots and Legs with Speed 2 potions can get you just about anywhere REALLY quick even over horribly un-even terrain. so we would need an incentive, that of which being, that they go even faster but cost a magnetizer every 30 or so blocks and drain, lets say, 10EU/t?

    But railcraft high speed rails do pretty much that except they don't cost the energy

    Quote from theGeneralRowboat

    But railcraft high speed rails do pretty much that except they don't cost the energy


    then make then even faster at the cost of energy! :D


    p.s. i have a +movement speed addiction.

    "the more people i kill, the better the chances are that i got the right one" ~Goblin Assassin: MtG

    Quote from theGeneralRowboat

    Ah, I see what your saying, you think powered rails are to OP and should be balanced out by requiring EU to function


    I tend not to think about what's OP and what isn't, more what feels like it makes technical sense and doesn't feel too much like magic (pretty much why I use crossover small electrics instead of redstone engines for BC).


    I just like the fact that IC adds a cost to automation, and I personally enjoy creatively using the mechanics of IC to add a cost to things it doesn't really touch. Things like minecarts, yeah I could just drop a torch to power those tracks, or I could look at the toys IC gives me and think "How can I set this up so that I have to put work into a system to get a reward?". In this case, "How can I set up my railway, so that I have to power the tracks with EU for my carts to move? EU-Detectors and either lossy lines, or EU consumers along it will simulate trains using EU to move."


    Furnacecart + railcraft batboxcart combined into an electric loco bulling a train of chest/tank carts? Would be nice if it was possible to connect trains. Given that we can't, a combined furnace+batbox+chest/tankcart would be my second choice, third would be EU-powered (however it was done) tracks. Unless we get any of those, I'll have to stick with my 'third rail' system.