[Suggestion-Planning Ahead] Testificates Sells Technology

Something like Thaumcraft research but only obtainable by buying the plans instead of using brains and bookshelf?
Sorry the question... but from who/what u buy this plans? if u craft it who put in there the knowledge that u need to buy?

Quote from FenixR

A "Researcher" testificate or NPC (You have to find a village of course), he does the research for you, you only have to pay him.

Alternatively plans could also be found in dungeons or pyramids chests.

Mmmhhh... no i don't like this... first because the villagers are not that smart and evoluted to produce a nuclear reactor... if u add a NCP like that to a village it must have a 3 floor IC2 laboratory to be credible... and i can't imagine how a quantum suit helmet project went into a 40 layer underground chest... I really prefer something like a resarch table like Thaumcraft IF this have to be implemented

Granted... but you are assuming 3 things with this idea:

1. There is no lineage that says that the Testificate race is anything like Steve. For all we know, Steve could have come from some alternate world or something and landed in the strange land of Minecraft (see John Carter for reference)...

2. You're also assuming that Testificates, who already don't have this technology, wouldn't be using it or consuming the same resources as the player. Which begs the question as of why said villagers aren't using said tech, and if so, why is that (or, if the could be allowed to, would they have to be recoded to actually learn how to set down solar panels and such for IC machines).

3. Since items and machines are only limited by resource costs of the materials to put together, how would there be a 'need' to use said Researchers in the game? Would you then restrict what types of recipes you can use, akin to the current Thaumcraft style of gameplay?

I'm not saying it's a bad idea, or that I wouldn't want it in IC, but these are quite a few of the hurtles you'd have to consider. I'd imagine it would work somewhat like Millienare does/did... but that mod alone was extremely CPU intensive...

for me the issue of striping steve of his macgyver-hood is still up in the air but if this was done here are my thoughts

villages still seem pretty primitive your basically shifting the tony stark tag from steve to a tesificate. maybe this would make sense if there was a more smooth transition from coal power to electric power, and in there was a way for steve to conduct research with out a kill-able npc(turning the researcher into an important convenience but not a requirement), or if the researcher was an archaeologist and there was industrial ruins scattered everywhere.

+1 for FenixR. First time I agree with him maybe ?

I liked the Research idea from thaumcraft but i gotta be honest, This puts a bad taste in my mouth.
This seems like a huge change in the way that IC plays.
Id really like to see where Al and the Dev's stand on this.

Quote from FenixR

I usually ignore all those question because honestly i don't find any need for Story/Realism beyond making the machines to act like their real life counterparts. The second reason its to make the idea much more simple and easy to digest.

Im just basically suggesting a Q-Table like thaumcraft but less randomly and based on economy rather than just placing several stacks of cobblestone and see what i get with it...

The third option would be to make Pre-Generated "Industrial" Villages, depending on how advanced they are, the more technology they sell to you.

the third option has merit but unless alblaka wants to get into A.I. it should be put on hold till villagers start taking offence at steve dismantling their village for materials. or the industrial village is a robot filled ruin where the robots trade you tech and knowledge in exchange for what they need to maintain themselves. the robots don't even have to be mobs they can just be leftover computers and vending machines blocks

I think the technology given should give you bonus, and shouldn't be needed to craft something (Mainly for people who haven't Thaumcraft installed)
So, Trade with NPC, okay, but trade them items (so they use trade-o-mat!), not technologies.

"The robot city idea has some merit, and the city would be mostly made from Decoy blocks A.K.A. Blocks that drops nothing when mined."

I think too. Blocks like Construction Foam/glass/stone (it give cobble, but nobody would use it to collect ressources, cobble is ... Okay, what I would have said is obvious )

Here's a thought instead of saying "steve no craft" we say "steve no craft good". What this means is that all industrial machines will be given a quality level, and what steve crafts himself will always be labeled as a prototype. Without the knowledge of a office computer these prototypes will be given random buffs and nerfs(mostly nerfs especially with the higher tier stuff).

What the computer knowledge does is it will simply make the results less random and eventually lean more towards the buff end of the spectrum. Note that prototypes probably can't be stacked, but maybe knowledge from the computers will allow steve to opt for crafting standard stackable machines instead of unstackable buffed machines.

the vending machine's(other tech trading block of past civilization) output will be labeled as mass-produced and the quality of all vending machines will be the same allowing their output to be stacked player can then explore the ruins and collect different vending machines with a wrench(each wanting different things and each vending a different item)

A.I. computers and vending machines should not be craftable they are way over steves head.

I don't think steve should be at total loss as to how to construct industrial machines. I think he should be able to start off with at least lv machines, normal gen, and watermill, or have a lower coal or petrol powered tier added.