Concepts... and more concepts

Well, got another small exam in 3 hours, but afterwards I should have a few weeks (then another exam) and up to one months before I get back into buisness.
Across the past months, whilst barely coding in IC, of course I didn't stop thinking about additional content and mechanic reworks...
In the end, there are a few key concepts I would like to see discussed:

Circuitry
The Nuclear Reactor design was, hands down, awesome. Ye, self-praise isn't nice, but you saw how people reacted to it. And with the 'new' Item-NBT tags, you can essentially put the whole information of a Nuclear reactor into a single item. For example a circuit.
How about we use that? We remove the current circuit recipes, but instead add some sort of Circuitry workbench with an XbyX grid (and probably a few slots you need to keep supplied with tools, f.e. tweezers and a welder. On this table, you can craft basic and advanced circuits (pretty much like you currently craft them).
However, additionally we 'remove' all casual Overclocker, Transformer and whatever else upgrades (> replace their current ID's with sticks or something else, inventorys don't react kindly to null-items) and instead implement "Upgrade Circuit"s. You create an upgrade circuit, by coming cables, platines and any other component we want within the curcuitry workbench. Depending on the used components and arrangement (I've already had a few fun ideas), the created circuit has different attributes. Including, but not limited to, the functions off all currently known upgrades.
Additionally, you could craft UC's meant to be built into Tools. TADA, IC got an own, much more reasonable enchantment system now. Overclocking Mining Drills is not just a wild dream anymore.

Machine Rework
They run and run and run and run some more. The only breakdown is caused by people punching them with pickaxes.
How about we change this? Machines get altered to support an internal 'heat' value. A constantly running machine will accumulate minimal amount of heat. F.e. a macerator could 'break' after processing 2 full stacks without a single tick break (> barely reachable by normal means, but a valid factor for industrys). Whilst we're on reworking machines, how about we add a 'smog' factor to machines as well? I mean, where the hell is all that stone dust going to? What is up with the remnants of extracted liquids? etc.
Machines produce, next to heat, smog. (Check the concept further below for more details).
Both of these side-effects are minimal... unless you add circuitry to the machines which speeds them up. Currently, I've thought of a few possible "stats" for machines:
+Processing Speed (duh)
+Processing Efficiency (Chance to increase the yield of a selected number of recipes. F.e. Maceration of ore, extracting from rubber, etc... needs to bell thought-out to prevent infinite backlinks)
-Energy Consumption
-Heat Production
-Smog Production
Depending on how you arrange the UC (within the circuitry bench), it will have different modifiers for these values. Upon pressing a button (or inserting a standard circuit into a special slot), the UC will be crafted, storing the modifiers as NBT-Data.
In general, it should be IMPOSSIBLE to create an UC which can deal with all 5 stats in positive ways. Depending on the used materials (Iron, Gold, Diamond, etc) you may will even have to 'balance' a +20% speed with +20% energy needed AND +20% Heat (example). This permits people to make the choice between uber-speed efficient machines (which need cooling and pollute the environment) or 'perfect' machines with low consumption, no heat, no smog... but even slower then normal machines.
Regarding heat, we would have to think of a way to cool machines. We COULD add a slot for coolant cells and similar stuff... or we go as far and implement a 'second net' which doesn't transfer energy, but coolant, calculating heat and cooling instead of EU flow. PRobably a bit over the top, but it would add an... let's say INTERESTING layer for people trying to build compact factorys (3 Inventory inputs, 1 energy, 1 coolant, 1 for personal access... well not much left anymore, is there?).

Smog
There are a few different concepts possible for smog & pollution.
My current favourtie would be following:
We code a special "Smog Controller" block with according TE. Whenever a machine produces smog, it will check for the nearest smog controller. These controllers are located at Layer 1, effectively below bedrock, thus inaccessible and merely used to persistently store data.
If smog levels raise too high, the controller could start altering the chunk's biome into a new 'wasteland' type, which gives nerfs to IC Crops, causes brown-ish grass and eventually starts eating up trees and wooden blocks.
A more detailed idea regarding the creation of smog would be like this: A machine does not add smog to the controller directly, but first accumulates a few points (f.e. 100, whatever that may mean), then emits a 'puff' (Entity) of smog-smoke. The entity will travel upwards. If hitting a roof, it will pathfind-check whether there's a 'hole in the roof' in the closer surrounding and otherwise idle at the roof spot. If smog clouds collide, they add up. If smog stacks to a specified level, it turns into a black-cloudy smog-BLOCK, which cannot be removed by normal means and additionally poisons a player upon contact. Further smog will start gathering BELOW the smog block.
> If you set up your machines in an air-tight room, it will somewhen fill with poisonous smog.
The most simple solution is to add a chimney, aka a hole to the sky. Smog entitys reaching sky level will dissipate and THEN add upon the chunks smog level. Not the best solution, but that's what people do, anyways.
To solve this in an economical way, players would have to create 'filters'. A smog cloud hitting a filter will be absorbed. Either we implement a complex system where players would need to 'store' the 'dirty' filtres at some point, using pistons or a special tool to move them (because pistons would be too much of a bother). Breaking the block will of course cause the stored smog to vent again. The simpler alternative would be a filtre getting damaged and requiring to be replaced at some point. In both alternativs one could add different levels of filtres (casual MC tiering) with different efficiency degrees. F.e. in regards to % chance to absorb smog, % of absorbed smog nullified, amount of smog storeable, etc...

Secret V project
Well, given this is the "public closed" section, you may not name the content of the project here. But mentioning the UC and the smog system, you probably figure out the influences as well.
I strongly suggest we start working on this, too, IC needs more means of... You know.

Would like to elaborate things more, but I'm running low on time and got to ride through 30 degrees of heat to the station now... Feel free to discuss in my absence, though.

PS: And of course, please keep this secret, don't want rumors to start.

Nuclear Reactor redesign
Well, the whole layout-grid and component interaction is nice. But it could be improved even further, more fleshed out, more components, etc...
As such, a few ideas as to what we could change:
-Coolant Cells are laters to be "Heat Storages" only. They do NOT cool the reactor by themselves, but merely provide a 10k buffed to soak up heat. They will automatically transfer +-1 heat to the reactor each tick (aka second). The "Transfer" mechanism will be reworked to actually compare %filled values, not the actual heat one (thus a cell will take 9k heat if the reactor is on 18k/20k).
-Multiple version of Coolant cells. Basic ones are water cell + circuit (or similar). Then there is a Triple pack which contains up to 30k and transfers +-2 and a CoolPack with 60k storage and +-3 transfer.
-To actually increase the reactors cool/sec, we add "Ventilation Units", Fans, or owever we call it. F.e. a basic vent will reduce the reactor-hull's heat by 5 every tick. A "Spreadvent" will drain 2 heat, but additionally 1 heat from every surrounding heat-able component.
-Heat Distributor needs a new recipe (I honestly consider it overpriced for this new implementation). It has a small intern heat storage (1k or something, enough to successfully transfer, but low enough to be a valid storage replacement) and can transfer +-10 between adjacent Components and probably ~30 from/to reactor.
-Plating does get buffed, increasing the reactors capacity by 1k heat (~). As well does reduce the chances for heat-effects (fire, melting) and (as present) reduces explosion upon overheat.
-Uranium Cells get 'weakened' as in less EU and heat emitted. However, similar to stacked coolant-cells, we instead add a "double-Uranium-Cell", which pulses 2x into each direction and produces 4 pulses by itself.
-I considered adding an "Advanced Uranium" Element, with X + uranium cell creating a much more powerful, but as well more heat-creating cell. Viable materials for X could be something crafted from Blazerods or maybe 'Emerald Dust' or something like that.
>>> Reactor creation becomes less monotone, currently it's all about choosing the number of uranium cells and then filling everything else with Coolant/HD/Coolant.
-Probably still needs more components.

Quote from Talonius

Will the components have to be placed in the grid in a peticular order to have an effect (ie. crafting grid style) or will the components interact with their neighbours on the grid (ie. nuclear reactor style) or something else?
Bare in mind there might be some minor flak from Foresry-fanboys, due to the fact it has configurable circuits already, heh.

Good question.
I've thought of a static grid with a set of X by X nodes, with each node having primary&secondary positive and negative effects. Depending on the component you place into that note, the primary and secondary stats are given a different weight. Then we get some additional things like "all parts of the circuits need to be connected to the center" or "if you use X components, you need additionally base circuits / energy sources" or something like that.

No clue about the Forestry circuits? What exactly do those do?

Quote from Talonius

Smog:
I'm not sure how easy/hard it would be to detect whether or not the machine is in an 'air-tight' room, there's countless 'blocks' out there that arn't full blocks and wouldn't be concidered air-tight.

It doesn't explicitely check for airtight rooms... but assuming you run themachines without taking care of the smog, the room will become clogged at some point.
Imagine the smog clouds constantly raising until they hit the ceiling. Then they add up and create a smog block. Any further smog clouds will hit the block, drift off to the side and, given time and smog, form blocks all around the first one. Once the whole ceiling (or at least the whole celing in pathfinding radius of the clouds) is covered, the smog will start creating a second blocklayer. ETC.
In the end the room will be filled.

Quote from imer

Circuitry: Dont have to say much about that, as it's too vague.
But please consider coding the machine so you are able to auto-craft circuits somehow (like the rp project table, but pull-able?)

I would dare to say this feature is unnecessary. Circuits are used 1x per machine/tool and probably you will want to have different ones in the different machines... I don't think massproducing those is reasonable. Of course, if it's about crafting the regular circuits via the new workbench... well we should probably figure something out...

Quote from imer

First off i though about multi-block cooling systems -which you would need to extremely powerfull machines, but then you have the space problem, and that doesnt look nice for workshops and is only feasable for factories.
It would be nice to have a grid to put different modules/circuits the machine in.
Really bad image: click me
The different colored squares are the different sides of the block (each side has 5 access-points)
You could craft youself different modules (f.e. 'Heatpipe','Lv-Input','Mv-Input','Output Module','Input Module') and connect a cooling system(block) to one side, the Eu input to another, a storage chest or rp relay to yet another side for automatic output when the output slot is full.
You would be able to click onto an empty field for it to create a pre-set element (Proccessing Unit, Storage(you could chain storage modules before the actual storage) and so on). You would probably need some cables, 'tubes' or so for stuff to flow in.
You would only have to recalculate the configuration when there are changes made to the config...
Yea i know.. it isnt that thought out/practical, but as you're on it, maybe it gives you a better idea.

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I'm sorry, but I really don't get what you're trying to suggest ^^'

Quote from imer

Smog:
Yay.
'Smog controllers' - wouldn't it be a good idea to just call the block controller and use it for storing all kinds of information? I don't know what you would store in there at the moment, but it sure could be usefull!

You also need to think about 'cheater' who will break their controller (or do that on accident...)

Valid idea. As well, if you want to cheat, you could as well just have the smog gather and then hax-remove the smogblocks.
Accidentally breaking the controllers is impossible, as they're indestructible and hidden in bedrock.

Quote from imer

Airtight rooms: When there is no space left for smog, the machines buffer should start filling up & causing damage too the machine, that would prevent just ignoring the fact you can't access the machine by normal means anymore.

Good idea. I was already wondering what to do if the machine was surrounded by solid blocks. Probably just a MASSIVE increase in heat (effectively blowing the machine up within a few processes).

Quote from RichardG

With forestry circuits, you use a soldering iron to add up to 1 (small board), 2 (medium board) or 4 (large board) "electron tubes" that give different effects - for example, bronze is electrical boost II. Those only work with electrical engines.

Shouldn't pose a problem, our system will have a different direction on it

Idea for QuantumSuit:
-Rename into 'Omni-Suit'
-Stays at current cost level and 1kk T3 charge
-Gains armor capability similar to Nanosuit (probably it consumes 3x times the EU then nanosuit does, thus still lasting 3.3x as long (since it got x10 storage)
-Each QSuit piece can be upgraded with a single module
-Modules grant additional effects, but only one module can be used per piece.
-Helmet: Respiration, Debuff-removing, Automatic Feeding
-Chest: Damage Absorption (> needs less EU to comensate damage), Energy Storage (takes 10 EU of Chest to fill 1EU on tool = betweenbatpack and lappack, though T3), Gliding Jetpack (cannot raise altitude)
-Legs: HyperSpeed, HyperJump, Additional pocket-storage (probably open-able via some buttonpress, should be a 27er slot)
-Boots: Fall-Negation (otherwise it reduces/absorbs fall), Water-waking (Aka, constant lifting effect when inLiquid), Rocket Boots (extreme Y-acceleration, but no real steering > combo with glide Jetpack)

By splitting up the countless QSuit functions, it will be more flexible and still sought for, but will loose some of it's godmode-ness.

The issue is, if we move Hyperjump to boots, you would end up without advanced fall protection.
Somehow the 1 module per doesn't perfectly work out But if we permit multiple modules, you will get invincible + batpack chestplate.

Je, Fire/Lava-Nullify would probably be a chest module again.

Btw, upgrading (aka module+suit crating) can be done in the upcoming new machine (Circuit board, crafts circuits, crafts upgrades, and applys upgrades)

IF we permit one combination, people will demand more combinations for other parts.

Quote from imer

..combine them by default (that actually would make sense)?

Hyper-Jump & Fall-Resistance or Hyper-Jump&Speed ?

Former one WOULD make sense... though this would cause the boots to be pretty much unaltered.