Manual Generator / Dynamo?

1st Official Post

    Whilst starting out on a new FTB Ultimate world, and grinding my first few ores with AE's Quartz Grinder, I had this idea.


    AE adds a manual grinder, and forestry adds a clockwork engine for MJ (which needs manual intervention to wind). Is there any chance of having a dynamo/manual generator in IC2?


    I'll have a think about a suitable recipe, but I thought a 2 EU/t (like the manned watermill), or possibly 3-4 EU/t to balance the fact that this will only produce power while its being right-clicked (you can only really be using one at a time, unlike Watermills where you could set up several and just put buckets/water cells in all of them for a brief burst of power).


    Obviously, just like the clockwork engine and Quartz Grinder, turtles and such wouldn't be able to use them.


    Thoughts?

    Clockwork engine + Energy bridge = Exactly what you're asking for.

    Alblaka says:

    "People using their intellect in attempts to discuss other people into the ground could be considered less intellectual then people using their intellect for something beneficial :3"

    Quote from Fallen_dead

    Clockwork engine + Energy bridge = Exactly what you're asking for.


    Whilst the energy bridge would do the conversion, I have 3 minor problems with your setup in the long run:-


    a) The addition of a manual EU producer would benefit IC2 on its own, and any mod-pack that didn't use Power Convertors. (I can add PC easily enough to a mod-pack, but sometimes you want to use the mudpack as provided eg DW20's)


    b) Clockwork engines are manual to start, then run down over time. Unless the recipe implied a flywheel of some sort, I was foreseeing the manual EU generator as needing manual intervention all the time (hence referencing the manned watermills, which just need a bucket of water for a burst of power without any additional intervention)


    c) I'd position this as a Tier 0 - useful very early game (like the clockwork engine, though I think the gold requirement mars that engine slightly), and having to make the clockwork engine for 4 gold, then the energy bridge (for another 4 gold + diamond) tends to wreck that idea.


    If I had to use 8 gold + 1 diamond, I'd be looking to get something more than an EU generator that you had to manually 'work' to produce the EU.

    Quote from Eliav24

    So it's a hand-held battery that gains energy and cost hunger when right clicked? so how about:
    :Refined Iron:
    :RE Battery: (battery)


    and can be made into a generator:


    :Refined Iron: :Mobile Charger: :Refined Iron:
    :Intergrated Plating: :Advanced Furnace:


    Well, placeable in-world, rather than handheld (see quartz grinder/clockwork engine in AE/Forestry respectively), but I agree with the idea of being able to 'convert' it into a Generator eventually, so it doesn't end up sitting in a chest/dropped into lava when your tech moves on. (possibly replacing the machine block in the Generator recipe, or your recipe).

    It's kind of suggested already. But I guess the idea of an item you would just have to hold and to rightclick with would be easily implementable and convenient.


    Soon with Molten Salt Reactors, right ? :D
    NERF THA FUSION REACTOR!

    I understand wanting to convert food into energy but i have a few gripes with it.
    To keep the dynamo balanced the output would have to be rather low.
    Due to the way IC^2 is coded 1EU/tick is the minimum, anyone who has used a straight solar panel to charge a battery or a tool knows it takes forever.


    So if a dynamo was implemented at the minimum 1EU per tick all other generators would have to be buffed.


    I like the idea of having an alternative source of power early game but it would take quite a bit of coding and balancing.

    Alblaka says:

    "People using their intellect in attempts to discuss other people into the ground could be considered less intellectual then people using their intellect for something beneficial :3"

    • Official Post
    Quote from Fallen_dead

    I understand wanting to convert food into energy but i have a few gripes with it.
    To keep the dynamo balanced the output would have to be rather low.
    Due to the way IC^2 is coded 1EU/tick is the minimum, anyone who has used a straight solar panel to charge a battery or a tool knows it takes forever.


    So if a dynamo was implemented at the minimum 1EU per tick all other generators would have to be buffed.


    I like the idea of having an alternative source of power early game but it would take quite a bit of coding and balancing.

    You know that watermills generates 0,01 EU/tick per water block right?
    [Up to 0,25 EU/tick]
    Current watermill with 0,25 EU/t makes 1 EU packet every 4 ticks.


    The packet SIZE would still be 1, but the generation can be split into several ticks/seconds.


    Dynamo is kinda easy to program, i think.
    "rightclick generates X energy over Y time with Z output per tick"

    I apologize, I meant per packet. (It is kinda late here.)
    I completely forgot about watermills as well, I never really used them.


    Would the static boots be considered a type of mobile dynamo? it is a different method but it still exchanges food for energy. The recipe is also basic enough to be crafted at a low tech level.

    Alblaka says:

    "People using their intellect in attempts to discuss other people into the ground could be considered less intellectual then people using their intellect for something beneficial :3"

    • Official Post
    Quote from Fallen_dead

    Would the static boots be considered a type of mobile dynamo? it is a different method but it still exchanges food for energy. The recipe is also basic enough to be crafted at a low tech level.

    Yes, but it generates so few energy that it can't be considered food to energy conversion.
    Also you wouldnt run and walk around to generate about 1 EU per block walked right?

    Quote from Fallen_dead

    I understand wanting to convert food into energy but i have a few gripes with it.
    To keep the dynamo balanced the output would have to be rather low.
    Due to the way IC^2 is coded 1EU/tick is the minimum, anyone who has used a straight solar panel to charge a battery or a tool knows it takes forever.
    So if a dynamo was implemented at the minimum 1EU per tick all other generators would have to be buffed.
    I like the idea of having an alternative source of power early game but it would take quite a bit of coding and balancing.


    Why you think dynamo output should be low? It should be compared with manned Watermill, not with Solar Panel. You can use many Solars, several manned Watermills, but only one dynamo.
    I do not think it would be worth making if output less then 1EU/t.

    If it cannot be used by turtles or any other form of automation around 5-8EU/t would be fine.
    A basic generator is easy to get and fuel and doesn't require you standing around slapping it for power.


    At 5EU/t it would be enough to run a few machines, the only real use I can see for it is saving on charcoal in the first 20 minutes of gameplay while you extract some rubber and prepare a few basics before getting some proper generation going.

    You know, the OP kinda gave he answer himself - just use manned watermills. It gives the same effect, and the watermills are allready implemented and cheap as hell.

    Age: 16. Favourite school subject: Physics/Chemistry.


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    Quote from wasmic

    You know, the OP kinda gave he answer himself - just use manned watermills. It gives the same effect, and the watermills are allready implemented and cheap as hell.

    Now I remember why it got denied lol.


    Soon with Molten Salt Reactors, right ? :D
    NERF THA FUSION REACTOR!

    Manned watermills require a bit of setup and are almost never useful by the time you make them-they are little more than a waste of half a generator. A dynamo that can be crafted into a regular generator is much more useful as tier 0 (basically for macerating your very first ores and extracting your first rubber before you even have to make a proper generator and powering the last few seconds remaining in a machine). Also, manned watermills are very grindy in comparison: a watermill require you to run back and forth with water buckets, while a dynamo require you to just right click for a short while- It's balanced differently: the watermill is balanced on how annoying it is to use, while a dynamo is balanced by food supply. finally, a dynamo is much more mobile and spontaneous, since it doesn't require a bucket and an infinite water source.

    Quote

    You know, the OP kinda gave he answer himself - just use manned watermills. It gives the same effect, and the watermills are allready implemented and cheap as hell.

    Minor detail, but 'herself' not himself, etc. :)



    Quote

    Manned watermills require a bit of setup and are almost never useful by the time you make them-they are little more than a waste of half a generator. A dynamo that can be crafted into a regular generator is much more useful as tier 0 (basically for macerating your very first ores and extracting your first rubber before you even have to make a proper generator and powering the last few seconds remaining in a machine). Also, manned watermills are very grindy in comparison: a watermill require you to run back and forth with water buckets, while a dynamo require you to just right click for a short while- It's balanced differently: the watermill is balanced on how annoying it is to use, while a dynamo is balanced by food supply. finally, a dynamo is much more mobile and spontaneous, since it doesn't require a bucket and an infinite water source.


    This is where I'm coming from - whether it is a handheld device, or place-able, it is a device that you need to manually right-click (or right-click hold) to get the EU/t generation - if you're not standing there working the dynamo, it's not producing. Its a cheap, but food/time intensive process for the first few stages of play - Tier 0. For all the current arguments against, it seems to be either 'why bother', in which case the AE quartz grinder, Forestry clockwork engine (and such) would be the same, yet they are welcomed, or 'use manned watermills' which seems to miss the point of a Tier 0, manual use [see above quote] (especially if GT is in the mod-pack, but useful even without).


    Being able to craft-convert it into a Generator would remove the 'sitting in junk-chest once used' aspect, while still providing that initial Tier 0 helping hand at the start. I'd agree, before it's mentioned, that the 'conversion to Generator' recipe shouldn't be so cheap that everyone turns to making dynamos for Generators all the time.


    All that said, the open-minded discussions are rounding out the idea, so please, discuss on. :)

    This would be useful as an alternative to the solar helmet for charging your jetpack.


    However, I do not think it should be craftable into a placeable generator, if only because the generator is already as cheap as it can get, and gets you a lot of power generation with only a small amount of time invested in harvesting wood.

    Well, perhaps not directly craftable into a generator. The dynamo --> Generator recipe should of course include other resources to make the total raw material cost the same.