Posts by BrickedKeyboard

Ok, so if this were an SMP mod, what exactly would the code do every tick?

Would it iterate over every single block in the wall or sphere to check if the block is missing, every tick, all the time? That is the reason the IC1 shield failed miserably. The algorithm is so inefficient it killed the fastest CPUs.

Or did you use a different method? Can the blocks that compose a force field be destroyed with a pick? Explosives? If the block is destroyed, how does your algorithm repair the missing blocks?

Second, so for applying damage you look for entities within a sphere near the shield generator and the ones that are close to the actual shield blocks are the ones that take the damage? How often do you do this check?

Reason I ask is that shields, especially ones that also do damage, are a crucial feature this mod needs for SMP. But it has to be implemented in an efficient manner or you will not be able to have more than 3 players on a server.

Alblaka explicitly stated in this post here that he is NOT working on a shield generator for IC2 because the algorithm he used is too inefficient. If you have an idea for a better algorithm, you should implement it. I detailed the pseudocode for one that IS efficient and would work even for many shields on a single server if you are interested. Or, if you open source your mod, I may take a crack at it this weekend.

http://forum.industrial-craft.…page=Thread&threadID=1614

How does the coding algorithm for this force field actually work? How does the code check to see if an entity (player, monster, etc) has approached the field boundary? Does it check block by block to see if an entity is there or some other method?

But it does NOT say infinite block IDs. Terrain sprite indices are the pictures that go on blocks, they are not the ID for the block itself. Block IDs are very, very limited. With clever tricks you can make as many as 16 blocks share the same block ID, but still the ceiling is very low. There are only ~125 block IDs that Mojang isn't already using at this point in the later pre-releases, and that number will shrink further by release day. Call it 100 free block IDs. And certain things require a fresh block ID for each instance : if you wanted to have an item tha glows with different llight levels, it needs to use a different ID for each light level.

With a little thought, I think I know why your sound doesn't quite work. It needs to be based upon the DERIVATIVE (rate of change) of the power state for each machine. If a machine has power but is not USING power, it should not make a sound. The moment rate of change = 0 for more than a certain interval, play the "stopping" sound effect. This may require you to send more information to the SMP client than you are already doing.

If you make an iron fencing pole, which appears to be the same block as the shaft inserted by the miner, and stand near it you take damage. This means that if you create a magnetizer based elevator you will take some damage on the way up. On the bright side, the damage is direct to health and so your armor isn't damaged.

Sound is EXCELLENT in quality and it is truly impressive to hear when you fire up a whole bank of machines. I commend the sound designer. However, it doesn't QUITE sync up all of the time. Sometimes sounds keep playing even when a machine has stopped, some sounds play even when you leave the server and go to the menu, and of course the mass fabricator always plays sound even when it is not receiving any new power.

I think it is really important that you fix this, because the sound even with the bugs is a huge part of the experience of Industrial Craft. I would suggest some kind of synchronization check where the server sends a packet with a checksum or a list of all of the sound effects that the client is supposed to be playing once every second or so.

Does BTW not simulate mechanical torque? Does that mean that with a single windmill or watermill you can power an infinite number of BTW machines?

How about make canned food usage automatic? Just a simple OnTick event that checks to see if the entity.player's food bar is below 90%, and if so consume 1 canned food and attempt to place an empty can in inventory.

ALSO, make canned food stack to 256 if this can be done safely without causing problems elsewhere.

That would make it worth it.

Lots of cobblestone -> uranium -> electricity, with some of the electricity going back to produce more uranium from cobblestone and energy is NOT a violation of thermodynamics. E=MC^2, and more mass-energy is entering the system (a lot more...we are talking about STACKS of cobblestone) that is leaving in the form of net electricity production.

Granted, infinite cobblestone is a violation of conservation of mass, so I will pretend that instead of a cobblestone generator you use a buildcraft quarry.

Brick
BrickedKeyboard
GMT - 5:00
I want to be a developer granted source access so that I can make the dozens of improvements that I want Industrial Craft to have. - Previous experience on the position mentioned above? A good spot to throw links at previous projects/activitys of yours.
I've got a Master's degree and a real job in an engineering field. I don't use java at work, but I'm talented in C++ and in any case the algorithm and the process used is what ultimately determines how well code works. I suggest that since you don't want to allow all of us requesting source access to have said access, then decide who gets it with a contest. Or accept more than 2 developers for the first couple weeks and fire the people who are not performing after a week or two. (since I obviously will get most work done on evenings and weekends)