Bricks and the block dispenser

[Beebou]

Now that when you power a block dispenser and if there at at least 4 clay balls in it, a clay block out, why not have it so when there are 4 bricks in it a brick block pops out?

[FlowerChild]

Yeah, I've already been considering expanding upon the "clumping" functionality of the BD to extend to other uses. I'll likely do it when I have some time to spare.

However, the example you provide is probably one of the most useless you could have come up with in terms of automation :)

[SPACEDUDE360000]

If you do this you might as well throw in all compacting recipes...
glowstone dust to glowstone
diamonds to diamond blocks
gold ingots to gold blocks
iron ingots to iron blocks
lapis lazuli to lapis lazuli blocks
(are there any more?)

[jorgebonafe]

Not exactly the same, but it would be interesting if a clay block in a kiln would make a brick block.

[FlowerChild]

If you do this you might as well throw in all compacting recipes...
glowstone dust to glowstone
diamonds to diamond blocks
gold ingots to gold blocks
iron ingots to iron blocks
lapis lazuli to lapis lazuli blocks
(are there any more?)

Yeah, that's kind of the idea, as well as having an additional way to convert string to wool and that kind of thing.

But again guys, you're just spewing out random shit that can be combined with no real intended use, and each of these things takes time for me to do.

Anyways, as per my new policy on such things, feel free to discuss amongst yourselves, but I'm outta here.

[Husbag3]

I feel like this is turning the BD into something like the automatic crafting table from buildcraft. I don't think this is the route that the mod should be taking IMO.

[Dralnalak]

I feel like this is turning the BD into something like the automatic crafting table from buildcraft. I don't think this is the route that the mod should be taking IMO.

Actually, I think that an automatic crafting table would be right in the scope of Better Than Wolves. I'm just not sure the Block Dispenser is the right place for it.

To my mind, BTW is all about finding new and interesting ways to automate various things given the tools provided by the mod. Providing new ways to assemble and craft things you use a lot provides even more flexibility and possibility within the mod. Right now, you could have a tree grown, automatically cut down into planks, and then those planks stored for use. With some automatic crafting, maybe you could do something as complex as turning those planks into sticks, the sticks into ladders, and then storing the ladders for use.

Of course, my example may be a bit too specific and corner case for the focus FlowerChild is taking, even in later tiers of the tech tree, but I do think adding some crafting options in general could allow for some interesting automation.

[FlowerChild]

Of course, my example may be a bit too specific and corner case for the focus FlowerChild is taking, even in later tiers of the tech tree, but I do think adding some crafting options in general could allow for some interesting automation.

Yeah, I've got no problem with auto-crafting, and some of my recent additions to the Cauldron support this. In the long term, it's part of where I want to take the mod.

What I am opposed to including in the mod is some kind of general-purpose auto-crafting solution that takes a template and spits out anything you care to craft. To me, that feels like some kind of robotic machine way beyond even our tech-level in the modern day. I could probably code something up like that in a couple of hours and never have to worry about auto-crafting ever again, but I think it would irreparably damage the feel of the mod, so I'd much rather take the longer (and harder) route. This is the same way I've approached the whole Hopper filter question: a lot more work involved for me than some kind of auto-filter, but much better for the feel of the mod in the long run.

I don't think that simply clumping together simple conversion recipes (clay balls to clay block, string to wool, etc.) even comes close to something like a full fledged auto-crafting table. There's no mechanism involved in any of those blocks, they're just chunks of material. Thematically, it even fits the BD's slightly fucked-up tendency to "view" everything in terms of blocks, like the way it produces Companion Cubes.

[Dralnalak]

Yeah, I've got no problem with auto-crafting, and some of my recent additions to the Cauldron support this. In the long term, it's part of where I want to take the mod.

What I am opposed to including in the mod is some kind of general-purpose auto-crafting solution that takes a template and spits out anything you care to craft. To me, that feels like some kind of robotic machine way beyond even our tech-level in the modern day. ...

Exactly what I was thinking. A few things added to the Block Dispenser would make sense (like you've already added clay balls to clay blocks), but tons of things wouldn't be your style or the feel of the mod.

I could see you creating a multi-unit system, like saw to cut wood, lathe to spin it into sticks, and a press to assemble those sticks into a few limited items like ladders and fences. Not something that generates anything or even anything you could possibly make out of wood, but something that does a few specific things.

Or at least something along that idea. My example is too specific for the block IDs it would use up to produce rather limited options. One of the things I love about this mod is that it doesn't just use corner cases. Like how the cauldron cooks a variety of different things, beyond even just food, so it's good for more than just one thing. I just can't think of a specific example to use that would be less specialized and fit better with the mod.


Edit: I did think of one example. A mold-filled press. Like a hopper, it has a slot that holds a specific item. Instead of a filter, it's a mold. You stock it with sticks, pour melted iron into it and it forms one of the five tools based on the specific filter/mold, but only the five vanilla tools. That's the kind of versatility I can see in Better Than Wolves. (Though the example itself is a poor suggestion as once you hit Soulforged Steel, there is no need to mass produce iron tools.)

[FlowerChild]

I could see you creating a multi-unit system, like saw to cut wood, lathe to spin it into sticks, and a press to assemble those sticks into a few limited items like ladders and fences.

Well, the Lathe and Press kinda fit into something else that I've been humming and hawing over for potential inclusion in the mod for a long time, which is a loom.

If it were my own game, that's probably the route I'd go. Have a number of specialized machines that process specific kinds of goods each in their own unique way. It's fun, it's cool to have all these different contraptions around your base, and it opens up the possibility of having unique design-constraints on each one to provide unique gameplay experiences when working with each (you'll notice all the auto-crafters in the mod like the Cauldron, Mill-Stone, Turntable, Kiln, etc. all function in very different ways that you need to take into account when building devices using them...they aren't just reskins of the same functionality).

The thing is, with the limited number of block IDs in MC, I have additional factors to consider here, namely that if I start putting in specialized machines like that, I'm going to be consuming block IDs like crazy.

I came very close to putting that loom in somewhere in the past few releases, but decided instead that it was best to wrap that functionality into blocks with other purposes.

So yeah, for me, putting some of this functionality into the BD is a win/win. We get interesting possibilities for auto-crafting that are thematically appropriate, and I don't expend limited resources in so doing.

[Magmarashi]

To me, that feels like some kind of robotic machine way beyond even our tech-level in the modern day.

For a single block, yeah that's a bit much. The best we can do with a compact auto-crating idea, currently, is a 3D printer. We have mass-scale automation, of pretty much everything, that requires little human interaction but it takes up a massive amount of room and requires a lot of mechanical upkeep.