The Meaning of Life, the Universe, and Everything.
Join Date:
1/15/2011
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Pants_WP
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So, everytime I install Thaumcraft 4.1 with a bunch of mods, the Thaumcraft API error appears which means that some mod in the pack has an outdated API. So, when I looked at the error, just before the server crashed it said '[TConstruct] Thaumium Tools initialized.' So, I thought, well maybe, Tinkers Construct is outdated. So, I updated to the most recent version and now I'm stumped because it's still doing the same thing. I'm updating TC on an existing world and it would be nice if I could update without a world reset (Don't worry, I have a backup of the world). Do you know any other mods which may have an outdated Thaumcraft API?
Azanor! Why does the pick of the core break things so slowly that vanilla and even other mod picks break easily? Such as glass, ice, and several mod items like conveyor belts.
Also, I dont see how the primal staff is worth the cost, since it only regens 25 vis. That seems awfully low for something so expensive. I wouldnt bother making it over a silverwood staff.
I was just writing as why Runic armor is more or less equivalent to Heart canisters from TiCo while having more cons, and here it is Azanor
Can't you get into contact with mDiyo & Co for infos on how did they do it? (or look at the github :D) Prehaps an idea would crop up
----
Does the Lap-pack example only mean that we should keep a staff for recharging or does it mean something more ... equippable is coming? Also Azanor, an exploration in mineshaft can and will cause much more than 100 damage on armor and weapons alike, so a silverwood wand would run dry pretty fast, expecially at higher difficulties when a single strike can cause 8 - 12 durability damage (thaumium armor, i mean, and if armor cost is somewhat equiparable to the shovel, so yeah wild speculation ) (yeah yeah i'm trying to get as much information as i can :D)
I actually have discussed it with the TiC folks in the past. To do it right would involve them creating a generic api for their inventory that other modders can use without having to force TiCo to be installed. It is doable, but at the time was a bit more work than they had time for. I think I should go poke them a bit more about it
As to your second question: Indeed, if you want free repair on your equipment then you should be willing pay the cost.
This realy does seem like a good idea to me. And yeah a silverwood wand would last for ages. Does the wand cap come into play here, so a Thaumium cap would cost less to repair then an iron cap?
Yup cap bonuses/penalties and cost reducing robes/goggles all apply as normal.
I actually have discussed it with the TiC folks in the past. To do it right would involve them creating a generic api for their inventory that other modders can use without having to force TiCo to be installed. It is doable, but at the time was a bit more work than they had time for. I think I should go poke them a bit more about it
As to your second question: Indeed, if you want free repair on your equipment then you should be willing pay the cost.
Yup cap bonuses/penalties and cost reducing robes/goggles all apply as normal.
I'd really love if there was a way to designate a wand or staff as being "this is for repairs" so that my general purpose wand/staff doesnt get drained :[
Every time I try to thumieon metal sorry its really are to spell I always get flux goo coming out .
Any leftover aspects once you've made the thaumium will break down into flux products, be it goo or gas. Try to find a method of making it which doesn't result in any leftover aspects, the ideal form of which is using phials of essentia.
Any leftover aspects once you've made the thaumium will break down into flux products, be it goo or gas. Try to find a method of making it which doesn't result in any leftover aspects, the ideal form of which is using phials of essentia.
Actually, Azanor, aren't there ring slots that are currently unused in Thaumic Tinkerer already? Maybe a bit of crossmod compat would allow for rings of warding.
Barring that, there's a guy who makes the unique artifacts mod, and some of the artifacts work simply by being in your inventory. Instead of a ring of warding, maybe a talisman of protection? For the talisman, you could just add the runic armor to it to have it affect you. That would let you have the bonuses of warding (and maybe the goggles) while actually wearing whatever armor you like.
Actually, Azanor, aren't there ring slots that are currently unused in Thaumic Tinkerer already? Maybe a bit of crossmod compat would allow for rings of warding.
No, those are Tinker's Construct. They were removed in the newest version, in favor of having more heart canister slots.
Hi, I'm having trouble with starting an infusion process. I've done it many times but somehow today I can't start infusioning by clicking on the rubix. Yes I have all the ingredients and all the aspects required. I've tried relogging and trying different wands but nothing helps. Does anyone know how to fix this? Please help, thanks.
Artifice, it requires other researches first before it shows up.
I believe the essentia distillation research is the only requirement. I seem to always unlock the infusion research after I've finished researching that.
Hi, I'm having trouble with starting an infusion process. I've done it many times but somehow today I can't start infusioning by clicking on the rubix. Yes I have all the ingredients and all the aspects required. I've tried relogging and trying different wands but nothing helps. Does anyone know how to fix this? Please help, thanks.
Are you certain you have all the required items and essentia?
Do you have any decorative pedestals nearby? Those can cause the infusion to not work at all if they're in the range of the altar.
I still think consuming anvil-repair materials would be the best way to balance Repair. It seems to me that it would be really hard to balance vis-based repair without cluttering the hotbar or risking being left ammo-less.
Hi, I am migrating my 1.4.7 modpack to 1.6.4, changing from IDResolver to Idfix. I made sure there are no id conflicts and the ids stay the same. I even wrote myself a tool doing some of the analysis and fixing stuff like synchronizing the Idfix ids with the mod-configurated ids (similar to Idfix Minus). Idfix Minus is not an option since mods like IndustrialCraft 2 experimental or DivineRPG define blocks which are not configurable in the respective mod configuration files.
Thaumcraft 4 (for 1.6) is radically changed from TC3 (for 1.4), so it's pretty much impossible to upgrade an existing 1.4 world to 1.6. Not because of that particular error, but there are more errors waiting in line, and if you fix all those the actual mod objects are different too.
You want a farm, you grab a hoe. You want a boat, you grab some wood. You want a fireplace, you grab A FLAMING HELL-BOULDER BECAUSE THAT'S HOW MINECRAFTERS ROLL!!!
Hi, I'm having trouble with starting an infusion process. I've done it many times but somehow today I can't start infusioning by clicking on the rubix. Yes I have all the ingredients and all the aspects required. I've tried relogging and trying different wands but nothing helps. Does anyone know how to fix this? Please help, thanks.
If you've done it with this setup before, then "failure to launch" is almost certainly a layout error. The most common issues:
Sufficient experience for an enchant? As of 4.05, the matrix would light up but not draw essentia for this case.
Double-check the items.
Check for lookalike blocks: The ones that come to mind are netherrack versus nether brick, and arcane stone versus arcane brick. ISTR one or two cases where greatwood planks are used instead of logs.
Are you using pedestals for display anywhere nearby? Any pedestal within 9 blocks will be spotted, and probably count as an extraneous item.
For items with durability, all but the target item must be undamaged. Make sure their materials are correct too.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
I did some CraftTweaker scripts for Mystical Agriculture. They fill in a couple of small gaps in MA, and also let you make or duplicate not only vanilla plants, but the blocks, plants and wood from Quark and Biomes O'Plenty. Also spawn eggs for most vanilla mobs! The scripts are here on Github.
How about a Repair focus? Slap that onto a wand or staff, and when the call to drain vis for the repair enchant comes into effect, it checks for that focus on the wands/staves in the inventory first and pulls the vis from the wand with the repair focus. Doesn't need to have any other benefits other than designating the tool it's on as the primary target for repair vis drain.
I believe the essentia distillation research is the only requirement. I seem to always unlock the infusion research after I've finished researching that..
Now, I know this is coming a little out of the blue and that probably none of this will ever be implemented, but theorycrafting is fun for me. I regret that I lack the kind of skill necessary to make any of this into a reality on my own.
I figure I might have figured out some solutions regarding issues inherent to research and moving essentia around. I just feel that all of the various Thaumcrafts have something to offer, and some things were unfortunately lost between 2, 3, and 4. My suggestions in this tend to have a habit of re-introducing certain mechanics or themes from older versions, while trying to keep what I feel to be very important, character-defining aspects of the current version of Thaumcraft.
WARNING: THERE IS A LOT OF TEXT IN THIS, SO REMEMBER TO BRING A CUP OF TEA. I spent the better part of my day writing all this.
ON THE BEGINNING
I would honestly suggest, regardless of all else my post holds, that upon creation of a new world, or the joining of a new server, that the player be given a complimentary Thaumonomicon. Of course, disable-able via config, with another potential config for starting out with an iron-capped wooden wand, defaulted to off.
ON ASPECTS
Add one or two more primals. This would reduce a lot of aspect nesting all on its own. The Elemental Primals, and then the Catalytic Primals. Air, Earth, Water, Fire / Order, Chaos, Creation, Erosion. Really, I figure aspect tiers should be limited to... three at most, and no further. Tier 3 aspects chould actually be far fewer than the Tier 2 aspects, despite the sheer possible number of combinations. Furthermore, they chould really only be the result of Compound + Primal, and never Compound + Compound. Of course, that only really applies if we're talking strictly for research's sake in the current system.
Additionally, all items in the game would have only one or two Primal Essentia values, with one, maybe two Compound Aspects, and only one of each. When items get scanned, you get one of each of those Compound Aspects as research points, but not the way you expect, Primals are used very differently when it comes to research. This is elaborated on in the Research section. Ideally, those items which are more easily farmed would have fewer Primal Essentia in them, like maybe one or two points, maybe up to six, while those which are significantly harder to acquire would have nauseatingly high numbers, like 16 each of two Primal Essentia or 32 of just one, plus whatever compounds it has.
ON RESEARCH
I figure that it probably feels like you're making a new minigame every few weeks now, but every research thus far has had issues.
Also, as a before, perhaps an idea is that one could just stick the Thaumonomicon into the Research Table and not need any paper at all, using the Scribing Tools to write up the research directly into the Thaumonomicon and letting you back out and navigate around the menu freely while at the Research Table.
THE ISSUES
TC2: Too simple, too easily broken, too random.
TC3: Too many aspects, you were essentially GAMBLING items that had no guarantee of doing anything to further research (and thus the random factor). Hints were okay for some people, but others just brute forced it, wasting many items, especially when it wasn't exactly guaranteed that trying one or even four items would tell you if you had relevant aspect to research.
TC4: Again, too many aspects, although it was slightly better than 4.1 in that you didn't use as many if you got real good at it, and it's much better on the item grind than TC3. Suffered from the occasionally IMPOSSIBLE research.
TC4.1: Still too many aspects, and nested aspects tend to result in certain Primals, hilariously, being too few to progress in a timely manner, practically necessitating the considerable, time-consuming abuse of ghost points and/or the deconstruction table, especially when you got right down to anything that was nested off of Victus or Motus, although I expect these to be cut down in the next version, if your/Azanor's posts on the matter are any indication.
THE RESEARCH
Personally, I'd do away with the concept of Research Points altogether. Either that, or relegate them to a sort of... bonus, that would help with research but not necessarily be REQUIRED for research. Instead, research could use Vis and/or Essentia. Essentially, the wand is the pen, with Essentia and Vis providing the ink. If you don't have Essentia being piped into the research table. Scribing Tools could be used to write in your Research Bonuses in addition to the initial creation of the research papers.
You start off using a not-insignificant amount of Vis, and Vis alone to do the puzzles, but once you start piping Essentia in, the cost is reduced by a LOT. Research Expertise and Mastery would cut down on the amount of Vis/Essentia you use to draw lines, but rather than being dedicated research in their own rights, they'd be unlocked after completing a certain number of Research Notes.
THE MINIGAME
For the minigame, what I envision is a sort of... cross between the current research style, the previous research style, and the one before that. The grid-and-line system would remain, but I figure that rather than trying to match up one long line, you'd be trying to match up two to eight node pairs depending on the difficulty of the research each based around the Primal Aspects.
Maybe it'd be like... Primal Sudoku, or something, with the research chopped up into different sectors and having to navigate all primal lines to match without crossing over each other. It'd be a more intense version of the old system but with more manageable resources (vis, essentia), and the static puzzle nature if the current system, ensuring that no puzzle is impossible or requires multiple research notes. Each puzzle, until you start to hit the endgame researches, should have multiple ways of completing them, but later ones are harder. There'd be "link nodes" that cross over the boundaries between each sector, but also "sub-spatial nodes" that allow you to draw lines BETWEEN the sectors, along the empty space outside of the boundaries.
Where Research Bonuses would come in, is that you could place down a bonus, and it would allow you to cross two Primals; whichever Primals it is made up of. It makes Research easier, but it's not impossible if you run out. Of course, if you're really stuck, there'd be a way of acquiring new research bonuses, via the Deconstructing Enhancement for the Essentia Furnace, which would allow it to serve as a Deconstruction Table and have a low, low chance of providing a gatherable Research Bonus. Of course, you'd have to pay close attention else it may boil away the rest of its contents, thus making it so that you only acquire one bonus rather than having a chance at others.
ON ARTIFICING
PIPES, ESSENTIA STORAGE, AND PROCESSING
Other suggestions would be an overhaul of the aspect distillation system. Rather than directly piping out something like a potential of ~50 aspect types, they could be broken down directly into primals straight at the source, and only things like Jars, or specialty bits, would be able to hold Compounds.
Early game, to combine Essentia, you'd have to do it sort of like Alchemy, but in warded jars. Old-style Alchemy. TC3-style Alchemy. You'd get two pipes, each with a different Primal flowing through, and you'd have them fill up the jar with two Primals. Of course, multiple primals in one space do not play very well. Leave them unattended for too long and a reaction might occur that shatters the jar and releases flux, similar to TC2 tanks with Taint. However, tap it with a wand and they'll combine. If the jar has, say, 8 Aer and 6 Aqua, you'll get 6 motus, with the rest being vented out as flux. Phials would be very useful, if a little resource wasteful, in this regard, since you could just have two separate jars, siphon with phials, then put them into the source jar, making it a bit more controlled and less wasteful of primal essentia, although more involved.
The next step would be valves, to let you control the flow of aspects a little bit more precisely. Then it would be intelligent valves, to allow for only X essentia to flow through before closing, still making it manual since you'd have to define the number every time. And then it would eventually move up to the Alchemical Recombiner, basically a reversed Centrifuge which takes 1 aspect, then waits for 1 of the other before combining the two and outputting through a particular face.
Jars could be an early game storage solution for primals, but around midgame you could start having more than you know what to do with and start holding them in special tanks, made from combining the different primal crystals with glass. Maybe they'd be straight up TC2 blocks, or maybe they could be sort of like, big glass/crystal tubes that combine textures/models as they stack, like mad scientist storage.
VIS AND ESSENTIA
Really, essentia could be used for more than just Infusion Crafting. Perhaps there could be two branches of arcane crafting, with the Workbench making use of Vis for Arcane Crafting, and a re-introduction of the Infuser to make use of Arcane Infusion, still a tier below Infusion Crafting. From there you could make Infusion Crafting a fusion of both styles of crafting, as the name implies.
INFUSION
The Infusion Altar could be given an overhaul. Each pillar could be dedicated to a single Primal. Initially it would just be the four pillars for the base 4 elements, with the current design, but then there could be an upgraded form that is larger, requiring a bigger area, with eight pillars, or perhaps just bigger ones that hold two primal essentia each. Each pillar would be dark until the infusion begins, and then take on the colours of the various primals. Each pillar would act like a high pressure conduit where they absorb Primal Energy to charge up the pillars and then when filled up output it via a high-pressure magical pseudo-energy stream, like a laser.
The pillars would charge up while the various components are being broken apart and applied to the infused item, and then when that's done they would simultaneously output their charge, adding the finishing touches to the infusion crafting. This means that you wouldn't need to have a billion jars around the altar and it goes a little faster, thus reducing clutter and helping to make infusion a little less tedious.
Building on top of the process title of "Infusion Crafting," maybe vis could also be used as a sort of... catalyst cost to get the process started, and it drains from the wand when you tap on the infusion matrix.
JARS OF FUEL
Basically, I am a big fan all these fuels and performance enhancers. Perhaps there could be more of that sort of thing. Maybe Aer, or perhaps Motus could be used to enhance the Arcane Bellows, for instance.
MORE LIKE ARCANE BORING
You have here a perfectly functional, swiveling platform that can aim target and aim automatically, and all you ever use it for is to dig, dig, dig.
It would be a darn shame to not make use of it for more... creative endeavors.
Playing With Fire
By loading up an Arcane Bore with a Jar of Ignis and Wand Focus: Fire, you can make a rudimentary flamethrowing device that responds to redstone signals. If only there were a way to make it more independent...
Now We're Cookin' With Malice
Oh, those adorable Jarred Zombie Brains. As useful as they are for soaking up experience, you've discovered a more... inventive use for them. By placing one next to an Arcane Bore, with a Jar of Telum placed nearby, and the bore affixed with a Jar of Ignis and Wand Focus: Fire, you allow the Zombie Brain to make the Arcane Bore target whatever crosses into its range of perception. Anything. No exaggeration.
Perhaps there could be one further improvement to be made so that the Brain would not target you, nor your golems, as for the moment you can only disable the indiscriminate menace via a redstone signal and thereby make the whole thing useless.
ON AURA NODES
I would honestly, legitimately suggest that there be four classifications of Aura Nodes, with only special nodes holding Non-Primal vis. Sometimes nodes are grouped into two classes, rather than four, with 1&2 being classified under "Natural" nodes, with 3&4 being labeled as "Artificial" nodes.
1: Aura Nodes
The most common Node type. Due to their ability to hold multiple primal energy types, these nodes are weak and do not recharge very well. The Candle That Burns Twice As Bright and all that. However, due to such intense burning, they are akin to the Phoenix; unlike other Node types, they cannot be legitimately broken. They will persist under any and all circumstances. Each Aura Node eventually weakens to the point that they cannot recharge much at all, nearing the end of its life. At this point, they will fade and release wisps, however they will also enter a short metamorphosis period. Once they are reborn, they will have different aspects than before. High level Thaumaturgy may be able to influence this somewhat...
2: Primal Nodes
A very unique type of node, these are found only within gigantic crystals. They recharge quickly, and are only of a single Primal type. These crystals an be mined out for a significant quantity of Primal Shards, thus destroying the node contained within and releasing much Ethereal Essence. But, if you could find a way of transporting the Primal Crystal Node whole, there may perhaps be a way of harvesting the crystals without destroying the core, or the node contained within, and thus allowing for the crystals to regrow.
3: Abnormal Nodes
~Tainted Nodes [Vitium, Telum, Venenum] found within the Tainted Lands, spreading their vile corruption to all they can reach;
~Eerie Nodes [Mortuus, Exanima, Spiritus] found within the Barrows scattered across the land, the unfortunate result of ancient rituals gone horribly wrong;
~Eldritch Nodes [Alienis, Tenebrae, Iter] found within Totems - ancient remnants of a strange and alien life that some say is still out there, just beyond the veil of reality, watching, waiting...;
~Pure Nodes [Victus, Sano, Aurum] which grow within Silverwood Trees, granting vibrant life to all which surround them;
~Hungry Nodes [Fames, Lucrum, Vinculum] which embody a ravenous, never-ending need to devour all around them - a result of old Thaumaturgical experiments long forgotten, or born from the desires of greedy and gluttonous people, long since consumed by their own wants? (Possibly Vacuos rather than Lucrum?)
Each serving a different purpose, or leading to new discoveries, though who could tell whether or not their secrets should be laid bare before the world...
4: Compound Nodes
These nodes cannot normally be found in nature. They are the result of Thaumaturgy alone, having been artificially created via powerful and dangerous magical processes. For what purpose? Well, only you would know, Thaumaturge.
Rumours persist of a fifth node type. Little is known apart from the moniker it has garnered via gossip, rumours, and urban legends: The Radiant Node. It has also been known as the "Final Node" or the "Omega Node". The Radiant Node and all its incarnations have been the subject of many a Thaumaturge's hypotheses and fiction.
I've tried to proofread all of this as best I could, but I kept tweaking ideas halfway through and some bits might reference to other bits that came in later in the post, or some ideas that I didn't fully erase. I'd also like to say that, none of this is by any means a "DO THIS NOW AZANOR" sort of thing, I'm just tossing ideas out there as to the kind of mod I'd like to see, and perhaps watching for reactions.
EDIT: Added JARS OF FUEL and MORE LIKE ARCANE BORING to ON ARTIFICING
Error: http://pastebin.com/Jrufm0uv
Mod list: http://pastebin.com/t11UqcsG
Also, I dont see how the primal staff is worth the cost, since it only regens 25 vis. That seems awfully low for something so expensive. I wouldnt bother making it over a silverwood staff.
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Curse PremiumI actually have discussed it with the TiC folks in the past. To do it right would involve them creating a generic api for their inventory that other modders can use without having to force TiCo to be installed. It is doable, but at the time was a bit more work than they had time for. I think I should go poke them a bit more about it
As to your second question: Indeed, if you want free repair on your equipment then you should be willing pay the cost.
Yup cap bonuses/penalties and cost reducing robes/goggles all apply as normal.
I'd really love if there was a way to designate a wand or staff as being "this is for repairs" so that my general purpose wand/staff doesnt get drained :[
Any leftover aspects once you've made the thaumium will break down into flux products, be it goo or gas. Try to find a method of making it which doesn't result in any leftover aspects, the ideal form of which is using phials of essentia.
Barring that, there's a guy who makes the unique artifacts mod, and some of the artifacts work simply by being in your inventory. Instead of a ring of warding, maybe a talisman of protection? For the talisman, you could just add the runic armor to it to have it affect you. That would let you have the bonuses of warding (and maybe the goggles) while actually wearing whatever armor you like.
No, those are Tinker's Construct. They were removed in the newest version, in favor of having more heart canister slots.
Profile pic by Cheshirette c:
I believe the essentia distillation research is the only requirement. I seem to always unlock the infusion research after I've finished researching that.
Are you certain you have all the required items and essentia?
Do you have any decorative pedestals nearby? Those can cause the infusion to not work at all if they're in the range of the altar.
Thaumcraft 4 (for 1.6) is radically changed from TC3 (for 1.4), so it's pretty much impossible to upgrade an existing 1.4 world to 1.6. Not because of that particular error, but there are more errors waiting in line, and if you fix all those the actual mod objects are different too.
If you've done it with this setup before, then "failure to launch" is almost certainly a layout error. The most common issues:
because thats an addition, that would be great.
Thanks!
I figure I might have figured out some solutions regarding issues inherent to research and moving essentia around. I just feel that all of the various Thaumcrafts have something to offer, and some things were unfortunately lost between 2, 3, and 4. My suggestions in this tend to have a habit of re-introducing certain mechanics or themes from older versions, while trying to keep what I feel to be very important, character-defining aspects of the current version of Thaumcraft.
WARNING: THERE IS A LOT OF TEXT IN THIS, SO REMEMBER TO BRING A CUP OF TEA.
I spent the better part of my day writing all this.
ON THE BEGINNING
ON ASPECTS
Additionally, all items in the game would have only one or two Primal Essentia values, with one, maybe two Compound Aspects, and only one of each. When items get scanned, you get one of each of those Compound Aspects as research points, but not the way you expect, Primals are used very differently when it comes to research. This is elaborated on in the Research section. Ideally, those items which are more easily farmed would have fewer Primal Essentia in them, like maybe one or two points, maybe up to six, while those which are significantly harder to acquire would have nauseatingly high numbers, like 16 each of two Primal Essentia or 32 of just one, plus whatever compounds it has.
ON RESEARCH
Also, as a before, perhaps an idea is that one could just stick the Thaumonomicon into the Research Table and not need any paper at all, using the Scribing Tools to write up the research directly into the Thaumonomicon and letting you back out and navigate around the menu freely while at the Research Table.
THE ISSUES
TC3: Too many aspects, you were essentially GAMBLING items that had no guarantee of doing anything to further research (and thus the random factor). Hints were okay for some people, but others just brute forced it, wasting many items, especially when it wasn't exactly guaranteed that trying one or even four items would tell you if you had relevant aspect to research.
TC4: Again, too many aspects, although it was slightly better than 4.1 in that you didn't use as many if you got real good at it, and it's much better on the item grind than TC3. Suffered from the occasionally IMPOSSIBLE research.
TC4.1: Still too many aspects, and nested aspects tend to result in certain Primals, hilariously, being too few to progress in a timely manner, practically necessitating the considerable, time-consuming abuse of ghost points and/or the deconstruction table, especially when you got right down to anything that was nested off of Victus or Motus, although I expect these to be cut down in the next version, if your/Azanor's posts on the matter are any indication.
THE RESEARCH
You start off using a not-insignificant amount of Vis, and Vis alone to do the puzzles, but once you start piping Essentia in, the cost is reduced by a LOT. Research Expertise and Mastery would cut down on the amount of Vis/Essentia you use to draw lines, but rather than being dedicated research in their own rights, they'd be unlocked after completing a certain number of Research Notes.
THE MINIGAME
Maybe it'd be like... Primal Sudoku, or something, with the research chopped up into different sectors and having to navigate all primal lines to match without crossing over each other. It'd be a more intense version of the old system but with more manageable resources (vis, essentia), and the static puzzle nature if the current system, ensuring that no puzzle is impossible or requires multiple research notes. Each puzzle, until you start to hit the endgame researches, should have multiple ways of completing them, but later ones are harder. There'd be "link nodes" that cross over the boundaries between each sector, but also "sub-spatial nodes" that allow you to draw lines BETWEEN the sectors, along the empty space outside of the boundaries.
Where Research Bonuses would come in, is that you could place down a bonus, and it would allow you to cross two Primals; whichever Primals it is made up of. It makes Research easier, but it's not impossible if you run out. Of course, if you're really stuck, there'd be a way of acquiring new research bonuses, via the Deconstructing Enhancement for the Essentia Furnace, which would allow it to serve as a Deconstruction Table and have a low, low chance of providing a gatherable Research Bonus. Of course, you'd have to pay close attention else it may boil away the rest of its contents, thus making it so that you only acquire one bonus rather than having a chance at others.
ON ARTIFICING
Early game, to combine Essentia, you'd have to do it sort of like Alchemy, but in warded jars. Old-style Alchemy. TC3-style Alchemy. You'd get two pipes, each with a different Primal flowing through, and you'd have them fill up the jar with two Primals. Of course, multiple primals in one space do not play very well. Leave them unattended for too long and a reaction might occur that shatters the jar and releases flux, similar to TC2 tanks with Taint. However, tap it with a wand and they'll combine. If the jar has, say, 8 Aer and 6 Aqua, you'll get 6 motus, with the rest being vented out as flux. Phials would be very useful, if a little resource wasteful, in this regard, since you could just have two separate jars, siphon with phials, then put them into the source jar, making it a bit more controlled and less wasteful of primal essentia, although more involved.
The next step would be valves, to let you control the flow of aspects a little bit more precisely. Then it would be intelligent valves, to allow for only X essentia to flow through before closing, still making it manual since you'd have to define the number every time. And then it would eventually move up to the Alchemical Recombiner, basically a reversed Centrifuge which takes 1 aspect, then waits for 1 of the other before combining the two and outputting through a particular face.
Jars could be an early game storage solution for primals, but around midgame you could start having more than you know what to do with and start holding them in special tanks, made from combining the different primal crystals with glass. Maybe they'd be straight up TC2 blocks, or maybe they could be sort of like, big glass/crystal tubes that combine textures/models as they stack, like mad scientist storage.
VIS AND ESSENTIA
INFUSION
The pillars would charge up while the various components are being broken apart and applied to the infused item, and then when that's done they would simultaneously output their charge, adding the finishing touches to the infusion crafting. This means that you wouldn't need to have a billion jars around the altar and it goes a little faster, thus reducing clutter and helping to make infusion a little less tedious.
Building on top of the process title of "Infusion Crafting," maybe vis could also be used as a sort of... catalyst cost to get the process started, and it drains from the wand when you tap on the infusion matrix.
JARS OF FUEL
MORE LIKE ARCANE BORING
It would be a darn shame to not make use of it for more... creative endeavors.
Playing With Fire
Now We're Cookin' With Malice
Perhaps there could be one further improvement to be made so that the Brain would not target you, nor your golems, as for the moment you can only disable the indiscriminate menace via a redstone signal and thereby make the whole thing useless.
ON AURA NODES
1: Aura Nodes
The most common Node type. Due to their ability to hold multiple primal energy types, these nodes are weak and do not recharge very well. The Candle That Burns Twice As Bright and all that. However, due to such intense burning, they are akin to the Phoenix; unlike other Node types, they cannot be legitimately broken. They will persist under any and all circumstances. Each Aura Node eventually weakens to the point that they cannot recharge much at all, nearing the end of its life. At this point, they will fade and release wisps, however they will also enter a short metamorphosis period. Once they are reborn, they will have different aspects than before. High level Thaumaturgy may be able to influence this somewhat...
2: Primal Nodes
A very unique type of node, these are found only within gigantic crystals. They recharge quickly, and are only of a single Primal type. These crystals an be mined out for a significant quantity of Primal Shards, thus destroying the node contained within and releasing much Ethereal Essence. But, if you could find a way of transporting the Primal Crystal Node whole, there may perhaps be a way of harvesting the crystals without destroying the core, or the node contained within, and thus allowing for the crystals to regrow.
3: Abnormal Nodes
~Tainted Nodes [Vitium, Telum, Venenum] found within the Tainted Lands, spreading their vile corruption to all they can reach;
~Eerie Nodes [Mortuus, Exanima, Spiritus] found within the Barrows scattered across the land, the unfortunate result of ancient rituals gone horribly wrong;
~Eldritch Nodes [Alienis, Tenebrae, Iter] found within Totems - ancient remnants of a strange and alien life that some say is still out there, just beyond the veil of reality, watching, waiting...;
~Pure Nodes [Victus, Sano, Aurum] which grow within Silverwood Trees, granting vibrant life to all which surround them;
~Hungry Nodes [Fames, Lucrum, Vinculum] which embody a ravenous, never-ending need to devour all around them - a result of old Thaumaturgical experiments long forgotten, or born from the desires of greedy and gluttonous people, long since consumed by their own wants? (Possibly Vacuos rather than Lucrum?)
Each serving a different purpose, or leading to new discoveries, though who could tell whether or not their secrets should be laid bare before the world...
4: Compound Nodes
These nodes cannot normally be found in nature. They are the result of Thaumaturgy alone, having been artificially created via powerful and dangerous magical processes. For what purpose? Well, only you would know, Thaumaturge.
Rumours persist of a fifth node type. Little is known apart from the moniker it has garnered via gossip, rumours, and urban legends: The Radiant Node. It has also been known as the "Final Node" or the "Omega Node". The Radiant Node and all its incarnations have been the subject of many a Thaumaturge's hypotheses and fiction.
I've tried to proofread all of this as best I could, but I kept tweaking ideas halfway through and some bits might reference to other bits that came in later in the post, or some ideas that I didn't fully erase. I'd also like to say that, none of this is by any means a "DO THIS NOW AZANOR" sort of thing, I'm just tossing ideas out there as to the kind of mod I'd like to see, and perhaps watching for reactions.
EDIT: Added JARS OF FUEL and MORE LIKE ARCANE BORING to ON ARTIFICING