Reading this, I can't help but think about how a chemical reaction works. And I think it would work well for this. Let me explain, (warning math follows):
The reaction rate equation for the above reaction is:
Whereas Ca, ect. are the concentration of a, ect. defined as the amount of a, na, divided by the total amount. t is time.
k(T) in real life is defined as:
Whereas A, Ae, and R are constants (some relative to the reaction), and T is temperature. In essence, k(T) can be thought of as a numerical value defining how difficult it is for the reaction to occur at a given temperature.
Now let's translate this into something a bit more useful for arcanacraft. Let's take the above reaction for nitor as an example, and for now let's assume that temperature has no effect.
The equation for k assuming that we use only the exact amounts of light, energy, and fire is as follows:
Cn get reduced to 1, as there is nothing but nitor left after the reaction. Now we can solve for k:
But, this is a k that needs pure energy, light, and fire in exacting ratios. Something that is a bit difficult to achieve. Instead, let's say we want this to be a pretty easy reaction, you only need a 10% concentration to achieve a reaction. The equations then become:
We can again solve for k:
Note this k is much higher.
That was for a reaction where all components had the same exponent, if we needed the components in different ratios, such as [energy 1] [light 2] [fire 3] then we would need to use the component we need the most of to adjust the k for a 10% reaction. Like so:
Using this method you can define how hard something is to make by either setting the k such that you need a high concentration, or by having a higher number of components, as that would introduce impurities and dilute the concentrations.
Azanor has also said he would like to do something that would make things a little different between worlds. So lets introduce a new term. We will call it the dominance factor, it defines how powerful a particular reactant is, for instance let set the dominance factor for light to 1.5.
This is not your normal every day light, this light works out, it fries ants without the aid of a magnifying glass. It is so strong that you need less of it than normal light. ~1.3 of this light is equivalent to 2 normal light.
Alternatively the dominance factor could be less than one, 0.5 for example, then you would need twice as much of this weaksauce light to make anything.
Every component could have a dominance factor, and those factors would vary based on the world seed. Azanor would only need to define a min and max value and then he could randomly choose one between those two values. And it would be easy to make sure you don't break anything, as all you would have to do is graph the reactions over a range of dominance factors. Imagine Player B is trying to make nitor using torches, his friend, Player A, told him that it worked for him, but he keeps getting something else instead. Because the dominance factor in Player A's world is low, the wood value from the torches are not causing problems. However, for Player B's world the wood dominance factor is higher, and he ends up making something entirely different. So instead Player B has to make something to use up the wood, or use a difference source for those components.
Now let's return to temperature. In the preview images Azanor has shown a cauldron over fire and lava. What you could do is make k dependent upon temperature. You could have it vary based on which block the cauldron is over, lava, fire, torch, room temp [solid block], air cooled, water cooled, snow, and ice. This would give both the player and Azanor an additional level of control over what products you could get.
Consider a case where a higher level item also requires fire, light, and energy, but has a lower k than nitor. In that case you would not be able to make the higher level item as nitor would be using up all of your fire, light, and energy. However, if nitor only had a higher k(T) when the cauldron was over lava, and the higher level item had a higher k(T) when it was over, say ice, then things would be easier. You could, by changing the temperature, and through a set of reactions, remove all but 1 component from the cauldron, ending up with a cauldron full of pure, say energy. Then you could save that pure energy and maybe use it as a crafting ingredient, or use it in a high level cauldron recipe that requires absolutely pure components. Or you could store it, but I'd imagine having a bunch of bottles of pure energy laying around wouldn't be very safe.
You are completely right that this would generate the randomness and define how much of different components you would need, but wouldn't it be a pain to get the MC code to calculate this every time?
Assuming it isn't. I think someone might have trouble understanding it if it wasn't because i have had studied chemistry i don't think i would have understood what you meant.
Had to put the extremely large quote into a spoiler
You are completely right that this would generate the randomness and define how much of different components you would need, but wouldn't it be a pain to get the MC code to calculate this every time?
Assuming it isn't. I think someone might have trouble understanding it if it wasn't because i have had studied chemistry i don't think i would have understood what you meant.
Not terribly difficult to code, at least no more difficult than how vis for a crafted item is currently calculated. You would only need to define the dominance factor once, on world creation, or on the first time aracancraft/TC3 is ran in that world.
As for the ease of use... a player really doesn't need to know the exact equation to use it. He just needs to know it takes x, y, and z, to make something. I was thinking you could make it so that little mini-blocks of the components bubble up to the surface of the cauldron, with a frequency, (and/or maybe a slight variation on their size) based on their concentration. Then it would really only require looking at it to see you have too much of something, without requiring you to know all the math that is going on behind the scenes.
Not terribly difficult to code, at least no more difficult than how vis for a crafted item is currently calculated. You would only need to define the dominance factor once, on world creation, or on the first time aracancraft/TC3 is ran in that world.
As for the ease of use... a player really doesn't need to know the exact equation to use it. He just needs to know it takes x, y, and z, to make something. I was thinking you could make it so that little mini-blocks of the components bubble up to the surface of the cauldron, with a frequency, (and/or maybe a slight variation on their size) based on their concentration. Then it would really only require looking at it to see you have too much of something, without requiring you to know all the math that is going on behind the scenes.
Haven't thought of the visual implementation, if there is one then you're right, it wouldn't be a problem and it would be really awesome! So cross your fingers and hope this or something like it will be made
I'm being bombarded by ideas from my own head, but i don't want to spill anything until the spoiler vid comes out, that way i have a little bit more to base my crap-spout off of.
Edit:
Sounds vaguely familiar, my brain said shinigami and i know that's probably not correct (Same gloom though!). On the other hand, almost everything you just said would be impossible without editing class files, i can guarantee it.
Shinigami are reapers/death gods. I think it was Shikigami?
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"Better Than Wolves: where the line between morality and immorality is a mile wide and has loops in some places." - Stormweaver
Cool. I'm not much for ideas on the fly but I definitely will tell you if I imagine something useful :)Cool. I'm not much for ideas on the fly but I definitely will tell you if I imagine something useful
Hmm...I'm pretty much just taking ideas from ancient myths, but how how about adding a Shabti system?(They're Egyptian)
I think it would be nice to have some sort of special block for making shabti. Either a molding block, or simply taking a block of clay,carve it, enchant the Shabti with an essence of magic, and VOILA' you've got yourself a clay slave. this would be very interesting in my opinion. you could make a one block tall shabti, for taking items from nearby inventories and crafting items on command. You would probably right-click to see a GUI that would have a selection of what you want it to craft. And the options would be based on what inventories are within 8 blocks(going all the way up to the sky limit if there's a stairway or ladder leading to upper inventories) and are accessible to the Shabti . You could make a Shabti for fetching water or lava. You could make an attack Shabti. I think it would also be good to add a pedestal(perhaps a 3*3*10 area). These would be where you make shabti, or where some shabti reside when inactive. You could make a 1*1*1 shabti on the pedastal, add certain essences to it, and when its finished, it pops off and fits in your inventory. Then you can bring it anywhere and when right clicked on the ground(placed) will fight, climb walls to gather ores for you, or do whatever you enchanted it to do. If you make a shabti bigger than 1*1*1 and want to carry it around with you, you sacrifice one diamond(or something(s) as valuable) for every block that adds to it(It would be unfair to carry around a ten block high fire breathing giant in your pocket! ) If you make a shabti 2 blocks tall or higher(and don't carry it around), it will always stay in existence unless killed. after you make however, you can keep it on its current pedestal or assign it to a different one. Another interesting aspect of shabti would be its shape. If it has fins, it specializes at swimming or doing something in the water(EX.You could make a mountable dolphin shabti). So to simplify some of the things I said,(I was thinking of what shabti should do while I was writing this, so it probably has some redundantness and complications XD) If Shabti(Artificial Clay Slaves Beings) were introduced to this mod, there would be to main types.
Dynamic(fit in your inventory) and Static(Return to one position when inactive). The different essence combinations vary what kind of abilities the Shabti has(They would probably have a seal on them somewhere, where the essences are placed). All Shabti are crafted on a Pedestal, perhaps a 3*3 of Eldritch Stone or something similar. Following Egyptian Myths, all Shabti(only if you treat them badly, and you know it) would be missing something such as legs or wings(It was said that if they were fully formed, they would take vengeance on cruel masters).
So, just one of my many interesting thoughts that I'd throw out there . Also, I'm not a scholar of Egyptian mythology, so please feel free to correct/add something, but please don't go saying" Thats so WRONG! You couldn't get anymore wrong you idiot!" or something like that.
That's an amazing idea! I would LOVE if this was in the game!
(I should warn you this will be a long post so if your in a hurry don't read it)
First off I want to say that thaumcraft is one of the best mods out there. It add good constant that dose not clash with the vanilla part of minecraft like so many other big expansive tech mods. Recently I have been playing the new version of the technic pack (I have gotten a little lazy whit my mod installing). What I LOVE about your mod was the resurching aspect of it. You start of with the knowledge gain from reading your wiki then you got to study to gain more info. I would suggest thought that you make resurching a little diffrent.
Since the 1.3 minecraft has a lot of new sources for exp I think that you should be able to use that somehow. To reorient the knowledge gained from mining and slicing your foe! This would replace resurching grinding cobble stone and such. The artifact reasurch makes sences to me the way it is; finding things that may or may not be useful and discarding them after you've got all the info you can out of them. I also reluctantly agree on losing fragments and the occasional therory or too. (found about a hundred ways not to make a flying carpet).
The one major annoyance is repeating the process all over again with each world. It would be nice if it was link to ones account for ssp at lest. I don't know...
Perhaps another thing you could add is "basic Knowlege" for the first stage (cursiable and infuser) as well as vanilla tech too to make a coprencive craft guild.
It would be cool if you could resurching say some loot you found in a dungeon, a mysterious sword mabey. You don't lose the item ever and you find out what it dose and how to make it.
God, I getting so many ideas I might just make a mini resurch mod myself.
I look forward to this mod becuase I known it will be good if it is related to thaucraft
I like the idea of Leylines and "Constructs" for expanded features - for something so simple the Coke Coal furnace from Railcraft is a really swish implementation and something TC3/AC1 could really benefit from. So let's consider idea's down that line for a minute.
Leylines - Would feature Intersections of Aura lines; a single chunk where the Aura is naturally high in value and subject to changes implemented down the lines I.E: Killing lots of creatures in a chunk on the line "flavours" the chunk with dark energy. This energy would then be passed down the leyline until it reaches a "Focus Point".
Perhaps these focus points could be high-lighted or marked by some kind of "Structure, like a mock Stone Henge or a Silverwood tree (Nice tie in for canon). By constructing bigger and better Constructs here you are able to curb and flow the Aura in the leylines, maybe even redirect it down a single line allowing you to strengthen your base.
Constructs - A building of specific design which enables a specific function, such as a large-scale furnace or an "Vis Battery"; perhaps even moving the function of some of the vanilla blocks to these Constructs. Perhaps you could build a form of Pylon to grab raw Aura from the air and direct it down into a Condenser, much like the Obelisks direct their power into a Darkness Generator. This would add to the mystical feel of the energies you pull down and slow down progression.
Example Constructs: Vis Pylon - A smooth-stone base with a five high column at the centre. At the top, you would place some form of seal/crystal to collect/draw the energies into the Pillar. When created properly, it would spawn some kind of port/icon which would act as the GUI for the Pylon; you would then attach some means of transferring the collected energy here, either with Conduits to obtain raw, unprocessed Vis/Taint (Very volatile) or into a Condenser which would "calm" the vis/taint and make it more manageable.
Arcane Furnace - A squat block of bricks infused with Extracts so that it can contain the energies involved; perhaps even copy the layout for the Coke Coal Furnace from Railcraft or the Bloomery from TFC. This would need to be connected/supplied with some form of energy and would have a simple GUI when constructed that allowed you to place Metals in it and leave them for quite some time in order to become Thaumion Ingots and other such substances. Perhaps as a by-product you would receive some kind of physical form of taint which needs to be dealt with - if too much builds up in the furnace it explodes and releases raw taint into the Aura.
Arcane Arboretum - A flat surface of dirt with four "Keystone" blocks, around 9x9 in size. When constructed the Keystones will start dispensing power to any plants/saplings within the confines of the area and cause them to grow into new/existing plants. The Keystones should act as a form of "border" and stop the plants from spawning outside their area - should the Keystones be destroyed/removed the plants should either start dying out or change into Violent entities.
Seer's Pool - A 4x4 pool of water, surrounded by Eldritch Stone into which you drop one of each Magic Essence/Extract creates a shimmering pool which whispers much like the brains do - Research items within a small area of this pool receive a bonus and all mobs are turned passive after a few moments within reach. By dropping certain materials into the pool, you can trigger special effects such as a weak healing aura or purify the aura slightly. After a while, the pool should lose it's powers and eventually dry up.
Altar to The God's Undying - A 5x5 Obsidian platform with a crafted "Altar" block (Blood Infused Obsidian, Gold and Netherrack maybe) with a candle in each corner. The altar would have a simple GUI which allows the player to place a few (max four) items into the altar as offers. By doing this, the altar becomes "Primed" for a given ritual which will be triggered by performing the given action (Kill a Pig, Drink Poison, Eat Flesh of the Dead, etc). If the ritual is carried out within a given time of priming the altar, then a reward should be placed on the altar. Using the altar too often should have serious effects on the local Aura.
Altar of Sacrifice - Another 5x5 platform with the Casting Bowl at the centre. As more and more Blood/Bones/Remains are placed into the bowl, the platform should take on a stronger and stronger glow. The more items in the bowl the greater chance of producing a research term but also the more taint the bowl will release into the aura.
Astrolab - A construct of Glass, Metal and Gems which when triggered will display a wealth of collected knowledge gathered from Star Charts and the Telescope; think of it as a physical vault of knowledge.
Arcane Library - By creating a 9x9 room of bookcases with a Lectern in the centre, you create a passive research tool. By placing a tome on the lectern and leaving it there the books will very slowly pass a limited pool of knowledge to the book. When done, this tome could be used as a research buff item in order to power other forms of research.
Vault of Whispers - Similar to the Arcane Library, save that the construction would be more along the line of a corridor, lined with Brains in a Jar leading to the lectern. Whilst stronger than the library, the resource demand will put it past the realm of some Magi.
Dreamer's Eye - A small room, placed at height 70 and above. The room should be a small room with a central bed with the Dream Orb placed at the head. The room should feature other forms of Arcane devices, and should be lined on all four sides by windows with nothing obstructing their view for at least three squares.
Well that is just a few ideas; not like I've been thinking about this or anything :-)
I fully agree with every single one of these concepts. Kudos to you for being quite clever
I just realized in a previous post I made, I made several mistakes when talking about physics and an idea I had trying to relate vis to physics. I have tried to correct myself here, and possibly explain my idea in more detail.
Vis could act like gravity in terms of it being another force. Objects and devices that use vis in the aura pull vis towards it. Some of this is then used to power the machine, but when there is more than needed, or when the device is not in use, the extra vis just sits there. Too much vis in the area and you begin to see strange effects on the physics of minecraft. Just like large amounts of gravity slow down time so too would time be slowed down by having large amounts of vis in the area. The magical devices begin to act 'funny' and malfunction etc. Other strange effects might be that object which obey gravity (sand and gravel) do the exact opposite, they begin to float. The aspects/tags of certain blocks might also change due too the amount of vis that is in a specific area. Eventually too much vis in the area causes a sort of 'black hole'. All magical energies are sucked into this black hole, the aspects/tags of objects are also sucked in causing objects to disappear/change. The player and animals around the area begin to take damage as there very life force gets sucked into the black hole, and plants begin to die off and blocks turn into lifeless grey colored blocks as all there aspects/tags are removed. A device however can be created to help prevent this. This device is powered by arcane singularities, and sends out pulses of magical energy in order to stabilize the environment. Tower like objects can also be created and placed around an area. These draw aura to them as well, however they don't use the aura to power a machine. They simply do this so you can balance the aura. Strategically placing these allows you to make sure that all of the aura isn't focused around one area (where all your machines are) and thus preventing any of these strange effects.
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I was going to make a witty and awesome signature but I feel kind of lazy, maybe another day.
Anyway that beacon effect looks very good...hint, hint!
Tch. Lets not let Mojang show us what to do! LET IS MAKE OUR OWN BEACON BLOCK!
Kidding. obviously. but an idea that did hit me in the face is a side-system.. a more in-depth version of my prior golem creation system.
Through some To-be-determined research, you obtain the power to create the Golem Core, Construct Core, and Titan Core. Each core can be used for different things, and coexist next to each other, rather than being tier based.
To start: Cores, when right clicked on the ground in front of you, will open up a GUI with a picture of a limb-outstretched silhouette of the player model. (>-|o) In each of the six areas (Arms, Legs, Torso, Head) and two upper areas (Ability Augments) not attached to the body there will be an item slot. each item slot can obviously have something placed in it. these somethings are body parts that can be researched, crafted, enchanted, so forth.
Now on to each one individually. Golems are elementals of natural things. Dirt, Stone, Cobblestone, Redstone, Sand, Clay, so forth. And they will behave in more magic ways compared to the other two. Constructs are magical machinations of metal and mana. (Say that five times fast!) and are more built for utility of the player. Titans are much more expensive beings that are built using more kinetic mechanics instead of powered or so on. They are also generally massive, and should only be used outside unless you know what you are doing.
Augments are researched by learning a Specialization. A Core can only have one type of specialization for its augments. Golems can not have an Air and Land augment, for example. but can have two Land or two Air.
I'd go into so much more detail. but i'm tired, i broke my back picking apples, and none of you really care, you get the point. you can make a construct with a flamethrower, Titans with earthquakes. Sh*t like that.
Plus I like the idea that it will be visible from distant chunks, even when unloaded. This is actually useful.
For the buff system? Unimaginative and feels very artificial. Also, when they would provide a boon? When the beacon is lit? Seen? Near? Doesn't make much sense to me.
Beacon blocks depending on underlying structure - neat, cute, but why? Maybe I don't want pyramids to clutter my city where I hand-picked the architecture of every single building. A beacon on a spire looks cool. A beacon on a pyramid on a spire? Maybe fries with that?
All in all just a gimmick with one cool effect and useless clutter forced down our throats attached to it. Make vanilla stable and fast. Optimize the engine. Get rid of Java (yes, I'm dreaming...). Don't give me Ender Chests, books, emeralds, beacons and whatnot. I have mods for that.
And now I'll just peacefully go back to brooding in my dark cave where I hate all updates
Now we don't need huge landmarks like towers of burning netherrack or glowstone, or a map, when we get lost!
That's all I'm using Work In Progress for.
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"Better Than Wolves: where the line between morality and immorality is a mile wide and has loops in some places." - Stormweaver
Azanor (if you see this), I am still playing through TC2, and I am absolutely loving it! The things you have done are inspirational to both my gameplay and my modding! Keep it up, my man! (:
soo.. I said I'll cook some lore for this thread, didnt I? I had no internet connection for a while, but i dont think anybody mind , so, to maybe I'll throw a small teaser, huh? http://desmond.image...png&res=landing
I'm sorry for shity quality, and lack of painting skills, but my laptop decided that this was to cool to be shown (probably) and he has to shrink it in half.. ok, I have no idea, what hapend, size is fricked up, sorry.. as for painting skills.. don't even let me started.. I'll finish the writing soon(like anybody care :)now I'm to damn tired.
You win. I withdraw my attempts at drawing anything remotely as good as that. Perhaps we could collaborate together and build the lore as a team?
Your words are golden Im ain't a painter, (I actually made this thing in >Paint< ) ], but I think of remaking this one, it's literally half of the original size, you can still see some details if you zoom it, there's Aether, Nether, The End, Void, moon and sun, and that crazed things on the sides of the Overworld are actually the Far Lands. huh, I'm glad you like it (and reply to it, as the only one so tell me, is it any good in this quality? as for the lore, I'm all for it, I'll give you something tomorow (I was very busy all day) and you than tell me if you like it cheers
Good? It's F*CKING AMAZING! You don't give yourself enough credit. Your artistic rendering is more than I could ever hope to achieve with my mediocre art skills and sub-par art software. I look forward to working with you in the endeavour to finally make sense of Azanor's Arcane Universe and finally put a lore to this post's plethora of chaotic ideas. Godspeed fellow lurker, godspeed, and may Azanor smile upon our ventures.
I look forward to the many escapades of forging a coherent story out of this mod with you
Sincerely Yognaut_3000.
P.S. I'm glad my idea of giving the mod lore went over so well, hell my concepts of the realms of Arcana/Arcanum* and Terra Nox are officially "things" now. One cannot begin to comprehend my joy over this.
*We'll figure out which name is more appropriate later.
I've been hatching ideas through my modded Thaumcraft adventure, and I think I've come up with an interesting amalgam for this next iteration:
It starts with the player researching a new activation for the eldritch keystones, which I'm calling "The Voidmother" for now. This is somewhat expensive one, which, when activated, spawns a large eldritch room of death, with mob spawners which spawn powerful new enemies, possibly a few chests with VERY cool new loot. (mostly Void artifacts and items, which I'll get to in a bit) At the very center of the room, emitting bubble of highly damaging 'Voided Space", is a portal, leading to a specific place in The Void (Which, again, I'll get to in a bit) which is completely inaccessable otherwise.
I'll call this place "The Voidhome", and come back to it later...
This activation does far more then just spawn a room, however. It activates a kind of "Hardmode" which causes new, more powerful mobs to begin spawning across the world, with new loot, and an item found either within the chests of the room, or as a new drop from enemies, allows one to upgrade their Quaesitorium into a new, upgraded Void version, which unlocks a new Void tech tree, which begins with an item which allows one to destroy Bedrock. (Probably only just enough to make a small hole straight down)
Falling down into this hole, and assuming you have full Void armor on, (Otherwise you just die) you're suddenly stopped by an invisible portal space, which teleports you into the sky of a new dimension: The Void.
A hostile realm of eldritch madness and all-consuming chaos, The Void is dangerous to the extreme, yet immensely rewarding for those who can brave its depths, filled with (preferably, and hopefully) almost as much content as the overworld! Nonsensical labyrinths, warped, twisting caves, and fields of crystalline vegetation, and seas of pure and utter black, just to name a few ideas.
Though, before you start looting, it'd probably be a good idea to figure out a way to get back up to the Overworld...
And, once you've mastered this new realm, delved into its secrets, and discovered as many mysteries as you can, then it is time to confront the great Voidmother herself, and uncover the last bit of secrets left in this realm to uncover!
Housed in an impenetrable cocoon of pure void, the only way to access her is to go back to the Overworld and enter the Voidhome portal, charging through the Voided Space as best you can with the best armors available to you. (Which should get the character through it all with just over half-health, assuming you can get past the mobs...)
And, what happens next... Well, that's for you to find out, isn't it? (Big mega-boss battle FTW!)
And that's all I have on this so far... I'd love to start fleshing out some of the details on this, and I'll probably get around to doing so fairly soon. But for now, I'll leave you guys to tell me how impossible this would be.
As fun as that seems. i don't think boss monsters will make an appearance. And another world having as much content as normal minecraft with almost 0 similarities.. you might as well just code your own game at that point. Neither of which this mod is about.
Think of it like the nether, but your forced to make multiple trips. Go in. grab stuff. come out. get thing that collects better stuff. go in. get better stuff. come out. make thing that gets best stuff. go in. grab best stuff. come out. profit
I've plated the Technic pack for a while, and so far ThaumcCraft is easily my favorite mod. In paricular I enjoy the research idea, having to discover before you craft, but I do think it could use a revamp.
I like the more rational research idea Lady Eternity's suggestion details:
Please allow me to give my thanks for the continued efforts on this mod. It is by far one of the most amazing and well conceived mods I have had the pleasure of playing.
I've been considering an idea I had the other night while researching. After much thought I finally decided I should probably share it with the community.
Research is pretty amazing IMHO. I admire the skill and creativity that went into designing the system. And while I think the current system is outstanding, it couldn't hurt to have it a bit more fluid.
I've been toying around with a few ideas on how research could be enhanced without trivializing it or ruining the current feel. One option would be the research of actual items that pertain to the completely researched theorem and disallow research gained by non-related researched objects.
So, if you threw a stack of cobble into the research device you would not receive any "fragments". Instead, you would have a chance (albeit very small) to obtain any object's theorem that directly uses cobble in its make-up. Placing research augments for the various fields of study would influence the direction your research might take. This would allow the player to 'guide' their research. If you succeed then a Theory would be created. For our example it would be called something along the lines of : Theory: Lost Knowledge of Cobblestone.
Now the real fun begins. Once you have your physical 'theory', it could go many different ways depending upon a few variables: Amount of recipes under 'Lost" that use cobblestone, Difficulty level of actual end result (balance) and what additional research objects are offered up to further specialize the research inquiry.
Lets say under 'cobblestone', under the 'Lost' category; there are three recipes. **Cobblestone & Torch =Floor Lamp**, **Cobblestone, Redstone, Iron Block, Gold Ingot, Lever & Glass = Red Furnace**, **Cobblestone, Wooden Planks & Slime Balls = Sticky Ceiling**.
The Theory: Lost Knowledge of Cobblestone would be placed in the research slot, then experimental candidates would be placed in the squares below. Lets say for the sake of visualization we placed a diamond and a sapling in the extra slots. Now we would initialize the research (Button press on the GUI) and wait for the outcome of our research. No diamonds or saplings exist in ANY of the cobblestone recipes, so our research would not move forward. Nothing would be lost. You do not 'lose' knowledge just because your hunch was inaccurate, your research simply doesn't move forward.
Now, after that failed try we place a sandstone block and a slime ball. After the appropriate research time has elapsed only your slime ball would disappear and you would receive a incremental nudge on your theorem's progress bar. You would continue 'researching' and 'experimenting' along these lines until your theorem turned into a full-blown recipe scroll. Bookshelves and later brains-in-a-jar could still provide benefits. Since there would not be the huge 'eat all your stuff' requirement to research it would have to be balanced with time. It would take time to research...and the player. The player would have to be present at Quaesitum at all times or the research would stop.
Having the researching like this would be much more fun I think, make more sense, and be much more attainable at all stages of the game. Further it would not negate the current 'research' items(IE:Artifacts).
Thanks so much for reading, and thanks for this wonderful mod.
Lady Eternity
However, I have a few suggestions of my own:
1) The primary research item shouldn't be destroyed. For myself it made me hesitant to put anything in the slot that I'd miss, like the magical items I'd crafted.
2) What should be destroyed are items put into three slots for 'research materials'. These are used up as you test the item in question, and also infulene the results of research.
3) Research results could yeild simple theorems, entirely new items, or new iterations of the item being researched, versions that have improved and/or new funtions.
For example, let's say you research a portable hole, using cobble, dirt, wood blocks, or other natural blocks. After using a good deal of the relatively cheap material, you discover the theorem of a Pocket Dimension, which has the following description:
"A pocket dimension is a small anamoly in space-time that is essentially a tiny universe, often no bigger than the average hut. This discovery is fairly useless until I can bind one to a stable opening, however."
You then take that theorem and research it with obsidian or iron or some such, eventually yeilding a Portal to a Pocket Dimension, a small structure that must be built in a manner similar to a Nether Portal, but is instead activated with a Vis crystal. You can then enter a pocket dimension through the portal.
However, if you research the pocket dimension theorem with wool, it would eventually yeild a bag of holding, which would function much like the alchemical bags in Equivalent Exchange; essentially a very large, hotbar-accessable chest.
Then researching the bag of holding with wooden planks would eventually yeild a Portable House; a bag of holding that you can place down and jump into to enter the pocket dimension, alowing you to contruct a functional home or labratory within.
Like Lady Eternity, I'd love if research made sense, though I suggest against making the player present for research to continue. It might make the most sense, but we don't want to turn Minecraft into one of those games where you tell your character to do something, then leave to go make lunch while you wait. Though I suppose if you somehow made a researching minigame then it would be something to do, rather than just wait and watch.
Daw, no bosses? It'd be a nice thing to work towards...
But anyway, I'll go ahead and post my musings so far on this realm, which are so far actually quite a bit more content as the Nether, though I don't think nearly as much content as the Overworld once this mod is implemented.
Pre-Edit: Hopy sheet this ended up being a huggge post...
Mobs:
Screamer:
A flying, creepy poltergeist, with glowing eyes and a horrid face of pure malice, these guys are fast, extremely hostile, and will emit a high-pitched wail and charge at the player any time they see you. (And they can see fairly far) Once in range, they will continually attack the player, with a percentage chance of exploding like a creeper with every attack, though explosions will cause no more damage then their usual attacks. (If you wanna be really creepy, it'd also be cool to add a fish-eye lens distortion effect if they get too close to the player)
These mobs are the most common enemy in the Void, you're almost guaranteed to have to deal with at least one with every visit, and probably several. They're also a rare find in the night-time Overworld after the Void has been activated.
Despite their speed and power, they will always announce their intentions (often loudly) well in advance, and are more prone to knockback then other mobs. They're also almost guaranteed to drop Void artifacts, often more then one, and occasionally raw materials for new items, making them great for farming. (Just don't let them flank you... Those suckers pack a punch.)
Void Walker:
An Enderman who's fallen into the Void, the Void walkers are similar to their original forms, yet corrupted by systematic crystalline growth, which distort their features and add to their power and aggression.
Voild Walkers have glowing eyes, which can be seen and can see from extremely far away, piercing all obstacles in their way, and ALWAYS facing the player. By default, Void Walkers are just as passive as the Endermen, except that it is impossible to cause them to become hostile. (Even attacking them will simply cause them to teleport away)
Instead, they will continuously follow the player from just outside of render distance, staring at them with their glowing eyes, until randomly becoming hostile and teleporting closer and closer to the player, until they are within range to attack.
These are the second most common mob in the Void, being about as common as Endermen in both the Void and post-Void Overworld (maybe spawn a bit less in the Overworld). They will also always drop at least one Void Crystal, which are a new item similar to the Vis Crystals, but with different uses, and found only in Crystal Biomes in the Void. Their spawn rate increases considerably when you enter these Crystal Biomes.
Since you cannot cause aggression in the Void Walkers, and they will always teleport immediately before and after (whichever is necessary) being attacked, it is impossible to tell when any Void Walkers following you will attack. On top of this, they are a very quiet mob, with the only sound they produce being their teleport noise (which is a considerably reduced-decibel corruption of the Enderman teleport noise) and their cry when attacked. They're certainly annoying, and can be very dangerous to the unprepared.
Labyrinth Wyrm:
Found only in the constantly shifting halls of the Labyrinth, these Wyrms are small, vicious, deal a good amount of damage and are ALWAYS found in swarms. Mutation is also common among them, and it is not uncommon to see a few with special abilities in every swarm, such as wings, acid spitters, increased size and strength, or even teleportation.
As you get closer to the center of the Labyrinth, these swarms become increasingly common, until at the very center, you find the Wyrm Nest, which when unactivated randomly spawns swarms throughout the Labyrinth (Though preferably not the room the player is in) and, the moment you enter the central chamber, it will become activated and begin spewing forth a constant stream of Wyrms, including a new, larger, and more powerful Wyrm found only in the the nest.
Due to their large numbers, most wyrms will drop nothing, though as a swarm you'll usually find at least one Void artifact.
Void Wisp:
These eldritch void crystal wisps are commonly found guarding the Crystal Biomes, and utilize a miryad of perverse, unknowable magics to harass, disrupt, and generally annoy the player, often dealing indirect harm as nearby mobs continue attacking a disoriented, confused, and debuffed player, but in and of themselves cause no damage.
They're also very difficult to see and find, with the only real indicator of their presence being the noises they make while cast spells, though once found are very easy to destroy.
I'm also thinking these should drop some pretty powerful loot.
Biomes:
The Void:
The Void itself is a relatively small realm, compared to the Overworld or even the Nether, with a relatively low ceiling (as necessary to allow the player to literally drop in) and only enough horizontal space to allow small cluster of large islands of Voidstone, seperated by small seas of unknowable void, which continue off to the edge of the map.
These islands, by the way, are unminable, except for a weird eldritch exploit, which allows a very small amounts of Voidstone to be mined, at great effort and cost. This stone also maintains it impenetrability after being placed by the player, making it potentially useful...And, potentially extremely annoying, if you make a wrong click...
Voidstone can also be researched, which gives one access to new avenues in the Void tech tree, and making other discoveries a little easier.
Labyrinth:
The great Labyrinths of the Void are one of its greatest assets to any Void explorer, yet also among the most perilous and trying...
These massive structures are not only large, twisting, and (of course) labyrithine, but are also always constructed around great pillars of pure chaotic energy, twisting space and time within them. Because of this, the rooms of the Labyrinths will occasionally shift their location and orientation, making reliable navigation through these dangerous places all but impossible.
On top of this, Screamers and Void Walkers will still spawn within its walls, and on top of this add the Labyrinth Wyrm swarms, numerous hazardous traps and bone-splitting, mind-wrenching, muscle-tearing eldritch machinations, as well as enough loot to fill several inventories, and powerful items found only in Labyrinths, and you have yourself an eldritch dungeon of near endless fun and torment!
Also, the rooms will always guarantee a path to the center, where the great Chaos Pillars lie and allow one to, upon jumping into it, teleport to a random location nearby the Labyrinth. The center also contains the highly hazardous Wyrm Nest, as well as more loot then you could possibly carry in one trip, even if you collected nothing on your way there.
Crystal Biomes:
These are the locations where the Void Crystals have decided to completely take over, saturating the ground with small, sharp crystalline growth, with larger, collectable crystals found throughout, with the occasional multi-block large void crystal, and rarely even a truly massive Crystal Stalagmite, which spans many, many blocks horizontally, and can easily reach the ceiling of the Void.
These Void Crystals are immensely useful, having a great many applications. (where they are often liberally used)
However, don't think these are a free meal... Void creatures are drawn to these places like moths to a flame, and the more Void Crystal blocks are in an area, the higher the spawn rates of mobs. (Including, interestingly, Overworld creatures, if you were ever to bring the crystals back up to it.) If enough crystals saturate an area, such as around the Stalagmites, you can even find the occasional Wyrm swarm spawn!
This high spawn rate, combined with the Void Wisps which are common in these areas, makes these places highly hazardous...
It also should be noted that placing Void Crystals in the Overworld, though it may sound like a good idea at the time, is a very bad idea. Even just one will begin spawning Void Wisps with regularity, and increase mod spawning noticably... And if you place too many in an area, it may cause them to begin to take it over, spawning the same sharp, saturating crystalline growth as the Biomes, causing Void creatures to spawn with increasing regularity and, once established, a Void takeover is nearly impossible to eradicate.
The Void Sea:
The great chasms of nothing which separate the islands of Voidstone, while not technically a Biome, are worthy of note, as they do play a role in the more powerful items' creation.
If you manage to spelunk the Island cliffs successfully, and have the right items available to you, or find a way to brush against the great walls of pure nothing which contain the islands of Voidstone, you will be rewarded with what is perhaps the most hazardous substance in all of Minecraft: Pure, unadulterated, black, and volatile Void Sludge. Just holding this item causes even the most reinforced of containers to slowly crack, degrade, and break down, right in your inventory, and as they degrade, they will occasionally let out a spurt of Void. which damages the player. And if they ever completely break, they will explode in a great burst of nothing, severely damaging the player (and likely killing them, if they are already injured) and causing the inventory space which the object was occupying to become permanently corrupted with an unmovable black sludge. This sludge can only be removed by either dying, (not an option in hardcore, of course) or by placing a special healing object into your inventory.
And that's all I can think of so far... Though, even this would be a ridiculously awesome addition to minecraft, and would likely take a LOT of work on the modder's part...
Assuming it isn't. I think someone might have trouble understanding it if it wasn't because i have had studied chemistry i don't think i would have understood what you meant.
edit: To make the spoiler work properly
Not terribly difficult to code, at least no more difficult than how vis for a crafted item is currently calculated. You would only need to define the dominance factor once, on world creation, or on the first time aracancraft/TC3 is ran in that world.
As for the ease of use... a player really doesn't need to know the exact equation to use it. He just needs to know it takes x, y, and z, to make something. I was thinking you could make it so that little mini-blocks of the components bubble up to the surface of the cauldron, with a frequency, (and/or maybe a slight variation on their size) based on their concentration. Then it would really only require looking at it to see you have too much of something, without requiring you to know all the math that is going on behind the scenes.
Haven't thought of the visual implementation, if there is one then you're right, it wouldn't be a problem and it would be really awesome! So cross your fingers and hope this or something like it will be made
Shinigami are reapers/death gods. I think it was Shikigami?
That's an amazing idea! I would LOVE if this was in the game!
Oops I meant mod.
(I should warn you this will be a long post so if your in a hurry don't read it)
First off I want to say that thaumcraft is one of the best mods out there. It add good constant that dose not clash with the vanilla part of minecraft like so many other big expansive tech mods. Recently I have been playing the new version of the technic pack (I have gotten a little lazy whit my mod installing). What I LOVE about your mod was the resurching aspect of it. You start of with the knowledge gain from reading your wiki then you got to study to gain more info. I would suggest thought that you make resurching a little diffrent.
Since the 1.3 minecraft has a lot of new sources for exp I think that you should be able to use that somehow. To reorient the knowledge gained from mining and slicing your foe! This would replace resurching grinding cobble stone and such. The artifact reasurch makes sences to me the way it is; finding things that may or may not be useful and discarding them after you've got all the info you can out of them. I also reluctantly agree on losing fragments and the occasional therory or too. (found about a hundred ways not to make a flying carpet).
The one major annoyance is repeating the process all over again with each world. It would be nice if it was link to ones account for ssp at lest. I don't know...
Perhaps another thing you could add is "basic Knowlege" for the first stage (cursiable and infuser) as well as vanilla tech too to make a coprencive craft guild.
It would be cool if you could resurching say some loot you found in a dungeon, a mysterious sword mabey. You don't lose the item ever and you find out what it dose and how to make it.
God, I getting so many ideas I might just make a mini resurch mod myself.
I look forward to this mod becuase I known it will be good if it is related to thaucraft
I fully agree with every single one of these concepts. Kudos to you for being quite clever
Vis could act like gravity in terms of it being another force. Objects and devices that use vis in the aura pull vis towards it. Some of this is then used to power the machine, but when there is more than needed, or when the device is not in use, the extra vis just sits there. Too much vis in the area and you begin to see strange effects on the physics of minecraft. Just like large amounts of gravity slow down time so too would time be slowed down by having large amounts of vis in the area. The magical devices begin to act 'funny' and malfunction etc. Other strange effects might be that object which obey gravity (sand and gravel) do the exact opposite, they begin to float. The aspects/tags of certain blocks might also change due too the amount of vis that is in a specific area. Eventually too much vis in the area causes a sort of 'black hole'. All magical energies are sucked into this black hole, the aspects/tags of objects are also sucked in causing objects to disappear/change. The player and animals around the area begin to take damage as there very life force gets sucked into the black hole, and plants begin to die off and blocks turn into lifeless grey colored blocks as all there aspects/tags are removed. A device however can be created to help prevent this. This device is powered by arcane singularities, and sends out pulses of magical energy in order to stabilize the environment. Tower like objects can also be created and placed around an area. These draw aura to them as well, however they don't use the aura to power a machine. They simply do this so you can balance the aura. Strategically placing these allows you to make sure that all of the aura isn't focused around one area (where all your machines are) and thus preventing any of these strange effects.
Tch. Lets not let Mojang show us what to do! LET IS MAKE OUR OWN BEACON BLOCK!
Kidding. obviously. but an idea that did hit me in the face is a side-system.. a more in-depth version of my prior golem creation system.
Through some To-be-determined research, you obtain the power to create the Golem Core, Construct Core, and Titan Core. Each core can be used for different things, and coexist next to each other, rather than being tier based.
To start: Cores, when right clicked on the ground in front of you, will open up a GUI with a picture of a limb-outstretched silhouette of the player model. (>-|o) In each of the six areas (Arms, Legs, Torso, Head) and two upper areas (Ability Augments) not attached to the body there will be an item slot. each item slot can obviously have something placed in it. these somethings are body parts that can be researched, crafted, enchanted, so forth.
Now on to each one individually. Golems are elementals of natural things. Dirt, Stone, Cobblestone, Redstone, Sand, Clay, so forth. And they will behave in more magic ways compared to the other two. Constructs are magical machinations of metal and mana. (Say that five times fast!) and are more built for utility of the player. Titans are much more expensive beings that are built using more kinetic mechanics instead of powered or so on. They are also generally massive, and should only be used outside unless you know what you are doing.
Augments are researched by learning a Specialization. A Core can only have one type of specialization for its augments. Golems can not have an Air and Land augment, for example. but can have two Land or two Air.
I'd go into so much more detail. but i'm tired, i broke my back picking apples, and none of you really care, you get the point. you can make a construct with a flamethrower, Titans with earthquakes. Sh*t like that.
Now we don't need huge landmarks like towers of burning netherrack or glowstone, or a map, when we get lost!
That's all I'm using Work In Progress for.
You win. I withdraw my attempts at drawing anything remotely as good as that. Perhaps we could collaborate together and build the lore as a team?
Good? It's F*CKING AMAZING! You don't give yourself enough credit. Your artistic rendering is more than I could ever hope to achieve with my mediocre art skills and sub-par art software. I look forward to working with you in the endeavour to finally make sense of Azanor's Arcane Universe and finally put a lore to this post's plethora of chaotic ideas. Godspeed fellow lurker, godspeed, and may Azanor smile upon our ventures.
I look forward to the many escapades of forging a coherent story out of this mod with you
Sincerely Yognaut_3000.
P.S. I'm glad my idea of giving the mod lore went over so well, hell my concepts of the realms of Arcana/Arcanum* and Terra Nox are officially "things" now. One cannot begin to comprehend my joy over this.
*We'll figure out which name is more appropriate later.
It starts with the player researching a new activation for the eldritch keystones, which I'm calling "The Voidmother" for now. This is somewhat expensive one, which, when activated, spawns a large eldritch room of death, with mob spawners which spawn powerful new enemies, possibly a few chests with VERY cool new loot. (mostly Void artifacts and items, which I'll get to in a bit) At the very center of the room, emitting bubble of highly damaging 'Voided Space", is a portal, leading to a specific place in The Void (Which, again, I'll get to in a bit) which is completely inaccessable otherwise.
I'll call this place "The Voidhome", and come back to it later...
This activation does far more then just spawn a room, however. It activates a kind of "Hardmode" which causes new, more powerful mobs to begin spawning across the world, with new loot, and an item found either within the chests of the room, or as a new drop from enemies, allows one to upgrade their Quaesitorium into a new, upgraded Void version, which unlocks a new Void tech tree, which begins with an item which allows one to destroy Bedrock. (Probably only just enough to make a small hole straight down)
Falling down into this hole, and assuming you have full Void armor on, (Otherwise you just die) you're suddenly stopped by an invisible portal space, which teleports you into the sky of a new dimension: The Void.
A hostile realm of eldritch madness and all-consuming chaos, The Void is dangerous to the extreme, yet immensely rewarding for those who can brave its depths, filled with (preferably, and hopefully) almost as much content as the overworld! Nonsensical labyrinths, warped, twisting caves, and fields of crystalline vegetation, and seas of pure and utter black, just to name a few ideas.
Though, before you start looting, it'd probably be a good idea to figure out a way to get back up to the Overworld...
And, once you've mastered this new realm, delved into its secrets, and discovered as many mysteries as you can, then it is time to confront the great Voidmother herself, and uncover the last bit of secrets left in this realm to uncover!
Housed in an impenetrable cocoon of pure void, the only way to access her is to go back to the Overworld and enter the Voidhome portal, charging through the Voided Space as best you can with the best armors available to you. (Which should get the character through it all with just over half-health, assuming you can get past the mobs...)
And, what happens next... Well, that's for you to find out, isn't it? (Big mega-boss battle FTW!)
And that's all I have on this so far... I'd love to start fleshing out some of the details on this, and I'll probably get around to doing so fairly soon. But for now, I'll leave you guys to tell me how impossible this would be.
As fun as that seems. i don't think boss monsters will make an appearance. And another world having as much content as normal minecraft with almost 0 similarities.. you might as well just code your own game at that point. Neither of which this mod is about.
Think of it like the nether, but your forced to make multiple trips. Go in. grab stuff. come out. get thing that collects better stuff. go in. get better stuff. come out. make thing that gets best stuff. go in. grab best stuff. come out. profit
I like the more rational research idea Lady Eternity's suggestion details:
However, I have a few suggestions of my own:
1) The primary research item shouldn't be destroyed. For myself it made me hesitant to put anything in the slot that I'd miss, like the magical items I'd crafted.
2) What should be destroyed are items put into three slots for 'research materials'. These are used up as you test the item in question, and also infulene the results of research.
3) Research results could yeild simple theorems, entirely new items, or new iterations of the item being researched, versions that have improved and/or new funtions.
For example, let's say you research a portable hole, using cobble, dirt, wood blocks, or other natural blocks. After using a good deal of the relatively cheap material, you discover the theorem of a Pocket Dimension, which has the following description:
"A pocket dimension is a small anamoly in space-time that is essentially a tiny universe, often no bigger than the average hut. This discovery is fairly useless until I can bind one to a stable opening, however."
You then take that theorem and research it with obsidian or iron or some such, eventually yeilding a Portal to a Pocket Dimension, a small structure that must be built in a manner similar to a Nether Portal, but is instead activated with a Vis crystal. You can then enter a pocket dimension through the portal.
However, if you research the pocket dimension theorem with wool, it would eventually yeild a bag of holding, which would function much like the alchemical bags in Equivalent Exchange; essentially a very large, hotbar-accessable chest.
Then researching the bag of holding with wooden planks would eventually yeild a Portable House; a bag of holding that you can place down and jump into to enter the pocket dimension, alowing you to contruct a functional home or labratory within.
Like Lady Eternity, I'd love if research made sense, though I suggest against making the player present for research to continue. It might make the most sense, but we don't want to turn Minecraft into one of those games where you tell your character to do something, then leave to go make lunch while you wait. Though I suppose if you somehow made a researching minigame then it would be something to do, rather than just wait and watch.
But anyway, I'll go ahead and post my musings so far on this realm, which are so far actually quite a bit more content as the Nether, though I don't think nearly as much content as the Overworld once this mod is implemented.
Pre-Edit: Hopy sheet this ended up being a huggge post...
Mobs:
Screamer:
A flying, creepy poltergeist, with glowing eyes and a horrid face of pure malice, these guys are fast, extremely hostile, and will emit a high-pitched wail and charge at the player any time they see you. (And they can see fairly far) Once in range, they will continually attack the player, with a percentage chance of exploding like a creeper with every attack, though explosions will cause no more damage then their usual attacks. (If you wanna be really creepy, it'd also be cool to add a fish-eye lens distortion effect if they get too close to the player)
These mobs are the most common enemy in the Void, you're almost guaranteed to have to deal with at least one with every visit, and probably several. They're also a rare find in the night-time Overworld after the Void has been activated.
Despite their speed and power, they will always announce their intentions (often loudly) well in advance, and are more prone to knockback then other mobs. They're also almost guaranteed to drop Void artifacts, often more then one, and occasionally raw materials for new items, making them great for farming. (Just don't let them flank you... Those suckers pack a punch.)
Void Walker:
An Enderman who's fallen into the Void, the Void walkers are similar to their original forms, yet corrupted by systematic crystalline growth, which distort their features and add to their power and aggression.
Voild Walkers have glowing eyes, which can be seen and can see from extremely far away, piercing all obstacles in their way, and ALWAYS facing the player. By default, Void Walkers are just as passive as the Endermen, except that it is impossible to cause them to become hostile. (Even attacking them will simply cause them to teleport away)
Instead, they will continuously follow the player from just outside of render distance, staring at them with their glowing eyes, until randomly becoming hostile and teleporting closer and closer to the player, until they are within range to attack.
These are the second most common mob in the Void, being about as common as Endermen in both the Void and post-Void Overworld (maybe spawn a bit less in the Overworld). They will also always drop at least one Void Crystal, which are a new item similar to the Vis Crystals, but with different uses, and found only in Crystal Biomes in the Void. Their spawn rate increases considerably when you enter these Crystal Biomes.
Since you cannot cause aggression in the Void Walkers, and they will always teleport immediately before and after (whichever is necessary) being attacked, it is impossible to tell when any Void Walkers following you will attack. On top of this, they are a very quiet mob, with the only sound they produce being their teleport noise (which is a considerably reduced-decibel corruption of the Enderman teleport noise) and their cry when attacked. They're certainly annoying, and can be very dangerous to the unprepared.
Labyrinth Wyrm:
Found only in the constantly shifting halls of the Labyrinth, these Wyrms are small, vicious, deal a good amount of damage and are ALWAYS found in swarms. Mutation is also common among them, and it is not uncommon to see a few with special abilities in every swarm, such as wings, acid spitters, increased size and strength, or even teleportation.
As you get closer to the center of the Labyrinth, these swarms become increasingly common, until at the very center, you find the Wyrm Nest, which when unactivated randomly spawns swarms throughout the Labyrinth (Though preferably not the room the player is in) and, the moment you enter the central chamber, it will become activated and begin spewing forth a constant stream of Wyrms, including a new, larger, and more powerful Wyrm found only in the the nest.
Due to their large numbers, most wyrms will drop nothing, though as a swarm you'll usually find at least one Void artifact.
Void Wisp:
These eldritch void crystal wisps are commonly found guarding the Crystal Biomes, and utilize a miryad of perverse, unknowable magics to harass, disrupt, and generally annoy the player, often dealing indirect harm as nearby mobs continue attacking a disoriented, confused, and debuffed player, but in and of themselves cause no damage.
They're also very difficult to see and find, with the only real indicator of their presence being the noises they make while cast spells, though once found are very easy to destroy.
I'm also thinking these should drop some pretty powerful loot.
Biomes:
The Void:
The Void itself is a relatively small realm, compared to the Overworld or even the Nether, with a relatively low ceiling (as necessary to allow the player to literally drop in) and only enough horizontal space to allow small cluster of large islands of Voidstone, seperated by small seas of unknowable void, which continue off to the edge of the map.
These islands, by the way, are unminable, except for a weird eldritch exploit, which allows a very small amounts of Voidstone to be mined, at great effort and cost. This stone also maintains it impenetrability after being placed by the player, making it potentially useful...And, potentially extremely annoying, if you make a wrong click...
Voidstone can also be researched, which gives one access to new avenues in the Void tech tree, and making other discoveries a little easier.
Labyrinth:
The great Labyrinths of the Void are one of its greatest assets to any Void explorer, yet also among the most perilous and trying...
These massive structures are not only large, twisting, and (of course) labyrithine, but are also always constructed around great pillars of pure chaotic energy, twisting space and time within them. Because of this, the rooms of the Labyrinths will occasionally shift their location and orientation, making reliable navigation through these dangerous places all but impossible.
On top of this, Screamers and Void Walkers will still spawn within its walls, and on top of this add the Labyrinth Wyrm swarms, numerous hazardous traps and bone-splitting, mind-wrenching, muscle-tearing eldritch machinations, as well as enough loot to fill several inventories, and powerful items found only in Labyrinths, and you have yourself an eldritch dungeon of near endless fun and torment!
Also, the rooms will always guarantee a path to the center, where the great Chaos Pillars lie and allow one to, upon jumping into it, teleport to a random location nearby the Labyrinth. The center also contains the highly hazardous Wyrm Nest, as well as more loot then you could possibly carry in one trip, even if you collected nothing on your way there.
Crystal Biomes:
These are the locations where the Void Crystals have decided to completely take over, saturating the ground with small, sharp crystalline growth, with larger, collectable crystals found throughout, with the occasional multi-block large void crystal, and rarely even a truly massive Crystal Stalagmite, which spans many, many blocks horizontally, and can easily reach the ceiling of the Void.
These Void Crystals are immensely useful, having a great many applications. (where they are often liberally used)
However, don't think these are a free meal... Void creatures are drawn to these places like moths to a flame, and the more Void Crystal blocks are in an area, the higher the spawn rates of mobs. (Including, interestingly, Overworld creatures, if you were ever to bring the crystals back up to it.) If enough crystals saturate an area, such as around the Stalagmites, you can even find the occasional Wyrm swarm spawn!
This high spawn rate, combined with the Void Wisps which are common in these areas, makes these places highly hazardous...
It also should be noted that placing Void Crystals in the Overworld, though it may sound like a good idea at the time, is a very bad idea. Even just one will begin spawning Void Wisps with regularity, and increase mod spawning noticably... And if you place too many in an area, it may cause them to begin to take it over, spawning the same sharp, saturating crystalline growth as the Biomes, causing Void creatures to spawn with increasing regularity and, once established, a Void takeover is nearly impossible to eradicate.
The Void Sea:
The great chasms of nothing which separate the islands of Voidstone, while not technically a Biome, are worthy of note, as they do play a role in the more powerful items' creation.
If you manage to spelunk the Island cliffs successfully, and have the right items available to you, or find a way to brush against the great walls of pure nothing which contain the islands of Voidstone, you will be rewarded with what is perhaps the most hazardous substance in all of Minecraft: Pure, unadulterated, black, and volatile Void Sludge. Just holding this item causes even the most reinforced of containers to slowly crack, degrade, and break down, right in your inventory, and as they degrade, they will occasionally let out a spurt of Void. which damages the player. And if they ever completely break, they will explode in a great burst of nothing, severely damaging the player (and likely killing them, if they are already injured) and causing the inventory space which the object was occupying to become permanently corrupted with an unmovable black sludge. This sludge can only be removed by either dying, (not an option in hardcore, of course) or by placing a special healing object into your inventory.
And that's all I can think of so far... Though, even this would be a ridiculously awesome addition to minecraft, and would likely take a LOT of work on the modder's part...