You do realize when nodes merge there is excess aura right? when nodes merge they take half to 2/3 of the aura from the node that merged with it if the nodes where near the same size as one another.
Point in case I had two 1500ish aura nodes merge together the result was I got a 2100 aura node out of it. The excess aura that didn't get put into the top amount of 2100 results in an overflow. So the new node now has 2100/3000 aura. Know what happens to that aura? It gets put back into the environment by re-infusing dull infused ore or creating new infused ore. Crystal Clusters put aura back into the environment. The aura that is generated by the clusters can re-energize nodes and infused stones. And as I stated when there is an overflow of aura this gets put back into infused stones and creates new ones.
I'm sorry, but this is incorrect. I have tested this extensively. Here is how I know. This set up is easy to follow and gives reproducible results:
Make a new world and enter creative mode. Find a node that you haven't disturbed in any way and place a bunch of dull ore around. You will need to place several stacks if you don't want the experiment to take several real time days. Place several crystal clusters around the node. It doesn't matter what kind. Let the node overcharge and then remove the crystal clusters.
As time passes, you will see the node occasionally lose 10 aura. This is the node refilling one of those dull ores. You won't be able to see the ore itself change until you log out and log back on. What this establishes is that creatively placed dull ores are recognized by Thaumcraft and follow the same rules.
Now, create a similar setup, but instead of using crystal clusters, plant tons of silverwood trees. You will never see even one of those ores get restored. I have tested this up to 50 consecutive tree growths and consider this to be conclusive. The extra aura doesn't refill your ores, it just gets lost.
Also, your numbers on merging mechanics are a bit off. What happens is that the new node is equal to the max aura of the largest node + 1/3 of the max aura of the smaller node. I have observed over 100 merging events and have never seen this rule violated. It's also been verified by people have have read the code.
You can get some wonkiness with merging because "largest node" is determined by CURRENT aura instead of MAX aura. If your larger node gets badly drained by the nascent node, it might count as being smaller if it can't recover before merging and the merging will happen "backwards." You can actually lose max aura this way.
For example, a 100/100 has a new 50/50 node appear right next to it. The new node draws 75 aura from the old one and throws the remaining 25 points away. The nodes are now 25/100 and 50/50. If they merge like that, the 50/50 will strangely be counted as the "large" node, and the resulting new node will have a max aura of 50 + 100/3 = 83, which is less than the starting capacity of 100.
The solution is to plant Silverwoods far enough away from your node that the old one has time to recover. In the above example, if the nodes merged after the old one recovered, the new node would have 100 +50/3 = 116, which is an improvement. New Silverwoods create nodes with capacities ranging from 50-100 (confirmed by both extensive testing and by code), so you can stop worrying about bad merges when your main node hits 251.
Even without bad merges, building mega nodes eats up tons of Aura. You end up destroying about 4.5 Aura for every point of capacity you add to your node. You don't have to take my word on any of this. Reproducing my tests is easy.
I might do an in-depth post about my findings on the behavior of aura mechanics when I have time.
You seems mistaken by something... YOU want the nodes that silverwood trees spawn because they self clense themselves of flux. The nodes created by Silverwood trees are PURE nodes. There are 4 type of nodes, normal nodes that don't have any special properties. Pure nodes which slowly bleed off their flux over time. Flux/dark nodes which are the ones you find in barrows. And finally unstable nodes which are probably the worse out of all 4 node types.
No, there's no mistake, I know what Pure nodes are and what they do. That has no bearing on aura depletion. Flux and aura are two different things and aura depletion and flux generation are two separate problems.
Moreover, creating a huge pure node will add Flux to all of the nearby nodes (this is because all aura transfers generate Flux) Unless all of the nearby nodes are also Pure (extremely unlikely), then you will have large amounts of troublesome Flux scattered all over your map.
From a resource standpoint, the optimal way to play is to set up near a small Pure node and do your work there. Because it is small, it can pull Vis from its neighbors very easily. You actually have more raw Vis to work with when your node is small. Making huge Pure nodes just devours tons of Aura, makes tons of Flux, and cuts you off from getting aura refills from nearby nodes. Increasing the size of your Pure node doesn't improve its Flux cleansing power, so there's no point.
The only reason to make a huge node is to aim for the 1000 point mark, where it becomes possible to use crystals to overcharge it by 100. When you overcharge by 100 or more, new infused ores begin to form. However, this process is so incredibly slow (estimated by the guy who did the code-delving to be roughly 16 real life days) that it might as well not exist.
With regards to the finiteness of aura, it doesn't naturally recharge, it only looks that way. Nodes recover by drawing aura away from larger nearby nodes. Those nodes recover by consuming shard ores at 10 Vis per block, leaving dull ore behind as a by product. When they run out of ore to consume, they stop recovering altogether.
New Silverwood trees don't create aura, they destroy aura. The new node takes its Vis from the nearest node at a 3:2 rate. Even worse, the merging itself is very lossy, adding only 1/3 of the aura from the smallest node. If you plant 40 sequential silverwood saplings to build up a 1,000 point node, you will end up burning about 4500 aura. That will kill roughly 450 infused ores in your region, which is probably more than you have. Also, there will be flux everywhere. Not just in your new node, but in every node that had to lend Vis to support the operation.
The only source I of fresh Vis that I know of are the crystal clusters. Dark nodes are rumored to produce fresh Vis, but I have yet to confirm this.
Hi goat, love the mod. Scribing runes on the ground and offering up sacrifices to the beyond just feels more like magic than managing mana bars and spell points.
Based on your previous comments, you'll be pleased to know that I consider your runes to be a basic part of my survival game, and not just a "fun toy," like you lamented. When I build a base, I build it with runes in mind.
Here's some in-depth feedback for the features I've used:
Torch Rune: It's rare that I'll use the torch effect, but it happens. If I run out of torches right in the middle of a mining operation I use this squeeze out just a little more exploration. The beacon effect is fantastic and the color-coding is very useful. Much, much better than lugging around stacks of sand and laboriously building navigation columns. A subtle naunce is that the beacon extends through earth, so beacons can also be used to co-ordinate surface constructions with underground constructions.
Rune of the Rabbit Hole: Great rune, very versatile. It can be used as a hidey hole, but clever players can also use it as a form of fast and easily controllable vertical transport. With a bit of creative placement, it can also be used to bore a 3x3 shaft into the ground. This is probably the best way to reach bedrock with starting resources.
Rune of Healing: This one is hard to use. Even if you already have the rune scribed and the sacrifice loaded, the invocation takes too long to be tactically useful. It is an okay way to mass heal your wolves.
Rune of Lumber: This is really good. I plan my tree farms around it. I make a 15x15 block of solid oak saplings and a little path to the center. Much more interesting and fun than chop-chop-choppity-chop-chopping all day.
Rune of Fire: If you are playing an otherwise-unmodded Minecraft, than the ore multiplaction effect is very strong. I'm playing Feed the Beast, so the +1/8 or so yield from the rune isn't enough, but even then it still has uses. It is the fastest way to process large amounts of sand, raw meat, clay, and other cookables. I let my supplies build up and then mass cook them all at once with this rune. I even built a special containment facility to make using it easier.
Rune of Depths: This rune is an okay way to scout down without worrying about lava, but you pretty much have to use it at blaze levels or not at all.
Rune of Heights: Feels more like a novelty. The height you gain isn't much, and the beacon light effectively blinds you. One iron ore is entirely too high a price for a function that essentially a convience function.
Rune of the Farm: The effect is good but 8 iron ignots is insane. It takes almost zero resources to start a wheat farm. Even one iron ingot is asking too much. I recommend that it cost a little bit of wheat and maybe a few more xp levels. This isn't a power rune, it's a convience rune and the cost should reflect that.
Rune of the Leaping Frog: Cute, but unless I happen to always be carrying leaves and a scroll for this rune, it's faster just to wade across.
Runes of Dawn/Dusk: Can be handy in remote locations where you need to control the time of day but don't want to reset your spawn by using a bed.
Various Trap Runes: Because these only work once, they can't really be used to deny an area to monsters. Because they also attack the caster, they can't be used for security in your work areas. The only use I can see is for multiplayer hijinks.
Rune of Detonation: This has some uses as a TNT alternative for blast mining.
Rune of Entrapment: This is probably the easiest way to isolate an infected villager for later treatment. The cost is tolerable because you get to keep the iron bars when the spell ends.
Rune of Locked Time: Haven't touched this one, too scared of bugs The effect is unique, probably the only thing I've even seen like it in Minecraft before.
Rune of the Void: Basically an alternative Ender chest network.
Rune of the Barrier: Cute, but building walls is about as fast and looks better.
Rune of Wisdom: Being able to store your xp away for safekeeping is a great idea. I wish it stored it as raw xp instead of levels, because as it is, it's awfully exploity.
Rune of Speed: The high end ones make you very fast indeed. I like to keep a blaze level Rune of Speed scribed and prepped near my door, so that when I embark on a long journey I can causally click on this and get a huge head start.
Rune of Compression: This one is good even in the powerful Feed the Beast environment. There is an interesting dynamic between wanting the diamonds now and wanting to hold off to minimize the sacrifice costs.
Rune of Hellstorm: A fun toy.
Rune of rebirth: The effect is awfully expensive, but then again, there is no way in vanilla Minecraft to get mob eggs, so maybe that's okay. The truly game-breaking runes require mob eggs to work, so I see this as a part of their cost.
Rune of Baiting: The documentation doesn't mention that the bait effect only works on the specific type of monster that you sacrificed an egg for. This rune is very strong. Since baited mobs no longer attack, you can use it to creeper-proof your work area. It also greatly simplifies mob grinders.
Rune of Resurrection: An expensive but handy way to move a pair of breeding animals to a distant location.
Rune of Power Distribution: Since this rune effectively removes the limitations on some of the strongest runes, it should probaby cost a bit more than it does right now.
Runes of Spawner Collection/Reassignment: Extremely powerful effects.
Runes of Teleportation/Transport: I am confused about the differences. It seems like the transport rune is a one-shot effect that returns you to your teleportation network?
Runes of Earth/Fire Sprite: These are fun.
Rune of Bouncing: This could have more uses if the jump height were a variable effect.
Rune of Music: Novelty effect.
Rune of Spirit Tools: It's a strong upgrade to gold tools, but it still has gold tool durability. It's balanced, but I never did like gold tools anyway. The knockback effect on the sword is loads of fun.
Runes of Fire Bow/Silk Touch: Paying a premium to get a specific enchantment is a good mechanic.
Rune of Fortune: Oh wow. Very strong rune, don't listen to anyone that says it needs to be less expensive.
Rune of Protection: Can safeguard a whole base if set up properly. Very strong.
Rune of Level Earth: The area of effect is tiny, the effect itself is resource unfriendly and doesn't fill holes, and the cost is too high. It just doesn't take that long to shovel down a few hills. Might be useful if I need to bring a mountain down to sea level.
Rune of the Mountain: An interesting idea, but I've never had call to use it.
Rune of Sarlacc: Very strong. I'm designing a mob trap using the spawner runes, the baiting runes, the wisdom runes, the power rune, and this guy. With a bit of red stone trickery, I intend to be able to switch from xp-mode to item-mode, and even be able to select which mob drops I want generated.
Inscriptions: With no sacrifices implemented, I can't comment on balance for these. The earth bender effect is way cool and can even be used as an unorthodox building method. The Blinker effect needs better range to be useful. The Mountan Cutter randomly creates glitched blocks that look like empty air but block player movement.. They can be cleared by placing normal blocks in them and then digging them back out.
General Feedback: The mod is a bit inventory intensive, even with the dust pouches. I recommend adding a combined pouch that can be toggled between the four colors of dust by shift-clicking.
0
I'm sorry, but this is incorrect. I have tested this extensively. Here is how I know. This set up is easy to follow and gives reproducible results:
Make a new world and enter creative mode. Find a node that you haven't disturbed in any way and place a bunch of dull ore around. You will need to place several stacks if you don't want the experiment to take several real time days. Place several crystal clusters around the node. It doesn't matter what kind. Let the node overcharge and then remove the crystal clusters.
As time passes, you will see the node occasionally lose 10 aura. This is the node refilling one of those dull ores. You won't be able to see the ore itself change until you log out and log back on. What this establishes is that creatively placed dull ores are recognized by Thaumcraft and follow the same rules.
Now, create a similar setup, but instead of using crystal clusters, plant tons of silverwood trees. You will never see even one of those ores get restored. I have tested this up to 50 consecutive tree growths and consider this to be conclusive. The extra aura doesn't refill your ores, it just gets lost.
Also, your numbers on merging mechanics are a bit off. What happens is that the new node is equal to the max aura of the largest node + 1/3 of the max aura of the smaller node. I have observed over 100 merging events and have never seen this rule violated. It's also been verified by people have have read the code.
You can get some wonkiness with merging because "largest node" is determined by CURRENT aura instead of MAX aura. If your larger node gets badly drained by the nascent node, it might count as being smaller if it can't recover before merging and the merging will happen "backwards." You can actually lose max aura this way.
For example, a 100/100 has a new 50/50 node appear right next to it. The new node draws 75 aura from the old one and throws the remaining 25 points away. The nodes are now 25/100 and 50/50. If they merge like that, the 50/50 will strangely be counted as the "large" node, and the resulting new node will have a max aura of 50 + 100/3 = 83, which is less than the starting capacity of 100.
The solution is to plant Silverwoods far enough away from your node that the old one has time to recover. In the above example, if the nodes merged after the old one recovered, the new node would have 100 +50/3 = 116, which is an improvement. New Silverwoods create nodes with capacities ranging from 50-100 (confirmed by both extensive testing and by code), so you can stop worrying about bad merges when your main node hits 251.
Even without bad merges, building mega nodes eats up tons of Aura. You end up destroying about 4.5 Aura for every point of capacity you add to your node. You don't have to take my word on any of this. Reproducing my tests is easy.
I might do an in-depth post about my findings on the behavior of aura mechanics when I have time.
0
No, there's no mistake, I know what Pure nodes are and what they do. That has no bearing on aura depletion. Flux and aura are two different things and aura depletion and flux generation are two separate problems.
Moreover, creating a huge pure node will add Flux to all of the nearby nodes (this is because all aura transfers generate Flux) Unless all of the nearby nodes are also Pure (extremely unlikely), then you will have large amounts of troublesome Flux scattered all over your map.
From a resource standpoint, the optimal way to play is to set up near a small Pure node and do your work there. Because it is small, it can pull Vis from its neighbors very easily. You actually have more raw Vis to work with when your node is small. Making huge Pure nodes just devours tons of Aura, makes tons of Flux, and cuts you off from getting aura refills from nearby nodes. Increasing the size of your Pure node doesn't improve its Flux cleansing power, so there's no point.
The only reason to make a huge node is to aim for the 1000 point mark, where it becomes possible to use crystals to overcharge it by 100. When you overcharge by 100 or more, new infused ores begin to form. However, this process is so incredibly slow (estimated by the guy who did the code-delving to be roughly 16 real life days) that it might as well not exist.
0
New Silverwood trees don't create aura, they destroy aura. The new node takes its Vis from the nearest node at a 3:2 rate. Even worse, the merging itself is very lossy, adding only 1/3 of the aura from the smallest node. If you plant 40 sequential silverwood saplings to build up a 1,000 point node, you will end up burning about 4500 aura. That will kill roughly 450 infused ores in your region, which is probably more than you have. Also, there will be flux everywhere. Not just in your new node, but in every node that had to lend Vis to support the operation.
The only source I of fresh Vis that I know of are the crystal clusters. Dark nodes are rumored to produce fresh Vis, but I have yet to confirm this.
0
Based on your previous comments, you'll be pleased to know that I consider your runes to be a basic part of my survival game, and not just a "fun toy," like you lamented. When I build a base, I build it with runes in mind.
Here's some in-depth feedback for the features I've used:
Torch Rune: It's rare that I'll use the torch effect, but it happens. If I run out of torches right in the middle of a mining operation I use this squeeze out just a little more exploration. The beacon effect is fantastic and the color-coding is very useful. Much, much better than lugging around stacks of sand and laboriously building navigation columns. A subtle naunce is that the beacon extends through earth, so beacons can also be used to co-ordinate surface constructions with underground constructions.
Rune of the Rabbit Hole: Great rune, very versatile. It can be used as a hidey hole, but clever players can also use it as a form of fast and easily controllable vertical transport. With a bit of creative placement, it can also be used to bore a 3x3 shaft into the ground. This is probably the best way to reach bedrock with starting resources.
Rune of Healing: This one is hard to use. Even if you already have the rune scribed and the sacrifice loaded, the invocation takes too long to be tactically useful. It is an okay way to mass heal your wolves.
Rune of Lumber: This is really good. I plan my tree farms around it. I make a 15x15 block of solid oak saplings and a little path to the center. Much more interesting and fun than chop-chop-choppity-chop-chopping all day.
Rune of Fire: If you are playing an otherwise-unmodded Minecraft, than the ore multiplaction effect is very strong. I'm playing Feed the Beast, so the +1/8 or so yield from the rune isn't enough, but even then it still has uses. It is the fastest way to process large amounts of sand, raw meat, clay, and other cookables. I let my supplies build up and then mass cook them all at once with this rune. I even built a special containment facility to make using it easier.
Rune of Depths: This rune is an okay way to scout down without worrying about lava, but you pretty much have to use it at blaze levels or not at all.
Rune of Heights: Feels more like a novelty. The height you gain isn't much, and the beacon light effectively blinds you. One iron ore is entirely too high a price for a function that essentially a convience function.
Rune of the Farm: The effect is good but 8 iron ignots is insane. It takes almost zero resources to start a wheat farm. Even one iron ingot is asking too much. I recommend that it cost a little bit of wheat and maybe a few more xp levels. This isn't a power rune, it's a convience rune and the cost should reflect that.
Rune of the Leaping Frog: Cute, but unless I happen to always be carrying leaves and a scroll for this rune, it's faster just to wade across.
Runes of Dawn/Dusk: Can be handy in remote locations where you need to control the time of day but don't want to reset your spawn by using a bed.
Various Trap Runes: Because these only work once, they can't really be used to deny an area to monsters. Because they also attack the caster, they can't be used for security in your work areas. The only use I can see is for multiplayer hijinks.
Rune of Detonation: This has some uses as a TNT alternative for blast mining.
Rune of Entrapment: This is probably the easiest way to isolate an infected villager for later treatment. The cost is tolerable because you get to keep the iron bars when the spell ends.
Rune of Locked Time: Haven't touched this one, too scared of bugs
Rune of the Void: Basically an alternative Ender chest network.
Rune of the Barrier: Cute, but building walls is about as fast and looks better.
Rune of Wisdom: Being able to store your xp away for safekeeping is a great idea. I wish it stored it as raw xp instead of levels, because as it is, it's awfully exploity.
Rune of Speed: The high end ones make you very fast indeed. I like to keep a blaze level Rune of Speed scribed and prepped near my door, so that when I embark on a long journey I can causally click on this and get a huge head start.
Rune of Compression: This one is good even in the powerful Feed the Beast environment. There is an interesting dynamic between wanting the diamonds now and wanting to hold off to minimize the sacrifice costs.
Rune of Hellstorm: A fun toy.
Rune of rebirth: The effect is awfully expensive, but then again, there is no way in vanilla Minecraft to get mob eggs, so maybe that's okay. The truly game-breaking runes require mob eggs to work, so I see this as a part of their cost.
Rune of Baiting: The documentation doesn't mention that the bait effect only works on the specific type of monster that you sacrificed an egg for. This rune is very strong. Since baited mobs no longer attack, you can use it to creeper-proof your work area. It also greatly simplifies mob grinders.
Rune of Resurrection: An expensive but handy way to move a pair of breeding animals to a distant location.
Rune of Power Distribution: Since this rune effectively removes the limitations on some of the strongest runes, it should probaby cost a bit more than it does right now.
Runes of Spawner Collection/Reassignment: Extremely powerful effects.
Runes of Teleportation/Transport: I am confused about the differences. It seems like the transport rune is a one-shot effect that returns you to your teleportation network?
Runes of Earth/Fire Sprite: These are fun.
Rune of Bouncing: This could have more uses if the jump height were a variable effect.
Rune of Music: Novelty effect.
Rune of Spirit Tools: It's a strong upgrade to gold tools, but it still has gold tool durability. It's balanced, but I never did like gold tools anyway. The knockback effect on the sword is loads of fun.
Runes of Fire Bow/Silk Touch: Paying a premium to get a specific enchantment is a good mechanic.
Rune of Fortune: Oh wow. Very strong rune, don't listen to anyone that says it needs to be less expensive.
Rune of Protection: Can safeguard a whole base if set up properly. Very strong.
Rune of Level Earth: The area of effect is tiny, the effect itself is resource unfriendly and doesn't fill holes, and the cost is too high. It just doesn't take that long to shovel down a few hills. Might be useful if I need to bring a mountain down to sea level.
Rune of the Mountain: An interesting idea, but I've never had call to use it.
Rune of Sarlacc: Very strong. I'm designing a mob trap using the spawner runes, the baiting runes, the wisdom runes, the power rune, and this guy. With a bit of red stone trickery, I intend to be able to switch from xp-mode to item-mode, and even be able to select which mob drops I want generated.
Inscriptions: With no sacrifices implemented, I can't comment on balance for these. The earth bender effect is way cool and can even be used as an unorthodox building method. The Blinker effect needs better range to be useful. The Mountan Cutter randomly creates glitched blocks that look like empty air but block player movement.. They can be cleared by placing normal blocks in them and then digging them back out.
General Feedback: The mod is a bit inventory intensive, even with the dust pouches. I recommend adding a combined pouch that can be toggled between the four colors of dust by shift-clicking.