My idea is for a conveyor belt block, made of iron ingots and stone slabs. Capable of being placed in a line and all about like a minecart track, capable of being changed in direction of the conveyor belt line *Switch or redirection of it on it at a fork in the belt), the need to be switched on/off using an input (Allowing capabilities for redstone wiring) along with the capability of it being changed in direction of the movement (Forward / Backward) using a duel input (One end of the conveyor and the other) being the only places for the inputs to be wired to. If two inputs are on at once, the conveyor does not move. If an input is on at the beginning of the conveyor belt, the conveyor moves that direction and vise versa. The conveyor idea stated includes the conveyor's ability to move players, mobs, and dropped items. A block cannot be placed 1 block above the conveyor (The exception to this being sand/gravel, which if activated while on the conveyor will cause it to move whichever way the conveyor is going to eventually be dropped off at the end), and any input on a block next to and 1 block above the conveyor will still function. If 2 or more inputs are attached to one end, as long as 1 is on and the other end's inputs are off it will function correctly. This conveyor belt has an unlimited distance in length it can be before ending, but the "On" state in the conveyor cannot be transmitted to any other wire or input attached to it. The conveyor can be placed with 1 block on all sides (Except on top) (This means you can create floors with the conveyor which opens up some options) and if 1 conveyor block is placed on a block below but in front of a conveyor block on a raised block within a 1 block radius of each other then they will be joined together and slant (Like how minecart tracks do). They can also be turned. They can be wired to have switches in the path any object on the conveyor takes (Like minecart tracks also do) but would of course be expensive to build with the need of both iron ingots and stone slabs in the formation I am thinking of in the following:
That would be a possible way you would craft it in the crafting window. Conveyors would be 3/4ths to 1/2th the speed of a walking player. Which would make using these as transportation of one's self a lazy one but still a good investment for transportation of items.
After every end a "Bin" can be placed. A bin would basically be like a chest but can only be attached to the ends of conveyors. Inputs are not wired into this object. When a dropped object falls off the conveyor into the "Bin" it stores the object inside and can be taken out later. This would be very handy for preventing someone else from accidentally picking it up or from it being destroyed or disappear after you leave. The "Bin" in the crafting window would be the same arrangement for creating wooden chest, but instead with Iron Ingots. Of course a block can just be placed at the end so that objects do not fall off the conveyor and just sit on the block until pickup, a less costly way.
This "Conveyor Belt" idea would be useful for groups working together, material factories from the mass slaughter of mobs, or even a trap floor that when you step on a pressure pad or activate a switch, you are thrown into a lava pit or sand / gravel is dropped on you or the unsuspecting player. It can also be used for transporting materials to storage without having to leave your mine (Use of the bin).
You need to learn to paragraph out your essays, it's hard to understand what you're trying to get across, I struggled to follow it i'm afraid. My other point was that this essentially can be 'invented' already, just using a water system cleverly build, you can drop items in one end and get them out the other, I don't see the requirement of a conveyor belt, especially in Minecraft, a game RPG styled, it doesn't fit in.
I tried to paragraph it. Sorry I wanted to get my idea across before it faded.
A water transportation system can only go downhill, and also ends up being very short and / or MUCH planning would be required along with much more testing in order to get a good working system.
Also it fits in perfectly. Think of a mine and the group of miners there. There is a group of buildings around the entrance where they store their supplies after bringing it back up. For long trips down, all they bring is the supplies they can't get down there. They ride the minecart down, and arrive at the little station they have set up. They all are distributed conveyor parts and go on their merry way (Only the guy at the station needs to operate the conveyor on/off). As they dig and mine, they create the conveyor line to go far distances without having to return to the station to unload it all. The guy at the station fills the storage carts with all the material, and takes out some to create more conveyors. The tunnelers go very far, and eventually have to return to the station for more supplies. They are distributed more conveyors, and go on their way, following their conveyor line back to the location they were at.
They continue digging and working for many ingame days until they run low on supplies like food for healing after dealing with stuff, or torches once they have used up all their wood. SO they finish packing up, and return to the surface.
Or if your classy, you can use it for moving around inside your house.
Or for others who are working very far underground and need supplies without returning to the surface, a friend can just give them theirs by putting it on the conveyor and telling the guy to turn it simply on.
Or even for people who like creating "Sulpher / String / Arrow / Feather / Whatever mob material factories can simply use this to create multiple traps / killing machines spread around different areas with conveyors all routed towards his house. Allowing him to harvest more and more material.
Problem, they are very sometimes a bit glitchy plus they can become complicated to operate (Having to have coal on you at all times + constantly having to wait for the powered cart to burn out + sometimes get stuck + takes a while to load and unload). With the conveyor system You just have to stand in front of the conveyor, press your right mouse button in the player's inventory screen while holding the stack you wanna drop on (For me its the right mouse) then tell the guy at the start of the system to start the conveyor OR it could just be left on the entire time (With the on/off inputs). The guy could just located all the materials in the bin (Which new idea, all dropped items that touch the bin are put inside the bin / players cannot place items INSIDE the bin themselves / bins are larger than large chest). Plus without the need to build all the carts and chest and furnaces required it cuts down on a lot of the material.
It ends up being better than minecarts in terms of staying in one place while mining but not so great for transportation of yourself / Mobs (Mobs of course will jump off in their random pathing) / a group unless its going to a location that you need to find (Which any line of material is useful Hehe). Its basically a good replacement of water conveyors, a more simple and most likely faster way to transport materials. Considering a player walking and basing the conveyor speed off them could be fairly capable of matching water.
Minecarts end up being use able more for mobs / player / group movements.
I enjoy the minecarts very much but there should also be conveyor systems.
What really makes the difference in all this is that it doesn't use coal. Minecarts use coal to go a reasonable distance / slope. Other methods of launching minecarts could be ineffective to get trains going or to get them anywhere farther than to the hill. Minecarts can transport more in a train all at the same time and same place, while conveyors are more spread out but don't take the resources or time neccessary to load a minecart. With the redstone setup its very simple in operating one and doesn't waste resources as much.
It also can be a very fun add on to the game. Imagine a Minecart that is off its rails traveling along a conveyor.. Makes me think of Minecart Launchers. But the speed might not be fast enough. Nah it probably would be.
It can be used with a multitude of purposes from moving yourself to launching minecarts to being a part of traps and such.
Thinking of traps. Imagine a room that just below the ceiling is a ledge. That ledge is a conveyor, and there is a hole in the wall that the conveyor goes through into another room. Now the other room is a room filled with lava. Now in the hole is some sand. So lets say we have wired a pressure plate to some redstone that connects to that end of the conveyor. An unsuspecting player walks in, steps on the plate, the sand is dropped on them. In their confusion they have no time to react as the lava pours into the room and kills them.
Or a way to kill mobs easily by dropping them into a pit by making them walk on a group of conveyors to get to you. Or if factory killing is your fancy, a room's floor that is lined with conveyors that lead into holes in the wall/floor that leads to a drop. There is a monster spawner in the room and the room is flooded, so all the monsters drown and their dropped items are shipped out VIA the conveyor. A water conveyor couldn't cover the proper space or area for all the loot to be collected.
Minecarts have their own strengths that make them essential.
Conveyors also have their own strengths that make them "Not essential yet, because they still haven't been added to gameplay, but wanted or needed to make the experience better".
C-C-C-C-COMBO BREAKER!
No seriously, don't quintuple post. Use the edit button.
As for your conveyor belt idea. It's a good idea, but water currents do almost the same thing.
I understand that you want them to be redstone activated but there still are a few ways of doing that with water too (Although you do have to reset it every time)
Water can only go a short distance without having to be changed in elevation again for another incline to work.
Wrong. If you're slightly more creative that a potato, you'll find ways to make water flow over and over without changing elevation. You've got nothing to back this terrible idea up.
That would be a possible way you would craft it in the crafting window. Conveyors would be 3/4ths to 1/2th the speed of a walking player. Which would make using these as transportation of one's self a lazy one but still a good investment for transportation of items.
After every end a "Bin" can be placed. A bin would basically be like a chest but can only be attached to the ends of conveyors. Inputs are not wired into this object. When a dropped object falls off the conveyor into the "Bin" it stores the object inside and can be taken out later. This would be very handy for preventing someone else from accidentally picking it up or from it being destroyed or disappear after you leave. The "Bin" in the crafting window would be the same arrangement for creating wooden chest, but instead with Iron Ingots. Of course a block can just be placed at the end so that objects do not fall off the conveyor and just sit on the block until pickup, a less costly way.
This "Conveyor Belt" idea would be useful for groups working together, material factories from the mass slaughter of mobs, or even a trap floor that when you step on a pressure pad or activate a switch, you are thrown into a lava pit or sand / gravel is dropped on you or the unsuspecting player. It can also be used for transporting materials to storage without having to leave your mine (Use of the bin).
I tried to paragraph it. Sorry I wanted to get my idea across before it faded.
A water transportation system can only go downhill, and also ends up being very short and / or MUCH planning would be required along with much more testing in order to get a good working system.
Also it fits in perfectly. Think of a mine and the group of miners there. There is a group of buildings around the entrance where they store their supplies after bringing it back up. For long trips down, all they bring is the supplies they can't get down there. They ride the minecart down, and arrive at the little station they have set up. They all are distributed conveyor parts and go on their merry way (Only the guy at the station needs to operate the conveyor on/off). As they dig and mine, they create the conveyor line to go far distances without having to return to the station to unload it all. The guy at the station fills the storage carts with all the material, and takes out some to create more conveyors. The tunnelers go very far, and eventually have to return to the station for more supplies. They are distributed more conveyors, and go on their way, following their conveyor line back to the location they were at.
They continue digging and working for many ingame days until they run low on supplies like food for healing after dealing with stuff, or torches once they have used up all their wood. SO they finish packing up, and return to the surface.
Or if your classy, you can use it for moving around inside your house.
Or for others who are working very far underground and need supplies without returning to the surface, a friend can just give them theirs by putting it on the conveyor and telling the guy to turn it simply on.
Or even for people who like creating "Sulpher / String / Arrow / Feather / Whatever mob material factories can simply use this to create multiple traps / killing machines spread around different areas with conveyors all routed towards his house. Allowing him to harvest more and more material.
There are many uses for this.
It ends up being better than minecarts in terms of staying in one place while mining but not so great for transportation of yourself / Mobs (Mobs of course will jump off in their random pathing) / a group unless its going to a location that you need to find (Which any line of material is useful Hehe). Its basically a good replacement of water conveyors, a more simple and most likely faster way to transport materials. Considering a player walking and basing the conveyor speed off them could be fairly capable of matching water.
Minecarts end up being use able more for mobs / player / group movements.
What really makes the difference in all this is that it doesn't use coal. Minecarts use coal to go a reasonable distance / slope. Other methods of launching minecarts could be ineffective to get trains going or to get them anywhere farther than to the hill. Minecarts can transport more in a train all at the same time and same place, while conveyors are more spread out but don't take the resources or time neccessary to load a minecart. With the redstone setup its very simple in operating one and doesn't waste resources as much.
It also can be a very fun add on to the game. Imagine a Minecart that is off its rails traveling along a conveyor.. Makes me think of Minecart Launchers. But the speed might not be fast enough. Nah it probably would be.
Thinking of traps. Imagine a room that just below the ceiling is a ledge. That ledge is a conveyor, and there is a hole in the wall that the conveyor goes through into another room. Now the other room is a room filled with lava. Now in the hole is some sand. So lets say we have wired a pressure plate to some redstone that connects to that end of the conveyor. An unsuspecting player walks in, steps on the plate, the sand is dropped on them. In their confusion they have no time to react as the lava pours into the room and kills them.
Or a way to kill mobs easily by dropping them into a pit by making them walk on a group of conveyors to get to you. Or if factory killing is your fancy, a room's floor that is lined with conveyors that lead into holes in the wall/floor that leads to a drop. There is a monster spawner in the room and the room is flooded, so all the monsters drown and their dropped items are shipped out VIA the conveyor. A water conveyor couldn't cover the proper space or area for all the loot to be collected.
See what I mean?
Conveyors also have their own strengths that make them "Not essential yet, because they still haven't been added to gameplay, but wanted or needed to make the experience better".
No seriously, don't quintuple post. Use the edit button.
As for your conveyor belt idea. It's a good idea, but water currents do almost the same thing.
I understand that you want them to be redstone activated but there still are a few ways of doing that with water too (Although you do have to reset it every time)
You beat me to it... :sad.gif: By 10 seconds.
Wrong. If you're slightly more creative that a potato, you'll find ways to make water flow over and over without changing elevation. You've got nothing to back this terrible idea up.