Also, Xionanx, for aspects, the sources are technically unlimited, because you can always scan new nodes, though it requires more exploring and takes a lot more time, as well as the deconstruction table, which could maybe use a boost to let it store research points? I don't recall if that's changed, given that I didn't have to use mine since relatively early on when I needed aer, and not since 4.1
I actually have a silverwood tree farm going with about 50 trees being cycled to produce new nodes to scan.. and I STILL DO NOT HAVE ENOUGH ASPECTS.
I'm not "new" to Thaumcraft, I know the "tricks".. the problem I have is that research has essentially been screwed since TC4, there needs to be a happy medium. I like the direction with the "auto-learn" option, but the research table itself it still boring and tedious, the aspect situation is just .
I thought one of the goals for the original mod was to get away from having 30+ aspects all lots and lots of various little things to keep track of, but it seems like there is more micromanagement now then there ever was. I want to get my research done so I can start USING things, not spend all my time making a whoozit, so i can make a bloosoo, to make a jebabi, to make a loadke, so i can finally make a wand that can store enough vis to be useful.
Seriously, I have to build an entire alchemy infrastructure just to make a silverwood wand.. an infrastructure that will see very little use once I have made the items I need.
Personally, i would like to see the research table gone, the research aspects gone, and in its place "practical experimentation" with the infusion alter.. where your alchemy derived essences see a lot more use, and the altar is how you learn and research by combining different things. When you get the right "combo" of items + essentia, you get completed research notes..
I've liked both research systems from TC4 and TC4.1(But then again I'm mad, so I might be the minority). The reseach system from TC3 was one I disliked do to the randomness, needing to spend items to move forward.(My luck has always been rather bad, so research was slow.) With this new system, it is a puzzle. At no point is it down to luck, only skill at figaring out the best way to connect them. In the end, I feel like I did something to get what I want, not just "You already know how to make everything, despite the fact that seconds ago you were banging sticks together". I also like the concept of "You need to look at the world around you to learn how to use it. Besides, the research system can be set to "Easy" mode(You strait up buy all researches).
As for your idea, it would quickly be redundant. Someone would make a list, then everyone would reach end-game in an hour. I like the current systems aspect of "You need to work for your research. This is your toll for knowledge, and thus power". But I am very mad from my time as a blood mage, so take everything I say with a gran of salus mundes.
I loved the research in 4.0 (and found it to be a vast improvement over the research system in TC3) and had little to no issues with it. The changes made in 4.1 are nice, though I now have to remember to set the config to enable hard mode (all research must be completed in the research table) since I don't particularly care for the ability to "purchase" research. I have had no problems progressing through the mod, and I did not and do not use cheat sheets.
Research has never been difficult in Thaumcraft 4. The majority of difficulty expressed is (or was) often due to the user not approaching things with a logical mind, often spamming random aspects in an attempt to complete research rather than look at it and use logical thinking to figure out which aspects are most likely involved.
I also don't consider running out of research points a bad thing. It's similar to most anything else in the game, where you need to continue gathering resources for what you want to accomplish, be it cobblestone, diamonds, or research points to name a few. You run out, you go get more. That's not a problem as far as I'm concerned.
The fact that you seem to be relying on nodes made from a silverwood tree farm in order to gain your research points is a big factor in why you keep running short. There are hundreds of things to scan besides nodes, and I seriously doubt you've scanned everything possible. Even still, nodes that are created at worldgen tend to have far more aspects within them than nodes you've made from a Silverwood, at least in my experiences. It would behoove you to actually venture into the world and scan nodes you find there as well as anything else you come across that hasn't been scanned.
Research points are common and abundant. Running out consistently would, to me, imply that you're doing something wrong with how you're going about accruing and spending them.
Nearly half of thaumcraft's content isn't worth it's cost (not even close) and pipes are one of the main problems here. Yes, you can automate small systems, but you can also manufacture any reasonable amount of products from such a system in easily half the time it'd take you to automate it. Take nitor for example, the sheer cost in time and resources to automate it would not be worth choosing it over the alternative of just crafting a few stacks manually and the same effectively goes for everything thaumcraft can "automate" And in the end, when all that "advanced" thaumcraft does is make things look pretty, it simply isn't worth the sheer investment of time required to get there in survival, you can make some great and entertaining things in creative with the current iteration of thaumcraft, but that's really the extent of it, unless you really have TOO much time to waste.
Censuur, if you don't like Thaumcraft, don't play Thaumcraft.If you don't like a recent change to Thaumcraft, don't update. If you think it's not fun to play with outside creative, don't use it in your survival worlds.
This thread is full of people who play with and enjoy Thaumcraft 4, so your constant, all-or-nothing complaints about the mod are a little out of place here. Please just go find a mod you actually like and leave us alone.
You want a farm, you grab a hoe. You want a boat, you grab some wood. You want a fireplace, you grab A FLAMING HELL-BOULDER BECAUSE THAT'S HOW MINECRAFTERS ROLL!!!
Why don't we just do a pro's cons list for TC4 research, here's my short list based on personal experience and the frequency of complaints I've seen in this thread over the past few months..
TC4 Research Cons:
1. Running out of research points with no immediately actionable way to get more. (IE. I need iron, I mine iron, I need AER and I??? run around hoping to find a node with AER?)
2. Boring "busy work" of staring at a table
3. Research time spent VS time spent using the results of said research is not in balance
TC4 Research Pros:
1. Its unique, no other mod does it AFAIK
Most of the items you research and create last practically forever (barring incidents like falling into lava), making the time spent researching and creating the items a good return on the investment.
Why don't we just do a pro's cons list for TC4 research, here's my short list based on personal experience and the frequency of complaints I've seen in this thread over the past few months..
TC4 Research Cons:
1. Running out of research points with no immediately actionable way to get more. (IE. I need iron, I mine iron, I need AER and I??? run around hoping to find a node with AER?)
2. Boring "busy work" of staring at a table
3. Research time spent VS time spent using the results of said research is not in balance
TC4 Research Pros:
1. Its unique, no other mod does it AFAIK
If I run out of research points, I start putting nether wart in a deconstruction table. With a small farm, 5-10 tables being feed, I'll never run out of points. It is the point of the deconstruction table after all.
Setting research to easy mode in the config removes the "Boring busy work". Buy every thing for research points without playing the mini game I have fun doing.(Again, I'm mad)
With it set to easy, you'll quickly clime up the research trees with little work. Just scan everything and you'll do fine.
Post script: If you need aer, try putting sugarcane in the deconstruction table. It is something cheap and can be farmed.
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Question not the mad-mans ways, for you may begin to see logic in his actions, then find yourself mad as well.
You may call me The Madman, as there is no name that suits me better.
I happen to make modded survival maps, if your interested see my latest: The Asylum
Last I knew, putting wool in a deconstruction table works well too. I got tons of primal RPs (except ignis) from tossing in wool. It also had an extremely high chance to give a RP too. I admit I haven't been playing much of MC lately so I'm not sure how well it still works with the new aspect changes.
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Due to my snarky and sarcastic personality I can easily be seen as a jerk. If I've offended you in any way it was likely unintended.
Last I knew, putting wool in a deconstruction table works well too. I got tons of primal RPs (except ignis) from tossing in wool. It also had an extremely high chance to give a RP too. I admit I haven't been playing much of MC lately so I'm not sure how well it still works with the new aspect changes.
When I still used the deconstruction table, I was rather partial to using blocks of flesh. I always have a large amount of zombie flesh, so it was a nice way to use that up and get something back for it all.
I just tried to make the silverwood staff core. I had sufficient essentia next to the infusion altar. I placed the silverwood log in the middle, the Salis Mundis and six different shards around it. Leaving just one pedestal empty. Then I whacked it with the wand and the process started. First it consumed all essentia and then it started consuming the items one by one. But for some reason it failed to consume the last shard (ordo I believe). It kept on infusing and infusing but nothing happened anymore. There was still sufficient essentia in the jars. And finally at some point the last shard was replaced with tainted goo. Any idea what could be wrong? I think I put all the needed stuff in there the right way. Is there something that I'm overlooking?
Thanks,
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Author of RFTools, RFTools Control, RFTools Dimensions, Deep Resonance, Immersive Craft, CombatHelp, NICE, Aqua Munda, Ariente, XNet, Interaction Wheel, The Lost Cities, Lost Souls, Need To Breathe, EFab, The One Probe and co-author of Not Enough Wands and RF Lux.
When I still used the deconstruction table, I was rather partial to using blocks of flesh. I always have a large amount of zombie flesh, so it was a nice way to use that up and get something back for it all.
Yeah, I used that too. It's completely useless otherwise. Once I discovered wool though... I'm not kidding when I said extremely high chance of getting a RP. Almost each piece of wool I tossed in would give me a RP. And with TT's tool something-or-another tablet automating wool becomes pretty easy. The only downside is the lack of ignis.
I just tried to make the silverwood staff core. I had sufficient essentia next to the infusion altar. I placed the silverwood log in the middle, the Salis Mundis and six different shards around it. Leaving just one pedestal empty. Then I whacked it with the wand and the process started. First it consumed all essentia and then it started consuming the items one by one. But for some reason it failed to consume the last shard (ordo I believe). It kept on infusing and infusing but nothing happened anymore. There was still sufficient essentia in the jars. And finally at some point the last shard was replaced with tainted goo. Any idea what could be wrong? I think I put all the needed stuff in there the right way. Is there something that I'm overlooking?
Thanks,
Are you certain an item didn't get knocked off? Sometimes that'll happen and it escapes your view. Usually at that point I just begin to franticly put spare items on the pedestals.
Yup, it's completely ridiculous to have a pipe which can only carry one type of liquid at a time. There's no reason this might break suspension of disbelief for a lot of people including the mod author. Also there are no builds in which a small number of different types of essentia can be effeciently piped around to make a nice automated system. None of these have been demonstrated in this thread or in videos on YouTube.
In fact, this whole topic hasn't been completely discussed to death in the last couple hundred posts, and you have contributed substantially with lots of new opinions.
In this image I have a multilevel Essentia storage room, managed with Golems. At the top of each stack is a Void jar. Each tower is labeled with a single type of Essentia. My issue is that a FULL VOID JAR ranks higher as a valid destination than an empty, labeled jar. This results in significant wastage because they will keep dumping Essentia into the Void Jar instead of the empty Jars.
Can we adjust this so that labeled empty jars are higher priority than a Void jar?
Are you certain an item didn't get knocked off? Sometimes that'll happen and it escapes your view. Usually at that point I just begin to franticly put spare items on the pedestals.
Nothing did get knocked off but I did notice that my jar of Ordo was completely empty while it contained 32 essentia. In the Thaumonomicon it said only 9 Ordo was needed but for some reason my jar was emptied? It seemed to have needed a lot more essentia then advertized in the book.
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1. Running out of research points with no immediately actionable way to get more. (IE. I need iron, I mine iron, I need AER and I??? run around hoping to find a node with AER?)
This one in particular stands out, as everyone in the thread keeps pointing out the problem with it. If you're scanning nodes to get aspects, you're doing it wrong. Scan stuff. Make stuff and scan it. Research things, make those things, and scan those things. You will never, ever NEED to scan a node if you do that, unless you're just blindly throwing point after point at the research table trying to combine to find new aspects, which you also shouldn't need to do.
One minor request which may have been done already: In 4.0, taking a label off a jar blanked the label. At first I was OK with that, but then it got annoying. I haven't run 4.1 yet, but by the discussion, it has even more need to put chosen labels on a previously-empty jar or alembic. If it has not been done already, can labels be made to keep their aspect when removed? (It's easy enough to blank them in the inventory.)
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I did some CraftTweaker scripts for Mystical Agriculture. They fill in a couple of small gaps in MA, and also let you make or duplicate not only vanilla plants, but the blocks, plants and wood from Quark and Biomes O'Plenty. Also spawn eggs for most vanilla mobs! The scripts are here on Github.
Wow, alright, two pages suddenly came up from when I last checked. Yes, I do a bit of tech mods. I also like magic mods because as I pointed out I'm a fan of magitech. I like both science and fantasy branches of fiction equally.
The tech mods have always had a unique balancing challenge. Some people may think they make things too easily too quickly, and those that do make things hard usually do so through grinding such as the infamous Gregtech. While I enjoyed Gregtech at first, it was only because I could experiment with, find, and refine cross-mod interactions to break his stupid contrived difficulty like a series of puzzles (Research!) Then he decided that was unacceptable and broke the game. We've never used Gregtech since. During the fiasco someone pointed out that a major balancing struggle that most mods face is that between "gamers" and "builders". There are people who just want something that feels closer to creative but actually requires symbolic effort to manage while they build all sorts of awesome things vs people who look and expect a much stiffer challenge from their mods. And just like they did for Gregtech it seems the two factions look down on one another here. "If you want it that easy just pop into creative!" vs "It's too difficult Azanor needs to make it easier!". Ultimately people have a range preferences and they're not all going to be magically piled up around an optimal level of difficulty. I understand this makes its difficult for the fanbase as a whole to appreciate a mod that tries to go too far in one direction or the other and its why I advocate that mod authors consider trying to strike up a balance in the middle. It's really good to have a certain amount of complexity, puzzle, solving, and intricacies - but at the same time if someone wants to construct megaprojects and super laboratories that fit a theme (which themed building seems an integral part to Minecraft itself, not just mods) then by all means, let them.
If Azanor doesn't want this technological feel or scale of automation than perhaps he should remove pipes entirely. I would be disappointed but at least it would be a decisive action that would clean up what people expect of Thaumcraft. If you include pipes though, people are going to want to expect them to "work" like pipes. Pipes operate on a certain set of rules. Yes they are simplified for the sake of functionality in Minecraft mods, yes there is variation to how mods handle them, but ultimately they serve the same purpose. This simplification of pipe logic is part of the willing suspension of disbelief for all of Minecraft including vanilla. We're also not asking to be able to send two or more types of essentia down the pipe at the same time. We're trying to discuss how to send those types down the pipes one after another and have it handled differently based on what it is. If you don't understand that difference please refrain from arguing for or against the idea. You'll end up needlessly arguing over something the rest of us aren't talking about. Besides, Azanor has already provided equipment that doesn't have a problem accepting up to 8 kinds of essentia. So they can mix to a degree and be fine.
Oh, and for infusion? I'm still hung up on alchemy so I haven't gotten that far yet, but I am looking forward to it. It sounds rather awesome and I wouldn't dream of trying to automate that. I don't mind the manual labor that magic takes where appropriate.
I normally like to automate stuff. I have a lot of tech mods like RotatyCraft, TE, Logistic Pipes, BuildCraft, EnderIO and so on and there is nothing more fun then making nice automated machines to do various things.
However I don't do this in Thaumcraft. For some reason I have not yet found a reason to automate anything and also it feels a bit strange to automate magic related things. I might still do this at some point however I'm wondering for what reason people actually automate with Thaumcraft? What resource is needed so much that you'd want to set up automation for it? Just wondering as I haven't gotten that far in Thaumcraft yet. I have done some alchemy and some infusion but nothing else really.
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Author of RFTools, RFTools Control, RFTools Dimensions, Deep Resonance, Immersive Craft, CombatHelp, NICE, Aqua Munda, Ariente, XNet, Interaction Wheel, The Lost Cities, Lost Souls, Need To Breathe, EFab, The One Probe and co-author of Not Enough Wands and RF Lux.
I wanted to ask other people if you noticed/felt the same thing as me: that alchemy is missing mass productive items. I mean there is no reason to mass produce items with alchemy although the system is perfect for that. Only thing i started to use is ore purification. I feel that there should be some simple alchemical things: maybe some build materials, maybe some harder to get vanilla blocks/items made with alchemy. Currently it's a tool that is used by other branches.
(ALCHEMIST UNITE AND BRING DOWN THE OPRESION? )
You are absolutely correct about this and I am hoping to address this in the next update.
I normally like to automate stuff. I have a lot of tech mods like RotatyCraft, TE, Logistic Pipes, BuildCraft, EnderIO and so on and there is nothing more fun then making nice automated machines to do various things.
However I don't do this in Thaumcraft. For some reason I have not yet found a reason to automate anything and also it feels a bit strange to automate magic related things. I might still do this at some point however I'm wondering for what reason people actually automate with Thaumcraft? What resource is needed so much that you'd want to set up automation for it? Just wondering as I haven't gotten that far in Thaumcraft yet. I have done some alchemy and some infusion but nothing else really.
Right now I don't think large scale automation is really important to do Thaumcraft. It's rigged towards making small number of things. For me its automation for the sake of automation, or more accurately the idea of being able to process bulk quantities of random garbage down into essentia whether there is a use for it or not. Though, I can think of a few uses. Warded jars filled with essentia look cool. I was using them for decoration back in Thaumcraft 3.
Then there's the infused items. While I have no interest in automating the infusion process itself, if warded jars and alchemical items around the altar had this tendency to magically stay stocked ALL THE TIME from an automated alchemy workshop lower down in the thaum-tower that would be nice. Last I did infusing it was all back in Thaumcraft 3 but I generally had to make items in threes, fours, fives, etc. As soon as I had my enchanting tables everyone on the server wanted those boots until they had their quantum power armor. I wasn't just making the items for personal use, I was trading them to others on the server in exchange for items from their fields of expertise. "Yeah sure, I'll give you a sword of the zephyr, wand of excavation, and two pair boots for a tank full of pink slime (Minefactory Reloaded)." Or "Yeah, I'll make sure the Axe of the Stream I'm making for you has repair on it if you'll help provide the last dozen or so turbines I need for my Atomic Science fusion reactor." Thaumcraft 4 seems to have taken a huge hit in overall functionality, and pretty much -everything- is now done better by the other mods in the modpacks my group tends to use now so I have lost a lot of that trading power. The only real reason I'd probably have for fully automated alchemy is an alumentum hwacha.
I actually have a silverwood tree farm going with about 50 trees being cycled to produce new nodes to scan.. and I STILL DO NOT HAVE ENOUGH ASPECTS.
I'm not "new" to Thaumcraft, I know the "tricks".. the problem I have is that research has essentially been screwed since TC4, there needs to be a happy medium. I like the direction with the "auto-learn" option, but the research table itself it still boring and tedious, the aspect situation is just .
I thought one of the goals for the original mod was to get away from having 30+ aspects all lots and lots of various little things to keep track of, but it seems like there is more micromanagement now then there ever was. I want to get my research done so I can start USING things, not spend all my time making a whoozit, so i can make a bloosoo, to make a jebabi, to make a loadke, so i can finally make a wand that can store enough vis to be useful.
Seriously, I have to build an entire alchemy infrastructure just to make a silverwood wand.. an infrastructure that will see very little use once I have made the items I need.
Personally, i would like to see the research table gone, the research aspects gone, and in its place "practical experimentation" with the infusion alter.. where your alchemy derived essences see a lot more use, and the altar is how you learn and research by combining different things. When you get the right "combo" of items + essentia, you get completed research notes..
As for your idea, it would quickly be redundant. Someone would make a list, then everyone would reach end-game in an hour. I like the current systems aspect of "You need to work for your research. This is your toll for knowledge, and thus power". But I am very mad from my time as a blood mage, so take everything I say with a gran of salus mundes.
You may call me The Madman, as there is no name that suits me better.
I happen to make modded survival maps, if your interested see my latest: The Asylum
I loved the research in 4.0 (and found it to be a vast improvement over the research system in TC3) and had little to no issues with it. The changes made in 4.1 are nice, though I now have to remember to set the config to enable hard mode (all research must be completed in the research table) since I don't particularly care for the ability to "purchase" research. I have had no problems progressing through the mod, and I did not and do not use cheat sheets.
Research has never been difficult in Thaumcraft 4. The majority of difficulty expressed is (or was) often due to the user not approaching things with a logical mind, often spamming random aspects in an attempt to complete research rather than look at it and use logical thinking to figure out which aspects are most likely involved.
I also don't consider running out of research points a bad thing. It's similar to most anything else in the game, where you need to continue gathering resources for what you want to accomplish, be it cobblestone, diamonds, or research points to name a few. You run out, you go get more. That's not a problem as far as I'm concerned.
The fact that you seem to be relying on nodes made from a silverwood tree farm in order to gain your research points is a big factor in why you keep running short. There are hundreds of things to scan besides nodes, and I seriously doubt you've scanned everything possible. Even still, nodes that are created at worldgen tend to have far more aspects within them than nodes you've made from a Silverwood, at least in my experiences. It would behoove you to actually venture into the world and scan nodes you find there as well as anything else you come across that hasn't been scanned.
Research points are common and abundant. Running out consistently would, to me, imply that you're doing something wrong with how you're going about accruing and spending them.
Censuur, if you don't like Thaumcraft, don't play Thaumcraft.If you don't like a recent change to Thaumcraft, don't update. If you think it's not fun to play with outside creative, don't use it in your survival worlds.
This thread is full of people who play with and enjoy Thaumcraft 4, so your constant, all-or-nothing complaints about the mod are a little out of place here. Please just go find a mod you actually like and leave us alone.
TC4 Research Cons:
1. Running out of research points with no immediately actionable way to get more. (IE. I need iron, I mine iron, I need AER and I??? run around hoping to find a node with AER?)
2. Boring "busy work" of staring at a table
3. Research time spent VS time spent using the results of said research is not in balance
TC4 Research Pros:
1. Its unique, no other mod does it AFAIK
Pros:
If I run out of research points, I start putting nether wart in a deconstruction table. With a small farm, 5-10 tables being feed, I'll never run out of points. It is the point of the deconstruction table after all.
Setting research to easy mode in the config removes the "Boring busy work". Buy every thing for research points without playing the mini game I have fun doing.(Again, I'm mad)
With it set to easy, you'll quickly clime up the research trees with little work. Just scan everything and you'll do fine.
Post script: If you need aer, try putting sugarcane in the deconstruction table. It is something cheap and can be farmed.
You may call me The Madman, as there is no name that suits me better.
I happen to make modded survival maps, if your interested see my latest: The Asylum
When I still used the deconstruction table, I was rather partial to using blocks of flesh. I always have a large amount of zombie flesh, so it was a nice way to use that up and get something back for it all.
Thanks,
Author of RFTools, RFTools Control, RFTools Dimensions, Deep Resonance, Immersive Craft, CombatHelp, NICE, Aqua Munda, Ariente, XNet, Interaction Wheel, The Lost Cities, Lost Souls, Need To Breathe, EFab, The One Probe and co-author of Not Enough Wands and RF Lux.
YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYMg1JQw3syJBgPeW6m68lA?view_as=subscriber
Support me at my Patreon page (http://www.patreon.com/McJty) or directly on my Paypal account ([email protected]). Thanks
Yeah, I used that too. It's completely useless otherwise. Once I discovered wool though... I'm not kidding when I said extremely high chance of getting a RP. Almost each piece of wool I tossed in would give me a RP. And with TT's tool something-or-another tablet automating wool becomes pretty easy. The only downside is the lack of ignis.
Are you certain an item didn't get knocked off? Sometimes that'll happen and it escapes your view. Usually at that point I just begin to franticly put spare items on the pedestals.
http://i.imgur.com/mZmQGxe.png
In this image I have a multilevel Essentia storage room, managed with Golems. At the top of each stack is a Void jar. Each tower is labeled with a single type of Essentia. My issue is that a FULL VOID JAR ranks higher as a valid destination than an empty, labeled jar. This results in significant wastage because they will keep dumping Essentia into the Void Jar instead of the empty Jars.
Can we adjust this so that labeled empty jars are higher priority than a Void jar?
Nothing did get knocked off but I did notice that my jar of Ordo was completely empty while it contained 32 essentia. In the Thaumonomicon it said only 9 Ordo was needed but for some reason my jar was emptied? It seemed to have needed a lot more essentia then advertized in the book.
Author of RFTools, RFTools Control, RFTools Dimensions, Deep Resonance, Immersive Craft, CombatHelp, NICE, Aqua Munda, Ariente, XNet, Interaction Wheel, The Lost Cities, Lost Souls, Need To Breathe, EFab, The One Probe and co-author of Not Enough Wands and RF Lux.
YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYMg1JQw3syJBgPeW6m68lA?view_as=subscriber
Support me at my Patreon page (http://www.patreon.com/McJty) or directly on my Paypal account ([email protected]). Thanks
This one in particular stands out, as everyone in the thread keeps pointing out the problem with it. If you're scanning nodes to get aspects, you're doing it wrong. Scan stuff. Make stuff and scan it. Research things, make those things, and scan those things. You will never, ever NEED to scan a node if you do that, unless you're just blindly throwing point after point at the research table trying to combine to find new aspects, which you also shouldn't need to do.
The tech mods have always had a unique balancing challenge. Some people may think they make things too easily too quickly, and those that do make things hard usually do so through grinding such as the infamous Gregtech. While I enjoyed Gregtech at first, it was only because I could experiment with, find, and refine cross-mod interactions to break his stupid contrived difficulty like a series of puzzles (Research!) Then he decided that was unacceptable and broke the game. We've never used Gregtech since. During the fiasco someone pointed out that a major balancing struggle that most mods face is that between "gamers" and "builders". There are people who just want something that feels closer to creative but actually requires symbolic effort to manage while they build all sorts of awesome things vs people who look and expect a much stiffer challenge from their mods. And just like they did for Gregtech it seems the two factions look down on one another here. "If you want it that easy just pop into creative!" vs "It's too difficult Azanor needs to make it easier!". Ultimately people have a range preferences and they're not all going to be magically piled up around an optimal level of difficulty. I understand this makes its difficult for the fanbase as a whole to appreciate a mod that tries to go too far in one direction or the other and its why I advocate that mod authors consider trying to strike up a balance in the middle. It's really good to have a certain amount of complexity, puzzle, solving, and intricacies - but at the same time if someone wants to construct megaprojects and super laboratories that fit a theme (which themed building seems an integral part to Minecraft itself, not just mods) then by all means, let them.
If Azanor doesn't want this technological feel or scale of automation than perhaps he should remove pipes entirely. I would be disappointed but at least it would be a decisive action that would clean up what people expect of Thaumcraft. If you include pipes though, people are going to want to expect them to "work" like pipes. Pipes operate on a certain set of rules. Yes they are simplified for the sake of functionality in Minecraft mods, yes there is variation to how mods handle them, but ultimately they serve the same purpose. This simplification of pipe logic is part of the willing suspension of disbelief for all of Minecraft including vanilla. We're also not asking to be able to send two or more types of essentia down the pipe at the same time. We're trying to discuss how to send those types down the pipes one after another and have it handled differently based on what it is. If you don't understand that difference please refrain from arguing for or against the idea. You'll end up needlessly arguing over something the rest of us aren't talking about. Besides, Azanor has already provided equipment that doesn't have a problem accepting up to 8 kinds of essentia. So they can mix to a degree and be fine.
Oh, and for infusion? I'm still hung up on alchemy so I haven't gotten that far yet, but I am looking forward to it. It sounds rather awesome and I wouldn't dream of trying to automate that. I don't mind the manual labor that magic takes where appropriate.
However I don't do this in Thaumcraft. For some reason I have not yet found a reason to automate anything and also it feels a bit strange to automate magic related things. I might still do this at some point however I'm wondering for what reason people actually automate with Thaumcraft? What resource is needed so much that you'd want to set up automation for it? Just wondering as I haven't gotten that far in Thaumcraft yet. I have done some alchemy and some infusion but nothing else really.
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You are absolutely correct about this and I am hoping to address this in the next update.
Right now I don't think large scale automation is really important to do Thaumcraft. It's rigged towards making small number of things. For me its automation for the sake of automation, or more accurately the idea of being able to process bulk quantities of random garbage down into essentia whether there is a use for it or not. Though, I can think of a few uses. Warded jars filled with essentia look cool. I was using them for decoration back in Thaumcraft 3.
Then there's the infused items. While I have no interest in automating the infusion process itself, if warded jars and alchemical items around the altar had this tendency to magically stay stocked ALL THE TIME from an automated alchemy workshop lower down in the thaum-tower that would be nice. Last I did infusing it was all back in Thaumcraft 3 but I generally had to make items in threes, fours, fives, etc. As soon as I had my enchanting tables everyone on the server wanted those boots until they had their quantum power armor. I wasn't just making the items for personal use, I was trading them to others on the server in exchange for items from their fields of expertise. "Yeah sure, I'll give you a sword of the zephyr, wand of excavation, and two pair boots for a tank full of pink slime (Minefactory Reloaded)." Or "Yeah, I'll make sure the Axe of the Stream I'm making for you has repair on it if you'll help provide the last dozen or so turbines I need for my Atomic Science fusion reactor." Thaumcraft 4 seems to have taken a huge hit in overall functionality, and pretty much -everything- is now done better by the other mods in the modpacks my group tends to use now so I have lost a lot of that trading power. The only real reason I'd probably have for fully automated alchemy is an alumentum hwacha.