One major limitation of redstone circuitry is how annoying it is to create precise delays of significant length. On one hand it's very easy to make precise delays. Just chain together as many repeaters as you want. Simple. But that takes up a lot of space, 150 repeaters per minute!
And there are lots of other clocks: reed clocks, minecart clocks, water clocks, etc. But they're all massive and can suffer from accuracy issues. Additionally, it's challenging to make these clocks automatically adjust their own period.
Now normally I'm opposed to "just make a block" shortcuts around redstone engineering, since I think it's lazy and discourages creativity. But like repeaters themselves, sometimes I think basic things like adding easier long delays would improve the game for a lot of people.
So here's a mod idea I came up with that I'm thinking of suggesting: the Punchcard Block.
The punchcard block would act like a repeater in block form, only accepting power from one side and only delivering it out the other. By itself it would impose 1 tick delay on the signal.
The block would have a single inventory slot. When paper is placed inside the block, it would add a delay equal in ticks to the amount of paper + 1. So if you put 14 pieces of paper in the block, it would add a 15 tick delay. You'd be able to have any delay from 1-65 ticks per block.
If any item besides paper is placed in the slot, it would block the signal from passing through entirely.
This block would simplify and vastly shrink a wide variety of creations. And considering that you could do the same thing through brute force with enough repeaters, I don't think it shortchanges creativity too much. I'm against "computer blocks" that do redstone circuitry for you but a delay block is basic enough I think it'd be ok.
If you use the allocator mod it would allow you to automatically adjust the delay by removing and adding paper to the block.
What do you think? Would you find this useful? Is it too powerful? Too weak? Think it's worth submitting as a mod request?
I think there's certainly a need for more redstone components, and I can just see something like this being used for other things. Take, for instance, three of these exposed and a chest full of paper. You could press a button to send a pulse through the three of them, and only if they have the right number of paper in each would it output a signal, either to a secret door or what have you. With things like xp farms which use large delay, this would do wonders to reduce their size. It also means that there's expanded use for reeds- while melons and wheat can make food, or breed animals, and pumpkins can be used to make snow golems to combat things, reeds are really limited to maps and bookshelves at the moment, and I think expanded use for any item would be a good thing at this point.
On a semi-unrelated note, the allocator should have been in the game a long time ago, it's a prime example of Mojang not taking an opportunity to add something simple to the game to add incredible amounts of creativity.
EDIT: I think the important thing here is that it fits the style of current minecraft machinery, like the piston design or dispensers. I can't picture a very clear image of what this would look like.
EDIT: I think the important thing here is that it fits the style of current minecraft machinery, like the piston design or dispensers. I can't picture a very clear image of what this would look like.
I was sort of imagining a block made out of dispenser/piston-ish stone, with a hole on two sides, one to accept redstone signals and the other to output redstone signals. The block would be bisected by a dark blackish-red line of redstone, showing the path of the signal, that would slowly light up bright red as a signal goes through, so you can see how much longer it'll take for the signal to exit. Maybe there would be wood trimmings somewhere, to show the hatch you open to place paper in. It'd look steampunkish and low tech, just like all other technology in game.
That's just a basic idea though, and I'm open to suggestions for something better.
When I first used repeaters, sure I thought it was handy, but it would cut the true dedication that we used to put into Redstone devices.
-snip
There is already a mod for this...
RedPower Logic, is a very advanced mod, that has many RedStone shortcuts, (like clocks, timers, synchronisers, gates etc).
-snip-
That's a fair opinion. My own person belief is that there's nothing wrong with better tools, as long as they are tools and not pre-packaged solutions.
Better tools allow you to create better machines. Creativity and time that was once spent laying out a line of repeaters in a giant room could instead be used designing the thing you actually want to make.
I'd be against a calculator block or an AND gate block, or anything that entirely eliminates the need to do redstone engineering. But I don't view several hundred repeaters in a row as creative engineering really, just a headache.
At the same time, I don't want a tool to be too powerful. What I'm suggesting is a diamond sword of RS delay to the repeater's wooden sword. I wouldn't want a clock block that allows you to set any delay you want, down to the hour, minute, and second any more than I'd want a diamond machine gun added. Something that creates a delay between 1-65 ticks (and requires lots of paper to do so) is balanced, because you'd still need many of them if you want to make anything complex. 65 ticks is just a few seconds remember.
i agree that the game needs a new delay block because repeaters end up taking up a lot of space if you need a long delay witch you offend need, however i don't believe this punch card block would be the solution i think it would complicate things too much. i think it would be better to add maybe 2 different blocks, where each block would have a fixed delay like 5 seconds and 60 seconds this would make it more transparent than the punch card method i believe, however i don't know how they should look nor be made.
So other than the fact that items stack by 64, is there any good reason why we couldn't use all 127 digits going up? We're using the same amount of memory space but we're able to do more.
Also what would be the desired effect of the signal being cut? lets just say for the fun of it you've got two of these things hooked up in a line; the closer first one is set to 5 ticks and the the second one is set to 50. the first one is going to cut off long before the second; does the second have a boolean to tell it to count or does the redstone act like the boolean?
Sorry this was rushed and i have to goto class this minute.
So other than the fact that items stack by 64, is there any good reason why we couldn't use all 127 digits going up? We're using the same amount of memory space but we're able to do more.
Also what would be the desired effect of the signal being cut? lets just say for the fun of it you've got two of these things hooked up in a line; the closer first one is set to 5 ticks and the the second one is set to 50. the first one is going to cut off long before the second; does the second have a boolean to tell it to count or does the redstone act like the boolean?
Sorry this was rushed and i have to goto class this minute.
it could be changed fairly easily to allow longer delays, but one stack seems sufficient for now. Im not sure what everyone wants, but currently it works like a repeater but with longer possible delays, it takes a certain amount of time to turn on, and the same amount of time to turn off
Basically generic support (I don't think it's really NEEDED, but it would be nice) and a request for a suggested crafting recipe.
I also agree with someone (too lazy to find name) that it should keep pulse length... But if it did that, repeaters would be nearly (if not completely) obsolete, so I'm not sure.
The repeater thing is an obvious glitch. Even more so: it's harder to code it with the glitch, than without it. It's useful, sometimes, though.
I say 'though' too much.
I don't see why they haven't fixed it. All they should have to do is count the ticks and run it though a case statement that reads 5 stats.
I mean sure it would be a bit more difficult than that but still.
I like it. 65 ticks is actually a fairly rational value in the end (6.5 seconds).
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Apparently I'm a complete and utter jerk and come to this forum just like to make fun of people, be confrontational, and make your personal life miserable. If you think this is the case, JUST REPORT ME. Otherwise you're just going to get reported when you reply to my posts and point it out, because odds are, I was trying to be nice.
Apparently I'm a complete and utter jerk and come to this forum just like to make fun of people, be confrontational, and make your personal life miserable. If you think this is the case, JUST REPORT ME. Otherwise you're just going to get reported when you reply to my posts and point it out, because odds are, I was trying to be nice.
And there are lots of other clocks: reed clocks, minecart clocks, water clocks, etc. But they're all massive and can suffer from accuracy issues. Additionally, it's challenging to make these clocks automatically adjust their own period.
Now normally I'm opposed to "just make a block" shortcuts around redstone engineering, since I think it's lazy and discourages creativity. But like repeaters themselves, sometimes I think basic things like adding easier long delays would improve the game for a lot of people.
So here's a mod idea I came up with that I'm thinking of suggesting: the Punchcard Block.
The punchcard block would act like a repeater in block form, only accepting power from one side and only delivering it out the other. By itself it would impose 1 tick delay on the signal.
The block would have a single inventory slot. When paper is placed inside the block, it would add a delay equal in ticks to the amount of paper + 1. So if you put 14 pieces of paper in the block, it would add a 15 tick delay. You'd be able to have any delay from 1-65 ticks per block.
If any item besides paper is placed in the slot, it would block the signal from passing through entirely.
This block would simplify and vastly shrink a wide variety of creations. And considering that you could do the same thing through brute force with enough repeaters, I don't think it shortchanges creativity too much. I'm against "computer blocks" that do redstone circuitry for you but a delay block is basic enough I think it'd be ok.
If you use the allocator mod it would allow you to automatically adjust the delay by removing and adding paper to the block.
What do you think? Would you find this useful? Is it too powerful? Too weak? Think it's worth submitting as a mod request?
On a semi-unrelated note, the allocator should have been in the game a long time ago, it's a prime example of Mojang not taking an opportunity to add something simple to the game to add incredible amounts of creativity.
EDIT: I think the important thing here is that it fits the style of current minecraft machinery, like the piston design or dispensers. I can't picture a very clear image of what this would look like.
I was sort of imagining a block made out of dispenser/piston-ish stone, with a hole on two sides, one to accept redstone signals and the other to output redstone signals. The block would be bisected by a dark blackish-red line of redstone, showing the path of the signal, that would slowly light up bright red as a signal goes through, so you can see how much longer it'll take for the signal to exit. Maybe there would be wood trimmings somewhere, to show the hatch you open to place paper in. It'd look steampunkish and low tech, just like all other technology in game.
That's just a basic idea though, and I'm open to suggestions for something better.
That'd be awesome! I'd love to see you make a mod. We can always get someone else to do the graphics later if you want.
If you're going to include a crafting recipe, perhaps this could work:
(cobblestone) (redstone dust) (cobblestone)
(wood plank) (gold ingot) (wood plank)
(cobblestone) (redstone repeater) (cobblestone)
That's a fair opinion. My own person belief is that there's nothing wrong with better tools, as long as they are tools and not pre-packaged solutions.
Better tools allow you to create better machines. Creativity and time that was once spent laying out a line of repeaters in a giant room could instead be used designing the thing you actually want to make.
I'd be against a calculator block or an AND gate block, or anything that entirely eliminates the need to do redstone engineering. But I don't view several hundred repeaters in a row as creative engineering really, just a headache.
At the same time, I don't want a tool to be too powerful. What I'm suggesting is a diamond sword of RS delay to the repeater's wooden sword. I wouldn't want a clock block that allows you to set any delay you want, down to the hour, minute, and second any more than I'd want a diamond machine gun added. Something that creates a delay between 1-65 ticks (and requires lots of paper to do so) is balanced, because you'd still need many of them if you want to make anything complex. 65 ticks is just a few seconds remember.
Interested in pro redstone? Check out ORE at openredstone.org
What did you post?
Also what would be the desired effect of the signal being cut? lets just say for the fun of it you've got two of these things hooked up in a line; the closer first one is set to 5 ticks and the the second one is set to 50. the first one is going to cut off long before the second; does the second have a boolean to tell it to count or does the redstone act like the boolean?
Sorry this was rushed and i have to goto class this minute.
Its mostly just proof of concept currently. There are alot of improvements that still need to be done, but it should still work
it could be changed fairly easily to allow longer delays, but one stack seems sufficient for now. Im not sure what everyone wants, but currently it works like a repeater but with longer possible delays, it takes a certain amount of time to turn on, and the same amount of time to turn off
Basically generic support (I don't think it's really NEEDED, but it would be nice) and a request for a suggested crafting recipe.
I also agree with someone (too lazy to find name) that it should keep pulse length... But if it did that, repeaters would be nearly (if not completely) obsolete, so I'm not sure.
I don't see why they haven't fixed it. All they should have to do is count the ticks and run it though a case statement that reads 5 stats.
I mean sure it would be a bit more difficult than that but still.
Isn't a tick .15 seconds?
No. It's .2
Also, what was the repeater glitch mentioned a ways back?