SonarSonic
commented
8 years ago Glad to hear the optimisation is working well I've spent a lot of time working on the syncing so glad to hear its all Paying off :) Really interesting points you've brought up actually. I agree fully with you on recipes, I hate them. It would be good to get feedback on the worst ones that need fixing.
Interesting about numbers too i hadn't thought about this bit I will try to make machine usage and things clearer.
I'd say most other things you've brought up are in the works!! Check out the 1.8.9 update that I've been working on. Once this is complete I will back port the changes to a 1.7.10 version.
Yeah stone buttons will go :)
Axylxys
MineWitherMC
So, i thought i'd leave some detailled feedback here in case it helps, as i'm playing with the mod right now for the first time, and found it really interesting. For the context, i'm playing on my own server with my girlfriend, we often run huge custom modpacks (240+ mods) and 10 days ago she came up with some funky Calculator mod i never heard about.
Fast forward, we started the game, closing to end game now and i really, really like this mod. And at the same time i hate it sometimes. Also please note i mostly used the github wiki info as a source, and i probably missed some things as i'm still new on the mod. :)
So, the really good points i enjoyed:
-the optimization. I'm paying close attention to Opis and server behaviour especially while using new mods, and Calculator is one of the best mods i've seen so far, if not the best. Really, you did an awesome job on this, all the blocks have really low ticktime, the mechanics are server friendly and even running a max size calculator locator yields as much tick time as two mobs. That's epic and i've never seen such an effecive power source when it comes to rf produced/server tick time ratio. Same goes for all the other blocks, fantastic job you did on the code !
-look and feel is great too, while the mod sounds a bit weird to begin with, it quickly comes into its own and the background, machines and mechanics are cool.
-overall design, it's a nice take on the usual tech stuff and has some nice originality !
As for the negative feedback... It's centered mostly on the recipes, crafting and overall tediousness. As much as the mod is good, i feel it's years behind when it comes to user friendliness. The main issues i found there are the damn buttons (buttons, buttons everywhere, i probably made more buttons in a week of Calculator than i ever crafted in years lol) and the heavy reliance on non-stackable items with their own energy on top of that.
It makes it a pure nightmare to craft large amount of recipes, especially in early-mid game when a full AE network with autocrafting isn't available. I found most of the recipes to make sense, they're quite balanced with ressource costs and time to make but... it's so annoying i found myself sometimes thinking "oh crap, i'll do that tomorrow, enough of it" and almost gave up on the mod at some point (thankfully i didn't as i enjoy it !).
The various calculators and modules (especially energy modules and scientific calculators) are needed in large amount for recipes, so crafting a few stacks often means transfering inventories full of modules, calculators and random stuff, especially when not knowing much about the mod and shortcuts available.
So my main suggestion would be to provide some solutions to this. Maybe have several recipes (a cheap one with a ton of various items, a more expensive one with less steps and easier to make), or some upgraded button instead of having to craft through thousands and thousands of stone buttons, or even an intermediate level machine that could replace some of the process. The recipes themselves are somewhat fun but managing stacks and stacks of buttons while moving around full inventories of calculators and modules is quickly quite exhausting.
I also found the machines could use some improvements with their interface, mainly:
-an upgrade interface like most other mods (ender IO/Thermal/Mekanism/etc) to apply/remove them, having to break the machine to remove them isn't really practical. I also found what seemed a bug on the Docking station: spamming the upgrades while the machine is working results in more upgrades being applied. I spammed with 4 upgrades to apply them between crafting cycles, and the machine ended up with 12 upgrades.
The void upgrade should also mention what it does exactly and what it considers as "useless" items.
-Maybe have machines push/pull by themselves, considering some of those are clearly made to work together, it would make it easier to stick them side by side rather than have to cover them with cables.
-Numbers ! The sync bug reported on the other Issue didn't help but, i find it very hard to know what the machines or blocks actually do when it comes to numbers. That goes for everything, from the scarecrow to the Calculator Locator. Things like rf/t needed, rf/t produced (maybe with a per plug stat for the Locator, or per Lightning strike for the Conductor Mast), operation time, etc... As my first time through the mod, i couldn't find anywhere what's the rf generation of a max size Locator (or any other size to begin with), what machines need, etc...
It makes it somewhat confusing and hard to optimize or get motivated for going up the tiers, as we don't know what we'll get.
As for the modules themselves, they're a neat idea ! Though there again they could use some minor interface adjustement. I found the flawless calculator to be quite annoying: it doesn't show what mode is the current one, so everytime i use it after a while, i need to go through everything to make sure i won't teleport or throw a grenade when i just want to craft. Simply showing the current mode when switching to it in the toolbar would be great !
Maybe even make it more customizable, like for exemple the Blood Magic Sigils: make a "global module" where you could select which submodule to bring with you. I'd happily replace the Ender pearl and Grenade in my Flawless calculator with the Nutrition module and another one, for exemple, instead of having to cycle through them all the time.
The modules could also get some developpement into various useful stuff, a real teleport (the ender pearl one feels a bit cheap, especially with the Home teleport), maybe some buffs, a shield using energy... Or allow them to be slotted on the tools for a special effect with a special machine. It would also help making the tool more "special" rather than just being overboosted vanilla tools (though they're good at that, for sure).
Oh well, that's about all i can think about for now. It's already a long wall of text so, thanks for reading, hopefully it will be helpful. I really like the mod and i hope it will be updated with more stuff added ! It looks really promising, especially regarding the optimization, this is such a rare thing to have something running smooth and fine like that, so i thought i'd take the time to write that.
Keep up the good work !
And no more stone buttons please :D