Water power generator

[Taiine]

So we have means to gain power from lava, steam, air, solar, but we lack one for water.

I would LOVE to make a small dam of sorts and with in use flowing or still water to generate power.

I would adore a water wheel, where you have running water pour onto one end and it turns making power, or just turns if one ends stuck in water. There are many versions of such wheels even modern versions, they are all still used today.

Or something that can be placed in water that will turn blades as long as one water saurce blocks in front of it that will generate power.

Water would be a nice alt for a first/low tire power source, the lava ones a nice one as well but not everyone will have a lava lake with in easy reach.

[rikai]

I could see this being another multi-tier power system alternative to solar or hydrogen.

If we focus on 'modern' hydroelectric power, rather than the older waterwheel type stuff

T1 could be Run-of-the-river, T2 could be conventional dams and T3 could be Pumped-Storage, though T3 would likely have to involve just a bit of suspension of disbelief due to the lack of finite water in minecraft, unless aidan or someone else could come up with some sort of genius idea.

Other currently viable methods of hydro power are tidal, which is a bit hard without implementing some kind of tide system in minecraft and underground which is most commonly used in combination with Pumped-storage. Perhaps Pumped-Storage+Underground could be T3.5 or T4? :)

Adding water power could potentially be a precursor to a more complex power system that ties many of the seperate paths together. Hydroelectric power could be used to provide the energy to maintain the power the cycle of the hydrogen generator during the night, while the PV solar cells handle that load during the day, rather than the hydrogen generator being totally self-sufficent after the initial kickstart like it is currently.

Water power could also be a route for mekanism to get into the farming aspect of minecraft, as it could be used for some interesting irrigation mechanics. Perhaps farms set up in a special way end up using some sort of special 'mekanism water'(most creative name ever), which is essentially the same as normal water, but crops hydrated by it grow faster because you've used the better irrigation methods afforded to you by using hydro power?

Anyway, feel free to ignore all of this, i'm just kicking around ideas that might be neat. :P

[Taiine]

I think when it comes down to it I miss 'better then wolves', mod and all it's cool looking contraptions. It has some high end style stuff, but also some old style starter stuff.. 'wood age' 'stone age' 'metal age' etc.

Pretty much, I wish we had stuff like this http://i883.photobucket.com/albums/ac34/Gainspipr/2012-09-03_222159.png and this http://i1.ytimg.com/vi/tMgcTerrCI0/0.jpg Right now, we just seem to go into the 'end stuff' wind terbines and such are fun and all.. but having lower power alts that are say, easier to make that help get you going.

Really right now the only 'easy' to make power needs lava to generate heat. I was lucky I had an exposed lava pool near my base. From just one of those I made my way up to wind terbines and sense I'm built into a hill, a few of those are giving me all the power I need for my whole base.

Be nice if something like that was a bit harder to make, like needing to make the fan blades, the base, the body, and put it all together. But in the mean time having these easier to make, lower power means to generate energy would be a nice touch.

Kinda like how in IC2 you start with a basic coal generator, that then builds up to either wind or water mills, that can then be upgraded for more enbergy, that can then go solar and then advanced solar, and ultra solar and so on and so forth.

But also not just for the power, but for the looks as well. I often made these things in BTW because they looked cool.

[rikai]

I agree, it'd be nice to have neat looking things like that.

The reason i made my proposal the way i did is partly to address easy, early power generation from water (Run-of-the-river), which is what you requested initially while still fitting in with the tech-feel of mek.

Waterwheels feel a bit too 'old-school tech' for mek, to me, but things like multiblock dams that increase power output as you tech up through the tiers and seemed like they'd work well, and could look really awesome if done right. A cheaply made 'modern' dam with low to moderate power output and some neat models/animations seems like it could satisfy both sides of the coin, no?

That said, mek is aidan's project and the design goals are for him to decide, so if he doesn't mind adding in older-style tech, i'm all for it too! (I think a lot of the models from things like BTW and RI look freakin' awesome and make the world feel more alive and animated).

[aidancbrady]

I don't see this happening in the near future - I'm currently trying to finish off the fusion reactors and still have yet to start on the other multiblock things. Maybe I'll consider it later on!