Merging Wires

[calclavia]

After some thought, here's my suggestion on how we should merge the RI and Uni-cables.

RI's wires are a lot more dynamic, but as you said, the aesthetics of the wire doesn't fit the look/theme of Mekanism. I suggest we change the look of RI wires and merge the features of it with the Universal Cable.

Main features that needs to be migrated:

• Different materials
• Different colors
• Insulation
• Redstone logic-gate control
• Using multipart or wrenching to block connections on specific sides

For the aesthetics, I think the "core" of the wire should look like an actual metal material. @unpairedbracket worked on the render of it and optimized it a lot with ChickenLoader. He also made it reflective to light.

The insulation layer (a shell outside the wire) will look like the Universal Cable's exterior. That will make the wire look a lot cooler imo. We can then have the shell to have different colors based on what insulation is placed on.

[Vexatos]

They could just be cheaper alternatives to the really, really powerful Uni cable, whichs recipe can then be changed to Obsidian ingots instead of steel, so there is the "basic" kind of wires, and the mid-to-later-game uni cable, which is not possible to easily mass produce. Maybe the Cable's recipe could be changed to require 2 obsi ingots and 2 glowstone ingots around a piece (or block) of redstone. Since you do not want it to be removed (which I understand), it should be made a lot more difficult to get.

[aidancbrady]

Gone over this, they will be implemented once aesthetics are done.

[calclavia]

Reopening this to remind us that we need to add aesthetics. Close this issue when the feature is added.

[samanmc]

Could you implement ForgeMultipart support for the universal cables please? RI had it for the wires, and it was very handy for covering up wiring in buildings.

[calclavia]

That's what is being worked on, integrating RI wires into Mekanism but keeping with the Mekanism aesthetics.

[evangds]

Will redstone switchabilitybe readdded as well? I'm currently using energy cubes plus a wrench as a switch.

If there is already an existing method then please let me know

[Serpardum]

I'd just like to state that some of us can't use RI wires because of licensing issues (public mod pack) and so not being able to use universal cables early game will be a real hinderance.

[Vexatos]

@Serpardum If RI wires will be integrated to Mekanism, they will most likely adapt to the Mekanism license, so making Universal Cables more expensive would not be a problem anymore. I would still like them to be crafted with Obsidian Ingots.

[Vaygrim]

I think the recipe for Universal Cables are fine exactly where they are. If others want more expensive recipes then how about we just have a "Hard Recipes" config option added instead?

[Vexatos]

That would work as well, but the Uni cables requiring Steel would make higher-tier RI cables useless, since stell can be aquired pretty early in-game

[Vaygrim]

If there is going to be 'cheaper cabling' from RI pulled into Mekanism (which I don't think makes any sense but whatever), then it should be cabling that ONLY conducts Joules for Universal Electricity machines. This would mean that you'd have to upgrade to Universal Cables later for the 'easy power conversion feature' that they provide, allowing you to plug them into IC2 / BuildCraft / ThermEx machines. Making the cheaper cables only work on Joules means that you still gain access to powering Mekanism machines earlier in game, and you are still encouraged later on to upgrade your entire power grid to Universal Cabling.

Also personally I think that requiring Universal Cables to be made with Obsidian Ingots instead of Steel makes little to no sense as obsidian is supposed to be a 'hardening ingredient'. In my head it seems like that process would inherently reduce the conductive capability (much less flexibility to run as a cable needs to be) of the medium. But.. again that's just me.

[Vexatos]

UE joule conducting cables would still work with BC/IC2 and so on, because, well, it is UE (Universal Electricity).

[aidancbrady]

Vaygrim, you're a genius. Vexatos, that is not really true, Mekanism treats UE as any other power network, like BC or IC2. I think I'll do this.

[Vaygrim]

Well I'm mostly just trying to make sure that Mekanism stays interesting and still accessible to those not wanting a mod locked in "Super Hard Mode". I see the value of other players wanting a challenge.. I'm just not a fan of things being ratcheted up too far myself.

Aidan I'm glad you like the idea about the wires. If I could just use say .. three tin ingots to make some cheap wire that ONLY conducted UE power.. it really would be a great 'early game' addition.

[Vaygrim]

Actually.. maybe three tin ingots is TOO cheap. Perhaps three iron? Iron does get used in the real world as an ingredient for high-tension power cables. (shrug)

[Vexatos]

Well, it is Aidan's mod either way, so, do what you want. I still think the Uni cable is too cheap for its capabilities. @aidancbrady Might you add a config option to make it require Obsidian Ingots instead of Steel?

[Vaygrim]

What if there was a 'more expensive' config option for Universal Cables that required 1 diamond instead of 1 redstone in the recipe and you got 8 cables in exchange?

[calclavia]

I personally think the universalness of a wire should be always there. It allows more cohesive experience in play without the player needing to think about different systems. In UE, by default the network will be universal so it'll take work to actually make it exclusively UE.

[Vaygrim]

The base Universal Cable is awesome. Unfortunately it also requires redstone to be found and steel to be made. Yes this isn't a 'monumental feat' by any stretch but other mods do actually have lower tiers of wires more accessible to 'early game'. Currently you have to make a lower level power source (probably a heat generator) then basically place it right adjacent to a machine you want to run. Yes this is totally possible to get things kick-started... but I have to admit that I really miss my early game Resonant Induction start.

But.. if it doesn't fit in the structure of the thing, then it doesn't fit. I'll adapt, I'll make do.. but I'll keep using Resonant Induction instead of Mekanism Induction as long as I feasibly can.

[calclavia]

The reason why I integrated RI into MK is because I have no time to continue the development of RI by myself, so having it in Mekanism (me still being a side-dev) helps prevents bugs a lot more.

I personally believe there should be just one type of wire, universal cable, but merged with all the features the RI cable had and very extensible. The MK cables lack in complexity and flexibility. If Aidan agrees with this I could help him change the Mek cable to it's more of a fusion of RI and Mek cable since both has its merits.

[Vaygrim]

I am actually NOT wanting to see a total overhaul in Mekanism just to bring it inline with certain concepts of Resonant Induction, and likewise I think Resonant Induction is being 'lost in translation' while being merged into Mekanism. These are two fairly different mods with fairly different goals and styles of achieving them. Mekanism is all about industrialization and efficiency; everything has a purpose, some things have multiple purposes. Resonant Induction on the other hand is just as much about flash and style as it is about functionality, with the best examples of this being the Magnetic Constrictor and the Tesla Coil. Both of these devices are far less practical than other solutions from other mods, but the way they achieve what they are designed for is much more about style than operating method.

Resonant Induction got merged into Mekanism, then several things that really helped define Resonant Induction were just... removed. I completely understand the case of @calclavia not having the time to develop RI on his own anymore. I do think however that it would have served both mods BETTER to leave them separate, and just 'give the development keys' to @aidancbrady so it could be updated.

I don't want to see Mekanism's Universal Cable get overhauled and changed into something else that is away from Aidan's vision for Mekanism. That being said however, one of the best things people liked about Resonant Induction was the lower tier power cables that could be made from copper or tin and those just got... erased. I also liked using furnaces as an early early game power source, as did others apparently, and am sad to see this go.

Again.. I think you are trying too hard to merge two mods that are far too dissimilar. I really hope both mods do not suffer as a result as I really love the separate and divergent design ideas that were originally behind each one.

[calclavia]

I did gave the keys to @aidancbrady but he had no time to develop two mods. No one wanted to work on it. Merging was the only was he would work on it so I didn't have much a choice. It was either leave the mod to die or merge it into another mod.

Therefore, I think we should work from there for a better solution, something is going to be lost and there's nothing much I can do about it. We should think of a way to minimize the lost.