Suggestion: Item Sorting System
LazerusKI opened this issue ยท 1 comments
One of the Mainproblems of Assembly Line is...why should i use it?
For Transport i can use Buildcraft, Redpower or Applied Energistics
Crafting can be solved by Buildcraft, Xycraft, Applied Energistics...the list is long her
Storage is mainly solved by Factorisation-Barrels (but i like the Crates more, even if they are not that big)
Conveyor Belts look cool, but all the other things are more easy to use, cheaper or faster.
So...there ist not a real use for AL besides them...but what could be done?
Improved transport system. Conveyor belts are cool, but they are slow, expensive and they need energy. Its a nice feature for a factory, but not for a warehouse.
Part 1
Storage Idea:
Interdimensional Crate (just a crate with a huuuuuuge inventory)
Item Transport:
To get more use in this, you could add your own pipelike system.
how could it look like so that it wont be a copycat of another mod, but still fits in the AL theme?
a Micro-Crane network. You build Rails (one block that looks like two parallel rails, one for each direction, maybe with a Microblock-cover support).
On these rails there is a Claw that holds the Items. The claws will move around the Rails like items can move in Pipes.
No extra-energy needed.
How do you get items inside the system?
You will have a new Block (Micro Crane Controller, short MCC) that connects to the inventory and the rail, it has an Output and an Input side.
Rightclick will open a small inventory where you can set specific Items and amounts and (here comes the special feature) the Tick-Time.
If you power it with redstone (constant source) it will use the integrated pulse to send down items from an inventory at the Input to the rails at the output..
Currently i dont know any mod that has this feature of an integrated pulse.
What about sorting?
You will have a Micro Crane Filter
If you set the MCF next to a chest or between rails, it will act like a filter that lets through only the items you have defined.
If it would work as intelligent as Redpower it would be realy nice. Buildcraft needs a lot of diamond and iron pipes to define a specific location, redpower needs only a filter in the pipes and the network will pick the destination on its own.
Different Rails?
Normal Rails: cheap standard rail
Speed-Rails: fast but expensive
Slowing-Rails: the last chance where an item could go, if there is no defined destination for it, like a restriction pipe
Dropdown-Rails: could be used in an Conveyor-Belt system, the micro-crane will drop the item it holds on top of it.
This rail counts as an end- inventory, you can not use it between two Normal Rails.
Teleporting-Rail: This rail can connect to other rails with the same frequency without a connection in real-space. It will connect two split railsystems into one. This one will work interdimensional.
End of Part 1
Part 2
Ok, sounds cool, but here is another one:
For the beginning you could only implement the LIST function, the rest could be ideas for later versions.
a Maincomputer. This thing can be added to the Rails to get direct access to them. Similar to Applied Energistics, but not even close to how it works.
The Maincomputer has four buttons:
List, Inventory, Get and Send
List will show you all the Items in inventorys that are conencted to your rails. (Computercraft Monitor support maybe?)
Inventory will open it with a Chest-Inventory, it comes with a doublechest like inventory that maybe can be upgraded with something.
Get will show you all the Items in the network, but thats not all:
Next to the item name there is a row where you can ente a number. next to this field there is a switch that you can set between STACKS or SINGLE. Stacks will define how many stacks you want, while SINGLE will define the exact amount. next to this there is a GET button.
it looks like this: 1024 Cobblestones [AMOUNT] [STACK/SINGLE] [GET]
if you press it, the Cranes will gather these items and bring them to the maincomputer, where you can get them.
you can also add multiple items to the list and press a GET ALL button at the end of the list.
Send will be the oposite, with that you will have the option to send items from your Maincomputer Inventory to the network, or from your Network to another Maincomputer in the same network.
another option could be a "get/send on redstone" option, where the Computer will send a predefined list everytime he receives a redstone pulse.
