[MOD] (Alpha 8) A2B: conveyor belts & co. [v0.8.0]

[noone]

We at A2B are happy to announce the release of the v0.6.4 of our conveyor belt systems. This minor update makes chunks haulable by defaults when they come out of Unloaders. XML properties of the different belt elements have been balanced a bit further, and textures have been made more uniform.

This minor release also marks the start of the maintenance phase for the A2B mod. We at A2B do not foresee any major update to the mod in the near future, as we believe it now contains all the basic pieces required to assemble complex belt puzzles and sorting logic. Specifically, from now on we will:
1) maintain the mod through the different RW alpha's, beta's, ... & omega's versions  ,
2) look for possible partnerships with other stand-alone mods that could benefit both mods (stay-tuned for some news on that front in the very near future), and
3) fine-tune the belt properties based on users feedback.

Of course, we might consider adding special pieces of equipment based on specific user requests, and these will be examined on a case-by-case basis. As usual, feel free to share any bugs or issues you encounter, and our engineers will do their best to correct them. Do not hesitate to share your best belt designs to inspire others !

[Iwillbenicetou]

Is there any chance of adding a "arm" that makes farming easier as the colonists usually never haul the food when they're done harvesting.

[noone]

Is there any chance of adding a "arm" that makes farming easier

Well, I thought about that, and also other 'machines' that could come in handy (e.g. a stockpile constructor - some sort of a crane on wheels that builds a 5x10 stockpile - sort of like these huge container cranes in industrial harbors ...).

But then I realized that these are all outside of the A2B mode scope per say (not far off for sure, but still). I like small mods - I'd rather use 15 small mods individually to load what I like, rather than 1 big mod that gives lots of 'unwanted' features as well.

I like the crane idea a lot - and I think it would make an awesome standalone mod, compatible with the A2B system and more. But as a stand-alone system, it'd be easier to maintain. The crane could have an arm rotating and picking up any item within the arm's radius, and then drop it onto a belt loader or designated area. If you (or anyone) feels like going ahead and modding this, you have my 'go-ahead' ...

[Rikiki]

Mining & Co. is pleased to annouce that its famous Deepdriller Mark I has been upgraded to Deepdriller Mark II and now supports a connection with the A2B conveyor belts.
Go there for more details: http://ludeon.com/forums/index.php?topic=5930.0.

Cheers noone!

[noone]

Mining & Co. is pleased to annouce that it famous Deepdriller Mark I has been upgraded to Deepdriller Mark II and now support a connection with the A2B conveyor belts.

Great job ! Our partnership is now highlighted in the main post. I have no doubt that this will be the start of a long and fruitful collaboration, as these mods are working great together !

A note to everyone out there - let me know if you'd like to connect your machine to the A2B conveyor belts, as we're always looking for more partners. As the saying goes, "The greatest fun comes from the smallest mod", and I'd love to see many small, stand-alone mods designed to work together, rather than forcing people to install big packs with (often many) unwanted features.

Not that there's anything wrong with big mod packs, but I usually just like one specific aspect of them ...

[RemingtonRyder]

Finally got around to using the new version and well, I love the changes.  Big thumbs up from me.

[noone]

Mod has been updated to work with Alpha 7. Enjoy !

[Iwillbenicetou]

Yay!

EDIT: maybe have a thing where if colonists man the teleporters, it goes faster? Would be cool to see

[noone]

maybe have a thing where if colonists man the teleporters, it goes faster? Would be cool to see

Hum ... interesting idea. I need to see how easily feasible that would be. The idea that it may be a temporary boost is appealing, although I don't think anyone would be keen to commit colonists to this task with a high priority. Perhaps (given how advanced our teleporters are) this could go under research rather than crafting. And if it does so, perhaps the speed improvement could be permanent, but really (*really*) slow ... that is, your colonists can fine tune the teleporter to reach higher speeds, but experimenting will take time (say maybe 300 research points for 5-10% speed boost ? Or perhaps a simple temporary boost when the colonist man the machine is better, as a task for your scientists to get busy once they "researched it all" ...

[Iwillbenicetou]

maybe have a thing where if colonists man the teleporters, it goes faster? Would be cool to see

Hum ... interesting idea. I need to see how easily feasible that would be. The idea that it may be a temporary boost is appealing, although I don't think anyone would be keen to commit colonists to this task with a high priority. Perhaps (given how advanced our teleporters are) this could go under research rather than crafting. And if it does so, perhaps the speed improvement could be permanent, but really (*really*) slow ... that is, your colonists can fine tune the teleporter to reach higher speeds, but experimenting will take time (say maybe 300 research points for 5-10% speed boost ? Or perhaps a simple temporary boost when the colonist man the machine is better, as a task for your scientists to get busy once they "researched it all" ...

I came up with the idea of because on the teleporter, it looked like a console, so maybe someone does the research there because it makes the most sense.

[JuliaEllie]

Hello my name is JuliaEllie and I recommend this mod! I love it

[noone]

I came up with the idea of because on the teleporter, it looked like a console

It's indeed intended to look like a console - glad to see my design is coming through ...

Hello my name is JuliaEllie and I recommend this mod! I love it

Well, thank you !

And on the partnership front, we at A2B are happy to announce that the A2B belt system is readily compatible with the Electric Generator system by bolti1703 (http://ludeon.com/forums/index.php?topic=5709.0). Connect the A2B unloaders the generator fuel tanks, and spare your colonists the trip from the distillery ! No A2B update necessary, the functionality is already present in v0.7.0.

[harpo99999]

I am having an isue where after powering the belts, the game slows down tremendously, and there seems to be a large number of errors involving sandstone chunks (btw using most mods that are for a7)(the sandstone chunks are from ichyflea's stone crafting), and the slowdown only happens after powering the belts w second research done.

[noone]

Hum, I will have to look into that. I haven't yet tested the A2B system with sandstone chunks. I'll give it a go and see if I can reproduce the errors.

Regarding the speed, it is the first time this issue is being raised. It may be some issue with another mod installed, and I think it will be hard to tell for sure. How big is your belt system ?

[nerevar]

I get a bit of a slowdown when zoomed out while moving lots of items, we're talking 70+ hunks of metal and cloth.  It's not too noticeable to me, but I'm running a pretty well-powered PC; I could see it being a problem on a computer with less power.

Wasn't putting chunks of any kind on the belt(s) if that helps any.