I'm seeing a huge future for 3d printed objects...

[eslachance 1]

So, after watching the 3D Printer video on YouTube, I had a flash and I was wondering if all this is planned in some way, or if it's just so out of this world, it's never going to happen.

 

Essentially, the thing that just hit me like a ton of bricks when I saw the 3D printing files is: with some work, you could actually create mod blocks with this. What I mean by this is, if you had the ability, in 3dm files, to add or use programs, you could literally make your own blocks that do things. 

 

Simple example: the factorization Packager. All it does is take 4 or 9 blocks and craft them into whatever block that crafting produces - such as compressed cobble for instance. Well, what if I could 3D-print a block that includes a lua program that accepts items from the top and spits out the crafted item at the bottom, print it and use it.

 

Now nothing is that simple. This idea assumes a whole lotta features that probably aren't available:

• 3D printed blocks need to accept programs
• programs must include event triggering ("receive item", for example)
• inventory slots would need to be supported (as a buffer, e.g. in my example need to hold up to 9 of one type of item)
• configurable sides have to be a thing
• Most likely, the 3D printer would need to have slots for special upgrades like the above: inventory, configurable sides, CPU and GPU and RAM depending on the requirements of the block...

Ultimately, the "utopian" idea is that most mods could be reproduced from within OC itself. Or at the very least, some of the most simple and useful blocks from different mods. I'm not expecting OC, Thaumcraft or AE to be doable with only Lua and a 3D printer. But still, this could be super useful for people like me that can't do Java for crap but might be able to learn enough Lua to make super cool useful blocks through OC.

 

Yes. I'm crazy and I know it.

[Sangar 92]

The main issue I'd see with this is keeping it balanced, both from a gameplay as well from a sandbox perspective.

 

A slightly different approach (that has in some form been proposed by someone before, can't remember by whom) is to allow "reskinning" the Microcontrollers using prints. If - big if! - that would ever make it in, they'd have to lose they "mutlipartness" though, because otherwise stuff gets way too complicated way too fast. So, assuming that'd be implemented, that'd cover the visual aspect.

As for functionality, that'd have to be covered via individual upgrades, I'd say. For example, a consideration could be to allow inventory upgrades in MCUs so they can act as "chests" but potentially with some push and pull capabilities. The T2 MCU might need a second upgrade slot to make this really feasible, though (e.g. for an inventory controller, to allow making a sorting machine), and I'm not sure I like that, yet. We'll see. Either way, this way interfacing with the world could then be entirely solved via upgrades, which is consistent with how things work already. Thoughts?

[Krutoy242 26]

Great idea. Already dreaming about programmable prints.

For example MC 1.8 didnt have Industrial Craft, so, i want to make it by myself! Now i only see it with debug card and commands. But if sangar will make prints with inventory capabilityes, this would be awesome.

[eslachance 1]

Hmm, a little more on this, perhaps to go more towards what I was thinking (but, again, this is just a utopian idea).

 

How about some sort of mod integration using APIs (from one side or the other) that can give Computers and/or Microcontrollers abilities from other mods? I think perhaps this is a little more realistic than wishing we could do smelting and ore doubling inside a computer:

 - Pulverizing upgrade from, say, TE, with a % chance of secondary output, requiring a "Pulverizer Upgrade"

 - Alloy making from EnderIO/TiC/Forestry requiring an "Alloy Creation Upgrade"

 - Special smelting from EnderIO (like Quartz Glass, replaces reinforced glass in some cases) requiring a "Smelting Upgrade"

 - Liquid crafting (think magma crucible+fluid transposer, or cyclic assemblers) requiring a tank and some sort of upgrade

 - Upgrades for speed, capacity, etc, requiring more slots, higher tiers, moar powah!

 

Of course power requirements would be just as high (higher for the computer's processing power overhead) as any of these actions separately. But, since we're talking about computers here, they could be rack-mounted so, hopefully, you could have a single Rack Mount that does all your special processing for you. Pipe ore at the top, grab ingots and the bottom. Give it a nice 3D printed case, and you've got yourself a custom, awesome-looking, processing block.

 

There are other mods that try to help with space management in this way, I remember something in the ME^4 modpack about minitaturization, I believe, so there's definitely a space for this. It would also be more fun (for some people) to manage conditional outputs using LUA scripts rather than changing the color on the side of a block with a wrench...

 

I know I know, I'm going too far. This is, after all, a Computer mod. Sorry, I get excited

[Sangar 92]

Heh, utopian. Technically speaking it's not that unrealistic, really, but it does indeed not quite fit the "core" of the mod, I think. There's already a ton of integration, of course (30+ mods, and that's just in OC itself), but that's generally "the other way around", i.e. just "accessing" functionality of those mods, not adding that functionality to OC blocks. So what I'm saying is basically: it's quite doable, but I think it'd be much better to handle this in an addon mod specifically tailored towards that type of integration, adding a bunch of upgrades with these individual functionalities.