86 replies to this topic

[Tiin57]

Nonetheless, you'll probably finish first. I have six mods, three APIs, and ten peripherals planned. CCLAN is only one of them. Of course, if you drop yours, I'll start work on mine. But barring that, my next peripheral is CCMyst.

[bbqroast]

Don't bundled cables send information using redstone pulses? Which is incredibly slow, and probably quite CPU intensive.

[ChunLing]

They can also use rednet. Which is superfast, and basically just transfers a string.


The peripheral cable mod is even better because the cable makes the computer effectively use the peripheral at the other end using pretty much the normal method.

[yaaay]

Pinkishu, on 08 October 2012 - 07:04 AM, said:

Pharap, on 12 August 2012 - 05:53 AM, said:

I'm half and half on this, mainly because I'm half and half about redpower.

I love redpower's lights, the partial blocks and the wiring. As for some of the other stuff though, like rubber trees and marble and oil, I think it gets a bit interfering at times. Not to mention their god awful computer which is way too complicated and gaudy. I like some of their pipe machines, but generally I prefer buildcraft and find it nicer to use, even if I do love seeing items in colourful boxes flying through a tube.

So ultimately, I'm half and half.

a) not sure how you manage to find BC pipes nicer to use
/> RP has oil? i'm pretty sure last time I checked that was BC
c) its not that complicated Oo

Well duh,Where is RP2 for MC1.3.2

[Luanub]

I originally saw no point in CC adding in cables since it worked very nicely with the RP2 Bundled Cables. But there was no RP2 for MC1.3.2 and now we are at 1.4.2 and still no cable options. It would be nice to get rid of the dependency on RP2 and add cables for both network and redstone functions into core CC.

[ChunLing]

I believe that it's been mentioned that something is in the works, but still apparently not ready for testing.

[matejdro]

luanub, on 28 October 2012 - 06:13 AM, said:

I originally saw no point in CC adding in cables since it worked very nicely with the RP2 Bundled Cables. But there was no RP2 for MC1.3.2 and now we are at 1.4.2 and still no cable options. It would be nice to get rid of the dependency on RP2 and add cables for both network and redstone functions into core CC.

No, main reason is that RP cables are super slow. They are fine for redstone because you essentialy have 16 true/false values. But rednet is much more demanding, making RP cables very slow option.

[Luanub]

matejdro, on 28 October 2012 - 09:39 AM, said:

luanub, on 28 October 2012 - 06:13 AM, said:

I originally saw no point in CC adding in cables since it worked very nicely with the RP2 Bundled Cables. But there was no RP2 for MC1.3.2 and now we are at 1.4.2 and still no cable options. It would be nice to get rid of the dependency on RP2 and add cables for both network and redstone functions into core CC.

No, main reason is that RP cables are super slow. They are fine for redstone because you essentialy have 16 true/false values. But rednet is much more demanding, making RP cables very slow option.

Which is one of the reasons I never saw much value in this. If all you are doing is network traffic modems work just fine, I've in my personal use never had a need of using a cable in place of a modem. But that's just me.

[ChunLing]

No, it's me too. I get the value of the peripheral cables mod, but bundled cable has never excited my interest.

[matejdro]

I see two main advantages of cables against modems:

1. Ability to easily broadcast to all needed computers without worrying about every other computer receiving message.
2. Bigger range. For example if you want to connect 2 distant computers, both near bedrock, cable is best option.

[ChunLing]

Hmmm...during a thunderstorm maybe. Yeah, I'd rather solve problems with programming than with laying cable...though I guess I could program turtles to lay cable pretty easily. Heck, the gox commands could fully automate a task that simple.

[bbqroast]

I like the idea of laying cables. Mainly because of their range. What would be really cool is if each cable could only run to two computers, but, when it's placed Computer Craft "registers" it in memory. This data is saved to the hard disk when not in use, and if the cable is modified the data is updated. But, more importantly, when data is sent the comuter just looks up the register. That way, as long as both ends of the cable are loaded the actual cable needs not to be loaded. This would be a server admin's dream. Letting us run cables over 1000s of blocks with no performance decrease.

[Pharap]

ChunLing, on 28 October 2012 - 06:56 PM, said:

Hmmm...during a thunderstorm maybe. Yeah, I'd rather solve problems with programming than with laying cable...though I guess I could program turtles to lay cable pretty easily. Heck, the gox commands could fully automate a task that simple.

You have to lay 'cable' if you want to do most redstone related things anyway, it's not exactly a new concept.

[ChunLing]

No, you can do most redstone related things with a wireless modem and computer. And that's just what some of use prefer. Now, if you're talking about things that specifically require bundled cables, then that's a different matter. Obviously those things do require cable.

[Luanub]

Yeah and thats a different type of cable. Which is actually needed and I wish would be added as part of CC core.

As far as lan cables
1) they will still have range limitations just as the bundled cables do. Modems may even have greater range depending on the alititude of the computers sending the messages. A computer positioned up high has a range of close to 300 blocks in clear weather which is > bundled cable range.

2)Is not really any more secure then using a modem. , Unless you've put steps into the code to stop this type of activity(In which case why not just use wireless?) all someone has to do is connected a computer to your wired network and start listening to the traffic.

You can put steps into your code to make a computer broadcast to only a certain list of ID, and building a repeater to carry your wireless signals further is not all that hard.

I'm like ChunLing and prefer to code my way around the limitations of the wireless. It's easier and cleaner then trying to cable everything up(plus I dont have to worry about a creeper taking out part of my cables and downing my network).

[ChunLing]

I think that cables are fun and fluffy and can be very convenient when trying to manage several devices all in close proximity. I just don't see them as essential for most things, and they do have significant downsides. I've carefully considered railcraft, buildcraft, and industrialcraft, and...they really don't offer enough to be worth the effort, particularly with the 1.4 turtle capabilities. That doesn't mean I'm not sympathetic to the need for cables in those mods, but they really aren't all that necessary for ComputerCraft. I don't have any problems with them being in core CC, though I would much rather have programmable Iron golems than lan cables, if we're picking things for the CC team to develop.

[Pharap]

luanub, on 31 October 2012 - 07:11 AM, said:

Yeah and thats a different type of cable. Which is actually needed and I wish would be added as part of CC core.

As far as lan cables
1) they will still have range limitations just as the bundled cables do. Modems may even have greater range depending on the alititude of the computers sending the messages. A computer positioned up high has a range of close to 300 blocks in clear weather which is > bundled cable range.

2)Is not really any more secure then using a modem. , Unless you've put steps into the code to stop this type of activity(In which case why not just use wireless?) all someone has to do is connected a computer to your wired network and start listening to the traffic.

You can put steps into your code to make a computer broadcast to only a certain list of ID, and building a repeater to carry your wireless signals further is not all that hard.

I'm like ChunLing and prefer to code my way around the limitations of the wireless. It's easier and cleaner then trying to cable everything up(plus I dont have to worry about a creeper taking out part of my cables and downing my network).

Bundled cable and lan cable are different things, and it's the code implementation that matters.

Sure, someone can still connect via the cable, but that's going to be a lot more difficult since they can't easily do it from 300 blocks away, they'd have to be right on top of your location.

And you do still have to worry about creepers, if they destroy your computer or modem you're finished. as for damaging the cables, that's why you would do things like bury them and run them through walls. Last time I checked, there weren't any fibre-optic cables above ground outside.

[Luanub]

Pharap, on 02 November 2012 - 03:33 PM, said:

Bundled cable and lan cable are different things, and it's the code implementation that matters.

Not really bundled cables were the orignal lan cable for CC. Prior to the modem being implented as an upgrade to the bundled cables, the only option you had to send anything over rednet was bundled cables.

[ChunLing]

The ones outside my house are above ground. Just sayin'.

[Pharap]

luanub, on 02 November 2012 - 04:07 PM, said:

Pharap, on 02 November 2012 - 03:33 PM, said:

Bundled cable and lan cable are different things, and it's the code implementation that matters.

Not really, bundled cables were the original lan cable for CC. Prior to the modem being implented as an upgrade to the bundled cables, the only option you had to send anything over rednet was bundled cables.

Lan cables would only need to know which of their sides connect to either computers or more lan wires, thus if they connect to more than one side, they count as a link in the wire chain. if there is one full chain between two computers, that's the only 'solid' data required, all the data transfer between computers can be handled behind the scenes.You could narrow that down to a single value and use the bits to indicate links in the 'chain', thus if they are all true, there is a connection and data can be sent. I'm pretty sure bundled cable is handled differently to that. Also chunk loads/unloads wouldn't matter as a lan wire would stay in the same state while a chunk was unloaded. If nobody had the chunk loaded, there would be nothing to establish it changing its state, similar to the old tree in the woods conundrum.

ChunLing, on 02 November 2012 - 04:08 PM, said:

The ones outside my house are above ground. Just sayin'.

If you feel they're safe up there, then that's your decision.