Modded Minecraft Tricks

Using LaserIO as a logistics system

It’s possible to use LaserIO as an early-game logistics system (especially in modpacks where Applied Energistics 2 and/or Refined Storage are gated more than LaserIO). Channels, when combined with filters, are incredibly powerful. Features like automatic buffering become more natural than in vanilla AE2 or RS. Item and fluid filters are powerful enough that you only need two or three channels in a network of many dozens of nodes. However, redstone channels are very limiting on this scale, since there is no equivalent for filters.

Main part of a LaserIO system in ATM7 To The Sky. While AE2 is present, as a personal challenge it’s only used for manual crafting. (I had also turned off AE2 channels.)
Resource and power generation in ATM7.
More resource storage and generation. (I never got around to putting up a roof.)

Unfiltered Insertion Channel (0)

The main purpose of this channel is to send items (or fluids) into storage. It can also be used to immediately process items that should not be stored (e.g., raw ore from a mining laser or sifting setup).

If using a drawer mod, have an unfiltered item card inserting into the drawer controller. This is for convenience. The drawer controller automatically filters based on the drawers it’s connected to and—if not using void upgrades—automatically limits based on the size of the drawers.

You can also use stocking cards on this channel, though I mainly use them for stocking a chest attached to a Tinker’s Construct crafting table for manual crafting before AE2 or RS are available. I have also used stocking cards for water if the sink from Cooking for Blockheads is available—you can use an unbounded number of stocking cards with a single sink.

You can also send RF on this channel for convenience. Flux Networks is better if a block needs or generates a lot of RF.

Extractor Channel (1)

The main purpose of this channel is to extract from storage for other purposes (e.g. autocrafting). Having another channel is used to prevent loops with inserters in channel 0. I recommend using counting filters for the extractors to allow you to create a buffer of items for manual usage.

For a drawer system you can put extractors either on the drawer controller or on individual drawers (or a combination, whatever is convenient).

Filtered Insertion Channel (2)

Not needed if you don’t have an unfiltered inserter in channel 0. This is to allow additional inserters (with counting filters) to limit inserts into the same drawer system attached to channel 0. I have yet to use this in practice.

Limitations

For a network of this size, 16 redstone channels are very limiting. If you want to share a high-tier furnace among many recipes and prevent inputs depending on the level(s) of the output(s), you are limited to 16 items total for all such crafting processes. While there are ways around this, they end up taking a lot more space than just using a bunch of low-tier furnaces and having them backstuff internally. This could be solved by allowing many more (ideally named) channels or having a “very advanced filter” that can turn on and off rows of items based upon the number of items accessible to the network.

RFTools crafters only have 4 output slots, so they can only backstuff on 4 recipes even though they can do more than 4 recipes internally. They require a lot of material to backstuff—generally full stacks. The shared inventory can make it difficult to add recipes while connected to the network. An automatic crafter that did not have a shared inventory, had multiple crafting recipes, and limited itself to one of each input and a single (or configurable) output craft would be more useful in this setup.

The LaserIO particles can cause a performance hit on less performant systems (as I found out putting 9 fully overclocked stocking cards on an AE2 ME Condenser pulling water out of a Cooking for Blockheads sink on a Ryzen 5300U APU system I was using temporarily). Otherwise I have a feeling the LaserIO part of the system will not be the part of the system to lag first.

While LaserIO is powerful, it’s difficult to get an overview of how a system is setup just by looking at the nodes, since nearly all settings are not visible in-world and can’t be seen on a single screen. It requires documentation, discipline, and design to create and expand large systems like this one.