User blog comment:Sir Lazuli/Replacing Redstone/@comment-33763020-20180128143219/@comment-33185350-20180128190234

Thank you for taking the time to read this post and providing feedback. I understand your concerns. I know the kind of advanced engineering you can do with vanilla redstone is out of place in a world like Middle-earth. However the point of this is to replace it with something that, while still allowing the engineering building style, would fit seamlessly into the world of Middle-earth. It would provide services that would fit with that time period. Mills and gatehouses, for example, could have ropes and winches and pulleys opening gates or shafts spinning millstones. Mines, especially those of the Goblins (according to the books) could make use of these types of machines. It would mostly be a way to build things that would be present in Middle-earth, and not to add technology that would be out of place.

I didn’t really take too much time defending the idea of replacing redstone in general for a few reasons. Firstly, Mevans seems to already be planning to do this in some way or another - “When I do eventually implement a redstone substitute” leaves little doubt of it, if he does have the time to get around to it. So I focused on trying to write a helpful post narrowing down what this replacement should be able to do and how it could do it. Secondly, redstone is a part of Minecraft, and a very important part. The point of this mod is not replacing Minecraft with a Lord of the Rings game, but “Bringing Middle-earth to Minecraft.” If it’s going to remove as big a piece of Minecraft as redstone, it should provide an adequate alternative that better matches the style of the mod. This will allow players who like building redstone to enjoy that same experience without breaking immersion for themselves or other players, as both the system and the things it can do will fit in Middle-earth. Done right, a redstone replacement will be just as enjoyable as building with redstone for the players who like that, but not break immersion or be an eye-sore to players who don’t.