| | |
| | | Minetest technic modpack user manual |
| | | ==================================== |
| | | # Technic User Manual |
| | | |
| | | The technic modpack extends the Minetest game with many new elements, |
| | | mainly constructable machines and tools. It is a large modpack, and |
| | | tends to dominate gameplay when it is used. This manual describes how |
| | | to use the technic modpack, mainly from a player's perspective. |
| | | The technic modpack extends Minetest Game (shipped with Minetest by default) |
| | | with many new elements, mainly constructable machines and tools. This manual |
| | | describes how to use the modpack, mainly from a player's perspective. |
| | | |
| | | The technic modpack depends on some other modpacks: |
| | | Documentation of the mod dependencies can be found here: |
| | | |
| | | * the basic Minetest game |
| | | * mesecons, which supports the construction of logic systems based on |
| | | signalling elements |
| | | * pipeworks, which supports the automation of item transport |
| | | * moreores, which provides some additional ore types |
| | | * [Minetest Game Documentation](https://wiki.minetest.net/Main_Page) |
| | | * [Mesecons Documentation](http://mesecons.net/items.html) |
| | | * [Pipeworks Documentation](https://github.com/mt-mods/pipeworks/wiki/) |
| | | * [Moreores Forum Post](https://forum.minetest.net/viewtopic.php?t=549) |
| | | * [Basic materials Repository](https://gitlab.com/VanessaE/basic_materials) |
| | | |
| | | This manual doesn't explain how to use these other modpacks, which ought |
| | | to (but actually don't) have their own manuals. |
| | | ## 1.0 Recipes |
| | | |
| | | Recipes for constructable items in technic are generally not guessable, |
| | | and are also not specifically documented here. You should use a |
| | | craft guide mod to look up the recipes in-game. For the best possible |
| | | guidance, use the unified\_inventory mod, with which technic registers |
| | | its specialised recipe types. |
| | | Recipes for items registered by technic are not specifically documented here. |
| | | Please consult a craft guide mod to look up the recipes in-game. |
| | | |
| | | substances |
| | | ---------- |
| | | **Recommended mod:** [Unified Inventory](https://github.com/minetest-mods/unified_inventory) |
| | | |
| | | ### ore ### |
| | | ## 2.0 Substances |
| | | |
| | | The technic mod makes extensive use of not just the default ores but also |
| | | some that are added by mods. You will need to mine for all the ore types |
| | | in the course of the game. Each ore type is found at a specific range of |
| | | elevations, and while the ranges mostly overlap, some have non-overlapping |
| | | ranges, so you will ultimately need to mine at more than one elevation |
| | | to find all the ores. Also, because one of the best elevations to mine |
| | | at is very deep, you will be unable to mine there early in the game. |
| | | ### 2.1 Ores |
| | | |
| | | Elevation is measured in meters, relative to a reference plane that |
| | | is not quite sea level. (The standard sea level is at an elevation |
| | | of about +1.4.) Positive elevations are above the reference plane and |
| | | negative elevations below. Because elevations are always described this |
| | | way round, greater numbers when higher, we avoid the word "depth". |
| | | Technic registers a few ores which are needed to craft machines or items. |
| | | Each ore type is found at a specific range of elevations so you will |
| | | ultimately need to mine at more than one elevation to find all the ores. |
| | | |
| | | The ores that matter in technic are coal, iron, copper, tin, zinc, |
| | | chromium, uranium, silver, gold, mithril, mese, and diamond. |
| | | Elevation (Y axis) is measured in meters. The reference is usually at sea |
| | | level. Ores can generally be found more commonly by going downwards to -1000m. |
| | | |
| | | Coal is part of the basic Minetest game. It is found from elevation |
| | | +64 downwards, so is available right on the surface at the start of |
| | | the game, but it is far less abundant above elevation 0 than below. |
| | | It is initially used as a fuel, driving important machines in the early |
| | | part of the game. It becomes less important as a fuel once most of your |
| | | machines are electrically powered, but burning fuel remains a way to |
| | | generate electrical power. Coal is also used, usually in dust form, as |
| | | an ingredient in alloying recipes, wherever elemental carbon is required. |
| | | Note ¹: *These ores are provided by Minetest Game. See [Ores](https://wiki.minetest.net/Ores#Ores_overview) for a rough overview* |
| | | |
| | | Iron is part of the basic Minetest game. It is found from elevation |
| | | +2 downwards, and its abundance increases in stages as one descends, |
| | | reaching its maximum from elevation -64 downwards. It is a common metal, |
| | | used frequently as a structural component. In technic, unlike the basic |
| | | game, iron is used in multiple forms, mainly alloys based on iron and |
| | | including carbon (coal). |
| | | Note ²: *These ores are provided by moreores. TODO: Add reference link* |
| | | |
| | | Copper is part of the basic Minetest game (having migrated there from |
| | | moreores). It is found from elevation -16 downwards, but is more abundant |
| | | from elevation -64 downwards. It is a common metal, used either on its |
| | | own for its electrical conductivity, or as the base component of alloys. |
| | | #### Chromium |
| | | Use: stainless steel |
| | | |
| | | Generated below: -100m, more commonly below -200m |
| | | |
| | | #### Coal ¹ |
| | | Use: Fuel, alloy as carbon |
| | | |
| | | Burning coal is a way to generate electrical power. Coal is also used, |
| | | usually in dust form, as an ingredient in alloying recipes, wherever |
| | | elemental carbon is required. |
| | | |
| | | #### Copper ¹ |
| | | Copper is a common metal, used either on its own for its electrical |
| | | conductivity, or as the base component of alloys. |
| | | Although common, it is very heavily used, and most of the time it will |
| | | be the material that most limits your activity. |
| | | |
| | | Tin is supplied by the moreores mod. It is found from elevation +8 |
| | | downwards, with no elevation-dependent variations in abundance beyond |
| | | that point. It is a common metal. Its main use in pure form is as a |
| | | component of electrical batteries. Apart from that its main purpose is |
| | | as the secondary ingredient in bronze (the base being copper), but bronze |
| | | is itself little used. Its abundance is well in excess of its usage, |
| | | so you will usually have a surplus of it. |
| | | #### Diamond ¹ |
| | | Use: mainly for cutting machines |
| | | |
| | | Zinc is supplied by technic. It is found from elevation +2 downwards, |
| | | with no elevation-dependent variations in abundance beyond that point. |
| | | It is a common metal. Its main use is as the secondary ingredient |
| | | in brass (the base being copper), but brass is itself little used. |
| | | Its abundance is well in excess of its usage, so you will usually have |
| | | a surplus of it. |
| | | Diamond is a precious gemstone. It is used moderately, mainly for reasons |
| | | connected to its extreme hardness. |
| | | |
| | | Chromium is supplied by technic. It is found from elevation -100 |
| | | downwards, with no elevation-dependent variations in abundance beyond |
| | | that point. It is a moderately common metal. Its main use is as the |
| | | secondary ingredient in stainless steel (the base being iron). |
| | | #### Gold ¹ |
| | | Use: various |
| | | |
| | | Uranium is supplied by technic. It is found only from elevation -80 down |
| | | to -300; using it therefore requires one to mine above elevation -300 even |
| | | though deeper mining is otherwise more productive. It is a moderately |
| | | common metal, useful only for reasons related to radioactivity: it forms |
| | | the fuel for nuclear reactors, and is also one of the best radiation |
| | | shielding materials available. It is not difficult to find enough uranium |
| | | ore to satisfy these uses. Beware that the ore is slightly radioactive: |
| | | it will slightly harm you if you stand as close as possible to it. |
| | | It is safe when more than a meter away or when mined. |
| | | Generated below: -64m, more commonly below -256m |
| | | |
| | | Silver is supplied by the moreores mod. It is found from elevation -2 |
| | | downwards, with no elevation-dependent variations in abundance beyond |
| | | that point. It is a semi-precious metal. It is little used, being most |
| | | notably used in electrical items due to its conductivity, being the best |
| | | conductor of all the pure elements. |
| | | Gold is a precious metal. It is most notably used in electrical items due to |
| | | its combination of good conductivity and corrosion resistance. |
| | | |
| | | Gold is part of the basic Minetest game (having migrated there from |
| | | moreores). It is found from elevation -64 downwards, but is more |
| | | abundant from elevation -256 downwards. It is a precious metal. It is |
| | | little used, being most notably used in electrical items due to its |
| | | combination of good conductivity (third best of all the pure elements) |
| | | and corrosion resistance. |
| | | #### Iron ¹ |
| | | Use: multiple, mainly for alloys with carbon (coal). |
| | | |
| | | Mithril is supplied by the moreores mod. It is found from elevation |
| | | -512 downwards, the deepest ceiling of any minable substance, with |
| | | no elevation-dependent variations in abundance beyond that point. |
| | | It is a rare precious metal, and unlike all the other metals described |
| | | here it is entirely fictional, being derived from J. R. R. Tolkien's |
| | | #### Lead |
| | | Use: batteries, HV nuclear reactor layout |
| | | |
| | | Generated below: 16m, more common below -128m |
| | | |
| | | #### Mese ¹ |
| | | Use: various |
| | | |
| | | Mese is a precious gemstone, and unlike diamond it is entirely fictional. |
| | | It is used in small quantities, wherever some magic needs to be imparted. |
| | | |
| | | #### Mithril ² |
| | | Use: chests |
| | | |
| | | Generated below: -512m, evenly common |
| | | |
| | | Mithril is a fictional ore, being derived from J. R. R. Tolkien's |
| | | Middle-Earth setting. It is little used. |
| | | |
| | | Mese is part of the basic Minetest game. It is found from elevation |
| | | -64 downwards. The ore is more abundant from elevation -256 downwards, |
| | | and from elevation -1024 downwards there are also occasional blocks of |
| | | solid mese (each yielding as much mese as nine blocks of ore). It is a |
| | | precious gemstone, and unlike diamond it is entirely fictional. It is |
| | | used in many recipes, though mainly not in large quantities, wherever |
| | | some magical quality needs to be imparted. |
| | | #### Silver ² |
| | | Use: conductors |
| | | |
| | | Diamond is part of the basic Minetest game (having migrated there from |
| | | technic). It is found from elevation -128 downwards, but is more abundant |
| | | from elevation -256 downwards. It is a precious gemstone. It is used |
| | | moderately, mainly for reasons connected to its extreme hardness. |
| | | Generated below: -2m, evenly common |
| | | |
| | | ### rock ### |
| | | Silver is a semi-precious metal and is the best conductor of all the pure elements. |
| | | |
| | | In addition to the ores, there are multiple kinds of rock that need to be |
| | | mined in their own right, rather than for minerals. The rock types that |
| | | matter in technic are standard stone, desert stone, marble, and granite. |
| | | #### Tin ¹ |
| | | Use: batteries, bronze |
| | | |
| | | Standard stone is part of the basic Minetest game. It is extremely |
| | | common. As in the basic game, when dug it yields cobblestone, which can |
| | | be cooked to turn it back into standard stone. Cobblestone is used in |
| | | recipes only for some relatively primitive machines. Standard stone is |
| | | used in a couple of machine recipes. These rock types gain additional |
| | | significance with technic because the grinder can be used to turn them |
| | | into dirt and sand. This, especially when combined with an automated |
| | | cobblestone generator, can be an easier way to acquire sand than |
| | | collecting it where it occurs naturally. |
| | | Tin is a common metal but is used rarely. Its abundance is well in excess |
| | | of its usage, so you will usually have a surplus of it. |
| | | |
| | | Desert stone is part of the basic Minetest game. It is found specifically |
| | | in desert biomes, and only from elevation +2 upwards. Although it is |
| | | easily accessible, therefore, its quantity is ultimately quite limited. |
| | | It is used in a few recipes. |
| | | #### Uranium |
| | | Use: nuclear reactor fuel |
| | | |
| | | Marble is supplied by technic. It is found in dense clusters from |
| | | elevation -50 downwards. It has mainly decorative use, but also appears |
| | | in one machine recipe. |
| | | Depth: -80m until -300m, more commonly between -100m and -200m |
| | | |
| | | Granite is supplied by technic. It is found in dense clusters from |
| | | elevation -150 downwards. It is much harder to dig than standard stone, |
| | | so impedes mining when it is encountered. It has mainly decorative use, |
| | | but also appears in a couple of machine recipes. |
| | | It is a moderately common metal, useful only for reasons related to radioactivity: |
| | | it forms the fuel for nuclear reactors, and is also one of the best radiation |
| | | shielding materials available. |
| | | |
| | | ### rubber ### |
| | | Keep a safety distance of a meter to avoid being harmed by radiation. |
| | | |
| | | #### Zinc |
| | | Use: brass |
| | | |
| | | Generated below: 2m, more commonly below -32m |
| | | |
| | | Zinc only has a few uses but is a common metal. |
| | | |
| | | |
| | | ### 2.2 Rocks |
| | | |
| | | This section describes the rock types added by technic. Further rock types |
| | | are supported by technic machines. These can be processed using the grinder: |
| | | |
| | | * Stone (plain) |
| | | * Cobblestone |
| | | * Desert Stone |
| | | |
| | | #### Marble |
| | | Depth: -50m, evenly common |
| | | |
| | | Marble is found in dense clusters and has mainly decorative use, but also |
| | | appears in one machine recipe. |
| | | |
| | | #### Granite |
| | | Depth: -150m, evenly common |
| | | |
| | | Granite is found in dense clusters and is much harder to dig than standard |
| | | stone. It has mainly decorative use, but also appears in a couple of |
| | | machine recipes. |
| | | |
| | | #### Sulfur |
| | | Uses: battery box |
| | | |
| | | Sulur is generated around some lava patches (caves). |
| | | |
| | | |
| | | ### 2.3 Rubber |
| | | Rubber is a biologically-derived material that has industrial uses due |
| | | to its electrical resistivity and its impermeability. In technic, it |
| | | is used in a few recipes, and it must be acquired by tapping rubber trees. |
| | | |
| | | If you have the moretrees mod installed, the rubber trees you need |
| | | are those defined by that mod. If not, technic supplies a copy of the |
| | | moretrees rubber tree. |
| | | Rubber trees are provided by technic if the moretrees mod is not present. |
| | | |
| | | Extracting rubber requires a specific tool, a tree tap. Using the tree |
| | | tap (by left-clicking) on a rubber tree trunk block extracts a lump of |
| | | raw latex from the trunk. Each trunk block can be repeatedly tapped for |
| | | latex, at intervals of several minutes; its appearance changes to show |
| | | whether it is currently ripe for tapping. Each tree has several trunk |
| | | blocks, so several latex lumps can be extracted from a tree in one visit. |
| | | Extract raw latex from rubber using the "Tree Tap" tool. Punch/left-click the |
| | | tool on a rubber tree trunk to extract a lump of raw latex from the trunk. |
| | | Emptied trunks will regenerate at intervals of several minutes, which can be |
| | | observed by its appearance. |
| | | |
| | | Raw latex isn't used directly. It must be vulcanized to produce finished |
| | | rubber. This can be performed by simply cooking the latex, with each |
| | | latex lump producing one lump of rubber. If you have an extractor, |
| | | however, the latex is better processed there: each latex lump will |
| | | produce three lumps of rubber. |
| | | To obtain rubber from latex, alloy latex with coal dust. |
| | | |
| | | ### metal ### |
| | | ## 3.0 Metal processing |
| | | Generally, each metal can exist in five forms: |
| | | |
| | | Many of the substances important in technic are metals, and there is |
| | | a common pattern in how metals are handled. Generally, each metal can |
| | | exist in five forms: ore, lump, dust, ingot, and block. With a couple of |
| | | tricky exceptions in mods outside technic, metals are only *used* in dust, |
| | | ingot, and block forms. Metals can be readily converted between these |
| | | three forms, but can't be converted from them back to ore or lump forms. |
| | | * ore -> stone containing the lump |
| | | * lump -> draw metal obtained by digging ("nuggets") |
| | | * dust -> grinder output |
| | | * ingot -> melted/cooked lump or dust |
| | | * block -> placeable node |
| | | |
| | | As in the basic Minetest game, a "lump" of metal is acquired directly by |
| | | digging ore, and will then be processed into some other form for use. |
| | | A lump is thus more akin to ore than to refined metal. (In real life, |
| | | metal ore rarely yields lumps ("nuggets") of pure metal directly. |
| | | More often the desired metal is chemically bound into the rock as an |
| | | oxide or some other compound, and the ore must be chemically processed |
| | | to yield pure metal.) |
| | | Metals can be converted between dust, ingot and block, but can't be converted |
| | | from them back to ore or lump forms. |
| | | |
| | | Not all metals occur directly as ore. Generally, elemental metals (those |
| | | consisting of a single chemical element) occur as ore, and alloys (those |
| | | consisting of a mixture of multiple elements) do not. In fact, if the |
| | | fictional mithril is taken to be elemental, this pattern is currently |
| | | followed perfectly. (It is not clear in the Middle-Earth setting whether |
| | | mithril is elemental or an alloy.) This might change in the future: |
| | | in real life some alloys do occur as ore, and some elemental metals |
| | | rarely occur naturally outside such alloys. Metals that do not occur |
| | | as ore also lack the "lump" form. |
| | | ### Grinding |
| | | Ores can be processed as follows: |
| | | |
| | | The basic Minetest game offers a single way to refine metals: cook a lump |
| | | in a furnace to produce an ingot. With technic this refinement method |
| | | still exists, but is rarely used outside the early part of the game, |
| | | because technic offers a more efficient method once some machines have |
| | | been built. The grinder, available only in electrically-powered forms, |
| | | can grind a metal lump into two piles of metal dust. Each dust pile |
| | | can then be cooked into an ingot, yielding two ingots from one lump. |
| | | This doubling of material value means that you should only cook a lump |
| | | directly when you have no choice, mainly early in the game when you |
| | | haven't yet built a grinder. |
| | | * ore -> lump (digging) -> ingot (melting) |
| | | * ore -> lump (digging) -> 2x dust (grinding) -> 2x ingot (melting) |
| | | |
| | | An ingot can also be ground back to (one pile of) dust. Thus it is always |
| | | possible to convert metal between ingot and dust forms, at the expense |
| | | of some energy consumption. Nine ingots of a metal can be crafted into |
| | | a block, which can be used for building. The block can also be crafted |
| | | back to nine ingots. Thus it is possible to freely convert metal between |
| | | ingot and block forms, which is convenient to store the metal compactly. |
| | | Every metal has dust, ingot, and block forms. |
| | | At the expense of some energy consumption, the grinder can extract more material |
| | | from the lump, resulting in 2x dust which can be melted to two ingots in total. |
| | | |
| | | Alloying recipes in which a metal is the base ingredient, to produce a |
| | | metal alloy, always come in two forms, using the metal either as dust |
| | | or as an ingot. If the secondary ingredient is also a metal, it must |
| | | be supplied in the same form as the base ingredient. The output alloy |
| | | is also returned in the same form. For example, brass can be produced |
| | | by alloying two copper ingots with one zinc ingot to make three brass |
| | | ingots, or by alloying two piles of copper dust with one pile of zinc |
| | | dust to make three piles of brass dust. The two ways of alloying produce |
| | | equivalent results. |
| | | ### Alloying |
| | | Input: two ingredients of the same form - lump or dust |
| | | |
| | | ### iron and its alloys ### |
| | | Output: resulting alloy, as an ingot |
| | | |
| | | Iron forms several important alloys. In real-life history, iron was the |
| | | second metal to be used as the base component of deliberately-constructed |
| | | alloys (the first was copper), and it was the first metal whose working |
| | | required processes of any metallurgical sophistication. The game |
| | | mechanics around iron broadly imitate the historical progression of |
| | | processes around it, rather than the less-varied modern processes. |
| | | Example: 2x copper ingots + 1x zinc ingot -> 3x brass ingot (alloying) |
| | | |
| | | The two-component alloying system of iron with carbon is of huge |
| | | importance, both in the game and in real life. The basic Minetest game |
| | | doesn't distinguish between these pure iron and these alloys at all, |
| | | but technic introduces a distinction based on the carbon content, and |
| | | renames some items of the basic game accordingly. |
| | | Note that grinding before alloying is the preferred method to gain more output. |
| | | |
| | | The iron/carbon spectrum is represented in the game by three metal |
| | | substances: wrought iron, carbon steel, and cast iron. Wrought iron |
| | | has low carbon content (less than 0.25%), resists shattering, and |
| | | is easily welded, but is relatively soft and susceptible to rusting. |
| | | In real-life history it was used for rails, gates, chains, wire, pipes, |
| | | fasteners, and other purposes. Cast iron has high carbon content |
| | | (2.1% to 4%), is especially hard, and resists corrosion, but is |
| | | relatively brittle, and difficult to work. Historically it was used |
| | | to build large structures such as bridges, and for cannons, cookware, |
| | | and engine cylinders. Carbon steel has medium carbon content (0.25% |
| | | to 2.1%), and intermediate properties: moderately hard and also tough, |
| | | somewhat resistant to corrosion. In real life it is now used for most |
| | | of the purposes previously satisfied by wrought iron and many of those |
| | | of cast iron, but has historically been especially important for its |
| | | use in swords, armor, skyscrapers, large bridges, and machines. |
| | | #### iron and its alloys |
| | | |
| | | In real-life history, the first form of iron to be refined was |
| | | wrought iron, which is nearly pure iron, having low carbon content. |
| | | It was produced from ore by a low-temperature furnace process (the |
| | | "bloomery") in which the ore/iron remains solid and impurities (slag) |
| | | are progressively removed by hammering ("working", hence "wrought"). |
| | | This began in the middle East, around 1800 BCE. |
| | | Historically iron was the first metal whose working required processes of any |
| | | metallurgical sophistication. The mod's mechanics around iron broadly imitate |
| | | the historical progression of processes around it to get more variety. |
| | | |
| | | Historically, the next forms of iron to be refined were those of high |
| | | carbon content. This was the result of the development of a more |
| | | sophisticated kind of furnace, the blast furnace, capable of reaching |
| | | higher temperatures. The real advantage of the blast furnace is that it |
| | | melts the metal, allowing it to be cast straight into a shape supplied by |
| | | a mould, rather than having to be gradually beaten into the desired shape. |
| | | A side effect of the blast furnace is that carbon from the furnace's fuel |
| | | is unavoidably incorporated into the metal. Normally iron is processed |
| | | twice through the blast furnace: once producing "pig iron", which has |
| | | very high carbon content and lots of impurities but lower melting point, |
| | | casting it into rough ingots, then remelting the pig iron and casting it |
| | | into the final moulds. The result is called "cast iron". Pig iron was |
| | | first produced in China around 1200 BCE, and cast iron later in the 5th |
| | | century BCE. Incidentally, the Chinese did not have the bloomery process, |
| | | so this was their first iron refining process, and, unlike the rest of |
| | | the world, their first wrought iron was made from pig iron rather than |
| | | directly from ore. |
| | | Notable alloys: |
| | | |
| | | Carbon steel, with intermediate carbon content, was developed much later, |
| | | in Europe in the 17th century CE. It required a more sophisticated |
| | | process, because the blast furnace made it extremely difficult to achieve |
| | | a controlled carbon content. Tweaks of the blast furnace would sometimes |
| | | produce an intermediate carbon content by luck, but the first processes to |
| | | reliably produce steel were based on removing almost all the carbon from |
| | | pig iron and then explicitly mixing a controlled amount of carbon back in. |
| | | * Wrought iron: <0.25% carbon |
| | | * Resists shattering but is relatively soft. |
| | | * Known since: 1800 BC (approx.) |
| | | * Cast iron: 2.1% to 4% carbon. |
| | | * Especially hard and rather corrosion-resistant |
| | | * Known since: 1200 BC (approx.) |
| | | * Carbon steel: 0.25% to 2.1% carbon. |
| | | * Intermediate of the two above. |
| | | * Known since: 1600 AD (approx.) |
| | | |
| | | In the game, the bloomery process is represented by ordinary cooking |
| | | or grinding of an iron lump. The lump represents unprocessed ore, |
| | | and is identified only as "iron", not specifically as wrought iron. |
| | | This standard refining process produces dust or an ingot which is |
| | | specifically identified as wrought iron. Thus the standard refining |
| | | process produces the (nearly) pure metal. |
| | | Technic introduces a distinction based on the carbon content, and renames some |
| | | items of the basic game accordingly. Iron and Steel are now distinguished. |
| | | |
| | | Cast iron is trickier. You might expect from the real-life notes above |
| | | that cooking an iron lump (representing ore) would produce pig iron that |
| | | can then be cooked again to produce cast iron. This is kind of the case, |
| | | but not exactly, because as already noted cooking an iron lump produces |
| | | wrought iron. The game doesn't distinguish between low-temperature |
| | | and high-temperature cooking processes: the same furnace is used not |
| | | just to cast all kinds of metal but also to cook food. So there is no |
| | | distinction between cooking processes to produce distinct wrought iron |
| | | and pig iron. But repeated cooking *is* available as a game mechanic, |
| | | and is indeed used to produce cast iron: re-cooking a wrought iron ingot |
| | | produces a cast iron ingot. So pig iron isn't represented in the game as |
| | | a distinct item; instead wrought iron stands in for pig iron in addition |
| | | to its realistic uses as wrought iron. |
| | | Notable references: |
| | | |
| | | Carbon steel is produced by a more regular in-game process: alloying |
| | | wrought iron with coal dust (which is essentially carbon). This bears |
| | | a fair resemblance to the historical development of carbon steel. |
| | | This alloying recipe is relatively time-consuming for the amount of |
| | | material processed, when compared against other alloying recipes, and |
| | | carbon steel is heavily used, so it is wise to alloy it in advance, |
| | | when you're not waiting for it. |
| | | * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron |
| | | * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stainless_steel |
| | | * ... plus many more. |
| | | |
| | | There are additional recipes that permit all three of these types of iron |
| | | to be converted into each other. Alloying carbon steel again with coal |
| | | dust produces cast iron, with its higher carbon content. Cooking carbon |
| | | steel or cast iron produces wrought iron, in an abbreviated form of the |
| | | bloomery process. |
| | | Processes: |
| | | |
| | | There's one more iron alloy in the game: stainless steel. It is managed |
| | | in a completely regular manner, created by alloying carbon steel with |
| | | chromium. |
| | | * Iron -> Wrought iron (melting) |
| | | * Wrought iron -> Cast iron (melting) |
| | | * Wrought iron + coal dust -> Carbon steel (alloying) |
| | | * Carbon steel + coal dust -> Cast iron (alloying) |
| | | * Carbon steel + chromium -> Stainless steel (alloying) |
| | | |
| | | ### uranium enrichment ### |
| | | Reversible processes: |
| | | |
| | | * Cast iron -> Wrought iron (melting) |
| | | * Carbon steel -> Wrought iron (melting) |
| | | |
| | | Check your preferred crafting guide for more information. |
| | | |
| | | |
| | | ### Uranium enrichment |
| | | |
| | | When uranium is to be used to fuel a nuclear reactor, it is not |
| | | sufficient to merely isolate and refine uranium metal. It is necessary |
| | |
| | | industrial processes |
| | | -------------------- |
| | | |
| | | ### alloying ### |
| | | ### Alloying |
| | | |
| | | In technic, alloying is a way of combining items to create other items, |
| | | distinct from standard crafting. Alloying always uses inputs of exactly |
| | | two distinct types, and produces a single output. Like cooking, which |
| | | takes a single input, it is performed using a powered machine, known |
| | | generically as an "alloy furnace". An alloy furnace always has two |
| | | input slots, and it doesn't matter which way round the two ingredients |
| | | are placed in the slots. Many alloying recipes require one or both |
| | | slots to contain a stack of more than one of the ingredient item: the |
| | | quantity required of each ingredient is part of the recipe. |
| | | In Technic, alloying is a way of combining items to create other items, |
| | | distinct from standard crafting. Alloying always uses inputs of exactly |
| | | two distinct types, and produces a single output. |
| | | |
| | | As with the furnaces used for cooking, there are multiple kinds of alloy |
| | | furnace, powered in different ways. The most-used alloy furnaces are |
| | | electrically powered. There is also an alloy furnace that is powered |
| | | by directly burning fuel, just like the basic cooking furnace. Building |
| | | almost any electrical machine, including the electrically-powered alloy |
| | | furnaces, requires a machine casing component, one ingredient of which |
| | | is brass, an alloy. It is therefore necessary to use the fuel-fired |
| | | alloy furnace in the early part of the game, on the way to building |
| | | electrical machinery. |
| | | Check your preferred crafting guide for more information. |
| | | |
| | | Alloying recipes are mainly concerned with metals. These recipes |
| | | combine a base metal with some other element, most often another metal, |
| | | to produce a new metal. This is discussed in the section on metal. |
| | | There are also a few alloying recipes in which the base ingredient is |
| | | non-metallic, such as the recipe for the silicon wafer. |
| | | |
| | | ### grinding, extracting, and compressing ### |
| | | ### Grinding, extracting, and compressing |
| | | |
| | | Grinding, extracting, and compressing are three distinct, but very |
| | | similar, ways of converting one item into another. They are all quite |
| | |
| | | It recovers both components of binary metal/metal alloys. It can't |
| | | recover the carbon from steel or cast iron. |
| | | |
| | | chests |
| | | Chests |
| | | ------ |
| | | |
| | | The technic mod replaces the basic Minetest game's single type of |
| | | chest with a range of chests that have different sizes and features. |
| | | The chest types are identified by the materials from which they are made; |
| | | the better chests are made from more exotic materials. The chest types |
| | | form a linear sequence, each being (with one exception noted below) |
| | | strictly more powerful than the preceding one. The sequence begins with |
| | | the wooden chest from the basic game, and each later chest type is built |
| | | by upgrading a chest of the preceding type. The chest types are: |
| | | See [GitHub Wiki / Chests](https://github.com/minetest-mods/technic/wiki/Chests) |
| | | |
| | | 1. wooden chest: 8×4 (32) slots |
| | | 2. iron chest: 9×5 (45) slots |
| | | 3. copper chest: 12×5 (60) slots |
| | | 4. silver chest: 12×6 (72) slots |
| | | 5. gold chest: 15×6 (90) slots |
| | | 6. mithril chest: 15×6 (90) slots |
| | | Features of extended chests: |
| | | |
| | | The iron and later chests have the ability to sort their contents, |
| | | when commanded by a button in their interaction forms. Item types are |
| | | sorted in the same order used in the unified\_inventory craft guide. |
| | | The copper and later chests also have an auto-sorting facility that can |
| | | be enabled from the interaction form. An auto-sorting chest automatically |
| | | sorts its contents whenever a player closes the chest. The contents will |
| | | then usually be in a sorted state when the chest is opened, but may not |
| | | be if pneumatic tubes have operated on the chest while it was closed, |
| | | or if two players have the chest open simultaneously. |
| | | * Larger storage space |
| | | * Labelling |
| | | * Advanced item sorting |
| | | |
| | | The silver and gold chests, but not the mithril chest, have a built-in |
| | | sign-like capability. They can be given a textual label, which will |
| | | be visible when hovering over the chest. The gold chest, but again not |
| | | the mithril chest, can be further labelled with a colored patch that is |
| | | visible from a moderate distance. |
| | | |
| | | The mithril chest is currently an exception to the upgrading system. |
| | | It has only as many inventory slots as the preceding (gold) type, and has |
| | | fewer of the features. It has no feature that other chests don't have: |
| | | it is strictly weaker than the gold chest. It is planned that in the |
| | | future it will acquire some unique features, but for now the only reason |
| | | to use it is aesthetic. |
| | | |
| | | The size of the largest chests is dictated by the maximum size |
| | | of interaction form that the game engine can successfully display. |
| | | If in the future the engine becomes capable of handling larger forms, |
| | | by scaling them to fit the screen, the sequence of chest sizes will |
| | | likely be revised. |
| | | |
| | | As with the chest of the basic Minetest game, each chest type comes |
| | | in both locked and unlocked flavors. All of the chests work with the |
| | | pneumatic tubes of the pipeworks mod. |
| | | |
| | | radioactivity |
| | | ------------- |
| | |
| | | and stone in 1.7 m. When a shield must be deliberately constructed, |
| | | the preferred materials are metals, the denser the better. Iron and |
| | | steel halve radiation in 1.1 m, copper in 1.0 m, and silver in 0.95 m. |
| | | Lead would halve in 0.69 m if it were in the game, but it's not, which |
| | | poses a bit of a problem due to the drawbacks of the three materials in |
| | | the game that are better shielding than silver. Gold halves radiation |
| | | Lead would halve in 0.69 m (its in-game shielding value is 80). Gold halves radiation |
| | | in 0.53 m (factor of 3.7 per meter), but is a bit scarce to use for |
| | | this purpose. Uranium halves radiation in 0.31 m (factor of 9.4 per |
| | | meter), but is itself radioactive. The very best shielding in the game |
| | | is nyancat material (nyancats and their rainbow blocks), which halves |
| | | radiation in 0.22 m (factor of 24 per meter), but is extremely scarce. |
| | | radiation in 0.22 m (factor of 24 per meter), but is extremely scarce. See [technic/technic/radiation.lua](https://github.com/minetest-technic/technic/blob/master/technic/radiation.lua) for the in-game shielding values, which are different from real-life values. |
| | | |
| | | If the theoretical radiation damage from a particular source is |
| | | sufficiently small, due to distance and shielding, then no damage at all |
| | |
| | | Tricky shine paths can also be addressed by just keeping players out of |
| | | the dangerous area. |
| | | |
| | | electrical power |
| | | ---------------- |
| | | ## Electrical power |
| | | |
| | | Most machines in technic are electrically powered. To operate them it is |
| | | necessary to construct an electrical power network. The network links |
| | | together power generators and power-consuming machines, connecting them |
| | | using power cables. |
| | | Electrical networks in Technic are defined by a single tier (see below) |
| | | and consist of: |
| | | |
| | | There are three tiers of electrical networking: low voltage (LV), |
| | | medium voltage (MV), and high voltage (HV). Each network must operate |
| | | at a single voltage, and most electrical items are specific to a single |
| | | voltage. Generally, the machines of higher tiers are more powerful, |
| | | but consume more energy and are more expensive to build, than machines |
| | | of lower tiers. It is normal to build networks of all three tiers, |
| | | in ascending order as one progresses through the game, but it is not |
| | | strictly necessary to do this. Building HV equipment requires some parts |
| | | that can only be manufactured using electrical machines, either LV or MV, |
| | | so it is not possible to build an HV network first, but it is possible |
| | | to skip either LV or MV on the way to HV. |
| | | * 1x Switching Station (central management unit) |
| | | * Any further stations are disabled automatically |
| | | * Electricity producers (PR) |
| | | * Electricity consumers/receivers (RE) |
| | | * Accumulators/batteries (BA) |
| | | |
| | | Each voltage has its own cable type, with distinctive insulation. Cable |
| | | segments connect to each other and to compatible machines automatically. |
| | | Incompatible electrical items don't connect. All non-cable electrical |
| | | items must be connected via cable: they don't connect directly to each |
| | | other. Most electrical items can connect to cables in any direction, |
| | | but there are a couple of important exceptions noted below. |
| | | ### Tiers |
| | | |
| | | To be useful, an electrical network must connect at least one power |
| | | generator to at least one power-consuming machine. In addition to these |
| | | items, the network must have a "switching station" in order to operate: |
| | | no energy will flow without one. Unlike most electrical items, the |
| | | switching station is not voltage-specific: the same item will manage |
| | | a network of any tier. However, also unlike most electrical items, |
| | | it is picky about the direction in which it is connected to the cable: |
| | | the cable must be directly below the switching station. |
| | | * LV: Low Voltage. Low material costs but is slower. |
| | | * MV: Medium Voltage. Higher processing speed. |
| | | * HV: High Voltage. High material costs but is the fastest. |
| | | |
| | | Hovering over a network's switching station will show the aggregate energy |
| | | supply and demand, which is useful for troubleshooting. Electrical energy |
| | | is measured in "EU", and power (energy flow) in EU per second (EU/s). |
| | | Energy is shifted around a network instantaneously once per second. |
| | | Tiers can be converted from one to another using the Supply Converter node. |
| | | Its top connects to the input, the bottom to the output network. Configure |
| | | the input power by right-clicking it. |
| | | |
| | | In a simple network with only generators and consumers, if total |
| | | demand exceeds total supply then no energy will flow, the machines |
| | | will do nothing, and the generators' output will be lost. To handle |
| | | this situation, it is recommended to add a battery box to the network. |
| | | A battery box will store generated energy, and when enough has been |
| | | stored to run the consumers for one second it will deliver it to the |
| | | consumers, letting them run part-time. It also stores spare energy |
| | | when supply exceeds demand, to let consumers run full-time when their |
| | | demand occasionally peaks above the supply. More battery boxes can |
| | | be added to cope with larger periods of mismatched supply and demand, |
| | | such as those resulting from using solar generators (which only produce |
| | | energy in the daytime). |
| | | ### Machine upgrade slots |
| | | |
| | | When there are electrical networks of multiple tiers, it can be appealing |
| | | to generate energy on one tier and transfer it to another. The most |
| | | direct way to do this is with the "supply converter", which can be |
| | | directly wired into two networks. It is another tier-independent item, |
| | | and also particular about the direction of cable connections: it must |
| | | have the cable of one network directly above, and the cable of another |
| | | network directly below. The supply converter demands 10000 EU/s from |
| | | the network above, and when this network gives it power it supplies 9000 |
| | | EU/s to the network below. Thus it is only 90% efficient, unlike most of |
| | | the electrical system which is 100% efficient in moving energy around. |
| | | To transfer more than 10000 EU/s between networks, connect multiple |
| | | supply converters in parallel. |
| | | Generally, machines of MV and HV tiers have two upgrade slots. |
| | | Only specific items will have any upgrading effect. The occupied slots do |
| | | count, but not the actual stack size. |
| | | |
| | | powered machines |
| | | ---------------- |
| | | **Type 1: Energy upgrade** |
| | | |
| | | ### powered machine tiers ### |
| | | Consists of any battery item. Reduces the machine's power consumption |
| | | regardless the charge of the item. |
| | | |
| | | Each powered machine takes its power in some specific form, being |
| | | either fuel-fired (burning fuel directly) or electrically powered at |
| | | some specific voltage. There is a general progression through the |
| | | game from using fuel-fired machines to electrical machines, and to |
| | | higher electrical voltages. The most important kinds of machine come |
| | | in multiple variants that are powered in different ways, so the earlier |
| | | ones can be superseded. However, some machines are only available for |
| | | a specific power tier, so the tier can't be entirely superseded. |
| | | **Type 2: Tube upgrade** |
| | | |
| | | ### powered machine upgrades ### |
| | | Consists of a control logic unit item. Ejects processed items into pneumatic |
| | | tubes for quicker processing. |
| | | |
| | | Some machines have inventory slots that are used to upgrade them in |
| | | some way. Generally, machines of MV and HV tiers have two upgrade slots, |
| | | and machines of lower tiers (fuel-fired and LV) do not. Any item can |
| | | be placed in an upgrade slot, but only specific items will have any |
| | | upgrading effect. It is possible to have multiple upgrades of the same |
| | | type, but this can't be achieved by stacking more than one upgrade item |
| | | in one slot: it is necessary to put the same kind of item in more than one |
| | | upgrade slot. The ability to upgrade machines is therefore very limited. |
| | | Two kinds of upgrade are currently possible: an energy upgrade and a |
| | | tube upgrade. |
| | | |
| | | An energy upgrade consists of a battery item, the same kind of battery |
| | | that serves as a mobile energy store. The effect of an energy upgrade |
| | | is to improve in some way the machine's use of electrical energy, most |
| | | often by making it use less energy. The upgrade effect has no relation |
| | | to energy stored in the battery: the battery's charge level is irrelevant |
| | | and will not be affected. |
| | | |
| | | A tube upgrade consists of a control logic unit item. The effect of a |
| | | tube upgrade is to make the machine able, or more able, to eject items |
| | | it has finished with into pneumatic tubes. The machines that can take |
| | | this kind of upgrade are in any case capable of accepting inputs from |
| | | pneumatic tubes. These upgrades are essential in using powered machines |
| | | as components in larger automated systems. |
| | | |
| | | ### tubes with powered machines ### |
| | | ### Machines + Tubes (pipeworks) |
| | | |
| | | Generally, powered machines of MV and HV tiers can work with pneumatic |
| | | tubes, and those of lower tiers cannot. (As an exception, the fuel-fired |
| | |
| | | energy to let an electrical network cope with mismatched supply and |
| | | demand. They have a secondary purpose of charging and discharging |
| | | powered tools. They are thus a mixture of electrical infrastructure, |
| | | powered machine, and generator. |
| | | powered machine, and generator. Battery boxes connect to cables only |
| | | from the bottom. |
| | | |
| | | MV and HV battery boxes have upgrade slots. Energy upgrades increase |
| | | the capacity of a battery box, each by 10% of the un-upgraded capacity. |
| | |
| | | infrastructure of that tier, just to get access to faster charging. |
| | | |
| | | MV and HV battery boxes work with pneumatic tubes. An item can be input |
| | | to the charging slot through the bottom of the battery box, or to the |
| | | discharging slot through the top. Items are not accepted through the |
| | | front, back, or sides. With a tube upgrade, fully charged/discharged |
| | | tools (as appropriate for their slot) will be ejected through a side. |
| | | to the charging slot through the sides or back of the battery box, or |
| | | to the discharging slot through the top. With a tube upgrade, fully |
| | | charged/discharged tools (as appropriate for their slot) will be ejected |
| | | through a side. |
| | | |
| | | ### processing machines ### |
| | | |
| | | The furnace, alloy furnace, grinder, extractor, compressor, and centrifuge |
| | | have much in common. Each implements some industrial process that |
| | | transforms items into other items, and they manner in which they present |
| | | transforms items into other items, and the manner in which they present |
| | | these processes as powered machines is essentially identical. |
| | | |
| | | Most of the processing machines operate on inputs of only a single type |
| | |
| | | complex: it will put an arriving item in either input slot, preferring to |
| | | stack it with existing items of the same type. It doesn't matter which |
| | | slot each of the alloy furnace's inputs is in, so it doesn't matter that |
| | | there's no direct control ovar that, but there is a risk that supplying |
| | | there's no direct control over that, but there is a risk that supplying |
| | | a lot of one item type through tubes will result in both slots containing |
| | | the same type of item, leaving no room for the second input. |
| | | |
| | |
| | | ### forcefield emitter ### |
| | | |
| | | The forcefield emitter is an HV powered machine that generates a |
| | | forcefield remeniscent of those seen in many science-fiction stories. |
| | | forcefield reminiscent of those seen in many science-fiction stories. |
| | | |
| | | The emitter can be configured to generate a forcefield of either |
| | | spherical or cubical shape, in either case centered on the emitter. |
| | |
| | | |
| | | ### fuel-fired generators ### |
| | | |
| | | The fiel-fired generators are electrical power generators that generate |
| | | The fuel-fired generators are electrical power generators that generate |
| | | power by the combustion of fuel. Versions of them are available for |
| | | all three voltages (LV, MV, and HV). These are all capable of burning |
| | | any type of combustible fuel, such as coal. They are relatively easy |
| | |
| | | |
| | | ### hydro generator ### |
| | | |
| | | The hydro generator is an LV power generator that generates a small amount |
| | | of power from the natural motion of water. To operate, the generator must |
| | | be horizontally adjacent to water. It doesn't matter whether the water |
| | | consists of source blocks or flowing blocks. Having water adjacent on |
| | | more than one side, up to the full four, increases the generator's output. |
| | | The water itself is unaffected by the generator. |
| | | The hydro generator is an LV power generator that generates a respectable |
| | | amount of power from the natural motion of water. To operate, the |
| | | generator must be horizontally adjacent to flowing water. The power |
| | | produced is dependent on how much flow there is across any or all four |
| | | sides, the most flow of course coming from water that's flowing straight |
| | | down. |
| | | |
| | | ### geothermal generator ### |
| | | |