| | |
| | | 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://gitlab.com/VanessaE/pipeworks/-/wikis/home) |
| | | * [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. |
| | | ## 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 ### |
| | | ## 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. |
| | | ### 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. |
| | | #### 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. |
| | | |
| | | #### Iron ¹ |
| | | Use: multiple, mainly for alloys with carbon (coal). |
| | | |
| | | #### 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. |
| | | #### Tin ¹ |
| | | Use: batteries, bronze |
| | | |
| | | 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. |
| | | 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. |
| | | |
| | | 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). |
| | | #### Zinc |
| | | Use: brass |
| | | |
| | | 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. |
| | | Depth: 2m, more commonly below -32m |
| | | |
| | | Zinc only has a few uses but is a common metal. |
| | | |
| | | #### Chromium |
| | | Use: stainless steel |
| | | |
| | | Depth: -100m, more commonly below -200m |
| | | |
| | | #### Uranium |
| | | Use: nuclear reactor fuel |
| | | |
| | | Depth: -80m until -300m, more commonly between -100m and -200m |
| | | |
| | | 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. |
| | | |
| | | Keep a safety distance of a meter to avoid being harmed by radiation. |
| | | |
| | | |
| | | #### Silver ² |
| | | |
| | | Silver is supplied by the moreores mod. It is found from elevation -2 |
| | | downwards, with no elevation-dependent variations in abundance beyond |
| | |
| | | notably used in electrical items due to its conductivity, being the best |
| | | conductor of all the pure elements. |
| | | |
| | | #### Gold ¹ |
| | | 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 |
| | |
| | | combination of good conductivity (third best of all the pure elements) |
| | | and corrosion resistance. |
| | | |
| | | #### Mithril ² |
| | | 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. |
| | |
| | | here it is entirely fictional, being derived from J. R. R. Tolkien's |
| | | Middle-Earth setting. It is little used. |
| | | |
| | | #### Mese ¹ |
| | | 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 |
| | |
| | | used in many recipes, though mainly not in large quantities, wherever |
| | | some magical quality needs to be imparted. |
| | | |
| | | #### Diamond ¹ |
| | | 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. |
| | | |
| | | ### rock ### |
| | | ### Rock |
| | | |
| | | 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 |
| | |
| | | blocks, so several latex lumps can be extracted from a tree in one visit. |
| | | |
| | | 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. |
| | | rubber. This can be performed by alloying the latex with coal dust. |
| | | |
| | | ### metal ### |
| | | |
| | |
| | | in both locked and unlocked flavors. All of the chests work with the |
| | | pneumatic tubes of the pipeworks mod. |
| | | |
| | | radioactivity |
| | | ------------- |
| | | |
| | | The technic mod adds radioactivity to the game, as a hazard that can |
| | | harm player characters. Certain substances in the game are radioactive, |
| | | and when placed as blocks in the game world will damage nearby players. |
| | | Conversely, some substances attenuate radiation, and so can be used |
| | | for shielding. The radioactivity system is based on reality, but is |
| | | not an attempt at serious simulation: like the rest of the game, it has |
| | | many simplifications and deliberate deviations from reality in the name |
| | | of game balance. |
| | | |
| | | In real life radiological hazards can be roughly divided into three |
| | | categories based on the time scale over which they act: prompt radiation |
| | | damage (such as radiation burns) that takes effect immediately; radiation |
| | | poisoning that becomes visible in hours and lasts weeks; and cumulative |
| | | effects such as increased cancer risk that operate over decades. |
| | | The game's version of radioactivity causes only prompt damage, not |
| | | any delayed effects. Damage comes in the abstracted form of removing |
| | | the player's hit points, and is immediately visible to the player. |
| | | As with all other kinds of damage in the game, the player can restore |
| | | the hit points by eating food items. High-nutrition foods, such as the |
| | | pie baskets supplied by the bushes\_classic mod, are a useful tool in |
| | | dealing with radiological hazards. |
| | | |
| | | Only a small range of items in the game are radioactive. From the technic |
| | | mod, the only radioactive items are uranium ore, refined uranium blocks, |
| | | nuclear reactor cores (when operating), and the materials released when |
| | | a nuclear reactor melts down. Other mods can plug into the technic |
| | | system to make their own block types radioactive. Radioactive items |
| | | are harmless when held in inventories. They only cause radiation damage |
| | | when placed as blocks in the game world. |
| | | |
| | | The rate at which damage is caused by a radioactive block depends on the |
| | | distance between the source and the player. Distance matters because the |
| | | damaging radiation is emitted equally in all directions by the source, |
| | | so with distance it spreads out, so less of it will strike a target |
| | | of any specific size. The amount of radiation absorbed by a target |
| | | thus varies in proportion to the inverse square of the distance from |
| | | the source. The game imitates this aspect of real-life radioactivity, |
| | | but with some simplifications. While in real life the inverse square law |
| | | is only really valid for sources and targets that are small relative to |
| | | the distance between them, in the game it is applied even when the source |
| | | and target are large and close together. Specifically, the distance is |
| | | measured from the center of the radioactive block to the abdomen of the |
| | | player character. For extremely close encounters, such as where the |
| | | player swims in a radioactive liquid, there is an enforced lower limit |
| | | on the effective distance. |
| | | |
| | | Different types of radioactive block emit different amounts of radiation. |
| | | The least radioactive of the radioactive block types is uranium ore, |
| | | which causes 0.25 HP/s damage to a player 1 m away. A block of refined |
| | | but unenriched uranium, as an example, is nine times as radioactive, |
| | | and so will cause 2.25 HP/s damage to a player 1 m away. By the inverse |
| | | square law, the damage caused by that uranium block reduces by a factor |
| | | of four at twice the distance, that is to 0.5625 HP/s at a distance of 2 |
| | | m, or by a factor of nine at three times the distance, that is to 0.25 |
| | | HP/s at a distance of 3 m. Other radioactive block types are far more |
| | | radioactive than these: the most radioactive of all, the result of a |
| | | nuclear reactor melting down, is 1024 times as radioactive as uranium ore. |
| | | |
| | | Uranium blocks are radioactive to varying degrees depending on their |
| | | isotopic composition. An isotope being fissile, and thus good as |
| | | reactor fuel, is essentially uncorrelated with it being radioactive. |
| | | The fissile U-235 is about six times as radioactive than the non-fissile |
| | | U-238 that makes up the bulk of natural uranium, so one might expect that |
| | | enriching from 0.7% fissile to 3.5% fissile (or depleting to 0.0%) would |
| | | only change the radioactivity of uranium by a few percent. But actually |
| | | the radioactivity of enriched uranium is dominated by the non-fissile |
| | | U-234, which makes up only about 50 parts per million of natural uranium |
| | | but is about 19000 times more radioactive than U-238. The radioactivity |
| | | of natural uranium comes just about half from U-238 and half from U-234, |
| | | and the uranium gets enriched in U-234 along with the U-235. This makes |
| | | 3.5%-fissile uranium about three times as radioactive as natural uranium, |
| | | and 0.0%-fissile uranium about half as radioactive as natural uranium. |
| | | |
| | | Radiation is attenuated by the shielding effect of material along the |
| | | path between the radioactive block and the player. In general, only |
| | | blocks of homogeneous material contribute to the shielding effect: for |
| | | example, a block of solid metal has a shielding effect, but a machine |
| | | does not, even though the machine's ingredients include a metal case. |
| | | The shielding effect of each block type is based on the real-life |
| | | resistance of the material to ionising radiation, but for game balance |
| | | the effectiveness of shielding is scaled down from real life, more so |
| | | for stronger shield materials than for weaker ones. Also, whereas in |
| | | real life materials have different shielding effects against different |
| | | types of radiation, the game only has one type of damaging radiation, |
| | | and so only one set of shielding values. |
| | | |
| | | Almost any solid or liquid homogeneous material has some shielding value. |
| | | At the low end of the scale, 5 meters of wooden planks nearly halves |
| | | radiation, though in that case the planks probably contribute more |
| | | to safety by forcing the player to stay 5 m further away from the |
| | | source than by actual attenuation. Dirt halves radiation in 2.4 m, |
| | | 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 (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. 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 |
| | | will actually occur. This means that for any particular radiation source |
| | | and shielding arrangement there is a safe distance to which a player can |
| | | approach without harm. The safe distance is where the radiation damage |
| | | would theoretically be 0.25 HP/s. This damage threshold is applied |
| | | separately for each radiation source, so to be safe in a multi-source |
| | | situation it is only necessary to be safe from each source individually. |
| | | |
| | | The best way to use uranium as shielding is in a two-layer structure, |
| | | of uranium and some non-radioactive material. The uranium layer should |
| | | be nearer to the primary radiation source and the non-radioactive layer |
| | | nearer to the player. The uranium provides a great deal of shielding |
| | | against the primary source, and the other material shields against |
| | | the uranium layer. Due to the damage threshold mechanism, a meter of |
| | | dirt is sufficient to shield fully against a layer of fully-depleted |
| | | (0.0%-fissile) uranium. Obviously this is only worthwhile when the |
| | | primary radiation source is more radioactive than a uranium block. |
| | | |
| | | When constructing permanent radiation shielding, it is necessary to |
| | | pay attention to the geometry of the structure, and particularly to any |
| | | holes that have to be made in the shielding, for example to accommodate |
| | | power cables. Any hole that is aligned with the radiation source makes a |
| | | "shine path" through which a player may be irradiated when also aligned. |
| | | Shine paths can be avoided by using bent paths for cables, passing |
| | | through unaligned holes in multiple shield layers. If the desired |
| | | shielding effect depends on multiple layers, a hole in one layer still |
| | | produces a partial shine path, along which the shielding is reduced, |
| | | so the positioning of holes in each layer must still be considered. |
| | | Tricky shine paths can also be addressed by just keeping players out of |
| | | the dangerous area. |
| | | |
| | | electrical power |
| | | ---------------- |
| | | |
| | |
| | | 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 ### |
| | | |
| | |
| | | * sonic screwdriver |
| | | * liquid cans |
| | | * wrench |
| | | * radioactivity |
| | | * frames |
| | | * templates |