Mekanism: Feature Request Thread

[MrJeff]

I don't know if anyone has a process like this. If you want something more unique you could consider fluid extraction. (Think fracking for extracting natural gas... only for ores.)

The process would be:

1. Create (and store) the extraction fluid.
2. "Pump" the fluid into the ground. (I don't think there would need to be any visual effect of "pressurized stone" in the environment. But you can if you want I guess.)
3. Convert Ore blocks to stone block (removing the ore).
4. Output "used" extraction fluid into a second holding tank.
5. Run "recovered" fluid through a process to separate ore from extraction fluid.
6. Now you have the ores, the extraction fluid for another run, and no landscape damage.

 

[MrJeff]

• "Liquid Dirt" - Yes this one sounds stupid but just follow me here. I think it would be nice to have a liquid I could just PUMP into a quarry hole, filling it up from bottom to top. Once the liquid stops pumping and 'sits' for a few minutes it starts to harden up into dirt blocks. So you could basically make massive tanks of this stuff and pump it into your quarry holes to fill them back up, turning them back into grassy landscape that you could plant farms and trees on.

I like it. This is what I would really like concrete to have been. Pour liquids down a hole/mineshaft/mined-out tunnel system/wooden forms, and just wait as it hardens into something useful. I'd consider filling everything under my base, so I can have a controlled excavation with no falls, gaps, or monsters. (I know, boring, but when I want drops, I fight mobs, when I mine, I just want to dig.)

 

[ShneekeyTheLost]

* Redstone Flux (Thermal Expansion 3 power) compatibility for Universal Cable and Energy Cubes. Please?

Here's an idea for a rather expensive but profitable auto-mining system:

It's a multiblock structure. In effect, similar in concept to the old frame bore, where it moves forward, eats whatever is in front, sends to storage, then continues moving on. The size of the machine will determine how much it consumes per shot, so how effective it might be.

Optional upgrade blocks (think similar to the ExtraBees upgrades to Alviaries, replacing a block in the machine with an upgrade block) to include: Auto-torch-placer every so many blocks, Hydro-generator to turn lava into cobble/obsidian so it may continue progressing through without having lava spilling all over the place (consumes water, so need a water source?), Evaporator which consumes lava to turn water into cobble to, again, keep your tunnel free of unwanted liquids, Chunkloader module.

Of course, this machine is going to require a lot of power to run. Each 'block-breaker' face is going to need x power to run, plus each module will require additional power to function, so a large machine is going to require a lot of power.

Yes, it carves out tunnels wherever you set it up, but... well... that's not always a bad thing. Use them as train tunnels, or secret passageways, or as corridors for your secret subterranean installation! But the important thing here is that you are tunneling underground, the world itself will still appear perfectly pristine to the surface dwellers.

Since you figured out how to do moving blocks with your MFFS mod, I'm sure you can figure out how to keep this guy moving smoothly, which is why I posit it to you, since I think the only other mod out there with anything remotely close would be Steve's Carts 2, and that requires tracks, wheras yours can be a tracked (as in tank tracks) vehicle.

 

[Not_Steve]

I would love to see an auto cobble gen
something that gives 1 obsidian per bucket of water and bucket of lava
some advancements to the robit
cross/inter dimensional energy transfer

 

[PierceSG]

@Aidan, I know this isn't about UE and it's other mods but I need help. I am not getting answers on the calclavia forums.

Right now, I got some issues with UE's Basic Components. When I want to craft the bronze/steel plates for the circuits, they only requires TiCo's paper stacks.
After I remove TiCo, it now wants Aluminium Ingots from EmasherCore(Engineer's Toolbox).
With Emasher's mod all removed, the bronze plate is now requesting for 4 bronze ingots from Basic Components, which is good but now the Steel Plate wants Tin Ingots from RotaryCraft.
And finally with RotaryCraft removed as well, I've got Steel Plate asking for Steel Ingots from Basic Components.

Can you or anyone with the knowledge on how to solve this issue help me with it? I really do not want to remove those mods.

 

[Not_Steve]

@Aidan, I know this isn't about UE and it's other mods but I need help. I am not getting answers on the calclavia forums.

Right now, I got some issues with UE's Basic Components. When I want to craft the bronze/steel plates for the circuits, they only requires TiCo's paper stacks.
After I remove TiCo, it now wants Aluminium Ingots from EmasherCore(Engineer's Toolbox).
With Emasher's mod all removed, the bronze plate is now requesting for 4 bronze ingots from Basic Components, which is good but now the Steel Plate wants Tin Ingots from RotaryCraft.
And finally with RotaryCraft removed as well, I've got Steel Plate asking for Steel Ingots from Basic Components.

Can you or anyone with the knowledge on how to solve this issue help me with it? I really do not want to remove those mods.

look into the configs and change the item id conflicts

 

[PierceSG]

Thing is, I've changed the item ID for TiCo's paper stacks and the recipe for the bronze and steel plates will still request for paper stacks until I pulled the mod out. Then they started asking for materials from other mods that isn't the correct stuff.

 

[Not_Steve]

Thing is, I've changed the item ID for TiCo's paper stacks and the recipe for the bronze and steel plates will still request for paper stacks until I pulled the mod out. Then they started asking for materials from other mods that isn't the correct stuff.

look at the configs for those mods and change those item ids

 

[Aidan]

Bins are all done, thanks for the idea guys

I love that idea of liquid dirt, that should theoretically be not too hard to implement.
As for a miner...I like the idea of not making ugly holes on the surface too. Something like IC2's miner would be cool, but like @MrJeff said, it should replace the blocks after it mines them. Maybe an auto-miner where you simply tell it what blocks to mine, and it will immediately get to work. Shouldn't be too hard to do...you could set it's max mining range, etc. What do you think?

 

[PierceSG]

Looks very nice and your idea of a miner is cool too. Maybe also add an inventory where the mined resources do not go to but rather it is for you to place blocks you want the miner to refill with. And maybe give a config entry for a setting that if you do not have enough blocks to refill, it will not work?

 

[ShneekeyTheLost]

Bins are all done, thanks for the idea guys

I love that idea of liquid dirt, that should theoretically be not too hard to implement.
As for a miner...I like the idea of not making ugly holes on the surface too. Something like IC2's miner would be cool, but like @MrJeff said, it should replace the blocks after it mines them. Maybe an auto-miner where you simply tell it what blocks to mine, and it will immediately get to work. Shouldn't be too hard to do...you could set it's max mining range, etc. What do you think?

How about this:

The miner itself has an inventory into which you may place 'filler' blocks... be it dirt, cobble... whatever. Whenever you mine out a block, it replaces that with one of the blocks in the 'filler' inventory. Any blocks it mines, will auto-eject into an adjacent inventory or pipe-like apparatus. If it doesn't have an inventory to spit into, then it will store it and 'jam', stopping all production until it can be cleared by giving it an inventory to go into.

The only problem here will be compatibility with other mods. Yes, you can put in a config file and options for finding ID's, but that can get quite cumbersome in a mod pack like, for example, Resonant Rise where you've got tons of mods adding in ores you would want. So perhaps a blacklist rather than a whitelist? Or a config flag for which one you prefer?

 

[MrJeff]

Or, you could do all of the configuration in the machine itself. If you want it to mine something, you put it in the configuration section. That way, you have to get diamond the old fashioned way at least once before you can automatically gather the rest in an area. No worrying about config files, if you have it in block form, you can request it's extraction.

EDIT: I guess Diamond ore would have to accept a diamond for configuration... as it means you would have to silktouch everything before you can extract it. Then again..... maybe that's another balancing method.

 

[Aidan]

Or, you could do all of the configuration in the machine itself. If you want it to mine something, you put it in the configuration section. That way, you have to get diamond the old fashioned way at least once before you can automatically gather the rest in an area. No worrying about config files, if you have it in block form, you can request it's extraction.

EDIT: I guess Diamond ore would have to accept a diamond for configuration... as it means you would have to silktouch everything before you can extract it. Then again..... maybe that's another balancing method.

Or we could have the miner require three diamonds.

 

[TheAbstractHippo]

Why not have the Miner fill in the hole with Liquid Dirt? :/

 

[Steel]

Or, you could do all of the configuration in the machine itself. If you want it to mine something, you put it in the configuration section. That way, you have to get diamond the old fashioned way at least once before you can automatically gather the rest in an area. No worrying about config files, if you have it in block form, you can request it's extraction.

EDIT: I guess Diamond ore would have to accept a diamond for configuration... as it means you would have to silktouch everything before you can extract it. Then again..... maybe that's another balancing method.

I actually kind of like the limit on getting a silk-touch version of an ore before it can be mined automagically. Setting it up to get normal ores like iron or gold is easy. But redstone, diamond, coal, and other blocks that break require extra setup and investment.

 

[glepet1962]

I kind of like the idea of leaving behind a path of destruction as we use technology and machines to search and retrieve the precious metals we need for our advancement. Setting down a block, powering it, walking away only to return with a chest full of goodies and no trace left behind seems a bit too clinical or sanitary. Just my opinion.
How about a block (multiblock) that you set down, most likely underground at a level where most of the valuables you are wanting, and turned on. It 'scans' for ore densities and then uses a laser to extract and retrieve the items, but also collecting the other blocks it lasered to get to the said ores. When done there would be a bunch of tunnels left over that the laser bore through to get to the ores. Whatever blocks the laser fired through to get to the ores would be collected but near as much as a quarry would collect.

 

[PierceSG]

Please ignore my previous questions regarding Basic Components, apparently the version I've DLed earlier was bugged and re-DLing the new one fixed all my problems.
Thanks for putting up with me and all the advices you all gave.

 

[Steel]

Bins are all done, thanks for the idea guys

I love that idea of liquid dirt, that should theoretically be not too hard to implement.
As for a miner...I like the idea of not making ugly holes on the surface too. Something like IC2's miner would be cool, but like @MrJeff said, it should replace the blocks after it mines them. Maybe an auto-miner where you simply tell it what blocks to mine, and it will immediately get to work. Shouldn't be too hard to do...you could set it's max mining range, etc. What do you think?

That is one sexy looking teaser. I take it that the number is the quantity stored, but what are the boxes on either side of the numbers? How come the cobblestone bin has green boxes vs the black boxes of dirt and wood?

 

[Vaygrim]

I love that idea of liquid dirt, that should theoretically be not too hard to implement.
As for a miner...I like the idea of not making ugly holes on the surface too. Something like IC2's miner would be cool, but like @MrJeff said, it should replace the blocks after it mines them. Maybe an auto-miner where you simply tell it what blocks to mine, and it will immediately get to work. Shouldn't be too hard to do...you could set it's max mining range, etc. What do you think?

Glad you like the Liquid Dirt idea!

In regards to an auto-miner, why not take queues from the Enderthermic Pump from Extra-Utilities; it pumps lava source blocks and replaces each block removed with either smooth stone or cobblestone. It does this to prevent lag stemming from flowing liquids. You could have your "Mekanism Miner" basically pull blocks within range, and if you supply it with cobblestone blocks it will swap out each 'mined ore' with a cobblestone block (or maybe even smooth stone / dirt?). Maybe have it range-adjustable, and the larger the range.. the more power it consumes?

However it ends up working, I firmly believe that it shouldn't leave behind massive holes in the landscape.

 

[Zenthon_127]

Glad you like the Liquid Dirt idea!

In regards to an auto-miner, why not take queues from the Enderthermic Pump from Extra-Utilities; it pumps lava source blocks and replaces each block removed with either smooth stone or cobblestone. It does this to prevent lag stemming from flowing liquids. You could have your "Mekanism Miner" basically pull blocks within range, and if you supply it with cobblestone blocks it will swap out each 'mined ore' with a cobblestone block (or maybe even smooth stone / dirt?). Maybe have it range-adjustable, and the larger the range.. the more power it consumes?

However it ends up working, I firmly believe that it shouldn't leave behind massive holes in the landscape.

This right here is amazing. What if it had an adjustable radius (circular from the block up to something like 32) and power input, ignored dirt and replaced non-dirt blocks with dirt/liquid dirt?