[1.7.10][LISTED] InfiTech 2 Modpack v3.2.21 [HQM][GregTech balanced hard-mode modpack]

[EconBrony]

Finished the new wing to the castle. Working on the basement for it now.

 

[codewarrior0]

Can the Oil Cracker Hatches be swapped sides, or is it fixed? Naturally my setup wants input on the right and output on the left, which is opposite of what the book says. Also, I'd like the energy savings but getting steam from my tank to the Cracker is gonna be messy and I hate messy piping.

The input and output hatches on the sides have fixed positions and cannot be swapped. The middle hatch can be anywhere on the middle ring.

Since the Oil Cracker won't be running constantly (at least, my cracker sits idle more than 3/4 the time even when being supplied by an EV-powered Distillation Tower that runs constantly...), may I suggest supplying it with Hydrogen instead? The bonus output still amounts to bonus energy in the form of extra fuel.

 

[asb3pe]

The input and output hatches on the sides have fixed positions and cannot be swapped. The middle hatch can be anywhere on the middle ring.

Since the Oil Cracker won't be running constantly (at least, my cracker sits idle more than 3/4 the time even when being supplied by an EV-powered Distillation Tower that runs constantly...), may I suggest supplying it with Hydrogen instead? The bonus output still amounts to bonus energy in the form of extra fuel.

That advice comes at a good time, because I haven't put the Cracker together yet but I did get my de-sulfurization of oil finished. I began by using electrolysis of water to get my hydrogen but once I realized I could electrolyze the methane output instead to also get hydrogen (along with carbon for future nitro-diesel processing), I switched over to that. But both methods produce an excess of hydrogen, which will mesh perfectly with your advice about using it up in the Cracker. Thanks for the tip!

 

[codewarrior0]

Of course! Don't forget you'll need hydrogen later on when you start to refine Tungsten. I saved up nearly an entire railcraft tank full of Methane (12,000 buckets or so), and ended up using almost all of it to refine Tungsten from Tungstate and Scheelite.

... so the answer is (as always), don't void anything or throw stuff away, everything will eventually be utilized somehow, someway.

 

[Herrminator1994]

I was working on my de-sulfurization processing out of the Distillation Tower when my base blew up. LOL But the main problem I was having with that processing chain is that if I don't insert a full stack of 64 cells into my Chemical Reactors (in other words, if I don't stuff the entire processing chain to the gills with cells to fill every slot) then eventually some machines run out while other machines have too many cells in them. Know what I mean? I use Ender IO Item Conduit to send my stuff around from machine to machine, however even when using "Round Robin" mode for the conduits, they still don't ensure even distribution of the cells to all machines equally. Not only that, some machines work faster than others, so they get delpleted faster, and hence even "Round Robin" mode won't work forever. The only solution I can come up with is to fill the entire system up with cells so there are no empty spots for more... this way, when a machine turns on and does processing, the only slot available for returning cells is in that machine, ensuring all machines always stay full of materials. But that's a complete waste of materials, because I need a ton of cells to fill every machine and they're basically only there to take up space.

Not sure if anyone will understand what I'm talking about but while I'm waiting for my whole world to be restored from backup (lol) I might as well post and see if anyone has any tips. Is there any way to only put 1 cell in a machine, and only insert one more cell if it detects the machine is now empty? I don't need 64 items in the machine, I really only need 1... but if I only put one in, and something screws up, the whole processing chain stops, which is unacceptable.

I use logistics pipes
The problem with round robin is that you have multiple processes that happen at different frequencies, but require the same inputs. Logistics pipes are expensive (SO MANY DIAMONDS) but awesomely capable.

 

[targetingyou78]

Of course! Don't forget you'll need hydrogen later on when you start to refine Tungsten. I saved up nearly an entire railcraft tank full of Methane (12,000 buckets or so), and ended up using almost all of it to refine Tungsten from Tungstate and Scheelite.

Processing Tungsten just feels so far away... I can't see myself even getting to titanium until after finals xD Also, hydrogen is pretty easy since you can just distill water into it, it's probably not bad to use for output boost.

 

[Herrminator1994]

Processing Tungsten just feels so far away... I can't see myself even getting to titanium until after finals xD Also, hydrogen is pretty easy since you can just distill water into it, it's probably not bad to use for output boost.

I'm into EV now, probably have the tech to process tungsten. I just haven't found any yet.

 

[asb3pe]

Of course! Don't forget you'll need hydrogen later on when you start to refine Tungsten. I saved up nearly an entire railcraft tank full of Methane (12,000 buckets or so), and ended up using almost all of it to refine Tungsten from Tungstate and Scheelite.

What? I don't remember needing hydrogen to process Tungsten! It must have been changed, similar to the Titanium recipe which isn't terribly difficult but is certainly more complex than it used to be in this modpack. Yeah, now I see what you are saying, the Scheelite recipe requires 7 buckets (!) of hydrogen for each 7 dusts processed. Yikes. Thanks for that heads-up, definitely need to get ready for that. Finding a Scheelite ore vein is now the #1 priority on my list since I've pretty much done everything (tech-wise anyways) prior to obtaining Tungstensteel...

I had to spend one week of digging to find a Grossular vein so I could make Stainless... so I fully expect finding a Scheelite vein to take double that amount, or maybe even 4 times that amount. A full month of digging? LOL and sigh But there's no way to avoid it, Tungsten is now my main roadblock to progress.

So at least now I know the "hydrogen sink" (the place where all this excess hydrogen can get used up). What is a similar "oxygen sink"? I keep making steel to use up all my oxygen because I just don't have enough drums to store it and I even made a good sized railcraft tank and that's full of oxygen too. LOL What processing chain will I used up all this oxygen in? Need ideas so I can keep planning ahead, your information about Scheelite was terrific for planning ahead.

 

[codewarrior0]

Steel is a great way to use it up. You'll need it for Tungstensteel for IV era machines, and also for making Blue Steel which you'll need for every kind of Large Turbine. When you start to build a serious ore processing setup, it will be mostly LV machines for power efficiency, and that will eat up a lot of the Steel. (Especially once you start using Processing Arrays...) If you build a Diesel Engine, you'll want to have a small but steady supply of Oxygen for it - it triples the engine's output and gives 50% more energy per fuel. Go ahead and use it to anneal all of your Copper in the Arc Furnace, too.

Oxygen is also used in making Nitrogen Dioxide which goes into Nitric Acid, which is used to make ITNT and to obtain Platinum Sludge. The Nitrogen Dioxide can also be used to make Rocket Fuel to power your EnderIO Machines.

Spoiler

(Rocket Fuel can be burned in a Gas Turbine too, but its fuel value is so high compared to what it's made from that it's basically free energy. Expect to see this fixed in a GT update soon.)

It makes Sodium Persulfate, which is mostly useful for getting large amounts of Zinc from any Tin and Zinc ores you find. It can extract a few other metals too, but they aren't as scarce as Zinc might be.

It's used in the "advanced" recipe for making Polyethylene, which uses Oxygen Cells and tiny piles of Titanium Dust to make twice as much PE from Naphtha, and nine times faster too!

My oxygen tank has been going up and down all game. Right now it's down to 40 buckets, yesterday it was at 300 buckets after I processed a bunch of Scheelite, and the day before that it was completely empty after I made a large batch of Tungstensteel.

 

[asb3pe]

I'm shocked and amazed, but we're not even halfway thru the first morning of the day I began looking for Scheelite... 500 blocks from my base, in the main tunnel I was making in preparation for many branch tunnels, I ran into a small lava lake (at elevation 35, kinda odd) which slowed my progress. I found the top of it, filled it in with cobble, then removed all the cobble (one of my many quirks is not liking to leave cobblestone placed anywhere in the world LOL)... on the VERY LAST PIECE of cobble that I removed... directly under it (so it was under the lava)... was a single Scheelite Ore. And you just know how I felt at that moment - as opposed to yesterday's moment when my base exploded in a smoking crater... LOL The highs and the lows of the game, gotta love all of it!

 

[asb3pe]

It's used in the "advanced" recipe for making Polyethylene, which uses Oxygen Cells and tiny piles of Titanium Dust to make twice as much PE from Naphtha, and nine times faster too!

Thanks for all that list of stuff requiring oxygen. But I'm glad you brought this one up, because I'm pretty shocked anyone would consider using that Polyethylene recipe with the Titanium dusts. Yes, I certainly have been dealing with a shortage of the plastics because using compressed air is very slow and making Naphtha is also pretty slow. But in the two days since I got my Distillation Tower running with full de-sulfur processing, I've already made 875 sheets of Polyethylene (13+ stacks) just using compressed air cells. I just let it run overnight since I'm on a server.

Now if you're gonna tell me (since you clearly have great experience at this modpack) that I'm gonna need way more than just 875 plastic sheets, I'll be kinda shocked... but I'll certainly listen. I can make another 875 sheets any time I need to. However, my main point here is... to "waste" Titanium (even the tiny dusts) on making plastic seems almost criminal to me. LOL Either titanium-via-tiny rutile dusts isn't the only way to make it, or else titanium isn't as important as I think it is. I've already ruled out any idea of ever making the Large Titanium Boiler, simply because that also seems like a huge waste of a very limited resource. To waste that resource making plastic seems like a terrible decision, but perhaps I'm missing some info (as I usually am).

 

[codewarrior0]

All I will say is, after you build an Advanced Miner II over a Bauxite vein, Titanium will no longer be a scarce resource.

 

[asb3pe]

All I will say is, after you build an Advanced Miner II over a Bauxite vein, Titanium will no longer be a scarce resource.

That's really all you need to say. I've been wondering about that, how much better the Miner is for the rare ores. In fact, you just made me think clearing out this Scheelite vein wasn't my wisest move, since I probably could have used this as my perfect opportunity to build the Miner and learn how to use it. Tungsten is certainly one of the rarer materials in worldgen. I just decided to stop mining by hand and go make the Miner. Thanks for a timely tip!

 

[asb3pe]

I just realized I'll have to chunk load the 96x96 block area that the Oil Drilling Rig is working on, is that correct? That sucks because we're only allowed one chunk loader on the server, and it's not even supposed to be 96x96 size (5x5 chunks max) for our base, but I guess I can use the chunk loader at the oil well and use myself as my base chunk-loader (i.e. good old AFK'ing).

Can I just chunk load the single chunk that the Oil Drilling Rig is in, and so even tho the whole 96x96 area won't be loaded, will it still detect the oil and pump it properly? That would allow me to use a Personal Anchor from Railcraft to load the one chunk for a cost of one ender pearl (acceptable, since I found 10 Ender Lily seeds which put all my enderpearl worries to rest).

 

[Sven "flamestrider"]

I just realized I'll have to chunk load the 96x96 block area that the Oil Drilling Rig is working on, is that correct? That sucks because we're only allowed one chunk loader on the server, and it's not even supposed to be 96x96 size (5x5 chunks max) for our base, but I guess I can use the chunk loader at the oil well and use myself as my base chunk-loader (i.e. good old AFK'ing).

Can I just chunk load the single chunk that the Oil Drilling Rig is in, and so even tho the whole 96x96 area won't be loaded, will it still detect the oil and pump it properly? That would allow me to use a Personal Anchor from Railcraft to load the one chunk for a cost of one ender pearl (acceptable, since I found 10 Ender Lily seeds which put all my enderpearl worries to rest).

Afaik you only need to load the Oil rig for it to work.

 

[Nezraddin]

As more as I read here as more I get worried, heh.
Exploding bases, exploding machines when you use the wrong tool, so many things to consider to not waste too much ressources which you need later... which probably will make my head explode at some time *chuckles*
Everywhere explosions!

But to not sound too weird in this posting:
I only found a very old information to this, but the best water-source once you start into the steam-age is still the ender IO reservoir or the thirsty tank of Thaumcraft or do I oversee another method?
(tried first to find one of these watersprings of buildcraft, I once heard they're infinie, but then saw that the pump is disabled, hehe)

 

[Pyure]

As more as I read here as more I get worried, heh.
Exploding bases, exploding machines when you use the wrong tool, so many things to consider to not waste too much ressources which you need later... which probably will make my head explode at some time *chuckles*
Everywhere explosions!

But to not sound too weird in this posting:
I only found a very old information to this, but the best water-source once you start into the steam-age is still the ender IO reservoir or the thirsty tank of Thaumcraft or do I oversee another method?
(tried first to find one of these watersprings of buildcraft, I once heard they're infinie, but then saw that the pump is disabled, hehe)

Weaker but cheaper (and earlier) is the Railcraft Water Tank.

I have a pair of these, they're still getting the job done in the LV stage.

 

[Nezraddin]

Weaker but cheaper (and earlier) is the Railcraft Water Tank.

I have a pair of these, they're still getting the job done in the LV stage.

Ah guess I have to hope to be in the right biome then (plains is good enough I hope). Last time I used them it was a quiet dry biome and there they're horrible slow in producing water. ^^"

Thanks for the hint about them and LV-stage. Just entered it and guess will stay in it for a while. (that is if the first steam-boiler is already considered LV, else I'm still in pre-LV)

 

[Sven "flamestrider"]

As more as I read here as more I get worried, heh.
Exploding bases, exploding machines when you use the wrong tool, so many things to consider to not waste too much ressources which you need later... which probably will make my head explode at some time *chuckles*
Everywhere explosions!

But to not sound too weird in this posting:
I only found a very old information to this, but the best water-source once you start into the steam-age is still the ender IO reservoir or the thirsty tank of Thaumcraft or do I oversee another method?
(tried first to find one of these watersprings of buildcraft, I once heard they're infinie, but then saw that the pump is disabled, hehe)

I usually start out with the railcraft tank, and upgrade to enderIO (for the higher water production) once I get enough netherquartz. The thirsty tank is also doable, or using a LV, or higher, pump to suck up an ocean is also a possible route to take.
I never go the route of rain collection since I generally sleep away most rain.
The railcraft tank is the cheapest since you only need about 12 iron for it... and slimes spawn in marshes.
Place the railcraft tank in a river biome, those are plentiful almost anywhere. It increases their production speed.

 

[Pyure]

(that is if the first steam-boiler is already considered LV, else I'm still in pre-LV)

Steam Boiler? That's steam age tech.
Steam Turbine? That's entry-level LV