FTB Unleashed novice, need help with mining, power generation, and what to do next

[Markhor]

Ok, so I got a basic understanding of FTB Unleashed..most of my experience comes from Hexxit/Tekkit however, so there are differences. I also have a portal question that's vanilla minecraft, but, I'll sneak it in here.

So far I am using a mining turtle, minus chunk loader, to dig out a huge section of land..I can make a quarry, but cannot successfully power it yet. I am swimming in cobblestone, and would like to know..is using a Recycler on it really that good? I was told it would make scrap, BUT, looking at the recipe for Scrap..nothing generates it. Eh.

For my power system, I have 4 solar panels, just basic ones, powering a BatBox, which in turn is being used(on demand) for a compressor, macerator, electric furnace, and also an electrical engine to power a liquid transposer(unused) and magma crucible, WHICH THEN powers a geothermal generator. Confusing? Could it be made more efficient?

My turtle that mines has a power issue. Charcoal is no longer an efficient source of power..should I somehow, combining the first and second question, use a charge station? If so, does the normal "excavate" method/operation have a "way at home for certain fuel level"? Or will it just run off at the slightest bit of fuel?

Finally, portal question..I made one! Was able to make obsidian quite easily..but where the first portal put me, I am on a floating island with one tree, nether quartz that falls into lava beneath, and I am confused. I tried reading the Minecraft portal wiki page, but it just confused. Apparently I need to travel several chunks away to make a brand new portal, that connects to a new portal in the Nether..is this true? Is there an easier way of putting it?

Long post is long, I know, but my brain hurts.

edit: wanted to add two things: I am using Netherrack for the Magma Crucible, and I am working on making a pair of Liquid Tesseracts to transport lava back to the overworld, once I can. So I'm gonna start on making that resonant ender, soon as possible

 

[RealSketch]

What to do next: Keep mining until you can power your quarry, then power it, gather supplies and make things such as dartcraft stuff to help you do random things easier and quicker.
Decide where you want your base, mark it out using cobble/dirt then start with a control room or farm.
Create an MFE and a lot more solar panels, maybe upgrade them?
Then the rest is up to you...

 

[Markhor]

What to do next: Keep mining until you can power your quarry, then power it, gather supplies and make things such as dartcraft stuff to help you do random things easier and quicker.
Decide where you want your base, mark it out using cobble/dirt then start with a control room or farm.
Create an MFE and a lot more solar panels, maybe upgrade them?
Then the rest is up to you...

Working on recycler for scrap for mass fabricator to make advanced solar panels. Should I do arrays first?
Dartcraft..Will research it some more. I only know a bit about it, thanks.
MFE is the second tier of energy storage for EU, will make one ASAP. I also have a BatPack I use, if that helps at all.

So MFE, quarry, tons of solar panels, work towards scrap to make UU-matter to make advanced solar panels. Got it.
I'm guessing the Applied Energestics is down the way..but is there a less resource intensive way of sorting out cobblestone for scrap production? Or is this what you mean by DartcrafT? Will look it up now

edit: oh. dartcraft..force stuff. Ok I'm gonna see if I can make a Grinder Pickaxe. That'd be nice..I think. Will do some looking.

 

[MigukNamja]

The Electrical Engine is not very efficient at converting EU to MJ. The best way to generate MJ is to use an MJ engine. I'd start off with a Thermal Expansion Steam Engine. From there, I'd progress to building a tree farm of some sort, whether from Mine Factory Reloaded (MFR) or Forestry. There are many YouTube videos on this.

Once you have lot of wood, turn that into charcoal or else use a Sawmill to make planks, then get a small Railcraft Boiler started. Start with an iron-based Low Pressure (LP) boiler. A 2x2 solid-fueled firebox and a 2x2x4 (4 in height) boiler directly on top should be more than enough. Make sure you supply it with plenty of water and charcoal or wooden planks. I would use Factorization barrels with vanilla hoppers - they are simple and cheap.

As for the engines to convert steam into power, I'd use Railcraft Commercial Steam Engines. Attach them directly to the boiler and put TE2 energy conduits on them. You may need to wrench them to re-orient them properly. You will also need to supply a redstone signal like a lever.

As for the next step, start producing Steel in a Railcraft Blast Furnace by feeding it Iron Plates from a Railcraft Rolling Machine. The most powerful boiler is 3x3 firebox and a 3x3x4 (36 blocks total) on top. This is called a 36HP boiler. You should have plenty enough steam from that to do almost anything with. Use Industrial Steam Engines for that one.

As for quarrying, you can stick with turtles or else switch to the Buildcraft Quarry. The Buildcraft Quarry is best used with landmarks to expand it from the default 9x9 to a massive 64x64 external (62x62 internal). You can simply put a TE2 Energy Conduit on the side of the quarry and a TE2 Item Conduit directly on top. This makes for a compact and easy to move setup.

As for dealing with large quantities of stuff, you probably want to look into Applied Energistics at some point. But, to start off, the BC Diamond Pipes and other pipes are pretty easy to learn and not that expensive. You can void pipe the cobble, dirt, and gravel, and keep everyting else.

Hope this helps.[DOUBLEPOST=1392660910][/DOUBLEPOST]If you're sticking with Solars for power gen, I'd convert from EU to MJ through lava. Use MFR's Lava Fabricator powered by EU to make lava, then feed lava into TE2 Magmatic Engines.

 

[Markhor]

Lots of useful info

Thank you for this; I will work on the Steam engine and the large tree farm now. I got a good number of birch trees planted already, but I need to set up some more later. I need to flatten the land, and consider a planter/harvester/fertilizer combo..or is the Forestry farm more efficient? I don't have time now to research it, so I'll do that later. Gotta go take a test in a class now. Will have plentyo f time later.

I'm working towards a Quarry now. I need more stuff of course..I'm gonna see if I can make that Grinding Pickaxe. Saw it in a video, actually, it looks handy..grinds the ore into dust already..can that be combined with the "superheat" enchant in some way, to grind then smelt automatically?

Thank you all so far. This modpack is vast, but beautiful for sure

 

[MigukNamja]

No need to flatten much at all. Just need 4x4 flat area of dirt to start with.

MFR Planter / Harvester is far easier. You don't need the Fertilizer and keeping it filled with Fertilizer is not easy. Make 1 Harvester and 1 Planter to start off with. It will produce plenty of wood to make charcoal for a few Steam Engines.

As you progress through this world and learn the different mods and mechanics, you can make your world more complicated. But, I'd start off easy at first to learn the concepts.

 

[Markhor]

No need to flatten much at all. Just need 4x4 flat area of dirt to start with.

MFR Planter / Harvester is far easier. You don't need the Fertilizer and keeping it filled with Fertilizer is not easy. Make 1 Harvester and 1 Planter to start off with. It will produce plenty of wood to make charcoal for a few Steam Engines.

As you progress through this world and learn the different mods and mechanics, you can make your world more complicated. But, I'd start off easy at first to learn the concepts.

Thanks. Working on the Harvester first, as we speak, then a Planter. I might also throw in a range upgrader, just because I will use them eventually.

So..DartCraft is kinda fun. Made a heat axe with lumberjack on it..yeah, I know it runs through the durability, but eh.

Now..how do I infuse force to a Power Saw? On the wiki, it says I can..but I put two force nuggets(max level 2 for converting), and now I cannot add Damage..not that it matters. Just curious.

edit: *gasp*. heat pickaxe with grinding makes glass out of stone with same pickaxe on coal makes coal dust..EEEEASY solar panels now, man!

 

[EyeDeck]

You don't need the Fertilizer and keeping it filled with Fertilizer is not easy.

You what?

1. Build a small pen with 8 cows or sheep
2. Stick a sewer (sewage collector? there was a name change at one point) in the middle with a range upgrade big enough to cover the entire pen
3. Pipe the sewage into a composter, providing the composter enough energy to run (it isn't much)
4. Pipe industrial fertilizer out of the composter and into your fertilizer

One animal pen should be enough to supply a small MFR tree farm using large Forestry hybrids or vanilla 2x2 jungle saplings to run with practically no downtime.

 

[MigukNamja]

You what?

1. Build a small pen with 8 cows or sheep
2. Stick a sewer (sewage collector? there was a name change at one point) in the middle with a range upgrade big enough to cover the entire pen
3. Pipe the sewage into a composter, providing the composter enough energy to run (it isn't much)
4. Pipe industrial fertilizer out of the composter and into your fertilizer

One animal pen should be enough to supply a small MFR tree farm using large Forestry hybrids or vanilla 2x2 jungle saplings to run with practically no downtime.

Which requires collecting/herding said animals, building the sewer(s), pipes, composter, providing composter with power, etc.,. It's nice, yes, and will greatly increase the tree growth rate, but I don't recommend it off the bat. Having that rate of wood coming out might not necessarily be a good thing until one has a system setup to handle it. If that run on a chunkloaded server, that would fill up and overflow anything short of a DSU or semi-complex storage system like AE. All in due time.

There is something to be said for keeping it simple and taking it one step at a time.

 

[trajano080]

Thanks. Working on the Harvester first, as we speak, then a Planter. I might also throw in a range upgrader, just because I will use them eventually.

So..DartCraft is kinda fun. Made a heat axe with lumberjack on it..yeah, I know it runs through the durability, but eh.

Now..how do I infuse force to a Power Saw? On the wiki, it says I can..but I put two force nuggets(max level 2 for converting), and now I cannot add Damage..not that it matters. Just curious.

edit: *gasp*. heat pickaxe with grinding makes glass out of stone with same pickaxe on coal makes coal dust..EEEEASY solar panels now, man!

You can try Steve's Carts tree farm. It's preety easy to set up. It doesn't cost much, other than 10-15 diamonds if you want a good one (shouldn't be that hard to get 15 diamonds). It can make charcoal automatically for you (Don't worry, it doesn't take all your wood, it'll use some to make charcoal, and keep the rest), which is really useful, becuase when playing modded minecraft I feel it's to wasteful to use coal for stuff that you can use charcoal for.

 

[Markhor]

Alright. I got myself a rig I am working on now. I got a steam engine powering a pipe system,retrieving items from my mining turtle(voiding dirt and cobblestone, figured that out)..I have a tree farm with a diamon range upgraded harvester on it, working on planter now..there's no clay near me O_O I need to look further out. But thanks, I got most of this set up now.
I also did some centrifuging. Wanted to make a chain of waterproof pipe, but figured there's smarter ways to supply water via pump to a steam engine.

So yeah, infinite water pumping, solar panels being made, mining turtle running constantly..infinite fuel..fun fun. Am I missing something..?

 

[MigukNamja]

So yeah, infinite water pumping, solar panels being made, mining turtle running constantly..infinite fuel..fun fun. Am I missing something..?

Sounds like you're off to a good start ! Plenty of stuff left do:

1. Explore several mods
2. Build fanatic-looking buildings and landscape, power systems, processing system, resource gathering systems, food production systems, magic-centric systems, etc.,.
3. Explore several mods
4. Visit the Nether, kill Ghasts, Blazes and Wither Skeletons
5. Explore several mods
6. Find The End, enter The End, and kill the dragon
7. Explore several mods
8. Summon and kill The Wither Boss
9. Explore several mods

Mods I recommend trying out to see if they fit your style are:

• Tinkerer's Construct
• Thermal Expansion
• Railcraft
• Forestry (Bees and Trees especially)
• MFR (build an MFR Laser - the path to building it is quite fun)
• MachineMuse's Modular Power Suits (MPS)
• MFFS
• ComputerCraft (write you own Lua code !)
• Thaumcraft
• Ars Magica
• Twilight Forest

The thing about modded MC is there is so much content there, made by very creative and motivated people. Some mods are similar to each other. Others are entirely different.

The list above should keep you busy for several months ;-)

 

[RealSketch]

Sounds like you're off to a good start ! Plenty of stuff left do:

1. Explore several mods
2. Build fanatic-looking buildings and landscape, power systems, processing system, resource gathering systems, food production systems, magic-centric systems, etc.,.
3. Explore several mods
4. Visit the Nether, kill Ghasts, Blazes and Wither Skeletons
5. Explore several mods
6. Find The End, enter The End, and kill the dragon
7. Explore several mods
8. Summon and kill The Wither Boss
9. Explore several mods

Mods I recommend trying out to see if they fit your style are:

• Tinkerer's Construct
• Thermal Expansion
• Railcraft
• Forestry (Bees and Trees especially)
• MFR (build an MFR Laser - the path to building it is quite fun)
• MachineMuse's Modular Power Suits (MPS)
• MFFS
• ComputerCraft (write you own Lua code !)
• Thaumcraft
• Ars Magica
• Twilight Forest

The thing about modded MC is there is so much content there, made by very creative and motivated people. Some mods are similar to each other. Others are entirely different.

The list above should keep you busy for several months ;-)

Bees where the only word I took any interest in!
OH THERE SO CUTE!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Markhor]

I am making a carpenter now, to make an apiary to make more honeycomb/beeswax/waterproof piping. My original idea for the steam engines won't work. I require a good bit of pipes..and better storage. I'm gonna hoard quartz and quartz dust, make a very basic ME system because I AM REALLY LAZY AND NEED A MASS STORAGE SYSTEM!

 

[RealSketch]

I am making a carpenter now, to make an apiary to make more honeycomb/beeswax/waterproof piping. My original idea for the steam engines won't work. I require a good bit of pipes..and better storage. I'm gonna hoard quartz and quartz dust, make a very basic ME system because I AM REALLY LAZY AND NEED A MASS STORAGE SYSTEM!

Oh I'm way ahead of you in the ME development process, only one 64k storage and a few Me cables to go and I will be, as they say, "on the line".

 

[Markhor]

Oh I'm way ahead of you in the ME development process, only one 64k storage and a few Me cables to go and I will be, as they say, "on the line".

Lucky you. It costs an insane amount of power, relatively speaking, just to make the redstone golden chipset. heh. I'm just trying to make one part of it..

Now, I need to get glowstone dust. But I fail to make a new portal Nether-side. I think I know how I messed up, but eh. I went 200m from my Overworld portal, made a new one, connected to the same Nether portal..on a floating island that has nothing I can use.

 

[Giddimani]

Oh I'm way ahead of you in the ME development process, only one 64k storage and a few Me cables to go and I will be, as they say, "on the line".

Imo 64k cells aren't resource efficient, I would rather make 3 16k cells and a couple of jabba barrels with storage bus for the items you have a lot (cobble, sand, whatever). That way you have 3x the space for different items with only a marginal addition in power usage.

 

[Markhor]

Nice. I got a controller and chest up myself. Working on a 16k storage cell now. Just the one will do for now. I can always make that large..drive bay thing later..the multiple disk one..whatever it's called, I forgot. Got some glowstone dust, making scrap, might do UU-Matter next for fun. Need to make an MFE still. Quarry is immediate goal, as I can use force gears to make the diamond gears(always low on gold..about 40 diamonds though)

 

[RealSketch]

Nice. I got a controller and chest up myself. Working on a 16k storage cell now. Just the one will do for now. I can always make that large..drive bay thing later..the multiple disk one..whatever it's called, I forgot. Got some glowstone dust, making scrap, might do UU-Matter next for fun. Need to make an MFE still. Quarry is immediate goal, as I can use force gears to make the diamond gears(always low on gold..about 40 diamonds though)

Why not a ME drive? Not very expensive and can store 10x what you can in a chest!

 

[Markhor]

Why not a ME drive? Not very expensive and can store 10x what you can in a chest!

I was afraid it would be too much and I'll look at it now. Made some more Steam Engines..my tree farm is pitiful. I need to make more charcoal, faster. I'm running out lol

edit: also i forgot the name of it..eh