Mekanism: Feature Request Thread

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Vaygrim

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Jul 29, 2019
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Someone has probably already asked but could we get Forge Multipart support for the universal cables, that would be awesome!

If I remember correctly.. someone on the GitHub for Mekanism started messing with Forge MultiPart compatibility, and actually got it working in a test environment. No indication in a while on what progress was made tho..
 

DaWhiskers

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Jul 29, 2019
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While loving the idea of a Mek Miner, thinking in a 'non BC world' mindset, the quarry has its uses for the early game as a mass resource generator for not just the valuable ores. Going the IC2 miner style has its perks for those not wanting to destroy the landscape, but there are times, I want that landscape destroyed, and as such a Miner that clears like the quarry is useful.

More useful would be the equivalent of a quarry, but with a don't mine lower than a user choice Y co-ordinate... Want to level that nearby hill? The Mek Quarry has you covered. Want to carve out that large underground room? The Mek Quarry has you covered.

Yes, it's very similar to the filler (read: almost identical), but the BC filler at times has it uses (and is one of the only 2 reasons I install BC these days, the other being the quarry).

The idea of the liquid mud is fantastic, and something I miss from early days playing 'Better than Wolves'. The bucket of concrete made filling large holes so much easier. Fill the hole with liquid, liquid sets to solid block, hole filled.
 
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MrJeff

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Jul 29, 2019
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Hopefully, the configuration panel would let us remove things other then ore. One of the suggestions was a pane to place items to remove: So if you wanted Iron Ore, you put Iron Ore in the configuration pane. If you want Stone, you put Stone.

I do like the height-select. Maybe it could be even an upper and lower range? So if you only want copper, you can lower your energy use by only searching the copper range.
 
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Vaygrim

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Jul 29, 2019
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Had a conversation with Aidan C. Brady last night in the #Mekanism IRC channel regarding the MekMiner, and I've got some great details to share with everyone.

Basically the MekMiner will be a "Targeted Miner", using teleportation technology and scanners to zero in on ores or other target blocks within its specified search area. Mining speed can be upgraded, as can internal energy storage and scan radius. It will have a 'Target' slot and a 'Swap Block' slot in the GUI in addition to 27 inventory slots. The "Target" slot is where you can specify a specific block for the MekMiner to fetch for you, with the addition of being able to specify an Ore Dictionary wildcard if you want (like "ore*). The "Swap" slot you can optionally use to swap out fetched blocks with other blocks (like .. replacing ore blocks with stone or even glowstone), with the 27 block internal inventory used to hold a stock of this block type for swapping (similar to a Buildcraft Builder).

Here is the real trick to the MekMiner; while it is a 'targetted miner' you can actually specify for it to mine all "Stone" within its search area (as well as Sand, Gravel, Clay, Dirt or even Grass blocks). So unlike the MFR Laser Drill, the MekMiner is not limited to just pulling up ores and resources. Everything pulled up will be 'silk touched' versions of that ore.

It will be a single block machine, but does take up more than one block of space once fully 'deployed'. It will also auto-output everything it mines to adjacent inventories.

If you have any questions about this, feel free to swing by the #Mekanism IRC channel or just ask away here in this thread. I'm sure Aidan will be able to answer any further questions.
 

Aidan

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Jul 29, 2019
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Here's what I have so far.

It's a search and destroy system. By default, there are no filters, and the miner will therefore not function. The user can specify a minimum Y and maximum Y value, as well as a defined range. Note that the user can also apply speed and energy upgrades as necessary. After this, the user can enter the filter menu and select which filter to use. It could be as simple as an "ore*" OreDict filter, or you could use defined ItemStack filters for different items you want mined. As soon as you hit "calculate," the machine will initiate a search thread which will search through every single block in the defined radius and Y range. It will put all blocks that the filters define into a set, and this will be passed to the miner. The miner will then begin ejecting these blocks with a speed relative to the amount of speed upgrades installed. Note that the miner can replace blocks it finds with the defined replace block, and it will take these from either it's 27 slot inventory, or if configured in the GUI, inventories on it's right or left side. It will store the blocks it mines in it's inventory, and will automatically eject them into an inventory on it's back side if configured to do so. Note that it can also push directly into Logistical Transporters. At maximum speed, it will be ejecting 20 blocks per second. You will not be able to configure filters, min or max y values, or radius after initial configuration - you will need to press the "reset" button on the GUI to reset the search thread and set. Once reset, you can reconfigure it's values, and then just press "Run" again to calculate and start mining.

This is going to take a long time to polish, but I'll keep you guys updated. :)
 

Vaygrim

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Jul 29, 2019
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Here's what I have so far.

It's a search and destroy system. By default, there are no filters, and the miner will therefore not function. The user can specify a minimum Y and maximum Y value, as well as a defined range. Note that the user can also apply speed and energy upgrades as necessary. After this, the user can enter the filter menu and select which filter to use. It could be as simple as an "ore*" OreDict filter, or you could use defined ItemStack filters for different items you want mined. As soon as you hit "calculate," the machine will initiate a search thread which will search through every single block in the defined radius and Y range. It will put all blocks that the filters define into a set, and this will be passed to the miner. The miner will then begin ejecting these blocks with a speed relative to the amount of speed upgrades installed. Note that the miner can replace blocks it finds with the defined replace block, and it will take these from either it's 27 slot inventory, or if configured in the GUI, inventories on it's right or left side. It will store the blocks it mines in it's inventory, and will automatically eject them into an inventory on it's back side if configured to do so. Note that it can also push directly into Logistical Transporters. At maximum speed, it will be ejecting 20 blocks per second. You will not be able to configure filters, min or max y values, or radius after initial configuration - you will need to press the "reset" button on the GUI to reset the search thread and set. Once reset, you can reconfigure it's values, and then just press "Run" again to calculate and start mining.

This is going to take a long time to polish, but I'll keep you guys updated. :)
I am pretty sure this is going to be an amazing addition to Mekanism, Aidan!
 

DaWhiskers

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Jul 29, 2019
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It could be as simple as an "ore*" OreDict filter

Please let it support just " * " as a filter ;)

Also, is the radius actually going to be circular, or will it count a diagonal as a single block?

I'm just envisioning using it to punch bore holes into the ground (a choice between round and circular holes would be fantastic).
 

Vaygrim

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Jul 29, 2019
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Please let it support just " * " as a filter ;)

Also, is the radius actually going to be circular, or will it count a diagonal as a single block?

I'm just envisioning using it to punch bore holes into the ground (a choice between round and circular holes would be fantastic).

Just as a note, the Arcane Bore from Thaumcraft does a pretty supreme job of punching circular holes in the landscape, and it can be fired vertically OR horizontally (some folks do not realize that). Size of the 'tube' bored out can even be adjusted based upon enchantments you have on the pick axe plugged into the Arcane Bore. (Just an FYI for something you can use NOW, while the MekMiner is being worked on.)
 

DaWhiskers

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Jul 29, 2019
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Just as a note, the Arcane Bore from Thaumcraft does a pretty supreme job of punching circular holes in the landscape, and it can be fired vertically OR horizontally (some folks do not realize that). Size of the 'tube' bored out can even be adjusted based upon enchantments you have on the pick axe plugged into the Arcane Bore. (Just an FYI for something you can use NOW, while the MekMiner is being worked on.)

I could, if I had Thaumcraft actually installed...
 

Yusunoha

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Jul 29, 2019
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excuse me for being extremely lazy, but what about an upgrade that you could attach to the block, like you can do with upgrades on the steve cart's cart assembler, and when given a bucket of lava and water, it'll automatically create cobblestone/stone which it uses to replace the ores with. with this you don't have to worry about taking around a bag of cobblestone for the miner to use. the miner will have it's own cobblestone generator, and will only generate cobblestone when it needs it.
 

Vaygrim

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Jul 29, 2019
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excuse me for being extremely lazy, but what about an upgrade that you could attach to the block, like you can do with upgrades on the steve cart's cart assembler, and when given a bucket of lava and water, it'll automatically create cobblestone/stone which it uses to replace the ores with. with this you don't have to worry about taking around a bag of cobblestone for the miner to use. the miner will have it's own cobblestone generator, and will only generate cobblestone when it needs it.

You want to add... a Cobblestone Generator into a QUARRY replacement? Wow.. that's super lazy alright.
 

Yusunoha

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Jul 29, 2019
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You want to add... a Cobblestone Generator into a QUARRY replacement? Wow.. that's super lazy alright.

yes. I know it sounds really lazy, but the miner can be configured to only mine ores. if you want to replace those ores with blocks, you need those replacement blocks. you can put items into the inventory of the machine, or put a chest besides it, but it requires you to be carrying those items with you. if there was an upgrade you could add onto the miner, it'd only require you to be carrying that upgrade instead of a bag of blocks...
 

Vaygrim

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Jul 29, 2019
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yes. I know it sounds really lazy, but the miner can be configured to only mine ores. if you want to replace those ores with blocks, you need those replacement blocks. you can put items into the inventory of the machine, or put a chest besides it, but it requires you to be carrying those items with you. if there was an upgrade you could add onto the miner, it'd only require you to be carrying that upgrade instead of a bag of blocks...

Why not just stick a cobble generator NEXT to it? Extra Utilities has one, Thermal Expansion has one, Engineer's Toolbox has one... they're all over the place. Let's not start polluting a miner with features like this.
 

Yusunoha

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Jul 29, 2019
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I don't know about you guys, but when I make suggestions for mods, I keep in mind there are people who might play the mod by itself, without other mods. so what if you didn't have Extra Utilities, Ender Chests, Thermal Expansion, Engineer's Toolbox... yes, you can build a cobblestone generator near the miner, but it wouldn't be very efficient. that's why I'm suggesting a simple upgrade instead of a whole new machine that could be a multiblock and sorts. if you can only make suggestions for a mod if it hasn't been done by another mod, then we might aswell stop making any kind of suggestions, because it's basically already done by a gazillion other mods.
 

Vaygrim

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Jul 29, 2019
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Apologies, I just don't know anyone that only plays with a single mod at a time. Even mod-minimalists that I've met use nearly a dozen different mods, usually containing things like Extra Utilities and Open Blocks. (shrug) I definitely see the merits of having a mod be able to 'stand alone' to a certain degree, but it seems like it would make more sense to have a stand alone cobble-generator block (like the Igneous Extruder in Thermal Expansion) that could be used outside of the MekMiner OR used with it.
 

Yusunoha

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Jul 29, 2019
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Apologies, I just don't know anyone that only plays with a single mod at a time. Even mod-minimalists that I've met use nearly a dozen different mods, usually containing things like Extra Utilities and Open Blocks. (shrug) I definitely see the merits of having a mod be able to 'stand alone' to a certain degree, but it seems like it would make more sense to have a stand alone cobble-generator block (like the Igneous Extruder in Thermal Expansion) that could be used outside of the MekMiner OR used with it.

I was thinking about an upgrade for the miner because the idea was to keep the miner a 1-block machine, but a cobblestone generator block would have more uses. I'd really like to once play a modlist with only UE mods installed, it'd really seem interesting to do so. right now I'm playing a magic centered modlist and it really makes you think outside of the usual builds you do. . I'm not saying general modpacks are bad, but I'm a player who goes as efficient as possible, thus reaching end-game pretty fast. but I can't help myself but miss certain things from mods while playing a centered modlist. right now I'd love it if Thaumcraft would add some sort of barrel block for mass storage.
 

TheAbstractHippo

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Jul 29, 2019
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Kind of off the autominer topic, but can there be configs for turning off the sounds of the individual machines (unless they're already there)? When I'm wearing headphones, the Electric Furnace really hurts my ears because it's so high-pitched.