Quarry Needs Flavor, Show Me Your Ideas.

[Bigglesworth]

I was wondering after a bit of searching and the inability to find anything; are their any mods/plans to enhance the quarry?

For example, I wouldn't mind spending a lot or iridium, diamonds, chrome, tungstensteel and other endgame and/or chest-only found sort of materials or perhaps 'ancient engineering blueprints' to enhance the quarry. Some ideas:

Silk Touch Quarry: Same effect as silk touch
Fortune Quarry: Same effect as fortune I-III depending on mats used.
Industrial Quarry: Quarry starts very slowly (1 block per second), gaining speed the longer it runs upto a max of 7 blocks per second (bps) after an hour continuios running. Uses 200% more MJ at top speed (~200MJ/t) than normal Quarry. Top speed configurable in simple GUI. Expensive.
Industrial Quarry II: All of the above, very expensive, plus coolant slot that destroys lava blocks when filled with any of several types of coolant. Lava destruction should take 5-10 seconds to destroy depending on current speed and MJ/t the quarry is receiving, or just the coolant quality
Industrial Quarry III: Final upgrade allows all of IQII plus allows easy placement of the quarry. One of the most expensive items in the game and some mats are only find-able, not craftable. Set the quarry down and click to have a simple GUI with two additions to IQII . Addition 1; Set the size of the quarry to a max of 64. No more setting up with markers. Addition 2; ability to set a depth when you want the quarry to stop digging (like 16). Finally, this quarry is able to take EU and has a built-in Ultra solar panel (ult solar required in crafting) allowing it to run upto full speed.
Smart Quarry: Normal Quarry with built-in wireless power and transporting of items with built in item sorting. Dont want any more damn cobble? Filter it out! SQ is also able to take one of the two available enchants. Top speed capped at 4bps

 

[Vtecem]

This would be best posted on the buildcraft forum I would think. That said, I like the idea and would like something like this as well.

 

[Bavalos]

This sounds pretty cool.

 

[coolfocks]

It sounds pretty awesome and fun.

 

[Futalis]

I think it would be cool if a GUI were added to the quarry block that would allow it to be configurable.

Like for example have it only dig a certain pattern or only to a certain depth. Or perhaps instead of top->down it dug from side to side.

However, in all honesty I feel that quarries are a bit too convenient for resource gathering, your 'improvements' would only make them less balanced.

I'd much rather have increased functionality and configurability.

 

[jatie1]

I hate it when my quarry has no flavor and I spit it out.

On topic: The silk touch one would sound cool. I'm not sure how it would be done though.

 

[Geometry]

I was pondering about the same thing recently and I would gladly countenance this idea. However there are multitudinous amounts of people who would strictly disregard this suggestion on the basis that the Quarry is already indubitably overpowered. Thus to avoid the antipathy this would elicit by most people, the recipes should start off being rather expensive. The silk touch quarry, alone, would grant the ability of doubling certain ore outputs which currently is not possible. Diamonds, for example, I average approximately close to a stack with a 64x64 quarry. With a silk touch quarry, that would double the output which would be considerably a powerful ability. So I propose that your first quarry, the silk touch one, should atleast have the equivalent cost of near the Gravitation Chestplate. Not only would that balance the efficacious capability that the quarry would deem, but a significant amount of more people would acquiesce the idea.

 

[Abdiel]

Use a Thaumcraft Arcane Bore. It uses whatever enchants are present on the pickaxe: silk touch or fortune included.

 

[Futalis]

I was pondering about the same thing recently and I would gladly countenance this idea. However there are multitudinous amounts of people who would strictly disregard this suggestion on the basis that the Quarry is already indubitably overpowered. Thus to avoid the antipathy this would elicit by most people, the recipes should start off being rather expensive. The silk touch quarry, alone, would grant the ability of doubling certain ore outputs which currently is not possible. Diamonds, for example, I average approximately close to a stack with a 64x64 quarry. With a silk touch quarry, that would double the output which would be considerably a powerful ability. So I propose that your first quarry, the silk touch one, should atleast have the equivalent cost of near the Gravitation Chestplate. Not only would that balance the efficacious capability that the quarry would deem, but a significant amount of more people would acquiesce the idea.

No amount of expense of the original recipe would outweigh the OP of the quarry being reusable.

I am extremely unhappy with the gravichest plate and that mod in general. IMHO those items that give 'near'-creative powers should have a seperate durability past electricity.

Quarries, especially the advanced ones that are being considered should wear down and have to be replaced at some point. My friend was able to get almost a stack of diamonds in our minecrack server from a single quarry and a single run. Which would pay for several more quarries. they already more than pay for themselves in short amount of time.

 

[Kocyk]

Fist two options can be done with IC2 miners atm.

 

[Dravarden]

Coolant quarry: normal quarry with a sourceblock on top.

 

[masterventris]

Could the Silk touch and fortune quarries be balanced by having a slot where you put a diamond pick with that enchant on, then the quarry uses that. Every block break is the same as breaking the block with the pick, so it eventually consumes the pick, then goes back to normal operation. This means a max size quarry would need ~2.4 picks per level, so you would need a lot of then, or only equip the quarry with one when it gets near the height you want to mine at.

Also, the material of the pick could affect the mining speed, and what can be mined.

 

[Geometry]

Could the Silk touch and fortune quarries be balanced by having a slot where you put a diamond pick with that enchant on, then the quarry uses that. Every block break is the same as breaking the block with the pick, so it eventually consumes the pick, then goes back to normal operation. This means a max size quarry would need ~2.4 picks per level, so you would need a lot of then, or only equip the quarry with one when it gets near the height you want to mine at.

Also, the material of the pick could affect the mining speed, and what can be mined.

That actually seems like a great idea that could be implemented without much balance issues.

 

[masterventris]

That actually seems like a great idea that could be implemented without much balance issues.

I actually like the idea so much I have just been going through the buildcraft source code to work out how the quarry works. I have never made a mod before but how hard can it be!

I also see no reason why it couldn't use any mining tool, including drills, as the energy wold be used up.

 

[SReject]

However, in all honesty I feel that quarries are a bit too convenient for resource gathering, your 'improvements' would only make them less balanced.

I find turtles even more unbalancing. Dependent on the config, turtles don't need fuel. When set to require fuel, the resources required by turtles are far less than running a quarry for the same amount of blocks.... And you have complete control over a turtle. Don't want to mine block XX? edit your quarry code so it will leave those for you to dig out later.


I like the concepts behind OP's suggestions, but I feel they are out of order, and could use a bit of tweeking.

The first upgrade should be the ability to mine through/under lava blocks.

The next being able to handle liquids the quarry head encounters. When a liquid source block(lava, water, oil) is encountered it should be able to pump out the liquid if a water proof pipe is attached to the quarry. This would be configurable via GUI so you can have 3 different water-proof pipes attached and each be configurable to what liquid is to be pumped from the quarry into it

Followed by the ability to config length width and depth without the need of landmarkers or monitoring how deep it's gone.

The last quarry upgrade should be a single slot opened on the quarry. This slot should accept a single enchanted book to be used. Once inserted into a placed quarry, if at any time the quarry has preformed an operation, when the quarry is removed the book is destroyed:
Silk Touch I: Obvious
Fortune I-IV: Obvious
Speed I-IV: Increases the speed at which the quarry operates(Does not alter the amount of MJ required to remove each block, just speeds up the removal)
Efficacy I-IV: Reduces the amount of MJ required per tick

As for the EU transition, I doubt that will ever happen. Buildcraft revolves around MJ and to suggest that one of their most popular machines be converted would be counter productive on their part. Remember, just because Feed The Beast has EU generators, does not mean that BuildCraft will always be packaged with such mods

 

[Geometry]

I actually like the idea so much I have just been going through the buildcraft source code to work out how the quarry works. I have never made a mod before but how hard can it be!

I also see no reason why it couldn't use any mining tool, including drills, as the energy wold be used up.

Drills can't have enchantments and thus it would not be practical to use them. They can be enchanted through the use of an anvil and the desired enchantment on a book, however this is not intended and is considered an exploit. Also, energy is limitless and drills don't have durability which is the reason why you can't normally enchant an electric tool. Anyways, I do find the idea of being able to use enchanted pickaxes with the quarry to be quite balanced and a handy feature that most people wouldn't reject having. If you do end up deciding to develop a mod for it, I wish you luck with your modding experience.

 

[Poppycocks]

Drills can't have enchantments and thus it would not be practical to use them. They can be enchanted through the use of an anvil and the desired enchantment on a book, however this is not intended and is considered an exploit. Also, energy is limitless and drills don't have durability which is the reason why you can't normally enchant an electric tool. Anyways, I do find the idea of being able to use enchanted pickaxes with the quarry to be quite balanced and a handy feature that most people wouldn't reject having. If you do end up deciding to develop a mod for it, I wish you luck with your modding experience.

You know, you're the second feller I've seen parrot that statement without even thinking about it. It's starting to sound like a dogma. Did someone brainwash you kids?

 

[Geometry]

You know, you're the second feller I've seen parrot that statement without even thinking about it. It's starting to sound like a dogma. Did someone brainwash you kids?

Yea I think I was brainwashed. I have been recalling tiny fragments in my mind at night, but the puzzle pieces don't seem to fit with each other.

 

[masterventris]

The first upgrade should be the ability to mine through/under lava blocks.

The next being able to handle liquids the quarry head encounters. When a liquid source block(lava, water, oil) is encountered it should be able to pump out the liquid if a water proof pipe is attached to the quarry. This would be configurable via GUI so you can have 3 different water-proof pipes attached and each be configurable to what liquid is to be pumped from the quarry into it

There is a function is the source code for quarries along the lines of

if(block == lavastill || lavamoving) mineable = false

so adapting the quarry to "mine" liquid should be possible, just have to handle how it outputs it or i guess you would get the lava still block as an item in your pipes.

 

[SReject]

The reason the quarry can't, currently, mine through lava is when lava meets water there bevomes the ever popular cobble generator. This is why it's disabled. The head would continuously mine cobble instead of moving along and finding the sorce of the issues. So a safe guard to destroy liquid source blocks if it isn't configured to pump them would have to be implemented.... and that doesn't take into account infininate water sources..............