Sorting Systems, Automation, and all that rot.

[Ritt]

I have yet to actually get around to playing with FSP yet, (waiting for it to be added to the server I play on) but from what I've read, it isn't that its steam is incompatible with other renditions of the stuff, but that its steam pipes aren't regular fluid pipes like most other mods use to pump steam around. To this extent I think I recall reading that there is in fact a block in FSP that acts as an interface between the two piping systems specifically to allow usage of steam from other mods and vice versa. Unfortunately I don't know the name of said block, but surely it should be in the Esteemed Innovation Journal?

Very good to know! I've got both FSP and Railcraft in mine, I will have to take the time to play around with that.

 

[SatanicSanta]

I have yet to actually get around to playing with FSP yet, (waiting for it to be added to the server I play on) but from what I've read, it isn't that its steam is incompatible with other renditions of the stuff, but that its steam pipes aren't regular fluid pipes like most other mods use to pump steam around. To this extent I think I recall reading that there is in fact a block in FSP that acts as an interface between the two piping systems specifically to allow usage of steam from other mods and vice versa. Unfortunately I don't know the name of said block, but surely it should be in the Esteemed Innovation Journal?

http://wiki.feed-the-beast.com/Pressure_Converter[DOUBLEPOST=1410649492][/DOUBLEPOST]Huh. Tech stuff.
I'm a huge fan of Flaxbeard's Steam Power, Steve's Carts, Railcraft, and the RotaryCraft family of mods for that.
When I want something less powerful and a lot looser, I use FSP and Steve's Carts. When I want more powerful stuff, RotaryCraft. I always use Railcraft for tech stuff.

FSP stuff

When I play FSP, I do pretty much everything I can with it. The things I can't, mainly sorting, transport, and farming, I use Railcraft and Steve's Carts. Railcraft for sorting and transport. Steve's Carts for farming.
​

RotaryCraft

RotaryCraft has pretty much something to do everything, that I know of, apart from sorting, which I use Railcraft for.​

I feel your pain regarding 1.7.10 and unplayable lag... are you using Fastcraft? It really helps a lot on my system.

I recommend the JVM arguments in my signature.

 

[Wraithflay]

I feel your pain regarding 1.7.10 and unplayable lag... are you using Fastcraft? It really helps a lot on my system.

I've been starting to assemble my own pack for 1.7.10 and it appears we're looking at many of the same ideas with respect to flavor and tech level. I too wish FSP and Railcraft used the same "steam", hehe. Railcraft was always a good "go-to" method of sustainable power generation for server play, and the extra types of rails and signaling systems and chunk loading devices it provides are super nice to have if you want to use minecarts for getting about or for logistics. We built a lot of railroads in back in the day on our vanilla server and often longed for Railcraft's many improvements.

Stealing rails from mineshafts is a time-honored method of bootstrapping a tree farm, I think.

Should you wish to compare notes on magic and steam mods, do let me know. I think I have just about settled on what I'm going to put in my next pack. Next thing will be to get the configs worked out.

I'm game for discussion on magic and steam mods, though there's not much to say honestly. FSP is pretty fun and I've quite enjoyed it, Railcraft remains incomprehensible to me thus far, and magic is where my focus has always gone so those 'big four' I listed are pretty much my present favourites, though I'm unaware of any real standalone magic mods besides them anyway.

Pretty sure there is a block that converts the two steam types, I just haven't actually had occasion to check so far. Merely something I read!

Right now I have a semi-automated tree farm going, though it irritates me that the Distributor resets its settings every time I shut down the game, making it more work than it automates and hence not worth the time to bother setting up here. I just make sure to run back and check the Manager every once in a while to clean out the logs and excess saplings, at which point all is well and I return to whatever task I'm working on at the time.

Speaking of FSP, how does its big stompy ground thumper machine work? Haven't had a chance to check that thing out yet, though I've seen it in the Esteemed Innovation journal from time to time.

 

[SatanicSanta]

Railcraft remains incomprehensible to me thus far

I know pretty much everything about it. If you want help, contact me

Pretty sure there is a block that converts the two steam types, I just haven't actually had occasion to check so far. Merely something I read!

I said what it is in my previous post, the Pressure Converter.

Speaking of FSP, how does its big stompy ground thumper machine work? Haven't had a chance to check that thing out yet, though I've seen it in the Esteemed Innovation journal from time to time.

http://wiki.feed-the-beast.com/Thumper

TL;DR: Place it, give it steam, it breaks blocks under it, you have to pick them up or use a Vacuum to do that.

 

[Ritt]

Right now I have a semi-automated tree farm going, though it irritates me that the Distributor resets its settings every time I shut down the game, making it more work than it automates and hence not worth the time to bother setting up here. I just make sure to run back and check the Manager every once in a while to clean out the logs and excess saplings, at which point all is well and I return to whatever task I'm working on at the time.

I usually just use the Cargo Manager and either pipes or carts to get the logs out of the farm and into processing/generation, so I can't say I know why the Distributor isn't remembering how you configured it. Chances are though, there's a way to do what you're trying to do without having to use it.

 

[Wraithflay]

I know pretty much everything about it. If you want help, contact me

I said what it is in my previous post, the Pressure Converter.

http://wiki.feed-the-beast.com/Thumper

TL;DR: Place it, give it steam, it breaks blocks under it, you have to pick them up or use a Vacuum to do that.

I guess it's really just a case of: What does Railcraft do that other mods don't, and how can I leverage it for something interesting? I know it uses steam-based power, has a focus on carts, and has some machines to make Steel and Coal Coke. That's about the extent of my functional knowledge of it, haha. Steve's Carts 2 is a first-time-use for me in this pack as well, so my familiarity with it is passing at best, but at least I've been able to use it for something useful and the tech curve hasn't been too terribly complex for me.

I usually just use the Cargo Manager and either pipes or carts to get the logs out of the farm and into processing/generation, so I can't say I know why the Distributor isn't remembering how you configured it. Chances are though, there's a way to do what you're trying to do without having to use it.

Are we able to use pipes without the Distributor? I admit I can't quite figure out how I would set up the Manager to allow for it; I'm not even quite sure how to use that red slot on top of the machine. Seems like that would be the best spot for pipes to go, as both the front and back of my Manager have detector rails going by it so as to make sure my cart does what it's supposed to on a regular basis.

 

[SatanicSanta]

I guess it's really just a case of: What does Railcraft do that other mods don't, and how can I leverage it for something interesting?

Cart-based automation is really interesting.
It adds ore doubling with the Rock Crusher, and smelting with the Steam Oven.
You can make villager trades. More info here, because I don't know a whole lot about this (I didn't write the article): http://wiki.feed-the-beast.com/Trade_Station_(Railcraft)
It adds a bunch of really neat building blocks
Redstone control with carts, signal and switch boxes (I don't recommend getting into this just yet, it's really complex).
Store liquids in Iron tanks, or steel tanks, which are bigger.
Passively generate water with a Water Tank.
Load chunks with machines powered by ender pearls
Make steam traps that will go off either when they are given a redstone signal, or when an entity is in front of it, depending on which one you make. This can be used for mob farms
Automatically feed animals.
Void items with the Void Chest.

To name a few

I recommend looking here for more info http://wiki.feed-the-beast.com/Railcraft

Steve's Carts 2 is a first-time-use for me in this pack as well, so my familiarity with it is passing at best, but at least I've been able to use it for something useful and the tech curve hasn't been too terribly complex for me.

I don't know a huge amount about it either . I do know, however, that pretty much all of it is self-explanatory.

 

[Ritt]

Passively generate water with a Water Tank.
Load chunks with machines powered by ender pearls
Make steam traps that will go off either when they are given a redstone signal, or when an entity is in front of it, depending on which one you make. This can be used for mob farms
Automatically feed animals.
Void items with the Void Chest.

To name a few

I really like the Water Tanks! And I use them often. I like the look and the sense of having something that should logically be able to collect and provide water. Aqueous Accumulators are great and very convenient... maybe a little bit too convenient.

I've got to try making a steam trap mob farm now.

 

[Ritt]

Are we able to use pipes without the Distributor? I admit I can't quite figure out how I would set up the Manager to allow for it; I'm not even quite sure how to use that red slot on top of the machine. Seems like that would be the best spot for pipes to go, as both the front and back of my Manager have detector rails going by it so as to make sure my cart does what it's supposed to on a regular basis.

Any pipe with a pull capability, like a Transfer Node from Extra Utilities or an Extraction Pipe from Additional Buildcraft Objects, or EnderIO item conduits, can pull items from the top of a Cargo Manager. So yes, that's often how I would do it.

 

[Wraithflay]

Cart-based automation is really interesting.
It adds ore doubling with the Rock Crusher, and smelting with the Steam Oven.
You can make villager trades. More info here, because I don't know a whole lot about this (I didn't write the article): http://wiki.feed-the-beast.com/Trade_Station_(Railcraft)
It adds a bunch of really neat building blocks
Redstone control with carts, signal and switch boxes (I don't recommend getting into this just yet, it's really complex).
Store liquids in Iron tanks, or steel tanks, which are bigger.
Passively generate water with a Water Tank.
Load chunks with machines powered by ender pearls
Make steam traps that will go off either when they are given a redstone signal, or when an entity is in front of it, depending on which one you make. This can be used for mob farms
Automatically feed animals.
Void items with the Void Chest.

To name a few

I recommend looking here for more info http://wiki.feed-the-beast.com/Railcraft


I don't know a huge amount about it either . I do know, however, that pretty much all of it is self-explanatory.

Thanks, I'll hafta look at that link! Redstone's always been an overly complex thing for me; took me years to really figure out how to invert a signal since all I really ever wanted was to make redstone controlled 'doors' to my fortresses and such, which means I wanted them default closed. I'm quite thankful that Reika added the ability to configure the Player Sensor as that made it much easier for me to control when an old world's dwarven fortress gates would open or close via Advanced Drawbridges! Sadly those things have been crashing me in 1.7 so I haven't been messing with them, and I'm still waiting for Reika's stuff to stabilize more before I worry about messing with any of it.

The steam traps sound interesting for sure, and might be something worth exploring for one of several planned mob grinders. I know I need to mess with Liquid Death for one of 'em since it's a new mechanic and I want to see what those aspect crystals are going to end up being, and how I can leverage the liquid for my use. Villager trades... well, that's an iffy call. I'm trying out Minecraft Comes Alive in this pack as I hadn't heard of it until quite recently, and I'm actually pretty happy with how it changes villagers. I just don't know if the block will interact properly with them since villagers now have menus to drive how you interact with them, rather than a simple right click -> get trades interaction. On the upside I have every intention of making that little desert village into a properly fortified township under my domain, so I'll probably get the chance to mess with it later!

Oh yes, the Iron/Steel Tanks are probably my favourite liquid storage in Minecraft! I remember I used to use extra large iron tanks coupled with an ender-thermic pump to store all the lava I got from the Nether, haha. Alas, in this pack lava is of fairly limited use so I've not had much reason to do it. Perhaps I should look into a lava generator for the Ender Quarry... hmmm.

I really like the Water Tanks! And I use them often. I like the look and the sense of having something that should logically be able to collect and provide water. Aqueous Accumulators are great and very convenient... maybe a little bit too convenient.

I've got to try making a steam trap mob farm now.

Y'know, I've seen pictures of those Water Towers and I always thought 'Hey, that looks pretty neat! I like that!' but the implementation always felt a bit on the weak side overall in a world with Aqueous Accumulators (which are not in my pack of course). Besides that, I might just build a few for the sake of aesthetics. I can't really think of any instances outside where I'd have significant use for one since basic Minecraft mechanics make water an easy resource to come by. Wouldn't work too well near a Witchery altar since it would reduce my overall potential altar power due to reduced space for 'natural' power sources. Mildly useful for Botania I suppose? I guess I could potentially use it as a source of water for Steam Boilers in FSP, though it doesn't look like it stocks water very quickly and Steam Boilers eat through water -fast-. I haven't even tried a Flash Boiler yet, I can only imagine!

 

[Ritt]

Y'know, I've seen pictures of those Water Towers and I always thought 'Hey, that looks pretty neat! I like that!' but the implementation always felt a bit on the weak side overall in a world with Aqueous Accumulators (which are not in my pack of course). Besides that, I might just build a few for the sake of aesthetics. I can't really think of any instances outside where I'd have significant use for one since basic Minecraft mechanics make water an easy resource to come by. Wouldn't work too well near a Witchery altar since it would reduce my overall potential altar power due to reduced space for 'natural' power sources. Mildly useful for Botania I suppose? I guess I could potentially use it as a source of water for Steam Boilers in FSP, though it doesn't look like it stocks water very quickly and Steam Boilers eat through water -fast-. I haven't even tried a Flash Boiler yet, I can only imagine!

In my admittedly sentimental/nostalgic MJ-based pack, I turn on FiniteWater in CodeChickenCore.cfg. This enables things like pumping lakes dry and makes self-filling water sources a little more meaningful. Since I don't have Thermal Expansion in that pack, the Water Tanks and Forestry's Raintank become the primary infinite water sources.

They fill at different rates in different biomes, and it's mostly, though not always in sync with one's expectations. Swamp and jungle type biomes will cause them to fill the fastest. The slowest fill rate is 1 in a desert, up to 9 or 10 for swamp, jungle, or wetlands type biomes; it varies of course based on which biomes you have in your world.