# Tech Age [techage] (Minetest 5.0+)

Tech Age, a mod to go through 4 tech ages in search of wealth and power.

**Tech Age (techage) is the successor to TechPack V2, at first glance similar and yet completely different!**

![screenshot](https://github.com/joe7575/techage/blob/master/screenshot.png)



Important facts:
- techage is not backwards compatible and cannot be installed on a server together with TechPack
- techage is significantly more extensive, since additional mods are integrated
- techage represents 4 technological ages:
  - Iron Age (TA1) - simple tools like coal pile, coal burner, gravel sieve, hammer for getting ores and making goods
  - Steam Age (TA2) - Simple machines that are powered by steam engines and drive axles
  - Oil Age (TA3) - More modern machines that are powered by electricity.  
   The electricity is generated by coal & oil power plants. The oil must be explored, extracted and transported.
  - Future Age (TA4) - Electricity from renewable energy sources such as sun and wind.  
   Environmentally friendly electricity storage, intelligent machines and means of transport of the future
- Since the levels build on each other, all ages have to be run through one after the other

In contrast to TechPack, the resources are more limited and it is much more difficult to pass all levels.
(no endless ore generation by means of cobble generators)

[Manuals](https://github.com/joe7575/techage/wiki)


### License
Copyright (C) 2019-2020 Joachim Stolberg  
Code: Licensed under the GNU GPL version 3 or later. See LICENSE.txt  
Textures: CC BY-SA 3.0

Many thanks to Thomas-S for his contributions


### Dependencies  
Required: default, doors, bucket, stairs, screwdriver, basic_materials, tubelib2, minecart, lcdlib, safer_lua  
Recommended: signs_bot, hyperloop, compost, techpack_stairway, autobahn  
Optional: unified_inventory, wielded_light, unifieddyes, lua-mashal, lsqlite3, moreores, ethereal, mesecon


The mods `default`, `doors`, `bucket`, `stairs`, and `screwdriver` are part of Minetest Game.

`basic_materials` will be found here: https://content.minetest.net/

The following mods in the newest version have to be downloaded directly from GitHub:
* [tubelib2](https://github.com/joe7575/tubelib2)
* [minecart](https://github.com/joe7575/minecart)
* [lcdlib](https://github.com/joe7575/lcdlib)
* [safer_lua](https://github.com/joe7575/safer_lua)

It is highly recommended that you install the following mods, too:

* [signs_bot](https://github.com/joe7575/signs_bot): For many automation tasks in TA3/TA4 like farming, mining, and item transportation
* [hyperloop](https://github.com/joe7575/Minetest-Hyperloop): Used as passenger transportation system in TA4
* [compost](https://github.com/joe7575/compost): The garden soil is needed for the TA4 LED Grow Light based flower bed
* [techpack_stairway](https://github.com/joe7575/techpack_stairway): Ladders, stairways, and bridges for your machines
* [autobahn](https://github.com/joe7575/autobahn): Street blocks and slopes with stripes for faster traveling
* [[ta4_jetpack](https://github.com/joe7575/ta4_jetpack): A Jetpack with hydrogen as fuel and TA4 recipe

For large servers with many player `lsqlite3` is recommended.
The package has to be installed via [luarocks](https://luarocks.org/):

    luarocks install lsqlite3

To enable this `unsafe` package, add 'techage' to the list of trusted mods in minetest.conf:

    secure.trusted_mods = techage

For the installation of 'luarocks' (if not already available), see [luarocks](https://luarocks.org/)

Available worlds will be converted to 'lsqlite3', but there is no way back, so:

** Never disable 'lsqlite3' for a world that has already been used!**


### History

**2020-08-08  V0.21**
- Pull request #18: Add a simple Digtron battery (from Thomas-S)
- Pull request #23: Lua Controller: Fix $item_description() documentation and translation (from Thomas-S)
- Pull request #24: Distributor: improve fairness by using random spread (from realmicu)
- Bugfix: TA1 meridian hammer did not glow (from realmicu)
- Bugfix: power.power_available() did not check the network state

**2020-07-31  V0.20**
- Pull request #21: Lua Controller: Allow to get itemstring and description of 8x2000 chest contents (from Thomas-S)
- Pull request #22: Trowel: Prevent hidden nodes from being dug (from Thomas-S)
- Improvement: TA3 Power Terminal: Outputs max needed power in addition
- Bugfix: Quarry: Shall not dig Techage Light Blocks

**2020-07-24  V0.19**
- Pull request #19: Refactor ICTA to use functions instead of loadstring (from Thomas-S)
- State command added for cart-, node-, and player detectors

**2020-07-21  V0.18**
- Pull request #13: Use Monospace Font for Code-Related Formspecs (from Thomas-S)
- Pull request #14: Don't allow to put items with meta or wear information into the 8x2000 chest (from Thomas-S)
- Pull request #15: Blackhole: Add support for liquids (from Thomas-S)
- Pull request #16: ICTA Controller: Add support for valves by adding on/off states (from Thomas-S)
- Bugfix: Digging Redstone gives an 'unknown block'
- ICTA Controller: Escape quotation marks for text outputs

**2020-07-16  V0.17**
- TA4 Reactor recipe bugfix
- TA3 furnace power bugfix (response to the pull request #12 from Thomas-S)
- Manual bugfix (Thomas-S)
- Charcoal pile doesn't start smoking after beeing unloaded (issue #9 from Skamiz) 

**2020-07-06  V0.16**
- Oil cracking/hydrogenation recipes added
- Ethereal growlight bugfix
- Charcoal pile bugfix (issue #9) Thanks to Skamiz
- Quarry bugfix (pull request #10) Thanks to programmerjake

**2020-07-02  V0.15**
- pipe valve added
- growlight bugfix
- further textures to gate/door blocks added
- cement recipe bugfix
- manual improvements

**2020-06-29  V0.14**
- quarry sound bugfix
- grinder bugfix
- ore probability calculation changed
- lua-marshal deactivated (due to weird server crashes)
- alternative cement recipe added
- aluminum output increased
- reboiler cycle time increased to 16 s (from 6)
- many manual improvements

**2020-06-19  V0.13**
- Mesecons Converter added

**2020-06-17  V0.12** 
- Ethereal support added
- manual correction
- tin ingot recipe bugfix

**2020-06-14  V0.11**
- cart commands added for both controllers
- support for moreores added

**2020-06-04  V0.10**
- minor changes and bugfixes

**2020-05-31  V0.09**
- TA4 tubes upgraded, manuals updated

**2020-05-22  V0.08**
- Support for 'lua-marshal' and 'lsqlite3' added

**2020-04-26  V0.07**
- English translation added

**2020-04-24  V0.06**
- TA4 injector added

**2020-03-14  V0.05**
- TA4 Lua controller added

**2020-02-29  V0.04**
- TA4 ICTA controller added

**2019-09-28  V0.02**
- TA3 finished

**2019-06-16  V0.01**
- First upload
