From 5beb84bed9dfe4e515723f79514e90decfced767 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: SmallJoker Date: Tue, 14 Jun 2022 20:46:14 +0200 Subject: [PATCH] Improve/trim the user manual further Detailed information can be found on Wikipedia. The user manual should be a compact documentation of the mod as whole. This replaces long explanations with relevant links for use by people who are interested in going deeper into this matter. --- LICENSE.txt | 16 +++ README.md | 3 +- manual.md | 369 +++++++++++++--------------------------------------- 3 files changed, 106 insertions(+), 282 deletions(-) create mode 100644 LICENSE.txt diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..7798b6d --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,16 @@ +Minetest Mod: technic +Copyright (C) 2012-2022 RealBadAngel and contributors + +This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or +modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public +License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either +version 2.1 of the License, or (at your option) any later version. + +This library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, +but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of +MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU +Lesser General Public License for more details. + +You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public +License along with this library; if not, write to the Free Software +Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA diff --git a/README.md b/README.md index 4fab499..fd78b2d 100644 --- a/README.md +++ b/README.md @@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ world. A few notable features: ## FAQ The modpack is explained in the **[Manual](manual.md)** included in this repository. +Machine and tool descriptions can be found on the **[GitHub Wiki](https://github.com/minetest-mods/technic/wiki)**. 1. My technic circuit doesn't work. No power is distributed. * Make sure you have a switching station connected. @@ -38,7 +39,7 @@ For modders: **[Technic Lua API](technic/doc/api.md)** ## License Unless otherwise stated, all components of this modpack are licensed under the -LGPLv2 or later. See also the individual mod folders for their +[LGPLv2 or later](LICENSE.txt). See also the individual mod folders for their secondary/alternate licenses, if any. diff --git a/manual.md b/manual.md index e5ca414..91052e5 100644 --- a/manual.md +++ b/manual.md @@ -12,16 +12,16 @@ Documentation of the mod dependencies can be found here: * [Moreores Forum Post](https://forum.minetest.net/viewtopic.php?t=549) * [Basic materials Repository](https://gitlab.com/VanessaE/basic_materials) -## Recipes +## 1.0 Recipes Recipes for items registered by technic are not specifically documented here. Please consult a craft guide mod to look up the recipes in-game. **Recommended mod:** [Unified Inventory](https://github.com/minetest-mods/unified_inventory) -## Substances +## 2.0 Substances -### Ores +### 2.1 Ores Technic registers a few ores which are needed to craft machines or items. Each ore type is found at a specific range of elevations so you will @@ -59,14 +59,14 @@ of its usage, so you will usually have a surplus of it. #### Zinc Use: brass -Depth: 2m, more commonly below -32m +Generated below: 2m, more commonly below -32m Zinc only has a few uses but is a common metal. #### Chromium Use: stainless steel -Depth: -100m, more commonly below -200m +Generated below: -100m, more commonly below -200m #### Uranium Use: nuclear reactor fuel @@ -82,14 +82,14 @@ Keep a safety distance of a meter to avoid being harmed by radiation. #### Silver ² Use: conductors -Depth: -2m, evenly common +Generated below: -2m, evenly common Silver is a semi-precious metal and is the best conductor of all the pure elements. #### Gold ¹ Use: various -Depth: -64m, more commonly below -256m +Generated below: -64m, more commonly below -256m Gold is a precious metal. It is most notably used in electrical items due to its combination of good conductivity and corrosion resistance. @@ -97,7 +97,7 @@ its combination of good conductivity and corrosion resistance. #### Mithril ² Use: chests -Depth: -512m, evenly common +Generated below: -512m, evenly common Mithril is a fictional ore, being derived from J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-Earth setting. It is little used. @@ -114,7 +114,7 @@ Use: mainly for cutting machines Diamond is a precious gemstone. It is used moderately, mainly for reasons connected to its extreme hardness. -### Rocks +### 2.2 Rocks This section describes the rock types added by technic. Further rock types are supported by technic machines. These can be processed using the grinder: @@ -136,7 +136,7 @@ Granite is found in dense clusters and is much harder to dig than standard stone. It has mainly decorative use, but also appears in a couple of machine recipes. -### Rubber +### 2.3 Rubber Rubber is a biologically-derived material that has industrial uses due to its electrical resistivity and its impermeability. In technic, it is used in a few recipes, and it must be acquired by tapping rubber trees. @@ -150,7 +150,7 @@ observed by its appearance. To obtain rubber from latex, alloy latex with coal dust. -### Metals +## 3.0 Metal processing Generally, each metal can exist in five forms: * ore -> stone containing the lump @@ -162,7 +162,7 @@ Generally, each metal can exist in five forms: Metals can be converted between dust, ingot and block, but can't be converted from them back to ore or lump forms. -#### Grinding +### Grinding Ores can be processed as follows: * ore -> lump (digging) -> ingot (melting) @@ -171,121 +171,59 @@ Ores can be processed as follows: At the expense of some energy consumption, the grinder can extract more material from the lump, resulting in 2x dust which can be melted to two ingots in total. -#### Alloying -Alloying recipes in which a metal is the base ingredient, to produce a -metal alloy, always come in two forms, using the metal either as dust -or as an ingot. If the secondary ingredient is also a metal, it must -be supplied in the same form as the base ingredient. The output alloy -is also returned in the same form. +### Alloying +Input: two ingredients of the same form - lump or dust -Example: 2x copper ingots + zinc ingot -> 3x brass ingot (alloying) +Output: resulting alloy, as an ingot -The same will also work for dust ingredients, resulting in brass dist. +Example: 2x copper ingots + 1x zinc ingot -> 3x brass ingot (alloying) -### iron and its alloys ### +Note that grinding before alloying is the preferred method to gain more output. -Iron forms several important alloys. In real-life history, iron was the -second metal to be used as the base component of deliberately-constructed -alloys (the first was copper), and it was the first metal whose working -required processes of any metallurgical sophistication. The game -mechanics around iron broadly imitate the historical progression of -processes around it, rather than the less-varied modern processes. +#### iron and its alloys -The two-component alloying system of iron with carbon is of huge -importance, both in the game and in real life. The basic Minetest game -doesn't distinguish between these pure iron and these alloys at all, -but technic introduces a distinction based on the carbon content, and -renames some items of the basic game accordingly. +Historically iron was the first metal whose working required processes of any +metallurgical sophistication. The mod's mechanics around iron broadly imitate +the historical progression of processes around it to get more variety. -The iron/carbon spectrum is represented in the game by three metal -substances: wrought iron, carbon steel, and cast iron. Wrought iron -has low carbon content (less than 0.25%), resists shattering, and -is easily welded, but is relatively soft and susceptible to rusting. -In real-life history it was used for rails, gates, chains, wire, pipes, -fasteners, and other purposes. Cast iron has high carbon content -(2.1% to 4%), is especially hard, and resists corrosion, but is -relatively brittle, and difficult to work. Historically it was used -to build large structures such as bridges, and for cannons, cookware, -and engine cylinders. Carbon steel has medium carbon content (0.25% -to 2.1%), and intermediate properties: moderately hard and also tough, -somewhat resistant to corrosion. In real life it is now used for most -of the purposes previously satisfied by wrought iron and many of those -of cast iron, but has historically been especially important for its -use in swords, armor, skyscrapers, large bridges, and machines. +Notable alloys: -In real-life history, the first form of iron to be refined was -wrought iron, which is nearly pure iron, having low carbon content. -It was produced from ore by a low-temperature furnace process (the -"bloomery") in which the ore/iron remains solid and impurities (slag) -are progressively removed by hammering ("working", hence "wrought"). -This began in the middle East, around 1800 BCE. + * Wrought iron: <0.25% carbon + * Resists shattering but is relatively soft. + * Known since: 1800 BC (approx.) + * Cast iron: 2.1% to 4% carbon. + * Especially hard and rather corrosion-resistant + * Known since: 1200 BC (approx.) + * Carbon steel: 0.25% to 2.1% carbon. + * Intermediate of the two above. + * Known since: 1600 AD (approx.) -Historically, the next forms of iron to be refined were those of high -carbon content. This was the result of the development of a more -sophisticated kind of furnace, the blast furnace, capable of reaching -higher temperatures. The real advantage of the blast furnace is that it -melts the metal, allowing it to be cast straight into a shape supplied by -a mould, rather than having to be gradually beaten into the desired shape. -A side effect of the blast furnace is that carbon from the furnace's fuel -is unavoidably incorporated into the metal. Normally iron is processed -twice through the blast furnace: once producing "pig iron", which has -very high carbon content and lots of impurities but lower melting point, -casting it into rough ingots, then remelting the pig iron and casting it -into the final moulds. The result is called "cast iron". Pig iron was -first produced in China around 1200 BCE, and cast iron later in the 5th -century BCE. Incidentally, the Chinese did not have the bloomery process, -so this was their first iron refining process, and, unlike the rest of -the world, their first wrought iron was made from pig iron rather than -directly from ore. +Technic introduces a distinction based on the carbon content, and renames some +items of the basic game accordingly. Iron and Steel are now distinguished. -Carbon steel, with intermediate carbon content, was developed much later, -in Europe in the 17th century CE. It required a more sophisticated -process, because the blast furnace made it extremely difficult to achieve -a controlled carbon content. Tweaks of the blast furnace would sometimes -produce an intermediate carbon content by luck, but the first processes to -reliably produce steel were based on removing almost all the carbon from -pig iron and then explicitly mixing a controlled amount of carbon back in. +Notable references: -In the game, the bloomery process is represented by ordinary cooking -or grinding of an iron lump. The lump represents unprocessed ore, -and is identified only as "iron", not specifically as wrought iron. -This standard refining process produces dust or an ingot which is -specifically identified as wrought iron. Thus the standard refining -process produces the (nearly) pure metal. + * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron + * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stainless_steel + * ... plus many more. -Cast iron is trickier. You might expect from the real-life notes above -that cooking an iron lump (representing ore) would produce pig iron that -can then be cooked again to produce cast iron. This is kind of the case, -but not exactly, because as already noted cooking an iron lump produces -wrought iron. The game doesn't distinguish between low-temperature -and high-temperature cooking processes: the same furnace is used not -just to cast all kinds of metal but also to cook food. So there is no -distinction between cooking processes to produce distinct wrought iron -and pig iron. But repeated cooking *is* available as a game mechanic, -and is indeed used to produce cast iron: re-cooking a wrought iron ingot -produces a cast iron ingot. So pig iron isn't represented in the game as -a distinct item; instead wrought iron stands in for pig iron in addition -to its realistic uses as wrought iron. +Processes: -Carbon steel is produced by a more regular in-game process: alloying -wrought iron with coal dust (which is essentially carbon). This bears -a fair resemblance to the historical development of carbon steel. -This alloying recipe is relatively time-consuming for the amount of -material processed, when compared against other alloying recipes, and -carbon steel is heavily used, so it is wise to alloy it in advance, -when you're not waiting for it. + * Iron -> Wrought iron (melting) + * Wrought iron -> Cast iron (melting) + * Wrought iron + coal dust -> Carbon steel (alloying) + * Carbon steel + coal dust -> Cast iron (alloying) + * Carbon steel + chromium -> Stainless steel (alloying) -There are additional recipes that permit all three of these types of iron -to be converted into each other. Alloying carbon steel again with coal -dust produces cast iron, with its higher carbon content. Cooking carbon -steel or cast iron produces wrought iron, in an abbreviated form of the -bloomery process. +Reversible processes: -There's one more iron alloy in the game: stainless steel. It is managed -in a completely regular manner, created by alloying carbon steel with -chromium. + * Cast iron -> Wrought iron (melting) + * Carbon steel -> Wrought iron (melting) -### uranium enrichment ### +Check your preferred crafting guide for more information. + + +### Uranium enrichment When uranium is to be used to fuel a nuclear reactor, it is not sufficient to merely isolate and refine uranium metal. It is necessary @@ -460,35 +398,15 @@ a post and adjacent concrete block. industrial processes -------------------- -### alloying ### +### Alloying -In technic, alloying is a way of combining items to create other items, -distinct from standard crafting. Alloying always uses inputs of exactly -two distinct types, and produces a single output. Like cooking, which -takes a single input, it is performed using a powered machine, known -generically as an "alloy furnace". An alloy furnace always has two -input slots, and it doesn't matter which way round the two ingredients -are placed in the slots. Many alloying recipes require one or both -slots to contain a stack of more than one of the ingredient item: the -quantity required of each ingredient is part of the recipe. +In Technic, alloying is a way of combining items to create other items, +distinct from standard crafting. Alloying always uses inputs of exactly +two distinct types, and produces a single output. -As with the furnaces used for cooking, there are multiple kinds of alloy -furnace, powered in different ways. The most-used alloy furnaces are -electrically powered. There is also an alloy furnace that is powered -by directly burning fuel, just like the basic cooking furnace. Building -almost any electrical machine, including the electrically-powered alloy -furnaces, requires a machine casing component, one ingredient of which -is brass, an alloy. It is therefore necessary to use the fuel-fired -alloy furnace in the early part of the game, on the way to building -electrical machinery. +Check your preferred crafting guide for more information. -Alloying recipes are mainly concerned with metals. These recipes -combine a base metal with some other element, most often another metal, -to produce a new metal. This is discussed in the section on metal. -There are also a few alloying recipes in which the base ingredient is -non-metallic, such as the recipe for the silicon wafer. - -### grinding, extracting, and compressing ### +### Grinding, extracting, and compressing Grinding, extracting, and compressing are three distinct, but very similar, ways of converting one item into another. They are all quite @@ -562,57 +480,17 @@ metal alloys. This can only be done using the dust form of the alloy. It recovers both components of binary metal/metal alloys. It can't recover the carbon from steel or cast iron. -chests +Chests ------ -The technic mod replaces the basic Minetest game's single type of -chest with a range of chests that have different sizes and features. -The chest types are identified by the materials from which they are made; -the better chests are made from more exotic materials. The chest types -form a linear sequence, each being (with one exception noted below) -strictly more powerful than the preceding one. The sequence begins with -the wooden chest from the basic game, and each later chest type is built -by upgrading a chest of the preceding type. The chest types are: +See [GitHub Wiki / Chests](https://github.com/minetest-mods/technic/wiki/Chests) -1. wooden chest: 8×4 (32) slots -2. iron chest: 9×5 (45) slots -3. copper chest: 12×5 (60) slots -4. silver chest: 12×6 (72) slots -5. gold chest: 15×6 (90) slots -6. mithril chest: 15×6 (90) slots +Features of extended chests: -The iron and later chests have the ability to sort their contents, -when commanded by a button in their interaction forms. Item types are -sorted in the same order used in the unified\_inventory craft guide. -The copper and later chests also have an auto-sorting facility that can -be enabled from the interaction form. An auto-sorting chest automatically -sorts its contents whenever a player closes the chest. The contents will -then usually be in a sorted state when the chest is opened, but may not -be if pneumatic tubes have operated on the chest while it was closed, -or if two players have the chest open simultaneously. + * Larger storage space + * Labelling + * Advanced item sorting -The silver and gold chests, but not the mithril chest, have a built-in -sign-like capability. They can be given a textual label, which will -be visible when hovering over the chest. The gold chest, but again not -the mithril chest, can be further labelled with a colored patch that is -visible from a moderate distance. - -The mithril chest is currently an exception to the upgrading system. -It has only as many inventory slots as the preceding (gold) type, and has -fewer of the features. It has no feature that other chests don't have: -it is strictly weaker than the gold chest. It is planned that in the -future it will acquire some unique features, but for now the only reason -to use it is aesthetic. - -The size of the largest chests is dictated by the maximum size -of interaction form that the game engine can successfully display. -If in the future the engine becomes capable of handling larger forms, -by scaling them to fit the screen, the sequence of chest sizes will -likely be revised. - -As with the chest of the basic Minetest game, each chest type comes -in both locked and unlocked flavors. All of the chests work with the -pneumatic tubes of the pipeworks mod. radioactivity ------------- @@ -750,115 +628,44 @@ so the positioning of holes in each layer must still be considered. Tricky shine paths can also be addressed by just keeping players out of the dangerous area. -electrical power ----------------- +## Electrical power -Most machines in technic are electrically powered. To operate them it is -necessary to construct an electrical power network. The network links -together power generators and power-consuming machines, connecting them -using power cables. +Electrical networks in Technic are defined by a single tier (see below) +and consist of: -There are three tiers of electrical networking: low voltage (LV), -medium voltage (MV), and high voltage (HV). Each network must operate -at a single voltage, and most electrical items are specific to a single -voltage. Generally, the machines of higher tiers are more powerful, -but consume more energy and are more expensive to build, than machines -of lower tiers. It is normal to build networks of all three tiers, -in ascending order as one progresses through the game, but it is not -strictly necessary to do this. Building HV equipment requires some parts -that can only be manufactured using electrical machines, either LV or MV, -so it is not possible to build an HV network first, but it is possible -to skip either LV or MV on the way to HV. + * 1x Switching Station (central management unit) + * Any further stations are disabled automatically + * Electricity producers (PR) + * Electricity consumers/receivers (RE) + * Accumulators/batteries (BA) -Each voltage has its own cable type, with distinctive insulation. Cable -segments connect to each other and to compatible machines automatically. -Incompatible electrical items don't connect. All non-cable electrical -items must be connected via cable: they don't connect directly to each -other. Most electrical items can connect to cables in any direction, -but there are a couple of important exceptions noted below. +### Tiers -To be useful, an electrical network must connect at least one power -generator to at least one power-consuming machine. In addition to these -items, the network must have a "switching station" in order to operate: -no energy will flow without one. Unlike most electrical items, the -switching station is not voltage-specific: the same item will manage -a network of any tier. However, also unlike most electrical items, -it is picky about the direction in which it is connected to the cable: -the cable must be directly below the switching station. + * LV: Low Voltage. Low material costs but is slower. + * MV: Medium Voltage. Higher processing speed. + * HV: High Voltage. High material costs but is the fastest. -Hovering over a network's switching station will show the aggregate energy -supply and demand, which is useful for troubleshooting. Electrical energy -is measured in "EU", and power (energy flow) in EU per second (EU/s). -Energy is shifted around a network instantaneously once per second. +Tiers can be converted from one to another using the Supply Converter node. +Its top connects to the input, the bottom to the output network. Configure +the input power by right-clicking it. -In a simple network with only generators and consumers, if total -demand exceeds total supply then no energy will flow, the machines -will do nothing, and the generators' output will be lost. To handle -this situation, it is recommended to add a battery box to the network. -A battery box will store generated energy, and when enough has been -stored to run the consumers for one second it will deliver it to the -consumers, letting them run part-time. It also stores spare energy -when supply exceeds demand, to let consumers run full-time when their -demand occasionally peaks above the supply. More battery boxes can -be added to cope with larger periods of mismatched supply and demand, -such as those resulting from using solar generators (which only produce -energy in the daytime). +### Machine upgrade slots -When there are electrical networks of multiple tiers, it can be appealing -to generate energy on one tier and transfer it to another. The most -direct way to do this is with the "supply converter", which can be -directly wired into two networks. It is another tier-independent item, -and also particular about the direction of cable connections: it must -have the cable of one network directly above, and the cable of another -network directly below. The supply converter demands 10000 EU/s from -the network above, and when this network gives it power it supplies 9000 -EU/s to the network below. Thus it is only 90% efficient, unlike most of -the electrical system which is 100% efficient in moving energy around. -To transfer more than 10000 EU/s between networks, connect multiple -supply converters in parallel. +Generally, machines of MV and HV tiers have two upgrade slots. +Only specific items will have any upgrading effect. The occupied slots do +count, but not the actual stack size. -powered machines ----------------- +**Type 1: Energy upgrade** -### powered machine tiers ### +Consists of any battery item. Reduces the machine's power consumption +regardless the charge of the item. -Each powered machine takes its power in some specific form, being -either fuel-fired (burning fuel directly) or electrically powered at -some specific voltage. There is a general progression through the -game from using fuel-fired machines to electrical machines, and to -higher electrical voltages. The most important kinds of machine come -in multiple variants that are powered in different ways, so the earlier -ones can be superseded. However, some machines are only available for -a specific power tier, so the tier can't be entirely superseded. +**Type 2: Tube upgrade** -### powered machine upgrades ### +Consists of a control logic unit item. Ejects processed items into pneumatic +tubes for quicker processing. -Some machines have inventory slots that are used to upgrade them in -some way. Generally, machines of MV and HV tiers have two upgrade slots, -and machines of lower tiers (fuel-fired and LV) do not. Any item can -be placed in an upgrade slot, but only specific items will have any -upgrading effect. It is possible to have multiple upgrades of the same -type, but this can't be achieved by stacking more than one upgrade item -in one slot: it is necessary to put the same kind of item in more than one -upgrade slot. The ability to upgrade machines is therefore very limited. -Two kinds of upgrade are currently possible: an energy upgrade and a -tube upgrade. - -An energy upgrade consists of a battery item, the same kind of battery -that serves as a mobile energy store. The effect of an energy upgrade -is to improve in some way the machine's use of electrical energy, most -often by making it use less energy. The upgrade effect has no relation -to energy stored in the battery: the battery's charge level is irrelevant -and will not be affected. - -A tube upgrade consists of a control logic unit item. The effect of a -tube upgrade is to make the machine able, or more able, to eject items -it has finished with into pneumatic tubes. The machines that can take -this kind of upgrade are in any case capable of accepting inputs from -pneumatic tubes. These upgrades are essential in using powered machines -as components in larger automated systems. - -### tubes with powered machines ### +### Machines + Tubes (pipeworks) Generally, powered machines of MV and HV tiers can work with pneumatic tubes, and those of lower tiers cannot. (As an exception, the fuel-fired