Buildcraft automation

[Gilberreke]

Hey guys, I will use this thread to display optimized Buildcraft builds for making BTW stuff. I plan on releasing a map with all of them later on. The thread will also slowly showcase my jolicraft BTW textures, which I will release soon.

Cauldron automation

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Here's my automated cauldron build. The two top gates, left to right:
- Toggle latch. Should be off when lever is off
- AND gate, make sure to disable the input coming from the fire
The three bottom gates, left to right:
- Repeater gate, tweak the timing so it sucks out just one item, I think mine is on setting 4, but this may vary.
- Timer set to 20s. Notice it has to point towards the left
- NOT gate. Easy.

Notice that you need to run RP Wire up on the side of the hibachi for it to get power.

[walker_boh_65]

lets see if i have this right, the timer is set to long enough to cook the items, which then toggles the latch until the timer goes again? No, that doesnt seem right.

Care to explain just a bit more. I am not very familiar with IR, but it looks like a very useful build. Another question, doesnt the wooden pipe take from the first slot? So if you are not using a manual imput, how can you be sure you do not revive the raw food for example?

[Brethern]

lets see if i have this right, the timer is set to long enough to cook the items, which then toggles the latch until the timer goes again? No, that doesnt seem right.

Care to explain just a bit more. I am not very familiar with IR, but it looks like a very useful build. Another question, doesnt the wooden pipe take from the first slot? So if you are not using a manual imput, how can you be sure you do not revive the raw food for example?

Add a diamond pipe to the line that will send any uncooked items back to the cauldron.

[walker_boh_65]

Add a diamond pipe to the line that will send any uncooked items back to the cauldron.

Im not sure why i didnt think of the diamond pipe. I need to be thing with port..pipes.

[Stormweaver]

To be honest, I still think I prefer the whole block dispenser method of emptying it. Then you just need to suck things back up with an obsidian pipe, and sort the uncooked things back into the cauldron with diamond....no overcomplicated timing required.

[Gilberreke]

Add a diamond pipe to the line that will send any uncooked items back to the cauldron.

Im not sure why i didnt think of the diamond pipe. I need to be thing with port..pipes.

I'm still working on that part, but basically, you have to throw stuff in the back of the cauldron, so cooked stuff takes up the first slots. Wooden pipes always pick the first item first.

It's an issue right now. FC might want to consider providing the cooked items in the output inventory, so buildcraft can pull out them specifically.

As for the latch, it gets switched on after 20 seconds, then after the repeater timing, gets turned off again, so you get a pulse just strong enough to pull one item out.

To be honest, I still think I prefer the whole block dispenser method of emptying it. Then you just need to suck things back up with an obsidian pipe, and sort the uncooked things back into the cauldron with diamond....no overcomplicated timing required.

There's only one timer in there, set to 20s, it's not complicated

[Phantum]

Add a diamond pipe to the line that will send any uncooked items back to the cauldron.

Im not sure why i didnt think of the diamond pipe. I need to be thing with port..pipes.

I'm still working on that part, but basically, you have to throw stuff in the back of the cauldron, so cooked stuff takes up the first slots. Wooden pipes always pick the first item first.

It's an issue right now. FC might want to consider providing the cooked items in the output inventory, so buildcraft can pull out them specifically.

As for the latch, it gets switched on after 20 seconds, then after the repeater timing, gets turned off again, so you get a pulse just strong enough to pull one item out.

To be honest, I still think I prefer the whole block dispenser method of emptying it. Then you just need to suck things back up with an obsidian pipe, and sort the uncooked things back into the cauldron with diamond....no overcomplicated timing required.

There's only one timer in there, set to 20s, it's not complicated

That's pretty awesome, I have something similar, but I did my set up slightly different.

[Gilberreke]

That's pretty awesome, I have something similar, but I did my set up slightly different.

Do share :). Perhaps I can learn and change some things.

Any requests for the next one? Perhaps I'll do the kiln next

[walker_boh_65]

Do share :). Perhaps I can learn and change some things.

Any requests for the next one? Perhaps I'll do the kiln next

Please do, i really need a way to automate it, not saying battosay's way doesnt work well, i just could never do that

[Deepsniper]

well if you use BD and obsidian pipes you could pull off something maybe... I dunno I cant check it out while im at work.

[Phantum]

That's pretty awesome, I have something similar, but I did my set up slightly different.

Do share :). Perhaps I can learn and change some things.

Any requests for the next one? Perhaps I'll do the kiln next

I use a block dispenser, Obsidian pipes, Diamond pipes, as well as redstone circuitry, it's probably no less, nor more effective than what you've already got, I'll take screenshots later tonight when I get home from my date.

[DaveYanakov]

Could you set up a piston square timer instead? It would be slightly bulkier than your setup there but wouldn't require the use of IR or a massive chunk of wiring either. I tend to prefer them since they can be built vertically almost as easily as horizontal. You can also custom build them to be a very precise clock.

[Gilberreke]

Could you set up a piston square timer instead?

Yeah, once you go RedPower Wiring, you never go back. I honestly don't want to mess with vanilla redstone in these projects.

[Battosay]

Yeah, once you go RedPower Wiring, you never go back. I honestly don't want to mess with vanilla redstone in these projects.

Absolutely. That's mostly why I've decided not to use it ^^

[jorgebonafe]

I personally think the way vanilla redstone works should have been improved in the first place. I mean, you can't put it on walls? Why? To make it more challenging? Really? Or maybe it was just too tough to code it in the first place, so it just stayed this way? I'm not trying to bash Notch, I just think that must be the case, and so I ha no reservations on using red power...

[DaveYanakov]

I do like the redpower wiring with its insulation and no more need to waste space on signal repeaters. The logic module is making things way too easy though.

[Stormweaver]

I mean, you can't put it on walls? Why?

Because oddly enough, dust doesn't tend to stick to walls as well as it does the floor.

While I feel that notch should perhaps have included some form of actual 'wire' as opposed to leaving it as dust, I'm happy with vannilla redstone. It's easy enough to use as is, and making it easier...just feels like it'd take the fun out of making things with redstone. Don't get me wrong, I can understand why people like and use redpower, but I see it that redpower is to interesting redstone fun what TMI is to survival gameplay - a virtual removal of the challenge. Good if you just want an end result, bad if you wanted to get the end result yourself.

[jorgebonafe]

I mean, you can't put it on walls? Why?

Because oddly enough, dust doesn't tend to stick to walls as well as it does the floor.

While I feel that notch should perhaps have included some form of actual 'wire' as opposed to leaving it as dust, I'm happy with vannilla redstone. It's easy enough to use as is, and making it easier...just feels like it'd take the fun out of making things with redstone. Don't get me wrong, I can understand why people like and use redpower, but I see it that redpower is to interesting redstone fun what TMI is to survival gameplay - a virtual removal of the challenge. Good if you just want an end result, bad if you wanted to get the end result yourself.

I really don't think that's a fair comparison. TMI basically just gives you everything you need with zero effort. I just think having to make huge block ladders to transmit redstone up or down, or place torches under one another.... Its a huge space that it takes, and it really doesn't add anything... Its not more complicated to do the wiring, its just more troublesome... and space consuming... Also, dust not sticking to walls doesn't make sense. You can see that it sticks to wall just fine when is one block high. IMO, if it doesn't stick to higher walls is only because that functionality is not implemented, nothing to do with the nature of the material....

[Brethern]

I mean, you can't put it on walls? Why?

Because oddly enough, dust doesn't tend to stick to walls as well as it does the floor.

While I feel that notch should perhaps have included some form of actual 'wire' as opposed to leaving it as dust, I'm happy with vannilla redstone. It's easy enough to use as is, and making it easier...just feels like it'd take the fun out of making things with redstone. Don't get me wrong, I can understand why people like and use redpower, but I see it that redpower is to interesting redstone fun what TMI is to survival gameplay - a virtual removal of the challenge. Good if you just want an end result, bad if you wanted to get the end result yourself.

Yet it goes up the side of the block if you build it in a stair case, explain that one.

[Stormweaver]

Yet it goes up the side of the block if you build it in a stair case, explain that one.

if you lead redstone up to a block, it powers that block anyway; I see the line going up the side as more of a visual representation than anything. Using MC logic though, it's just a weak redstomagnectic force that suspends enough of the dust to connect two dense patches of redstone together, like how piles of redstone drag dust from adjacent tiles near to itself.

[Battosay]

You can see that it sticks to wall just fine when is one block high. IMO, if it doesn't stick to higher walls is only because that functionality is not implemented, nothing to do with the nature of the material....

It's a matter of how the game works actually. Remember the 4 bits of meta data ? If you'd be able to place it on the walls, you'd need more data, so you'll end up with a redstone current going only 3 blocks away. Or you'll have to increase the data for redstone, with tile entities, but since it's a block soooo comonly used, it would be a huge performance drain.
Nothing is at simple as it may seems.

As for the "vertical wire" when going 1 block high, as storm said, it's only a visual special case. What's really hapmening is the block is being powered, and there's a visual representation of the wire going up to help you understand where's the connection. Not the same as vertical wiring.

[DaveYanakov]

I actually mostly just use it for the building options that covers give me. When I use alloy wire it's either for vertical runs or for long underground transmission. It's very rare that I bother to even insulate it. All it does for me is take out the tedium of building tranmission ladders or repeaters that don't do anything other than add work. I suppose it's also nice for stretching the available redstone supply so I can start wiring without having to spend a second or third hour digging up more than two or three stacks of the stuff.

[jorgebonafe]

It's a matter of how the game works actually. Remember the 4 bits of meta data ? If you'd be able to place it on the walls, you'd need more data, so you'll end up with a redstone current going only 3 blocks away. Or you'll have to increase the data for redstone, with tile entities, but since it's a block soooo comonly used, it would be a huge performance drain.
Nothing is at simple as it may seems.

But in that case why is it red power wires don't result in such a performance drain?

[walker_boh_65]

But in that case why is it red power wires don't result in such a performance drain?

not sure on the specifics, PM Eloraam on the MCF and ask her hope she coded it.

I hate to be that guy, but can we please keep this on topic of using BC to automate BTW, i was enjoying reading about how BTW players used other mods to automate

[Battosay]

But in that case why is it red power wires don't result in such a performance drain?

They are. At least for small computers like mine.