[MOD request] Buildcraft variant for Minetest

[MirceaKitsune]

A few days ago, I re-joined the Minecraft server I usually play on. The owner added a new mod, which I've had fun with for days. It's called Buildcraft, and what it does is add industrial items and machinery which work similar to those in real life. Here are some official websites and videos, which explain functionality and the crafting recipes:

http://www.mod-buildcraft.com

http://minecraftbuildcraft.wikia.com

http://www.youtube.com/user/SpaceToadCraft/videos

For a better explanation of the basics, see the tutorial on pipes, tutorial on engines, tutorial on machines 1, and tutorial on machines 2.







In short, there are 3 parts: Engines, pipes, and machinery. Pipes can be used to transport fluids (lava, water, etc) and items, engines power pipes and machines so they work, and machines can do additional tasks such as automated crafting / smelting, automated mining, and automated building with blocks... inputting / outputting items through pipes in order to do so. Engines and pipes can be crafted in different variants (wood, stone, iron, gold, etc) each having a property and / or improvement over the other. Engines work faster the more you leave them running, but also acquire heat (indicated by their color) and can explode if not cooled.

Now that Minetest can be modded, I would really love to see a version of this mod for it too. I thought about trying to do it myself, but I'd at least need examples of some LUA functionality before I could think about it. I'd rather leave it up to an experienced user who can do it better than me however. I should be able to create some good textures at least, once I know where and how everything goes.

I know Minetest is still in a basic stage. But if my understanding is correct, the existing LUA hooks should work with many features that would be needed for such a system. These would mostly include checking object connections (like redstone works, in order to tell if two things are connected at the same end of each pipe), having blocks which are placed on the ground being able to mine / create other blocks, and having the system capable of either dropping items or putting them in connected chests. Maybe a few more script hooks would be needed later on.

I'm not suggesting that we create something as complex as Buildcraft from the beginning. I'm mostly interested in a system that can do its basics. That means engines which can run on different types of fuel (similar to furnaces), and that can overheat and eventually explode or break. Next we'd have pipes, which items can flow through when they're powered by engines. For starters, the pipes could connect from chest to chest, and transport items in between. Then on the list of machines, the simplest one that can be done now would be a mining well, which breaks blocks under it and places them in the nearest pipe or drops them on the ground. Later on, we can add pumps as well, when / if the fluid system in Minetest will allow it.

I imagine such a thing would be both very fun to create, and very fun to play with afterward (especially on multiplayer servers). So does anyone experienced with modding Minetest wish to adventure on this boat? I can't promise I can help much (except tweaks and minor things), unless I have clear examples I can duplicate or otherwise understand. Anyway, I'd like to hear if anyone else wants such a mod, as well as who's willing to help and get things started.

[Calinou]

This can't be done with C++ patches. ;)
If anyone wants to start on this, I wish them good luck (and I may make textures if they need it).

[Jordach]

OMG, this can't be done. @Jeija, dont even start! :D

[Gatharoth]

Haha, actually, I agree with MirceaKitsune, I'd love to see this on minetest. But I'm content on waiting till I think it can actually be done.

[MirceaKitsune]

Shame... would have been nice if this was possible. Why not however? Is the scripting system missing necessary hooks? From what I know, the current scripting system is quite powerful, and can edit functionality to a good extent. Someone's actually done something more advanced than what I'm planning here.

http://c55.me/minetest/forum/viewtopic.php?id=628

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6kmeQj6iW5k

If that is possible, I'm sure anything else is. That's a similar idea to what I wanna make, but not quite the same thing.

[Gatharoth]

Shame... would have been nice if this was possible. Why not however? Is the scripting system missing necessary hooks? From what I know, the current scripting system is quite powerful, and can edit functionality to a good extent. Someone's actually done something more advanced than what I'm planning here.

http://c55.me/minetest/forum/viewtopic.php?id=628

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6kmeQj6iW5k

If that is possible, I'm sure anything else is. That's a similar idea to what I wanna make, but not quite the same thing.

A few reasons I can think of right now, are the fact that when you dig up something, it doesn't turn into a item that you have to pick it, and instead it is automatically put into your inventory.

Another reason, is that BuildCraft, in comparison to mesecon, is beyond complex, and frankly, currently impossible. Mesecon itself, is currently complex. So with that fact, something that is beyond it, would either take too long to get it working for the current version, and be rendered usless because there would be a easier way to do it. Or, is currently impossible with the current way the mods work.

Also, with buildcraft, the main feature I want, is that "auto build" contraption. Where you put in a blueprint and turn it on, then it builds it. Main problem for this, would be how would you save what is on the blueprint? Right now, until this is complete, and no bugs or other problems are there, its impossible to store that data on the blueprint. Next would be the blueprint itself, how would the system know what blueprint goes to which build?

Now I'm working on something to that "auto build" contraption, but on a smaller scale, and predetermined models. No custom buildings, different nodes, ect. It will always, be the same, and never change no matter how many times you use it. It will only change, if you change it at the code level. And even then, it won't do the same thing it did before.

[MirceaKitsune]

Thanks for the detailed explanation. Still confused about some things though. First, about items not dropping to the ground: I'm aware of that, but my idea was to copy each block to the chest before removing it. So in LUA it would be something like this:

Your phone or window isn't wide enough to display the code box. If it's a phone, try rotating it to landscape mode.

Code: Select all

on_step = function(self, dtime)
     local mined_block = minetest.env:get_node(x = pos.x, y = pos.y, z = pos.z - 1) -- get the material under this block
     local chest = minetest.env:get_node(x = pos.x, y = pos.y, z = pos.z + 1) -- get the chest above this block
     chest:get_inventory():add_item("0", mined_block) -- add the mined block to the inventory of the chest
     minetest.env:remove_node(mined_block) -- now remove the mined block
end

That script's prolly messy and incorrect, but just an idea of how it would work. It's a simple way in which a block could mine another block under it and place it in a chest above it (can be extended with a for loop to mine down infinitely). Same for a simple builder, which can create blocks in a given direction with the materials placed in a chest. This would of course be simple, and nothing compared to the actual Buildcraft.

I agree that other BC features are currently impossible in Minetest. My plan was to add the basics and have fun with those, then do the impossible stuff once it would become possible. Simple and possible contraptions would be pipes that transport items between chests (maybe even fluids between tanks), machines that can mine down, and machines that can place / remove blocks in a given direction. The rest would be nice, but indeed impossible now. Still, those basics would be fun, and could be expanded later on :)

[Jeija]

I know that an exact copy of buildcraft certainly isn't possible. But what about just copying some aspects?
Automated mining for example is quite interesting in my opinion. We should decide on what is useful and doable and what isn't.
Automated mining, maybe also pipes is possible. The mined materials could simply be put in a chest.
I like to get things done automatically, like auto-miners, auto-peasants, auto-hunters and so on.
Why not give that a try? Some sort of automatic-mod!?!

My aim never was to just copy this gigantic mod, that would take years (Anyway I don't really know this mod cause I don't play minecraft).

[sfan5]

That would take Weeks to port this Mod

[Gatharoth]

I know that an exact copy of buildcraft certainly isn't possible. But what about just copying some aspects?
Automated mining for example is quite interesting in my opinion. We should decide on what is useful and doable and what isn't.
Automated mining, maybe also pipes is possible. The mined materials could simply be put in a chest.
I like to get things done automatically, like auto-miners, auto-peasants, auto-hunters and so on.
Why not give that a try? Some sort of automatic-mod!?!

My aim never was to just copy this gigantic mod, that would take years (Anyway I don't really know this mod cause I don't play minecraft).

Pipes are already in working progress. [url=c55.me/minetest/forum/viewtopic.php?id=962]It is here[/url]

Now Jeija, I'll say what majority of people said to my Auto-Building idea (now I don't care either way about them, but this is just what people think).

"Survival mode is too easy as is. Add automatic (buildings), then there would be no point."

Also, that "automatic-mod" basically sounds like the mod idea I had awhile back. You can check it here.
I just could never do anything about it. Nor can I still do anything. I don't know enough about the AI coding to create one.

[MirceaKitsune]

Thanks for that link! Maybe the author of the oil mod wishes to add more to it, or join this idea. That certainly looks like a starting point.

[sfan5]

Thanks for that link! Maybe the author of the oil mod wishes to add more to it, or join this idea. That certainly looks like a starting point.

I'm the author of the oil Mod, and i planned that pipes can transfer water and lava too

[MirceaKitsune]

I'm the author of the oil Mod, and i planned that pipes can transfer water and lava too

Sorry about that. Awesome work, and I like what you did so far! Like I said, if that's the direction you wish to take the pipes mod in, it already does a good percentage of what this idea aims for.

I see you already added pumps and refineries too. So if engines would be needed to run them, and you could craft the engines pumps and pipes in more variants (wood stone and iron), it would already feel like it's getting there. My plan for engines is for wooden engines to run for free, stone engines to run on wood / coal, and iron engines to run on buckets of oil, gas, or lava. Also to have colored areas indicating heat level (blue green yellow and red), same as in Buildcraft. I wanna make other things different than Buildcraft however.

But again, I don't know if that's what you plan to do with your mod. If not, are you ok with people using parts of it and making their own versions? Of course as long as they credit you. I feel tempted to try adding to what you did so far, if that's ok ^^

[sfan5]

I'm the author of the oil Mod, and i planned that pipes can transfer water and lava too

Sorry about that. Awesome work, and I like what you did so far! Like I said, if that's the direction you wish to take the pipes mod in, it already does a good percentage of what this idea aims for.

I see you already added pumps and refineries too. So if engines would be needed to run them, and you could craft the engines pumps and pipes in more variants (wood stone and iron), it would already feel like it's getting there. My plan for engines is for wooden engines to run for free, stone engines to run on wood / coal, and iron engines to run on buckets of oil, gas, or lava. Also to have colored areas indicating heat level (blue green yellow and red), same as in Buildcraft. I wanna make other things different than Buildcraft however.

But again, I don't know if that's what you plan to do with your mod. If not, are you ok with people using parts of it and making their own versions? Of course as long as they credit you. I feel tempted to try adding to what you did so far, if that's ok ^^

Any Code by me is CC BY-SA 2.0

[MirceaKitsune]

Awesome. Might tinker with it then... make more pipes and such. Not sure about engines, since I usually need examples for things I don't know, but I'll see. Not sure if I'll get into this soon, but I'd like to eventually.

[IPushButton2653]

I would like to see this. It would be a great aspect for the theme of my server ^^

[jenova99sephiros]

This can or if you mean now?

[rubenwardy]

I do not understand what you mean. Are you saying "is this possible now?".

Avoid replying to old topics, unless you are bumping it and it would be pointless starting a new topic.

See Pipeworks and Technic.

[minermoder27]

It can be done.
https://forum.minetest.net/viewtopic.php?id=7799