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diff --git a/technic/manual.md b/technic/manual.md deleted file mode 100644 index 9031792..0000000 --- a/technic/manual.md +++ /dev/null @@ -1,1488 +0,0 @@ -Minetest technic modpack user manual -==================================== - -The technic modpack extends the Minetest game with many new elements, -mainly constructable machines and tools. It is a large modpack, and -tends to dominate gameplay when it is used. This manual describes how -to use the technic modpack, mainly from a player's perspective. - -The technic modpack depends on some other modpacks: - -* the basic Minetest game -* mesecons, which supports the construction of logic systems based on - signalling elements -* pipeworks, which supports the automation of item transport -* moreores, which provides some additional ore types - -This manual doesn't explain how to use these other modpacks, which ought -to (but actually don't) have their own manuals. - -Recipes for constructable items in technic are generally not guessable, -and are also not specifically documented here. You should use a -craft guide mod to look up the recipes in-game. For the best possible -guidance, use the unified\_inventory mod, with which technic registers -its specialised recipe types. - -substances ----------- - -### ore ### - -The technic mod makes extensive use of not just the default ores but also -some that are added by mods. You will need to mine for all the ore types -in the course of the game. Each ore type is found at a specific range of -elevations, and while the ranges mostly overlap, some have non-overlapping -ranges, so you will ultimately need to mine at more than one elevation -to find all the ores. Also, because one of the best elevations to mine -at is very deep, you will be unable to mine there early in the game. - -Elevation is measured in meters, relative to a reference plane that -is not quite sea level. (The standard sea level is at an elevation -of about +1.4.) Positive elevations are above the reference plane and -negative elevations below. Because elevations are always described this -way round, greater numbers when higher, we avoid the word "depth". - -The ores that matter in technic are coal, iron, copper, tin, zinc, -chromium, uranium, silver, gold, mithril, mese, and diamond. - -Coal is part of the basic Minetest game. It is found from elevation -+64 downwards, so is available right on the surface at the start of -the game, but it is far less abundant above elevation 0 than below. -It is initially used as a fuel, driving important machines in the early -part of the game. It becomes less important as a fuel once most of your -machines are electrically powered, but burning fuel remains a way to -generate electrical power. Coal is also used, usually in dust form, as -an ingredient in alloying recipes, wherever elemental carbon is required. - -Iron is part of the basic Minetest game. It is found from elevation -+2 downwards, and its abundance increases in stages as one descends, -reaching its maximum from elevation -64 downwards. It is a common metal, -used frequently as a structural component. In technic, unlike the basic -game, iron is used in multiple forms, mainly alloys based on iron and -including carbon (coal). - -Copper is part of the basic Minetest game (having migrated there from -moreores). It is found from elevation -16 downwards, but is more abundant -from elevation -64 downwards. It is a common metal, used either on its -own for its electrical conductivity, or as the base component of alloys. -Although common, it is very heavily used, and most of the time it will -be the material that most limits your activity. - -Tin is supplied by the moreores mod. It is found from elevation +8 -downwards, with no elevation-dependent variations in abundance beyond -that point. It is a common metal. Its main use in pure form is as a -component of electrical batteries. Apart from that its main purpose is -as the secondary ingredient in bronze (the base being copper), but bronze -is itself little used. Its abundance is well in excess of its usage, -so you will usually have a surplus of it. - -Zinc is supplied by technic. It is found from elevation +2 downwards, -with no elevation-dependent variations in abundance beyond that point. -It is a common metal. Its main use is as the secondary ingredient -in brass (the base being copper), but brass is itself little used. -Its abundance is well in excess of its usage, so you will usually have -a surplus of it. - -Chromium is supplied by technic. It is found from elevation -100 -downwards, with no elevation-dependent variations in abundance beyond -that point. It is a moderately common metal. Its main use is as the -secondary ingredient in stainless steel (the base being iron). - -Uranium is supplied by technic. It is found only from elevation -80 down -to -300; using it therefore requires one to mine above elevation -300 even -though deeper mining is otherwise more productive. It is a moderately -common metal, useful only for reasons related to radioactivity: it forms -the fuel for nuclear reactors, and is also one of the best radiation -shielding materials available. It is not difficult to find enough uranium -ore to satisfy these uses. Beware that the ore is slightly radioactive: -it will slightly harm you if you stand as close as possible to it. -It is safe when more than a meter away or when mined. - -Silver is supplied by the moreores mod. It is found from elevation -2 -downwards, with no elevation-dependent variations in abundance beyond -that point. It is a semi-precious metal. It is little used, being most -notably used in electrical items due to its conductivity, being the best -conductor of all the pure elements. - -Gold is part of the basic Minetest game (having migrated there from -moreores). It is found from elevation -64 downwards, but is more -abundant from elevation -256 downwards. It is a precious metal. It is -little used, being most notably used in electrical items due to its -combination of good conductivity (third best of all the pure elements) -and corrosion resistance. - -Mithril is supplied by the moreores mod. It is found from elevation --512 downwards, the deepest ceiling of any minable substance, with -no elevation-dependent variations in abundance beyond that point. -It is a rare precious metal, and unlike all the other metals described -here it is entirely fictional, being derived from J. R. R. Tolkien's -Middle-Earth setting. It is little used. - -Mese is part of the basic Minetest game. It is found from elevation --64 downwards. The ore is more abundant from elevation -256 downwards, -and from elevation -1024 downwards there are also occasional blocks of -solid mese (each yielding as much mese as nine blocks of ore). It is a -precious gemstone, and unlike diamond it is entirely fictional. It is -used in many recipes, though mainly not in large quantities, wherever -some magical quality needs to be imparted. - -Diamond is part of the basic Minetest game (having migrated there from -technic). It is found from elevation -128 downwards, but is more abundant -from elevation -256 downwards. It is a precious gemstone. It is used -moderately, mainly for reasons connected to its extreme hardness. - -### rock ### - -In addition to the ores, there are multiple kinds of rock that need to be -mined in their own right, rather than for minerals. The rock types that -matter in technic are standard stone, desert stone, marble, and granite. - -Standard stone is part of the basic Minetest game. It is extremely -common. As in the basic game, when dug it yields cobblestone, which can -be cooked to turn it back into standard stone. Cobblestone is used in -recipes only for some relatively primitive machines. Standard stone is -used in a couple of machine recipes. These rock types gain additional -significance with technic because the grinder can be used to turn them -into dirt and sand. This, especially when combined with an automated -cobblestone generator, can be an easier way to acquire sand than -collecting it where it occurs naturally. - -Desert stone is part of the basic Minetest game. It is found specifically -in desert biomes, and only from elevation +2 upwards. Although it is -easily accessible, therefore, its quantity is ultimately quite limited. -It is used in a few recipes. - -Marble is supplied by technic. It is found in dense clusters from -elevation -50 downwards. It has mainly decorative use, but also appears -in one machine recipe. - -Granite is supplied by technic. It is found in dense clusters from -elevation -150 downwards. It is much harder to dig than standard stone, -so impedes mining when it is encountered. It has mainly decorative use, -but also appears in a couple of machine recipes. - -### 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. - -If you have the moretrees mod installed, the rubber trees you need -are those defined by that mod. If not, technic supplies a copy of the -moretrees rubber tree. - -Extracting rubber requires a specific tool, a tree tap. Using the tree -tap (by left-clicking) on a rubber tree trunk block extracts a lump of -raw latex from the trunk. Each trunk block can be repeatedly tapped for -latex, at intervals of several minutes; its appearance changes to show -whether it is currently ripe for tapping. Each tree has several trunk -blocks, so several latex lumps can be extracted from a tree in one visit. - -Raw latex isn't used directly. It must be vulcanized to produce finished -rubber. This can be performed by alloying the latex with coal dust. - -### metal ### - -Many of the substances important in technic are metals, and there is -a common pattern in how metals are handled. Generally, each metal can -exist in five forms: ore, lump, dust, ingot, and block. With a couple of -tricky exceptions in mods outside technic, metals are only *used* in dust, -ingot, and block forms. Metals can be readily converted between these -three forms, but can't be converted from them back to ore or lump forms. - -As in the basic Minetest game, a "lump" of metal is acquired directly by -digging ore, and will then be processed into some other form for use. -A lump is thus more akin to ore than to refined metal. (In real life, -metal ore rarely yields lumps ("nuggets") of pure metal directly. -More often the desired metal is chemically bound into the rock as an -oxide or some other compound, and the ore must be chemically processed -to yield pure metal.) - -Not all metals occur directly as ore. Generally, elemental metals (those -consisting of a single chemical element) occur as ore, and alloys (those -consisting of a mixture of multiple elements) do not. In fact, if the -fictional mithril is taken to be elemental, this pattern is currently -followed perfectly. (It is not clear in the Middle-Earth setting whether -mithril is elemental or an alloy.) This might change in the future: -in real life some alloys do occur as ore, and some elemental metals -rarely occur naturally outside such alloys. Metals that do not occur -as ore also lack the "lump" form. - -The basic Minetest game offers a single way to refine metals: cook a lump -in a furnace to produce an ingot. With technic this refinement method -still exists, but is rarely used outside the early part of the game, -because technic offers a more efficient method once some machines have -been built. The grinder, available only in electrically-powered forms, -can grind a metal lump into two piles of metal dust. Each dust pile -can then be cooked into an ingot, yielding two ingots from one lump. -This doubling of material value means that you should only cook a lump -directly when you have no choice, mainly early in the game when you -haven't yet built a grinder. - -An ingot can also be ground back to (one pile of) dust. Thus it is always -possible to convert metal between ingot and dust forms, at the expense -of some energy consumption. Nine ingots of a metal can be crafted into -a block, which can be used for building. The block can also be crafted -back to nine ingots. Thus it is possible to freely convert metal between -ingot and block forms, which is convenient to store the metal compactly. -Every metal has dust, ingot, and block forms. - -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. For example, brass can be produced -by alloying two copper ingots with one zinc ingot to make three brass -ingots, or by alloying two piles of copper dust with one pile of zinc -dust to make three piles of brass dust. The two ways of alloying produce -equivalent results. - -### iron and its alloys ### - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -### 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 -to control its isotopic composition, because the different isotopes -behave differently in nuclear processes. - -The main isotopes of interest are U-235 and U-238. U-235 is good at -sustaining a nuclear chain reaction, because when a U-235 nucleus is -bombarded with a neutron it will usually fission (split) into fragments. -It is therefore described as "fissile". U-238, on the other hand, -is not fissile: if bombarded with a neutron it will usually capture it, -becoming U-239, which is very unstable and quickly decays into semi-stable -(and fissile) plutonium-239. - -Inconveniently, the fissile U-235 makes up only about 0.7% of natural -uranium, almost all of the other 99.3% being U-238. Natural uranium -therefore doesn't make a great nuclear fuel. (In real life there are -a small number of reactor types that can use it, but technic doesn't -have such a reactor.) Better nuclear fuel needs to contain a higher -proportion of U-235. - -Achieving a higher U-235 content isn't as simple as separating the U-235 -from the U-238 and just using the required amount of U-235. Because -U-235 and U-238 are both uranium, and therefore chemically identical, -they cannot be chemically separated, in the way that different elements -are separated from each other when refining metal. They do differ -in atomic mass, so they can be separated by centrifuging, but because -their atomic masses are very close, centrifuging doesn't separate them -very well. They cannot be separated completely, but it is possible to -produce uranium that has the isotopes mixed in different proportions. -Uranium with a significantly larger fissile U-235 fraction than natural -uranium is called "enriched", and that with a significantly lower fissile -fraction is called "depleted". - -A single pass through a centrifuge produces two output streams, one with -a fractionally higher fissile proportion than the input, and one with a -fractionally lower fissile proportion. To alter the fissile proportion -by a significant amount, these output streams must be centrifuged again, -repeatedly. The usual arrangement is a "cascade", a linear arrangement -of many centrifuges. Each centrifuge takes as input uranium with some -specific fissile proportion, and passes its two output streams to the -two adjacent centrifuges. Natural uranium is input somewhere in the -middle of the cascade, and the two ends of the cascade produce properly -enriched and depleted uranium. - -Fuel for technic's nuclear reactor consists of enriched uranium of which -3.5% is fissile. (This is a typical value for a real-life light water -reactor, a common type for power generation.) To enrich uranium in the -game, it must first be in dust form: the centrifuge will not operate -on ingots. (In real life uranium enrichment is done with the uranium -in the form of a gas.) It is best to grind uranium lumps directly to -dust, rather than cook them to ingots first, because this yields twice -as much metal dust. When uranium is in refined form (dust, ingot, or -block), the name of the inventory item indicates its fissile proportion. -Uranium of any available fissile proportion can be put through all the -usual processes for metal. - -A single centrifuge operation takes two uranium dust piles, and produces -as output one dust pile with a fissile proportion 0.1% higher and one with -a fissile proportion 0.1% lower. Uranium can be enriched up to the 3.5% -required for nuclear fuel, and depleted down to 0.0%. Thus a cascade -covering the full range of fissile fractions requires 34 cascade stages. -(In real life, enriching to 3.5% uses thousands of cascade stages. -Also, centrifuging is less effective when the input isotope ratio -is more skewed, so the steps in fissile proportion are smaller for -relatively depleted uranium. Zero fissile content is only asymptotically -approachable, and natural uranium relatively cheap, so uranium is normally -only depleted to around 0.3%. On the other hand, much higher enrichment -than 3.5% isn't much more difficult than enriching that far.) - -Although centrifuges can be used manually, it is not feasible to perform -uranium enrichment by hand. It is a practical necessity to set up -an automated cascade, using pneumatic tubes to transfer uranium dust -piles between centrifuges. Because both outputs from a centrifuge are -ejected into the same tube, sorting tubes are needed to send the outputs -in different directions along the cascade. It is possible to send items -into the centrifuges through the same tubes that take the outputs, so the -simplest version of the cascade structure has a line of 34 centrifuges -linked by a line of 34 sorting tube segments. - -Assuming that the cascade depletes uranium all the way to 0.0%, -producing one unit of 3.5%-fissile uranium requires the input of five -units of 0.7%-fissile (natural) uranium, takes 490 centrifuge operations, -and produces four units of 0.0%-fissile (fully depleted) uranium as a -byproduct. It is possible to reduce the number of required centrifuge -operations by using more natural uranium input and outputting only -partially depleted uranium, but (unlike in real life) this isn't usually -an economical approach. The 490 operations are not spread equally over -the cascade stages: the busiest stage is the one taking 0.7%-fissile -uranium, which performs 28 of the 490 operations. The least busy is the -one taking 3.4%-fissile uranium, which performs 1 of the 490 operations. - -A centrifuge cascade will consume quite a lot of energy. It is -worth putting a battery upgrade in each centrifuge. (Only one can be -accommodated, because a control logic unit upgrade is also required for -tube operation.) An MV centrifuge, the only type presently available, -draws 7 kEU/s in this state, and takes 5 s for each uranium centrifuging -operation. It thus takes 35 kEU per operation, and the cascade requires -17.15 MEU to produce each unit of enriched uranium. It takes five units -of enriched uranium to make each fuel rod, and six rods to fuel a reactor, -so the enrichment cascade requires 514.5 MEU to process a full set of -reactor fuel. This is about 0.85% of the 6.048 GEU that the reactor -will generate from that fuel. - -If there is enough power available, and enough natural uranium input, -to keep the cascade running continuously, and exactly one centrifuge -at each stage, then the overall speed of the cascade is determined by -the busiest stage, the 0.7% stage. It can perform its 28 operations -towards the enrichment of a single uranium unit in 140 s, so that is -the overall cycle time of the cascade. It thus takes 70 min to enrich -a full set of reactor fuel. While the cascade is running at this full -speed, its average power consumption is 122.5 kEU/s. The instantaneous -power consumption varies from second to second over the 140 s cycle, -and the maximum possible instantaneous power consumption (with all 34 -centrifuges active simultaneously) is 238 kEU/s. It is recommended to -have some battery boxes to smooth out these variations. - -If the power supplied to the centrifuge cascade averages less than -122.5 kEU/s, then the cascade can't run continuously. (Also, if the -power supply is intermittent, such as solar, then continuous operation -requires more battery boxes to smooth out the supply variations, even if -the average power is high enough.) Because it's automated and doesn't -require continuous player attention, having the cascade run at less -than full speed shouldn't be a major problem. The enrichment work will -consume the same energy overall regardless of how quickly it's performed, -and the speed will vary in direct proportion to the average power supply -(minus any supply lost because battery boxes filled completely). - -If there is insufficient power to run both the centrifuge cascade at -full speed and whatever other machines require power, all machines on -the same power network as the centrifuge will be forced to run at the -same fractional speed. This can be inconvenient, especially if use -of the other machines is less automated than the centrifuge cascade. -It can be avoided by putting the centrifuge cascade on a separate power -network from other machines, and limiting the proportion of the generated -power that goes to it. - -If there is sufficient power and it is desired to enrich uranium faster -than a single cascade can, the process can be speeded up more economically -than by building an entire second cascade. Because the stages of the -cascade do different proportions of the work, it is possible to add a -second and subsequent centrifuges to only the busiest stages, and have -the less busy stages still keep up with only a single centrifuge each. - -Another possible approach to uranium enrichment is to have no fixed -assignment of fissile proportions to centrifuges, dynamically putting -whatever uranium is available into whichever centrifuges are available. -Theoretically all of the centrifuges can be kept almost totally busy all -the time, making more efficient use of capital resources, and the number -of centrifuges used can be as little (down to one) or as large as desired. -The difficult part is that it is not sufficient to put each uranium dust -pile individually into whatever centrifuge is available: they must be -input in matched pairs. Any odd dust pile in a centrifuge will not be -processed and will prevent that centrifuge from accepting any other input. - -### concrete ### - -Concrete is a synthetic building material. The technic modpack implements -it in the game. - -Two forms of concrete are available as building blocks: ordinary -"concrete" and more advanced "blast-resistant concrete". Despite its -name, the latter has no special resistance to explosions or to any other -means of destruction. - -Concrete can also be used to make fences. They act just like wooden -fences, but aren't flammable. Confusingly, the item that corresponds -to a wooden "fence" is called "concrete post". Posts placed adjacently -will implicitly create fence between them. Fencing also appears between -a post and adjacent concrete block. - -industrial processes --------------------- - -### 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. - -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. - -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 are three distinct, but very -similar, ways of converting one item into another. They are all quite -similar to the cooking found in the basic Minetest game. Each uses -an input consisting of a single item type, and produces a single -output. They are all performed using powered machines, respectively -known generically as a "grinder", "extractor", and "compressor". -Some compressing recipes require the input to be a stack of more than -one of the input item: the quantity required is part of the recipe. -Grinding and extracting recipes never require such a stacked input. - -There are multiple kinds of grinder, extractor, and compressor. Unlike -cooking furnaces and alloy furnaces, there are none that directly burn -fuel; they are all electrically powered. - -Grinding recipes always produce some kind of dust, loosely speaking, -as output. The most important grinding recipes are concerned with metals: -every metal lump or ingot can be ground into metal dust. Coal can also -be ground into dust, and burning the dust as fuel produces much more -energy than burning the original coal lump. There are a few other -grinding recipes that make block types from the basic Minetest game -more interconvertible: standard stone can be ground to standard sand, -desert stone to desert sand, cobblestone to gravel, and gravel to dirt. - -Extracting is a miscellaneous category, used for a small group -of processes that just don't fit nicely anywhere else. (Its name is -notably vaguer than those of the other kinds of processing.) It is used -for recipes that produce dye, mainly from flowers. (However, for those -recipes using flowers, the basic Minetest game provides parallel crafting -recipes that are easier to use and produce more dye, and those recipes -are not suppressed by technic.) Its main use is to generate rubber from -raw latex, which it does three times as efficiently as merely cooking -the latex. Extracting was also formerly used for uranium enrichment for -use as nuclear fuel, but this use has been superseded by a new enrichment -system using the centrifuge. - -Compressing recipes are mainly used to produce a few relatively advanced -artificial item types, such as the copper and carbon plates used in -advanced machine recipes. There are also a couple of compressing recipes -making natural block types more interconvertible. - -### centrifuging ### - -Centrifuging is another way of using a machine to convert items. -Centrifuging takes an input of a single item type, and produces outputs -of two distinct types. The input may be required to be a stack of -more than one of the input item: the quantity required is part of -the recipe. Centrifuging is only performed by a single machine type, -the MV (electrically-powered) centrifuge. - -Currently, centrifuging recipes don't appear in the unified\_inventory -craft guide, because unified\_inventory can't yet handle recipes with -multiple outputs. - -Generally, centrifuging separates the input item into constituent -substances, but it can only work when the input is reasonably fluid, -and in marginal cases it is quite destructive to item structure. -(In real life, centrifuges require their input to be mainly fluid, that -is either liquid or gas. Few items in the game are described as liquid -or gas, so the concept of the centrifuge is stretched a bit to apply to -finely-divided solids.) - -The main use of centrifuging is in uranium enrichment, where it -separates the isotopes of uranium dust that otherwise appears uniform. -Enrichment is a necessary process before uranium can be used as nuclear -fuel, and the radioactivity of uranium blocks is also affected by its -isotopic composition. - -A secondary use of centrifuging is to separate the components of -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 ------- - -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: - -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 - -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. - -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 -------------- - -The technic mod adds radioactivity to the game, as a hazard that can -harm player characters. Certain substances in the game are radioactive, -and when placed as blocks in the game world will damage nearby players. -Conversely, some substances attenuate radiation, and so can be used -for shielding. The radioactivity system is based on reality, but is -not an attempt at serious simulation: like the rest of the game, it has -many simplifications and deliberate deviations from reality in the name -of game balance. - -In real life radiological hazards can be roughly divided into three -categories based on the time scale over which they act: prompt radiation -damage (such as radiation burns) that takes effect immediately; radiation -poisoning that becomes visible in hours and lasts weeks; and cumulative -effects such as increased cancer risk that operate over decades. -The game's version of radioactivity causes only prompt damage, not -any delayed effects. Damage comes in the abstracted form of removing -the player's hit points, and is immediately visible to the player. -As with all other kinds of damage in the game, the player can restore -the hit points by eating food items. High-nutrition foods, such as the -pie baskets supplied by the bushes\_classic mod, are a useful tool in -dealing with radiological hazards. - -Only a small range of items in the game are radioactive. From the technic -mod, the only radioactive items are uranium ore, refined uranium blocks, -nuclear reactor cores (when operating), and the materials released when -a nuclear reactor melts down. Other mods can plug into the technic -system to make their own block types radioactive. Radioactive items -are harmless when held in inventories. They only cause radiation damage -when placed as blocks in the game world. - -The rate at which damage is caused by a radioactive block depends on the -distance between the source and the player. Distance matters because the -damaging radiation is emitted equally in all directions by the source, -so with distance it spreads out, so less of it will strike a target -of any specific size. The amount of radiation absorbed by a target -thus varies in proportion to the inverse square of the distance from -the source. The game imitates this aspect of real-life radioactivity, -but with some simplifications. While in real life the inverse square law -is only really valid for sources and targets that are small relative to -the distance between them, in the game it is applied even when the source -and target are large and close together. Specifically, the distance is -measured from the center of the radioactive block to the abdomen of the -player character. For extremely close encounters, such as where the -player swims in a radioactive liquid, there is an enforced lower limit -on the effective distance. - -Different types of radioactive block emit different amounts of radiation. -The least radioactive of the radioactive block types is uranium ore, -which causes 0.25 HP/s damage to a player 1 m away. A block of refined -but unenriched uranium, as an example, is nine times as radioactive, -and so will cause 2.25 HP/s damage to a player 1 m away. By the inverse -square law, the damage caused by that uranium block reduces by a factor -of four at twice the distance, that is to 0.5625 HP/s at a distance of 2 -m, or by a factor of nine at three times the distance, that is to 0.25 -HP/s at a distance of 3 m. Other radioactive block types are far more -radioactive than these: the most radioactive of all, the result of a -nuclear reactor melting down, is 1024 times as radioactive as uranium ore. - -Uranium blocks are radioactive to varying degrees depending on their -isotopic composition. An isotope being fissile, and thus good as -reactor fuel, is essentially uncorrelated with it being radioactive. -The fissile U-235 is about six times as radioactive than the non-fissile -U-238 that makes up the bulk of natural uranium, so one might expect that -enriching from 0.7% fissile to 3.5% fissile (or depleting to 0.0%) would -only change the radioactivity of uranium by a few percent. But actually -the radioactivity of enriched uranium is dominated by the non-fissile -U-234, which makes up only about 50 parts per million of natural uranium -but is about 19000 times more radioactive than U-238. The radioactivity -of natural uranium comes just about half from U-238 and half from U-234, -and the uranium gets enriched in U-234 along with the U-235. This makes -3.5%-fissile uranium about three times as radioactive as natural uranium, -and 0.0%-fissile uranium about half as radioactive as natural uranium. - -Radiation is attenuated by the shielding effect of material along the -path between the radioactive block and the player. In general, only -blocks of homogeneous material contribute to the shielding effect: for -example, a block of solid metal has a shielding effect, but a machine -does not, even though the machine's ingredients include a metal case. -The shielding effect of each block type is based on the real-life -resistance of the material to ionising radiation, but for game balance -the effectiveness of shielding is scaled down from real life, more so -for stronger shield materials than for weaker ones. Also, whereas in -real life materials have different shielding effects against different -types of radiation, the game only has one type of damaging radiation, -and so only one set of shielding values. - -Almost any solid or liquid homogeneous material has some shielding value. -At the low end of the scale, 5 meters of wooden planks nearly halves -radiation, though in that case the planks probably contribute more -to safety by forcing the player to stay 5 m further away from the -source than by actual attenuation. Dirt halves radiation in 2.4 m, -and stone in 1.7 m. When a shield must be deliberately constructed, -the preferred materials are metals, the denser the better. Iron and -steel halve radiation in 1.1 m, copper in 1.0 m, and silver in 0.95 m. -Lead would halve in 0.69 m if it were in the game, but it's not, which -poses a bit of a problem due to the drawbacks of the three materials in -the game that are better shielding than silver. Gold halves radiation -in 0.53 m (factor of 3.7 per meter), but is a bit scarce to use for -this purpose. Uranium halves radiation in 0.31 m (factor of 9.4 per -meter), but is itself radioactive. The very best shielding in the game -is nyancat material (nyancats and their rainbow blocks), which halves -radiation in 0.22 m (factor of 24 per meter), but is extremely scarce. - -If the theoretical radiation damage from a particular source is -sufficiently small, due to distance and shielding, then no damage at all -will actually occur. This means that for any particular radiation source -and shielding arrangement there is a safe distance to which a player can -approach without harm. The safe distance is where the radiation damage -would theoretically be 0.25 HP/s. This damage threshold is applied -separately for each radiation source, so to be safe in a multi-source -situation it is only necessary to be safe from each source individually. - -The best way to use uranium as shielding is in a two-layer structure, -of uranium and some non-radioactive material. The uranium layer should -be nearer to the primary radiation source and the non-radioactive layer -nearer to the player. The uranium provides a great deal of shielding -against the primary source, and the other material shields against -the uranium layer. Due to the damage threshold mechanism, a meter of -dirt is sufficient to shield fully against a layer of fully-depleted -(0.0%-fissile) uranium. Obviously this is only worthwhile when the -primary radiation source is more radioactive than a uranium block. - -When constructing permanent radiation shielding, it is necessary to -pay attention to the geometry of the structure, and particularly to any -holes that have to be made in the shielding, for example to accommodate -power cables. Any hole that is aligned with the radiation source makes a -"shine path" through which a player may be irradiated when also aligned. -Shine paths can be avoided by using bent paths for cables, passing -through unaligned holes in multiple shield layers. If the desired -shielding effect depends on multiple layers, a hole in one layer still -produces a partial shine path, along which the shielding is reduced, -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 ----------------- - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -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). - -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. - -powered machines ----------------- - -### powered machine tiers ### - -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. - -### powered machine upgrades ### - -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 ### - -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 -furnace from the basic Minetest game can accept inputs through tubes, -but can't output into tubes.) - -If a machine can accept inputs through tubes at all, then this -is a capability of the basic machine, not requiring any upgrade. -Most item-processing machines take only one kind of input, and in that -case they will accept that input from any direction. This doesn't match -how tubes visually connect to the machines: generally tubes will visually -connect to any face except the front, but an item passing through a tube -in front of the machine will actually be accepted into the machine. - -A minority of machines take more than one kind of input, and in that -case the input slot into which an arriving item goes is determined by the -direction from which it arrives. In this case the machine may be picky -about the direction of arriving items, associating each input type with -a single face of the machine and not accepting inputs at all through the -remaining faces. Again, the visual connection of tubes doesn't match: -generally tubes will still visually connect to any face except the front, -thus connecting to faces that neither accept inputs nor emit outputs. - -Machines do not accept items from tubes into non-input inventory slots: -the output slots or upgrade slots. Output slots are normally filled -only by the processing operation of the machine, and upgrade slots must -be filled manually. - -Powered machines generally do not eject outputs into tubes without -an upgrade. One tube upgrade will make them eject outputs at a slow -rate; a second tube upgrade will increase the rate. Whether the slower -rate is adequate depends on how it compares to the rate at which the -machine produces outputs, and on how the machine is being used as part -of a larger construct. The machine always ejects its outputs through a -particular face, usually a side. Due to a bug, the side through which -outputs are ejected is not consistent: when the machine is rotated one -way, the direction of ejection is rotated the other way. This will -probably be fixed some day, but because a straightforward fix would -break half the machines already in use, the fix may be tied to some -larger change such as free selection of the direction of ejection. - -### battery boxes ### - -The primary purpose of battery boxes is to temporarily store electrical -energy to let an electrical network cope with mismatched supply and -demand. They have a secondary purpose of charging and discharging -powered tools. They are thus a mixture of electrical infrastructure, -powered machine, and generator. - -MV and HV battery boxes have upgrade slots. Energy upgrades increase -the capacity of a battery box, each by 10% of the un-upgraded capacity. -This increase is far in excess of the capacity of the battery that forms -the upgrade. - -For charging and discharging of power tools, rather than having input and -output slots, each battery box has a charging slot and a discharging slot. -A fully charged/discharged item stays in its slot. The rates at which a -battery box can charge and discharge increase with voltage, so it can -be worth building a battery box of higher tier before one has other -infrastructure of that tier, just to get access to faster charging. - -MV and HV battery boxes work with pneumatic tubes. An item can be input -to the charging slot through the bottom of the battery box, or to the -discharging slot through the top. Items are not accepted through the -front, back, or sides. With a tube upgrade, fully charged/discharged -tools (as appropriate for their slot) will be ejected through a side. - -### processing machines ### - -The furnace, alloy furnace, grinder, extractor, compressor, and centrifuge -have much in common. Each implements some industrial process that -transforms items into other items, and they manner in which they present -these processes as powered machines is essentially identical. - -Most of the processing machines operate on inputs of only a single type -at a time, and correspondingly have only a single input slot. The alloy -furnace is an exception: it operates on inputs of two distinct types at -once, and correspondingly has two input slots. It doesn't matter which -way round the alloy furnace's inputs are placed in the two slots. - -The processing machines are mostly available in variants for multiple -tiers. The furnace and alloy furnace are each available in fuel-fired, -LV, and MV forms. The grinder, extractor, and compressor are each -available in LV and MV forms. The centrifuge is the only single-tier -processing machine, being only available in MV form. The higher-tier -machines process items faster than the lower-tier ones, but also have -higher power consumption, usually taking more energy overall to perform -the same amount of processing. The MV machines have upgrade slots, -and energy upgrades reduce their energy consumption. - -The MV machines can work with pneumatic tubes. They accept inputs via -tubes from any direction. For most of the machines, having only a single -input slot, this is perfectly simple behavior. The alloy furnace is more -complex: it will put an arriving item in either input slot, preferring to -stack it with existing items of the same type. It doesn't matter which -slot each of the alloy furnace's inputs is in, so it doesn't matter that -there's no direct control ovar that, but there is a risk that supplying -a lot of one item type through tubes will result in both slots containing -the same type of item, leaving no room for the second input. - -The MV machines can be given a tube upgrade to make them automatically -eject output items into pneumatic tubes. The items are always ejected -through a side, though which side it is depends on the machine's -orientation, due to a bug. Output items are always ejected singly. -For some machines, such as the grinder, the ejection rate with a -single tube upgrade doesn't keep up with the rate at which items can -be processed. A second tube upgrade increases the ejection rate. - -The LV and fuel-fired machines do not work with pneumatic tubes, except -that the fuel-fired furnace (actually part of the basic Minetest game) -can accept inputs from tubes. Items arriving through the bottom of -the furnace go into the fuel slot, and items arriving from all other -directions go into the input slot. - -### music player ### - -The music player is an LV powered machine that plays audio recordings. -It offers a selection of up to nine tracks. The technic modpack doesn't -include specific music tracks for this purpose; they have to be installed -separately. - -The music player gives the impression that the music is being played in -the Minetest world. The music only plays as long as the music player -is in place and is receiving electrical power, and the choice of music -is controlled by interaction with the machine. The sound also appears -to emanate specifically from the music player: the ability to hear it -depends on the player's distance from the music player. However, the -game engine doesn't currently support any other positional cues for -sound, such as attenuation, panning, or HRTF. The impression of the -sound being located in the Minetest world is also compromised by the -subjective nature of track choice: the specific music that is played to -a player depends on what media the player has installed. - -### CNC machine ### - -The CNC machine is an LV powered machine that cuts building blocks into a -variety of sub-block shapes that are not covered by the crafting recipes -of the stairs mod and its variants. Most of the target shapes are not -rectilinear, involving diagonal or curved surfaces. - -Only certain kinds of building material can be processed in the CNC -machine. - -### tool workshop ### - -The tool workshop is an MV powered machine that repairs mechanically-worn -tools, such as pickaxes and the other ordinary digging tools. It has -a single slot for a tool to be repaired, and gradually repairs the -tool while it is powered. For any single tool, equal amounts of tool -wear, resulting from equal amounts of tool use, take equal amounts of -repair effort. Also, all repairable tools currently take equal effort -to repair equal percentages of wear. The amount of tool use enabled by -equal amounts of repair therefore depends on the tool type. - -The mechanical wear that the tool workshop repairs is always indicated in -inventory displays by a colored bar overlaid on the tool image. The bar -can be seen to fill and change color as the tool workshop operates, -eventually disappearing when the repair is complete. However, not every -item that shows such a wear bar is using it to show mechanical wear. -A wear bar can also be used to indicate charging of a power tool with -stored electrical energy, or filling of a container, or potentially for -all sorts of other uses. The tool workshop won't affect items that use -wear bars to indicate anything other than mechanical wear. - -The tool workshop has upgrade slots. Energy upgrades reduce its power -consumption. - -It can work with pneumatic tubes. Tools to be repaired are accepted -via tubes from any direction. With a tube upgrade, the tool workshop -will also eject fully-repaired tools via one side, the choice of side -depending on the machine's orientation, as for processing machines. It is -safe to put into the tool workshop a tool that is already fully repaired: -assuming the presence of a tube upgrade, the tool will be quickly ejected. -Furthermore, any item of unrepairable type will also be ejected as if -fully repaired. (Due to a historical limitation of the basic Minetest -game, it is impossible for the tool workshop to distinguish between a -fully-repaired tool and any item type that never displays a wear bar.) - -### quarry ### - -The quarry is an HV powered machine that automatically digs out a -large area. The region that it digs out is a cuboid with a square -horizontal cross section, located immediately behind the quarry machine. -The quarry's action is slow and energy-intensive, but requires little -player effort. - -The size of the quarry's horizontal cross section is configurable through -the machine's interaction form. A setting referred to as "radius" -is an integer number of meters which can vary from 2 to 8 inclusive. -The horizontal cross section is a square with side length of twice the -radius plus one meter, thus varying from 5 to 17 inclusive. Vertically, -the quarry always digs from 3 m above the machine to 100 m below it, -inclusive, a total vertical height of 104 m. - -Whatever the quarry digs up is ejected through the top of the machine, -as if from a pneumatic tube. Normally a tube should be placed there -to convey the material into a sorting system, processing machines, or -at least chests. A chest may be placed directly above the machine to -capture the output without sorting, but is liable to overflow. - -If the quarry encounters something that cannot be dug, such as a liquid, -a locked chest, or a protected area, it will skip past that and attempt -to continue digging. However, anything remaining in the quarry area -after the machine has attempted to dig there will prevent the machine -from digging anything directly below it, all the way to the bottom -of the quarry. An undiggable block therefore casts a shadow of undug -blocks below it. If liquid is encountered, it is quite likely to flow -across the entire cross section of the quarry, preventing all digging. -The depth at which the quarry is currently attempting to dig is reported -in its interaction form, and can be manually reset to the top of the -quarry, which is useful to do if an undiggable obstruction has been -manually removed. - -The quarry consumes 10 kEU per block dug, which is quite a lot of energy. -With most of what is dug being mere stone, it is usually not economically -favorable to power a quarry from anything other than solar power. -In particular, one cannot expect to power a quarry by burning the coal -that it digs up. - -Given sufficient power, the quarry digs at a rate of one block per second. -This is rather tedious to wait for. Unfortunately, leaving the quarry -unattended normally means that the Minetest server won't keep the machine -running: it needs a player nearby. This can be resolved by using a world -anchor. The digging is still quite slow, and independently of whether a -world anchor is used the digging can be speeded up by placing multiple -quarry machines with overlapping digging areas. Four can be placed to -dig identical areas, one on each side of the square cross section. - -### forcefield emitter ### - -The forcefield emitter is an HV powered machine that generates a -forcefield remeniscent of those seen in many science-fiction stories. - -The emitter can be configured to generate a forcefield of either -spherical or cubical shape, in either case centered on the emitter. -The size of the forcefield is configured using a radius parameter that -is an integer number of meters which can vary from 5 to 20 inclusive. -For a spherical forcefield this is simply the radius of the forcefield; -for a cubical forcefield it is the distance from the emitter to the -center of each square face. - -The power drawn by the emitter is proportional to the surface area of -the forcefield being generated. A spherical forcefield is therefore the -cheapest way to enclose a specified volume of space with a forcefield, -if the shape of the space doesn't matter. A cubical forcefield is less -efficient at enclosing volume, but is cheaper than the larger spherical -forcefield that would be required if it is necessary to enclose a -cubical space. - -The emitter is normally controlled merely through its interaction form, -which has an enable/disable toggle. However, it can also (via the form) -be placed in a mesecon-controlled mode. If mesecon control is enabled, -the emitter must be receiving a mesecon signal in addition to being -manually enabled, in order for it to generate the forcefield. - -The forcefield itself behaves largely as if solid, despite being -immaterial: it cannot be traversed, and prevents access to blocks behind -it. It is transparent, but not totally invisible. It cannot be dug. -Some effects can pass through it, however, such as the beam of a mining -laser, and explosions. In fact, explosions as currently implemented by -the tnt mod actually temporarily destroy the forcefield itself; the tnt -mod assumes too much about the regularity of node types. - -The forcefield occupies space that would otherwise have been air, but does -not replace or otherwise interfere with materials that are solid, liquid, -or otherwise not just air. If such an object blocking the forcefield is -removed, the forcefield will quickly extend into the now-available space, -but it does not do so instantly: there is a brief moment when the space -is air and can be traversed. - -It is possible to have a doorway in a forcefield, by placing in advance, -in space that the forcefield would otherwise occupy, some non-air blocks -that can be walked through. For example, a door suffices, and can be -opened and closed while the forcefield is in place. - -power generators ----------------- - -### fuel-fired generators ### - -The fiel-fired generators are electrical power generators that generate -power by the combustion of fuel. Versions of them are available for -all three voltages (LV, MV, and HV). These are all capable of burning -any type of combustible fuel, such as coal. They are relatively easy -to build, and so tend to be the first kind of generator used to power -electrical machines. In this role they form an intermediate step between -the directly fuel-fired machines and a more mature electrical network -powered by means other than fuel combustion. They are also, by virtue of -simplicity and controllability, a useful fallback or peak load generator -for electrical networks that normally use more sophisticated generators. - -The MV and HV fuel-fired generators can accept fuel via pneumatic tube, -from any direction. - -Keeping a fuel-fired generator fully fuelled is usually wasteful, because -it will burn fuel as long as it has any, even if there is no demand for -the electrical power that it generates. This is unlike the directly -fuel-fired machines, which only burn fuel when they have work to do. -To satisfy intermittent demand without waste, a fuel-fired generator must -only be given fuel when there is either demand for the energy or at least -sufficient battery capacity on the network to soak up the excess energy. - -The higher-tier fuel-fired generators get much more energy out of a -fuel item than the lower-tier ones. The difference is much more than -is needed to overcome the inefficiency of supply converters, so it is -worth operating fuel-fired generators at a higher tier than the machines -being powered. - -### solar generators ### - -The solar generators are electrical power generators that generate power -from sunlight. Versions of them are available for all three voltages -(LV, MV, and HV). There are four types in total, two LV and one each -of MV and HV, forming a sequence of four tiers. The higher-tier ones -are each built mainly from three solar generators of the next tier down, -and their outputs scale in rough accordance, tripling at each tier. - -To operate, an arrayed solar generator must be at elevation +1 or above -and have a transparent block (typically air) immediately above it. -It will generate power only when the block above is well lit during -daylight hours. It will generate more power at higher elevation, -reaching maximum output at elevation +36 or higher when sunlit. The small -solar generator has similar rules with slightly different thresholds. -These rules are an attempt to ensure that the generator will only operate -from sunlight, but it is actually possible to fool them to some extent -with light sources such as meselamps. - -### hydro generator ### - -The hydro generator is an LV power generator that generates a small amount -of power from the natural motion of water. To operate, the generator must -be horizontally adjacent to water. It doesn't matter whether the water -consists of source blocks or flowing blocks. Having water adjacent on -more than one side, up to the full four, increases the generator's output. -The water itself is unaffected by the generator. - -### geothermal generator ### - -The geothermal generator is an LV power generator that generates a small -amount of power from the temperature difference between lava and water. -To operate, the generator must be horizontally adjacent to both lava -and water. It doesn't matter whether the liquids consist of source -blocks or flowing blocks. - -Beware that if lava and water blocks are adjacent to each other then the -lava will be solidified into stone or obsidian. If the lava adjacent to -the generator is thus destroyed, the generator will stop producing power. -Currently, in the default Minetest game, lava is destroyed even if -it is only diagonally adjacent to water. Under these circumstances, -the only way to operate the geothermal generator is with it adjacent -to one lava block and one water block, which are on opposite sides of -the generator. If diagonal adjacency doesn't destroy lava, such as with -the gloopblocks mod, then it is possible to have more than one lava or -water block adjacent to the geothermal generator. This increases the -generator's output, with the maximum output achieved with two adjacent -blocks of each liquid. - -### wind generator ### - -The wind generator is an MV power generator that generates a moderate -amount of energy from wind. To operate, the generator must be placed -atop a column of at least 20 wind mill frame blocks, and must be at -an elevation of +30 or higher. It generates more at higher elevation, -reaching maximum output at elevation +50 or higher. Its surroundings -don't otherwise matter; it doesn't actually need to be in open air. - -### nuclear generator ### - -The nuclear generator (nuclear reactor) is an HV power generator that -generates a large amount of energy from the controlled fission of -uranium-235. It must be fuelled, with uranium fuel rods, but consumes -the fuel quite slowly in relation to the rate at which it is likely to -be mined. The operation of a nuclear reactor poses radiological hazards -to which some thought must be given. Economically, the use of nuclear -power requires a high capital investment, and a secure infrastructure, -but rewards the investment well. - -Nuclear fuel is made from uranium. Natural uranium doesn't have a -sufficiently high proportion of U-235, so it must first be enriched -via centrifuge. Producing one unit of 3.5%-fissile uranium requires -the input of five units of 0.7%-fissile (natural) uranium, and produces -four units of 0.0%-fissile (fully depleted) uranium as a byproduct. -It takes five ingots of 3.5%-fissile uranium to make each fuel rod, and -six rods to fuel a reactor. It thus takes the input of the equivalent -of 150 ingots of natural uranium, which can be obtained from the mining -of 75 blocks of uranium ore, to make a full set of reactor fuel. - -The nuclear reactor is a large multi-block structure. Only one block in -the structure, the reactor core, is of a type that is truly specific to -the reactor; the rest of the structure consists of blocks that have mainly -non-nuclear uses. The reactor core is where all the generator-specific -action happens: it is where the fuel rods are inserted, and where the -power cable must connect to draw off the generated power. - -The reactor structure consists of concentric layers, each a cubical -shell, around the core. Immediately around the core is a layer of water, -representing the reactor coolant; water blocks may be either source blocks -or flowing blocks. Around that is a layer of stainless steel blocks, -representing the reactor pressure vessel, and around that a layer of -blast-resistant concrete blocks, representing a containment structure. -It is customary, though no longer mandatory, to surround this with a -layer of ordinary concrete blocks. The mandatory reactor structure -makes a 7×7×7 cube, and the full customary structure a -9×9×9 cube. - -The layers surrounding the core don't have to be absolutely complete. -Indeed, if they were complete, it would be impossible to cable the core to -a power network. The cable makes it necessary to have at least one block -missing from each surrounding layer. The water layer is only permitted -to have one water block missing of the 26 possible. The steel layer may -have up to two blocks missing of the 98 possible, and the blast-resistant -concrete layer may have up to two blocks missing of the 218 possible. -Thus it is possible to have not only a cable duct, but also a separate -inspection hole through the solid layers. The separate inspection hole -is of limited use: the cable duct can serve double duty. - -Once running, the reactor core is significantly radioactive. The layers -of reactor structure provide quite a lot of shielding, but not enough -to make the reactor safe to be around, in two respects. Firstly, the -shortest possible path from the core to a player outside the reactor -is sufficiently short, and has sufficiently little shielding material, -that it will damage the player. This only affects a player who is -extremely close to the reactor, and close to a face rather than a vertex. -The customary additional layer of ordinary concrete around the reactor -adds sufficient distance and shielding to negate this risk, but it can -also be addressed by just keeping extra distance (a little over two -meters of air). - -The second radiological hazard of a running reactor arises from shine -paths; that is, specific paths from the core that lack sufficient -shielding. The necessary cable duct, if straight, forms a perfect -shine path, because the cable itself has no radiation shielding effect. -Any secondary inspection hole also makes a shine path, along which the -only shielding material is the water of the reactor coolant. The shine -path aspect of the cable duct can be ameliorated by adding a kink in the -cable, but this still yields paths with reduced shielding. Ultimately, -shine paths must be managed either with specific shielding outside the -mandatory structure, or with additional no-go areas. - -The radioactivity of an operating reactor core makes starting up a reactor -hazardous, and can come as a surprise because the non-operating core -isn't radioactive at all. The radioactive damage is survivable, but it is -normally preferable to avoid it by some care around the startup sequence. -To start up, the reactor must have a full set of fuel inserted, have all -the mandatory structure around it, and be cabled to a switching station. -Only the fuel insertion requires direct access to the core, so irradiation -of the player can be avoided by making one of the other two criteria be -the last one satisfied. Completing the cabling to a switching station -is the easiest to do from a safe distance. - -Once running, the reactor will generate 100 kEU/s for a week (168 hours, -604800 seconds), a total of 6.048 GEU from one set of fuel. After the -week is up, it will stop generating and no longer be radioactive. It can -then be refuelled to run for another week. It is not really intended -to be possible to pause a running reactor, but actually disconnecting -it from a switching station will have the effect of pausing the week. -This will probably change in the future. A paused reactor is still -radioactive, just not generating electrical power. - -A running reactor can't be safely dismantled, and not only because -dismantling the reactor implies removing the shielding that makes -it safe to be close to the core. The mandatory parts of the reactor -structure are not just mandatory in order to start the reactor; they're -mandatory in order to keep it intact. If the structure around the core -gets damaged, and remains damaged, the core will eventually melt down. -How long there is before meltdown depends on the extent of the damage; -if only one mandatory block is missing, meltdown will follow in 100 -seconds. While the structure of a running reactor is in a damaged state, -heading towards meltdown, a siren built into the reactor core will sound. -If the structure is rectified, the siren will signal all-clear. If the -siren stops sounding without signalling all-clear, then it was stopped -by meltdown. - -If meltdown is imminent because of damaged reactor structure, digging the -reactor core is not a way to avert it. Digging the core of a running -reactor causes instant meltdown. The only way to dismantle a reactor -without causing meltdown is to start by waiting for it to finish the -week-long burning of its current set of fuel. Once a reactor is no longer -operating, it can be dismantled by ordinary means, with no special risks. - -Meltdown, if it occurs, destroys the reactor and poses a major -environmental hazard. The reactor core melts, becoming a hot, highly -radioactive liquid known as "corium". A single meltdown yields a single -corium source block, where the core used to be. Corium flows, and the -flowing corium is very destructive to whatever it comes into contact with. -Flowing corium also randomly solidifies into a radioactive solid called -"Chernobylite". The random solidification and random destruction of -solid blocks means that the flow of corium is constantly changing. -This combined with the severe radioactivity makes corium much more -challenging to deal with than lava. If a meltdown is left to its own -devices, it gets worse over time, as the corium works its way through -the reactor structure and starts to flow over a variety of paths. -It is best to tackle a meltdown quickly; the priority is to extinguish -the corium source block, normally by dropping gravel into it. Only the -most motivated should attempt to pick up the corium in a bucket. - -administrative world anchor ---------------------------- - -A world anchor is an object in the Minetest world that causes the server -to keep surrounding parts of the world running even when no players -are nearby. It is mainly used to allow machines to run unattended: -normally machines are suspended when not near a player. The technic -mod supplies a form of world anchor, as a placable block, but it is not -straightforwardly available to players. There is no recipe for it, so it -is only available if explicitly spawned into existence by someone with -administrative privileges. In a single-player world, the single player -normally has administrative privileges, and can obtain a world anchor -by entering the chat command "/give singleplayer technic:admin\_anchor". - -The world anchor tries to force a cubical area, centered upon the anchor, -to stay loaded. The distance from the anchor to the most distant map -nodes that it will keep loaded is referred to as the "radius", and can be -set in the world anchor's interaction form. The radius can be set as low -as 0, meaning that the anchor only tries to keep itself loaded, or as high -as 255, meaning that it will operate on a 511×511×511 cube. -Larger radii are forbidden, to avoid typos causing the server excessive -work; to keep a larger area loaded, use multiple anchors. Also use -multiple anchors if the area to be kept loaded is not well approximated -by a cube. - -The world is always kept loaded in units of 16×16×16 cubes, -confusingly known as "map blocks". The anchor's configured radius takes -no account of map block boundaries, but the anchor's effect is actually to -keep loaded each map block that contains any part of the configured cube. -The anchor's interaction form includes a status note showing how many map -blocks this is, and how many of those it is successfully keeping loaded. -When the anchor is disabled, as it is upon placement, it will always -show that it is keeping no map blocks loaded; this does not indicate -any kind of failure. - -The world anchor can optionally be locked. When it is locked, only -the anchor's owner, the player who placed it, can reconfigure it or -remove it. Only the owner can lock it. Locking an anchor is useful -if the use of anchors is being tightly controlled by administrators: -an administrator can set up a locked anchor and be sure that it will -not be set by ordinary players to an unapproved configuration. - -The server limits the ability of world anchors to keep parts of the world -loaded, to avoid overloading the server. The total number of map blocks -that can be kept loaded in this way is set by the server configuration -item "max\_forceloaded\_blocks" (in minetest.conf), which defaults to -only 16. For comparison, each player normally keeps 125 map blocks loaded -(a radius of 32). If an enabled world anchor shows that it is failing to -keep all the map blocks loaded that it would like to, this can be fixed -by increasing max\_forceloaded\_blocks by the amount of the shortfall. - -The tight limit on force-loading is the reason why the world anchor is -not directly available to players. With the limit so low both by default -and in common practice, the only feasible way to determine where world -anchors should be used is for administrators to decide it directly. - -subjects missing from this manual ---------------------------------- - -This manual needs to be extended with sections on: - -* powered tools - * tool charging - * battery and energy crystals - * chainsaw - * flashlight - * mining lasers - * mining drills - * prospector - * sonic screwdriver -* liquid cans -* wrench -* frames -* templates |