The GreenWolf Report: Report 4: Quarries

[GreenWolf13]

The GreenWolf Report: Main Thread can be found here.

Hello, and welcome to the fourth GreenWolf Report. Today we'll be discussing quarries, and how they can become over powered.

First, we'll go over Buildcraft 2 Quarries:

They require:

•11 diamonds

•16 gold ingots

•28 iron ingots

•28 cobblestone

•30 sticks

•1 redstone dust

This makes one quarry block, which can be placed down and powered to create a quarry. After it has been placed, it requires little to no supervision as it digs its way down to bedrock. With the addition of landmarks, you can increase the size of the area excavated to 62x62 blocks. While expensive, the quarry pays for itself over time. With the use of chunk-loaders, it becomes possible to have the quarry run while you are gone, decreasing the amount of time that elapses before it finishes.

Now for Red Power 2 quarries:

Materials required vary, but to make an advanced quarry similar to a Buildcraft 2 quarry, you require at least:

•20 diamonds (9 for a diamond block for a diamond draw plate, which is required to make wire, and 2 for a diamond hand saw, which is required to make wafers [which are required for almost all machines] and micro-blocks, which the diamond draw plate is made of, and another 9 for another diamond block for a Red Power Computer [Note: You can get some diamonds back from the reaming diamond micro blocks used to make the draw plate])

•A ton of redstone and nikolite (amounts vary depending on design)

•A ton of iron (for red alloy and blu alloy, along with several components for machines)

•A ton of copper (for wire and brass)

•A ton of tin (for brass)

•Coal (for silicon boules, and smelting)

•Sand (for silicon boules, and glass)

•A ton of wood (for sticks [for frames] and as a component of certain machines)

•Cobblestone (as a component for some materials, and to be smelted into smooth stone, which is also a component)

•Glowstone (for lumar, for computer)

•Gold (for certain machines)

•Lime green dye (for lumar, for computer)

•Clay (for bricks for a red alloy furnace)

•Several other bits and bobs

This is much more expensive than a Buildcraft 2 quarry, and you still have to set up all the blocks in the right way to build a quarry. Once you have built your quarry (it will very likely be mobile, making it even more difficult) you have to either automate it (which involves programming computers) or operate it manually. Using either method, once the quarry starts digging, it will reach bedrock much sooner than a Buildcraft 2 quarry. If you have made your quarry mobile, you can then move it to a different location and start digging again.

So now comes the question. Are quarries over powered, and if so, which ones? My answer is this:

Yes, Buildcraft 2 quarries are over powered, as they take little to no time to set up and cost less than 16 diamonds (If you use EMC as an accurate measurement of the value of items). Red Power 2 quarries on the other hand, require a vast amount of resources, and require extensive setup compared to Buildcraft quarries.

Thank you for reading the The GreenWolf Report. Next Monday, I'll be going over Forge, and the amazing people who make it.

[Awesomized1]

What kind of person makes a Red Power 2 quarry going DOWN? You put them sideways, so you get the ores, without going through those 20 boring layers. And it's super expandable!

[GreenWolf13]

What kind of person makes a Red Power 2 quarry going DOWN? You put them sideways, so you get the ores, without going through those 20 boring layers. And it's super expandable!

Lots of people make Red Power 2 quarries going down. If you dog straight down, you don't have to worry about falling sand or gravel. And there happens to be quite a few types of ore in those "20 boring layers". For an example of someone who makes Red Power 2 quarries that dig down, go watch Direwolf20's Season 4 Let's play, Episodes 38-40.

[Diddums]

That's a good read Mr Wolf, and although I love my quarry more than anything, I do think that it removes the exploring / mining aspect of the game, which is a fundamental part of the fun. I often find myself bored nowadays, and if it wasn't for my quarry, I'd be down there with a pick and torches digging for shiniez. As for the price part, I do agree that the Buildcraft quarry is too easy to obtain, especially given the EE aspect of Tekkit. I haven't tried the Redpower one yet, and before this report I never knew it existed. I'll be looking in to that next and report back.

[Awesomized1]

Lots of people make Red Power 2 quarries going down. If you dog straight down, you don't have to worry about falling sand or gravel. And there happens to be quite a few types of ore in those "20 boring layers". For an example of someone who makes Red Power 2 quarries that dig down, go watch Direwolf20's Season 4 Let's play, Episodes 38-40.

Yes, but then he learnt about sideways quarries in the SMP series. And didn't he recently make a program that if it can't move forward, it does it again?

[GreenWolf13]

That's a good read Mr Wolf, and although I love my quarry more than anything, I do think that it removes the exploring / mining aspect of the game, which is a fundamental part of the fun. I often find myself bored nowadays, and if it wasn't for my quarry, I'd be down there with a pick and torches digging for shiniez. As for the price part, I do agree that the Buildcraft quarry is too easy to obtain, especially given the EE aspect of Tekkit. I haven't tried the Redpower one yet, and before this report I never knew it existed. I'll be looking in to that next and report back.

Thank you. I completely agree that quarries remove a very large aspect of the game, but they do give one time more time to build. As for red power quarries, they aren't a block like buildcraft quarries, but rather a very complex series of frames, motors, blockbreakers, wires, and tubes. Building them can be very challenging, but I'd say that it is worth it. If you want a good (ish) step-by-step explaination of how to build a frame quarry, then I suggest you check out Direwolf20's seaason 4 episodes 38-40. For a (pretty good) explanation and demonstration of a compact inchworm drive (a must if you want to make your quarry mobile) then go here.

Edit:

Yes, but then he learnt about sideways quarries in the SMP series. And didn't he recently make a program that if it can't move forward, it does it again?

But if it goes sideways, it is no longer a quarry. It becomes a tunnel bore when it goes sideways. And this article is about quarries, not tunnel bores.