[1.6.2] Engineer's Toolbox - Customizable Modular Machines! - Now with deployer replacement!

[Emasher]

Engineer's Toolbox

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Changelog

Current Version: 1.1.1.0

For Minecraft 1.6.2

Have you ever had to run a wire, pipe or cable through a wall, but didn't want to leave a huge hole in it? Perhaps at some point you've wanted to run multiple cables or pipes through a single tile, or maybe you've wanted to build a single block ore-processor. I'm sure at some point you've wanted to build a machine that can harvest obsidian instantly, and ever since zombies discovered that wooden doors can be broken, you've probably wanted a way to toggle open iron ones using a single block device.

Engineer's Toolbox provides the means to do all of that, and more, lots more. The mod is based around a single block called a socket, which can have a module installed on each of its six faces. There are over 50 modules to choose from and they cover everything from redstone logic gates to bouncing mobs around in the air (See the full list below). You can design and build your own machines to do many tasks that other mods would take several blocks (or even different mods) to accomplish, in a single, or at least very few blocks. This allows for much more compact, cleaner builds.

Each socket has three internal inventories and three internal tanks to store items, and fluids, respectively. There's also an internal capacitor to store energy, three internal redstone circuits to pass redstone signals between sides, and three internal redstone latches to store a redstone signal. This might sound complicated but you can easily configure you modules to use whichever of them you need using a tool called the socket remote. Engineer's toolbox doesn't have any complicated GUIs that need configuring (in-fact, there are no GUIs whatsoever for the time being), everything can be done using the remote's various modes, quickly and easily. All the various options are even colour coded (don't worry, there's a config option for our colour blind friends).

Sockets are compatible with BuildCraft facades. They also work with both BuildCraft's MJs and Industrial Craft^2's EUs, (1 MJ = 2.44 EU) so you can quite easily use sockets as power converters. Not only that, but when dismantled with a BuildCraft compatible wrench (one is included in the mod), sockets retain the contents of their tanks and inventories, as well as all their energy, so you can use sockets as portable energy storage devices, tanks, or whatever else you can think of.

The mod also adds a tool called a redstone wand which can be used to deploy short lived redstone emitting orbs into the world, which you can use to test out your contraptions.

For more information, please visit my wiki.

As far as modpacks go, feel free to use Engineer's Toolbox in any modpack, as long as you're not selling the pack or violating the Minecraft EULA in some other way. It would be nice to get a head's up, but it's certainly not required.

If you like this mod, check out my other mods here.

For the latest updates on all my mods, consider subscribing to me on Twitter.

You can download Engineer's Toolbox here. Keep in mind that it requires EmasherCore, which can be downloaded from the same page.

To install it, simply place the .zip file in your mods folder (EmasherCore is NOT a coremod and simply goes in the mods folder). Be sure you have the latest version of Minecraft Forge installed as well.

I do have plans to release an API for Engineer's Toolbox at some point, but it isn't ready yet. Basically, it will allow other mods to add their own modules, and possibly some other things.

If anyone has made a video spotlight, or added support for Engineer's Toolbox in their texturepack, let me know, and I'll update this post with a link to it.

Examples

Below are a few examples of the sorts of machines you can build using sockets. This barely scratches the surface of what you can do with them, let alone what you will be able to do with them as more content is added to the mod. Keep in mind that blocks from several other mods are used in these examples, including some from Thermal Expansion, BuildCraft, IC^2, Forestry, as well as some of my own mods, AS#B and GasCraft.

Route different resources through a single block:

Build a quick and convenient obsidian harvester:

Create portable energy storage blocks that work with both BuildCraft and IC^2 power:

Build complex redstone circuits using logic gates and other redstone sensitive modules:

Build a single block ore processor:

Build an automated GasCraft algae farm:

Input or output energy, fluids, and items through a single face:

Blow up your friends with a landmine:

Harness the power of a river:

And if you don't have a river, power your base using cows:

Here's a full list of the modules you can currently craft:

Item Input

Item Output

Item Ejector

Item Distributor

Item Detector

Inventory Interface

Vacuum (suck up items)

Fluid Input

Fluid Output

Fluid Extractor

Fluid Distributor

Tank Interface

Fluid Detector

Energy Input

Energy Output

Multi Input

Multi Output

Redstone Input

Redstone Output

Redstone AND

Redstone OR

Redstone NOT

Redstone NAND

Redstone NOR

Redstone XOR

Redstone XNOR

Redstone Latch Toggle

Redstone Latch Set

Redstone Latch Reset

Redstone Timer

Redstone Delayer

Redstone State Cell

Pressure Plate

Button

BUDS (block update sensor)

Burner (ignites fires)

Breaker (breaks blocks)

Advanced Breaker

Spring (bounce mobs around)

Deadly Flashing Blade (damage entities)

Water intake (infinite water source)

Lava intake (cobblestone generator)

Water Cooler (solidify lava)

Freezer (make ice)

Furnace

Grinder (think macerator)

Energy Indicator

Energy Storage Upgrade

Advanced Energy Storage Upgrade

Solar Panel

Hydroelectric Turbine

Piezoelectric Tile

Self Destruct System (BOOM!)

Activator

Machine Output

[Emasher]

Recipes Part 1

PSU

Machine Chassis

Control Circuit

BuildCraft assembly table

Vanilla crafting (This recipe can be disabled in the config)

Blank Module

Modular Socket

Socket Remote

Item Input

Item Output

Item Distributor

Item Ejector

Fluid Input

Fluid Output

Fluid Extractor

Fluid Distributor

Energy Input

Energy Output

Redstone Input

Redstone Output

Redstone AND

Redstone OR

Redstone NOT

Redstone NAND

Redstone NOR

Redstone XOR

Redstone XNOR

Redstone Latch Toggle

Redstone Latch Set

Redstone Latch Reset

[Emasher]

Recipes Part 2

Burner

Breaker

Advanced Breaker

Multi Input

Multi Output

Item Detector

Fluid Detector

Water Intake

Spring

Deadly Flashing Blade

Vacuum

Furnace

Grinder

Energy Indicator

Energy Storage Upgrade

Solar Panel

Button

[Neowulf]

This is pretty darn cool. I'll have to give it a try.

[Emasher]

I've just released a quick bugfix update (1.3.4) which fixes the following bugs:

*Sockets accept and request BuildCraft energy when their internal capacitors are full

*Multi outputs only outputting the first type of resource they are able to output

*Item ejectors not ejecting items that were present in inventories when they were added to the socket, or when the sockets config changes

It also adds a minor new feature; you are now able to select an inventory or tank to exclude for an item or fluid distributor respectively, allowing you to distribute evenly in two directions instead of just three.

I found these when I finally got around to playing around with the mod in SSP.

[Industrial Miner]

Where is the person who's able to give you a Modder status when you need him/her?

Damn awesome man. I love it that new mods use a crafting pattern as Machine parts and especially if it has huge interForgemod compatability.

[Emasher]

Where is the person who's able to give you a Modder status when you need him/her?

Damn awesome man. I love it that new mods use a crafting pattern as Machine parts and especially if it has huge interForgemod compatability.

Thanks.

I'm not really sure what you mean by using a crafting pattern as machine parts though.

[Industrial Miner]

Like Forestry using Sturdy Casings, gears and chipboards and TE with machine housings and conductance coils. There's a certain pattern in the recipes using those parts.

[Emasher]

Ah, okay. The reason mod authors do that is to cut down on recipe conflicts. If you just have a few recipes that use exclusively vanilla components, you don't have to worry as much about other mods using the same ones. Circuit boards and machine casings are just the most intuitive things to use.

[Vivacity]

So would this mod allow me to convert MJ to EU and vice versa? If so how would it compare to power Converters by Power crystals?

[Emasher]

So would this mod allow me to convert MJ to EU and vice versa? If so how would it compare to power Converters by Power crystals?

Yes, VERY easily. Sockets were designed to basically not care about power being in MJ or EU, they'll take power from either, and output power to either without having to do any configuration. 1 MJ is worth 2.44 EU I believe. I don't do anything with Railcraft steam, UE power, or factorization power, so Power Crystal's power converters are a little bit more universal, although, if possible I do want to support UE and Factorization power eventually. Sockets do have their strengths though, seeing as there's a lot more stuff you can do with them outside of power conversion. You can route energy, items, redstone, and fluids through the same block for instance, and there's lots more planned. Plus, you can do power conversion in just one block.

[Lethosos]

Hrmm...

*steals a Socket Panel for a future possible power input for an electric fermenter pot and whatnot for Drunkraft*

[Vivacity]

Well just a heads up, I could potentially use this in my pack. I'll test it out later for compatibility.

Looks like it'll be a great addition

[jakj]

This is super-neat.

[Emasher]

Thanks to everyone for the positive feed back.

In my own playthrough, I've realized a lot of the recipes for basic modules are too expensive. When I update for Minecraft 1.6 (which is still a little ways off) I'm plannig on making them cheaper, as well as combining various input and output modules so they work more like the energy storage expansions.

That said, I'm about halfway through a new version which will have BUDS modules, redstone timers, and a few new tools. I should have it out within the next few days.

[dwwojcik]

Umm... quick question- why again are your mods not in Tekkit? They look amazing. (Especially this one!)

(*IMHO the textures could use improvement, but that's not to say I could do better! )

[Emasher]

Umm... quick question- why again are your mods not in Tekkit? They look amazing. (Especially this one!)

(*IMHO the textures could use improvement, but that's not to say I could do better! )

That's not really something I can answer. It's up to whoever manages the pack. Although I can think of a few good reasons as to why you wouldn't want to include a few of my other mods in a major pack (some of them have been included in some of the lesser known modpacks). GasCraft can cause massive amounts of tick and framerate lag if you're not careful with it, and it's otherwise fairly buggy and crash prone at the moment, which would be a huge problem for servers. As far as AS#B goes, it simply doesn't have as much content as other biome mods (by default anyway), making them a better choice for a modpack. Defense is a fairly small, and very niche mod, and parts of it can cause tick lag if you use too many of a certain block. As for Engineer's Toolbox, it's only been out two weeks, and has only had 76 downloads so far. If you want to see a mod in a modpack, the best thing you can do is spread the word about it.

As for the textures, lets just say I'm not much of an artist....

[dwwojcik]

That's not really something I can answer. It's up to whoever manages the pack. Although I can think of a few good reasons as to why you wouldn't want to include a few of my other mods in a major pack (some of them have been included in some of the lesser known modpacks). GasCraft can cause massive amounts of tick and framerate lag if you're not careful with it, and it's otherwise fairly buggy and crash prone at the moment, which would be a huge problem for servers. As far as AS#B goes, it simply doesn't have as much content as other biome mods (by default anyway), making them a better choice for a modpack. Defense is a fairly small, and very niche mod, and parts of it can cause tick lag if you use too many of a certain block. As for Engineer's Toolbox, it's only been out two weeks, and has only had 76 downloads so far. If you want to see a mod in a modpack, the best thing you can do is spread the word about it.

As for the textures, lets just say I'm not much of an artist....

Well I sort of meant that Engineer's Toolbox was Tekkit material. (Dem rhetorical questions! ) It would be a good idea for the mod to become a bit more mature before it's added to any major packs.

Psst! Hey, you! Yeah, you, the one with the mod! Iv'e heard a little Photoshop noise never hurt any flat looking textures.... but don't tell any artists cuz that's cheating!

[Emasher]

Version 1.4.0 is now out. It adds redstone timers, BUDS, freezers, lava intakes (cobble generators), water coolers (harden lava into cobble/obsidian in the world), and advanced energy storage upgrades (10x the storage of the normal ones allowing you to store up to 6 000 500 MJ in one block). It also adds two new tools, the Engineer's wrench, which is a BuildCraft wrench with a few extra features for working with sockets, and something called a redstone wand, which allows you to place temporary redstone emitting orbs into the world.

Well I sort of meant that Engineer's Toolbox was Tekkit material. (Dem rhetorical questions! ) It would be a good idea for the mod to become a bit more mature before it's added to any major packs.

Psst! Hey, you! Yeah, you, the one with the mod! Iv'e heard a little Photoshop noise never hurt any flat looking textures.... but don't tell any artists cuz that's cheating!

Indeed. There's still quite a bit planned, and lots of things that could change.

I've used that technique quite a bit before. I really just haven't had the time to put any more effort into them. After all, the mod's been in development for about 2 weeks and 3 days now, and it's far from the only thing occupying my time.

[miniboxer]

Version 1.4.0 is now out. It adds redstone timers, BUDS, freezers, lava intakes (cobble generators), water coolers (harden lava into cobble/obsidian in the world), and advanced energy storage upgrades (10x the storage of the normal ones allowing you to store up to 6 000 500 MJ in one block). It also adds two new tools, the Engineer's wrench, which is a BuildCraft wrench with a few extra features for working with sockets, and something called a redstone wand, which allows you to place temporary redstone emitting orbs into the world.

Indeed. There's still quite a bit planned, and lots of things that could change.

I've used that technique quite a bit before. I really just haven't had the time to put any more effort into them. After all, the mod's been in development for about 2 weeks and 3 days now, and it's far from the only thing occupying my time.

You wrote this in two weeks? That's impressive.

[dwwojcik]

You wrote this in two weeks? That's impressive.

I think I could write this in a year. I mean, I could do it, but by the time v0.0.1 would be ready for download for MC1.5 Mojang would be on 1.9 or 1.10. That's why the people with skill like Emasher apparently make the big mods.

[Emasher]

Codewise, the mod isn't actually that complicated (really). I had most of the back-end infrastructure done over a long weekend, as well as the basic logic gates and IO modules.

Oh, and I've been told by someone on MCF that the mod is difficult for colourblind people to use. I'll be adding some special textures and a config option to solve this problem, but I may not have time to implement it until I update to 1.6.

[Neowulf]

Oh, and I've been told by someone on MCF that the mod is difficult for colourblind people to use. I'll be adding some special textures and a config option to solve this problem, but I may not have time to implement it until I update to 1.6.

As someone who has to ask his wife to tell him which way is which color with his diamond buildcraft pipes, I thank you for this consideration.

[Emasher]

Development of the next version is going fairly well. I just have a few more things to add, so I expect it will be out sometime this evening. The update has a number of new features including (but certainly not limited to) a type of power generation which I believe no mod has touched before, which has some cool mechanics, as well as support for a certain BuildCraft feature.

As someone who has to ask his wife to tell him which way is which color with his diamond buildcraft pipes, I thank you for this consideration.

I have a colour blind mode working for the socket remote now, so it's definitely going to be in the next version. I'm not entirely sure if there are any other textures that need adapting though.

[Emasher]

Okay, version 1.5.0 1.5.1 is now out. I'm too tired to update the information right now, but here's a quick changelog:

+ Colour blind mode for the remote

+ Cheaper recipes for the more basic modules (See NEI)

+ Buttons can now be dyed

+ BuildCraft facades can be placed on sockets

+ New remote functions to remove facades (cyan) and hide (and lock) indicators (yellow)

+ Added delayer (pulses after timer counts down, timer starts on a pulse from an internal circuit)

+ Added state cell (like the delayer, but has a continuous signal when counting down)

+ Added Pressure plate (self explanatory, but must be on top of the socket to work)

+ Added Piezo Electric tile (Generates 1 MJ every time an entity walks on it)

+ Added hydroelectric turbine (Generates power when adjacent to a water tile when in a river)

+ Added self destruct system (This could make some great landmines when combined with the pressure plate, facades, and the indicator locker)

*Fixed a bug that caused the breakers to not break blocks with hardness zero.