Expanding my operations in multiplayer survival.

[The_Glaive]

I've hit a point where the area in the same loaded chunk as my base has been completely mined out and all useful liquids pumped out and stored in tanks. I tried to set up a new quarry further away but when I head back to my base the piping connected to my base is destroyed and it appears that the quarry just throws all the mined blocks onto the ground. The weird thing is the pipes that I use to send wood/coal to my stirling engines are always fine.

 

I'm not really sure how to proceed. I looked up something called a chunk loader from chickenchunks. Is this something I need to build? I've got enough diamonds to either build tesseracts or teleport pipes. How would you guys suggest I expand my operations?

 

Any help/insight would be greatly appreciated. 

Edited April 15, 2014 by The_Glaive

[Curunir]

The quarry does its own chunkloading, which means that it will update even when you are not around. If your piping extends away from the quarry, then it may be too far away and require a chunkloader of its own to keep working when you are not around. I like the Dimensional Anchor for that, it is simple and straightforward to use, and not too expensive.

 

However, if your pipes are indeed destroyed when you return, that points to a more fundamental problem. If you encounter that, please report the issue on the tracker, so the developers can see if what you encounter is a bug.

Keep in mind that Itemducts will not successfully connect to a quarry, so you need to use either different pipes, a buffer chest, or maybe a Tesseract to connect to it.

[The_Glaive]

Yes, the cobblestone pipe at the same exact spot would be missing when I went back. This happened at least four times before I moved my quarry to another location. I just assumed it was because it was too far away and was not loading. I will follow you're suggestion and use a Dimensional Anchor along the path of my piping in order to resolve this issue, as long as it isn't a bug. 

 

I haven't really started using itemducts/liquiducts as they were more expensive and because I'm not really familiar with them. I also don't know how to sort/filter using them. What's the best way to learn how to set up a filtering/sorting system using itemducts? 

[jakalth]

You might want a dimensional anchor at your main base as well, so that way, while your away and moving your quarry, all of your base will keep running as well.

 

As for the issue with the pipes, what is most likely happening is, the pipes closest to the quarry are still loaded, but just past the part that is loaded by the quarry is a run of pipe that is not loaded.  The items entering the pipe at the quarry have no where to go, so they get backed up in the loaded pipes until it can't hold any more and breaks.  Once the rest of the pipe is kept loaded, this "should" not happen anymore.

 

For now, you can keep using pipe by chunk loading/dimensional anchoring, the run of pipes.  But as soon as you feel you can afford to, it will make things easier if you start using tesseracts or ender chests(which are far less secure), to at least move the items directly to your base.  Will save time on moving all those pipes around when you move the quarry.

 

As for item ducts, think of them as a cleaned up, simplified, remake of the old redpower pneumatic pipes.  To do filtering, instead of adding a separate block, you instead make pneumatic servos.  You can simply turn a connection, to a chest or furnace for example, into a filtered connection by right clicking on that connection with one of these servos in your hand.  Then right click again with nothing in your hand to access it's interface and set the filer settings.  You can either set what items you want output through that connection(whitelist), or, set what items you do not want output through that connection(blacklist).  Like the pneumatic tubes, itemducts will only move items if there is a place for them to go.  And if they get backed up, they have an internal buffer for items waiting to go somewhere.

[The_Glaive]

Awesome! So using a servo and an itemduct I can set each connection to only except or refuse items. How may items can be on the white/black list?

[jakalth]

9 for each connection, each seperate connection needs it's own servo, and each connection can have it's own 9 items whitelisted/blacklisted.

Edited April 15, 2014 by jakalth

[viesiu]

That is not exactly true, as u need one servo per "block" of the duct. If u connect multiple inventories to that single block, u'll only need to install one servo to be able to interact with all the connections.

[jakalth]

Ah, that's something I missed then.  Thanks catching that mistake viesiu.

[Curunir]

Also, while 9 fields is the limit for white/blacklisting, it does support ore dictionary and some more advanced features. So if you want, say, all copper to leave the duct at a certain point, whitelisting just one type of copper and turning on ore dictionary should mean that both types of copper get sorted. Not just the one you specified.

You can do the same for liquids using Fluiducts. While it should not be so common for several liquids sharing the same pipe, you can filter in-/outputs by clicking with a bucket of the to-be-filtered liquid into the sorting grid. That way, you could separate oil from water, among other things. Or make sure only oil goes into a Refinery.

 

For all of these, use a Crescent Hammer to control directions. Right-clicking on a piece of TE pipe will cycle the colour modes, where green is preferred route, red is non-preferred route, orange is round-robin mode and clear is default (iirc). Right-clicking on a pipe in-/output will cycle through default, force extract (red arrow) and input (blue arrow) modes. A redstone signal is required to force-extract, or you can set it to work only when no redstone signal is present. But for that, a pneumatic servo must be installed.

The only things TE piping can't do is keep a certain supply level and request items only when needed. You need another mod for that, but I forgot its name.

[The_Glaive]

Ok, I now have a plan of attack. I'll first create either dimensional anchors or chunk loaders so that my quarry production can continue while I go looking for and killing enderman (so I can start making tesseracts). Once I can make three tesseracts, I'll set up quarries further away from base and pumps in the nether to get lava. Then I'll convert from steam dynamos to magmatic dynamos (and upgrade from leadstone to redstone conduits) while overhauling my sorting system by converting from buildcraft pipes to TE itemducts. Once I get all that in place, I think I'll make a machine group that can make a piece of the galacticraft or maybe the power suit pieces (not sure right now, as that seems quite further along).

 

Edit: Anyone see anything obviously wrong with this line of thought? If so, let me know before I get too involved. 

 

Thanks for the help, fellows. 

Edited April 15, 2014 by The_Glaive

[Curunir]

The thing is, Tekkit has a lot of stuff that offers shortcuts, so some people will certainly tell you that your approach is inefficient, because you could use this or that mod to get things done easy.

But the way I see it, you are playing an open world game. And last time I checked, games were about having fun, and open world meant making your very own fun, by your own rules. So, go ahead with your plan.

 

One note about power generation, though. Magmatic Dynamos work well, but for late-game power, you should look into reactors. I prefer to turn all that lava into diamonds with my patented >EE3 method, and use Yellorium for power.

Have fun adventuring.

Edited April 15, 2014 by Curunir

[The_Glaive]

Quick question:

Will my quarry and pumps still operate if i'm not logged in?

[jakalth]

That entirely depends on the server.  Some servers allow chunk loaders to operate while the owner is not logged in, some have plugins that turn them off when the owner logs off.  It's just a matter of preference of the server owner.  By turning off chunk loaders when their owner is offline, this tends to allow the server to run a bit faster.