[noosius]

The Idea

I'm working on a TBM (Tunnel Boring Machine) mod for minecraft. It consists of a very flexible system of interchangable modules that allow you to create some pretty whacky tunneling machines.

So far the mod consists of the following special modules :
- TBM Drillhead which does the drilling
- TBM Filler which outputs material in the direction you placed the block (like walls)
- TBM Engine which powers the thing and provides pretty gfx
- TBM Ejecters which output anything mined by the drillhead
- TBM Platform which serves as a metal grate base for the machine

Anything made of glass or iron blocks that is connected to the machine will be carried along. My thoughts go towards an integration with either IndustrialCraft or BuildCraft.

Update v0.1.2

This is the second update to the Alpha version of TBM. The following changes were made in this release :

- Explosions and Flowing water no longer cause the machine to drift, water digging is enabled again
- Random crashes in the Rendering code on starting a save game with an active TBM
- Glass and Iron blocks no longer disappear on loading an active TBM save game
- Selecting Infinite on the CPU block no longer sets it to 1
- TBM Blocks are now in the Creative mode Inventory!
- Better destruction of mobs caught in the drillheads
- Auto config generation
- Fixed Filler GUI scaling
- CPU wont start anymore without an engine attached

All blocks have a recipe which i'll explain in another post, for now it's recommended to use Creative mode.

There are several known issues which will be addressed in the next builds. Most importantly they are :

- Quitting MC while a TBM is moving 'might' corrupt the machine or its inventory. It should work ok if you let MC save the game to disk first.
- Mob interaction has not been tested and could produce some weird or interesting effects.
- There is no height limit on the machine right now, it could run out of your world.

Download

Copy the following JAR file to your mods folder (v0.1.2) :
http://goo.gl/xpWcS

The audio files need to go in your resources/mods/ folder (yes AudioMod required).
This zip contains 1 audio file from IC2 which i either hope to integrate with in the near future or replace with another effect.
http://goo.gl/y55KY

More information

The tracklayer as seen in the first video has been REMOVED. The filler module does exactly the same and more.
Some filler module insights :

- Leaving its item selection empty will make it act like a directional drillhead and remove blocks in front of it.
- Placing a Diamond Hoe in it will create a tilled field.
- Placing seeds in it will put crops on a tilled field.
- Placing a filled water bucket will make it eject water. (great for moats or canals)

The ejecter module outputs material mined by the drillheads but only 10% of it as to not overpower the machine.
Ejecter module might be broken in this release but i dont want to delay a first releasy.

Engines require Coal. Right now there is no enforcing of the number of engines required or any speed penalties. We'll have to brainstorm on the best game mechanics.

For now, enjoy the first release of TBM, hopefully the first of many to come.

Videos

Tower Building Machine, TBM Going UP :


1500+ Blocks TBM FPS Test :


TBM Boat Constructing Glass Tunnel :


TBM In Action :


And the Making Of :

[DuffmanX18]

I think this would be a great addition to IndustrialCraft. While there are tools you can use to expedite the digging process, I don't recall anything that actually digs specifically shaped tunnels.

[TechGuy543]

I was going to make something like this ages ago but couldnt figure out how to properly. Good job with it so far and you should definitely continue development!! I will use it when its finished. IndustrialCraft and BuildCraft integration should also be included

[noosius]

Great

If anyone's got suggestions or ideas for features feel free to write them here.

I was going to go with an IC2 integration from the start but they havent made a 1.0.0 compatible version available yet.

[Arivor]

That looks quite awesome! Does it work infinite, or do you provide it with coal in order to drill? Also, does it create an infinite amount of rails or do you have to place them in the machine before starting?

-Arivor

[noosius]

Arivor, on 03 December 2011 - 10:50 AM, said:

That looks quite awesome! Does it work infinite, or do you provide it with coal in order to drill? Also, does it create an infinite amount of rails or do you have to place them in the machine before starting?

-Arivor

Right now it simply runs in infinite mode but this is easily changed. My focus has mainly been on actual game mechanics and gfx so far. Since i'm not sure yet which direction i'm taking the integration it might influence the energy dynamics. For example with IC2 it could be nuclear powered with automatic cabling laying behind the machine.

As for resources i was thinking to have the machine reuse parts of what gets mined up to go into the materials used in the walls. For sure there will be no free energy/materials in the end it needs to be a balanced and cool machine that will require effort to keep running, just like in real life

Any ideas are greatly appreciated!

[noosius]

Just finished another demo video of the TBM Mod.

TBM Boat Constructing Glass Tunnel :

[moohugger08]

PLEASE make this a mod!
It looks really REALLY REALLY! good
PLEASE!!!

By the way, here is some Diamonds for your progress so far

[KMeister]

This is really AWESOME!! Great job and for you

[noosius]

Just wanted to share a screenshot of the working interface for the TBM Controller. Engine requirement will be based on the size of your total machine. It would still run with less engines, just a lot slower. Also a fuel system is implemented and the mechanics behind it are done through the modloader config, so it'll be easy to tweak it and use different fuel sources.

[KMeister]

This is completely AWESOME!! Keep up the good work

[TheRapingTuna]

something like this would be awesome!

[sgt_twitchy]

i love this idea, and i will totally use it!!!

[Seizure]

I like how it can be fully customized.

[unknowmonster]

I WANNA DOWNLOAD AWSOME!

[Fluxigon]

WOW! This is way better than the Techni Pack put together. However, one thing I noticed is that the drillhead, fillers, etc, face away from you. This is problematic as the player has to continuously check his inventory to see if he is holding the correct TBM Block he wants to use. Perhaps you can find some way to make it easy to tell which TBM block you are holding.

Also, I see that you have coded iron and glass blocks to "follow" the machine, but because iron block is very expensive, most people who play "legit" will never use iron block, making them really redundant.

By the way, how necessarily are TBM Platforms? Are they compulsory for the TBM to work?

Oh, and one more thing, if you want, I can help you do some textures for your mod

Thanks, and I await your reply.

[ChicagoBob]

I think this mod has some great potential, 2 questions i have, first is what is the smallest diameter tunnel that it can make, 5X5? 4X4? and secondly can it tunnel downward on an angle lets say 1 block down for every 3 blocks forward, if so i would personally like to see the edition of perhaps a text file script that you could add telling it ho to make the tunnel. EXAMPLE: North Down 25, North Level 15, East Level 20, South Up 25. Either way keep up the great work!

[UnDrac]

All I can say is that whoever you are you either have the IQ of 1,000 or you just had the best Idea in the World

I cannot believe no one thought of this yet and I will support you till the end of the world

From what I can tell by watching the video you can basically make any kind of machine, It can make a tunnel,

It can make a bridge, Heck it can flatten a whole area and and lay down bricks on the floor ,

GAH I can't wait to see this mod in action when it's released

I'm sure many people gave you enuff diamonds already so I'll just give you instead

[GearSB]

This looks to be a quality mod already, you could go on and release it now and it would be a big success.

Though if you want to be the premier TBM mod, I would look into the suggestions above about up/down tunneling, as well as diagonal and angled horizontal mining.

But good job, it looks great!

[vaupell]

From the videos it appears to be futher than several allready released mods.

Looking forward to try this out