A system of power sources and outputs - creating mechanical, light or heat energy using mechanical, light, or heat energy. If I want to have a home with a hot-tub, why not? A ship that is propelled by rotating water wheels powered from a central coal source, or perhaps even a geo-thermal vent utilized to power an entire village. The possibilities here are endless, and, while I'm not sure how difficult it would be to code, perhaps fairly intuitive.
As a disclaimer, many (most) of the ideas in this thread are based loosely (or sometimes quite strongly) on those of other people. I do not take credit or responsibility for any idea that I have not produced, and will gladly cite threads from which I have gained information or inspiration for this compendium of innovations.
I: Geothermal Vents - lava and fire as a source of energy - "Hot blocks"
This idea is utterly based off of the concept of a hot-spring brought up in http://www.minecraftforum.net/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=505 as well as the concept of piping and steam I've seen in many other parts of the forum. The idea is that you can build a spring using lava separated by two blocks from water, and you can boil water and create steam by separating lava and water by only one block. In the diagrams below, steam will be represented by and fresh air will be [] . (I give utter props to Deathtamer666 for the original idea behind Hot Springs)
To create a hotspring: [] []
To boil water:
In the case of boiling water, the steam will be created and continuously pile onto itself, flowing outward and upward and being in constant movement. Boiling water will also damage the character.
Hot springs will, conversely, have a slowly working healing effect, as well as producing a much smaller amount of steam which just slowly fills the area.
This effect could be brought about by having blocks which are near lava or fire counting as "hot blocks" - blocks that give the property of creating steam to water, and a number of other possible effects on other blocks.
In-game effects of Hot Blocks:
Once in a blue moon you might find a room with a large subterranean lake or stream of boiling water - the entire area is filled with steam so it's a mite hard to see, and you have to avoid getting scalded by the water. Also, if you start taking damage from hitting the hot rocks next to a subterranean lava well, it's a lot more polite than having lava spill in on you. As well, with other mechanical systems you can spin turbines using moving steam, or have a boiling moat in your hellish lava castle for the fun of it, and so on. Steam can also be channeled through pipes (http://www.minecraftforum.net/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=14421) using a pump.
II: New Materials as Power Sources
So I've got a mechanical system, or a furnace, or something that I need to power. Right now my sources of power are coal and flowing material.
I've found a couple of threads on-site which contain interesting items which might serve to produce energy with a little imagination.
[*:17fynuvm]Geodes (http://www.minecraftforum.net/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=28691 - RileyVace) With a burner that uses geode crystals to produce energy, this could be very promising.
[*:17fynuvm]LightWarriorK's Alchemy (http://www.minecraftforum.net/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=8856 - LightWarriorK) Some interesting concoctions could be created by an alchemist which might somehow produce power? Who knows, the possibilities are endless. :smile.gif:
III: Inputs and Outputs: Push Points
So my little miner wants to build himself a riverboat with a propeller or water wheel. How do we make this work?
As I mentioned earlier, steam can turn a turbine. Incidentally, most modern forms of energy come from steam, water or air moving a turbine in some way.
A block that can be turned (shafts) would be pivotal to this system. What we end up with are a series blocks that make this whole thing work.
(Note: I've noticed that a great deal of this system ended up looking similar to Qwill's system in http://www.minecraftforum.net/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=51359&p=833246#p833246 - his version is a lot more comprehensive than this and has some extra options, so I strongly advise that you look at both.
Also, http://dl.dropbox.com/u/99581/1278452078211.gif, which was posted in that very thread, was the basis of the entire idea.)
Input/Output Devices: (things that spend energy moving things, or can be moved to generate energy)
Waterwheels - water wheels which must be attached to a gear box or spinnable shaft - When they come into contact with a moving fluid (Steam, water, etc.) they spin and provide rotational energy to the gear box or shaft. If the gear box is moving the water wheel already, it can be used to propel you through water. Wheels - connected to a shaft, can cause objects to move over land. Choppers - Similar to a waterwheel, except they can be moved by air alone, and they can propel you into the air if they have a high amount of energy. (With flying you can make several other blocks to help you out there as well, I'm sure.) Pumps - These can propel fluids through them given an energy input either from a shaft or adjacent waterwheel, gear box, or chopper. Can be turned on or off. With a pump, you can make water travel upward or through pipes at your discretion, or you can propel yourself upward using steam, and so on. (You can only propel yourself forward in water with water, it can't make you levitate.) They can also produce rotational energy if they are set to do so and a fluid travels through them. Powered Tracks - This is actually a block that you put below a track which causes minecarts to speed up or slow down as they go over the above tracks.
Transfer Utilities: (Things that transfer and change the direction of energy)
Shafts - used to transfer rotational energy Gear Boxes - used to change direction of rotational energy - you can change which direction energy goes by activating the box. Pipes (http://www.minecraftforum.net/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=14421) - Also seen in other threads. Steam, Lava, Water and other fluids can be moved through these without losing energy (conceivably going uphill)
Energy Chemical Production Devices:
Burner - When I put something flammable into this, it burns for longer than a fire or furnace would burn it, and the top of the block can can make blocks hot (e.g. it can boil water or cook food)
So what was with the "Push Points" in the title of this section? I'll explain here.
Each of the I/O devices above can be set to where it spins in a certain direction, producing rotational energy which can spin shafts or other I/O devices. Depending on the speed at which your inputs spin (or, in the case of a pump, the speed with which fluid travels through the pump,) they will produce a certain amount of energy. Push Points would be a system that a player would never see but have to intuitively understand. One push point is the power to move one block at a speed of one block per second. (Half-blocks and light blocks such as wool, etc. count as less than a block. Shafts count as 0-blocks.) This means that if you've overloaded the blocks on the airship you've built, you won't be able to fly very fast, and you may actually start going down if you go too slow (airships would have a minimum velocity.) If you put a lot of power into something, conversely, it can go very quickly. Your average waterwheel going through a stream would produce something like 6 Push points, while quickly-rising steam from a burner or other heat source could produce 10-15. This energy is transferred into shafts and gear-boxes, which in turn power other I/O devices to actually move the blocks that they're connected to. (Movable blocks cannot be touching the ground, unless you've made a specific type of platform)
With this system, I can make a hot air balloon ( is a burner, are pumps, and is lightweight cloth. Steam and air are the same as above.) - this is just the device that creates lift, the pumps would still need an energy source and there would need to be a place for the player to stand, but this is a good basic model.
[] []
[] []
[] []
I can also make things like a waterwheel, submarine, boat, moat, and the basis for a series of gate locks for a canal.
IV: Mechanical devices
So I want a more practical, perhaps defense-oriented way to use this system, perhaps some form of automata that can defend my castle. This is where user-built devices come in.
Sword Swingers: This is a device that causes a sword to spin repeatedly if a shaft is connected to its side. It can be useful for making deathpits and a number of other objects.
Arrow Shooters: This device causes arrows to shoot repeatedly if a shaft is connected to it. It requires an input of arrows, but can be easily turned off to conserve them. With the creation of tripwires, this makes a fun dungeon-style trap.
Cannons: With gunpowder and an iron ball, you can fire this forward and deal damage in a straight line ahead of you.
Powered lighting: With the introduction of electricity, you can have bright, semi-permanent lighting.
V: Making it all move: Some ideas
I'm not a programmer and I don't really understand everything that goes down with this, but one user, Mystify, posted up the idea of Block-Grid Entities in his thread and this looked very promising. (http://www.minecraftforum.net/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=19455) Additionally, I know that T&T acquires a certain level of physics when you activate it, I wonder if this can't be applied to a series of blocks at once when making a vehicle? For this I have no answer. d:
Water Mills - Using small one-block water wheels you can generate M.E., angle of water flow (and thus kinetic energy produced by gravitational accelleration) determines the amount of M.E. produced.
M.E. Should have a quantitative system. Number of units determines the amount of force that can be produced and therefore how much work you can do, so putting numbers on it makes our life much easier.
I like the idea of an effective mechanical system, so this is looking good. :smile.gif:
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As a disclaimer, many (most) of the ideas in this thread are based loosely (or sometimes quite strongly) on those of other people. I do not take credit or responsibility for any idea that I have not produced, and will gladly cite threads from which I have gained information or inspiration for this compendium of innovations.
I: Geothermal Vents - lava and fire as a source of energy - "Hot blocks"
This idea is utterly based off of the concept of a hot-spring brought up in http://www.minecraftforum.net/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=505 as well as the concept of piping and steam I've seen in many other parts of the forum. The idea is that you can build a spring using lava separated by two blocks from water, and you can boil water and create steam by separating lava and water by only one block. In the diagrams below, steam will be represented by
To create a hotspring:
To boil water:
In the case of boiling water, the steam will be created and continuously pile onto itself, flowing outward and upward and being in constant movement. Boiling water will also damage the character.
Hot springs will, conversely, have a slowly working healing effect, as well as producing a much smaller amount of steam which just slowly fills the area.
This effect could be brought about by having blocks which are near lava or fire counting as "hot blocks" - blocks that give the property of creating steam to water, and a number of other possible effects on other blocks.
In-game effects of Hot Blocks:
Once in a blue moon you might find a room with a large subterranean lake or stream of boiling water - the entire area is filled with steam so it's a mite hard to see, and you have to avoid getting scalded by the water. Also, if you start taking damage from hitting the hot rocks next to a subterranean lava well, it's a lot more polite than having lava spill in on you. As well, with other mechanical systems you can spin turbines using moving steam, or have a boiling moat in your hellish lava castle for the fun of it, and so on. Steam can also be channeled through pipes (http://www.minecraftforum.net/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=14421) using a pump.
II: New Materials as Power Sources
So I've got a mechanical system, or a furnace, or something that I need to power. Right now my sources of power are coal and flowing material.
I've found a couple of threads on-site which contain interesting items which might serve to produce energy with a little imagination.
[*:17fynuvm]Geodes (http://www.minecraftforum.net/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=28691 - RileyVace) With a burner that uses geode crystals to produce energy, this could be very promising.
[*:17fynuvm]LightWarriorK's Alchemy (http://www.minecraftforum.net/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=8856 - LightWarriorK) Some interesting concoctions could be created by an alchemist which might somehow produce power? Who knows, the possibilities are endless. :smile.gif:
III: Inputs and Outputs: Push Points
So my little miner wants to build himself a riverboat with a propeller or water wheel. How do we make this work?
As I mentioned earlier, steam can turn a turbine. Incidentally, most modern forms of energy come from steam, water or air moving a turbine in some way.
A block that can be turned (shafts) would be pivotal to this system. What we end up with are a series blocks that make this whole thing work.
(Note: I've noticed that a great deal of this system ended up looking similar to Qwill's system in http://www.minecraftforum.net/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=51359&p=833246#p833246 - his version is a lot more comprehensive than this and has some extra options, so I strongly advise that you look at both.
Also, http://dl.dropbox.com/u/99581/1278452078211.gif, which was posted in that very thread, was the basis of the entire idea.)
Input/Output Devices: (things that spend energy moving things, or can be moved to generate energy)
Waterwheels - water wheels which must be attached to a gear box or spinnable shaft - When they come into contact with a moving fluid (Steam, water, etc.) they spin and provide rotational energy to the gear box or shaft. If the gear box is moving the water wheel already, it can be used to propel you through water.
Wheels - connected to a shaft, can cause objects to move over land.
Choppers - Similar to a waterwheel, except they can be moved by air alone, and they can propel you into the air if they have a high amount of energy. (With flying you can make several other blocks to help you out there as well, I'm sure.)
Pumps - These can propel fluids through them given an energy input either from a shaft or adjacent waterwheel, gear box, or chopper. Can be turned on or off. With a pump, you can make water travel upward or through pipes at your discretion, or you can propel yourself upward using steam, and so on. (You can only propel yourself forward in water with water, it can't make you levitate.) They can also produce rotational energy if they are set to do so and a fluid travels through them.
Powered Tracks - This is actually a block that you put below a track which causes minecarts to speed up or slow down as they go over the above tracks.
Transfer Utilities: (Things that transfer and change the direction of energy)
Shafts - used to transfer rotational energy
Gear Boxes - used to change direction of rotational energy - you can change which direction energy goes by activating the box.
Pipes (http://www.minecraftforum.net/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=14421) - Also seen in other threads. Steam, Lava, Water and other fluids can be moved through these without losing energy (conceivably going uphill)
Energy Chemical Production Devices:
Burner - When I put something flammable into this, it burns for longer than a fire or furnace would burn it, and the top of the block can can make blocks hot (e.g. it can boil water or cook food)
So what was with the "Push Points" in the title of this section? I'll explain here.
Each of the I/O devices above can be set to where it spins in a certain direction, producing rotational energy which can spin shafts or other I/O devices. Depending on the speed at which your inputs spin (or, in the case of a pump, the speed with which fluid travels through the pump,) they will produce a certain amount of energy. Push Points would be a system that a player would never see but have to intuitively understand. One push point is the power to move one block at a speed of one block per second. (Half-blocks and light blocks such as wool, etc. count as less than a block. Shafts count as 0-blocks.) This means that if you've overloaded the blocks on the airship you've built, you won't be able to fly very fast, and you may actually start going down if you go too slow (airships would have a minimum velocity.) If you put a lot of power into something, conversely, it can go very quickly. Your average waterwheel going through a stream would produce something like 6 Push points, while quickly-rising steam from a burner or other heat source could produce 10-15. This energy is transferred into shafts and gear-boxes, which in turn power other I/O devices to actually move the blocks that they're connected to. (Movable blocks cannot be touching the ground, unless you've made a specific type of platform)
With this system, I can make a hot air balloon (
[]
[]
[]
I can also make things like a waterwheel, submarine, boat, moat, and the basis for a series of gate locks for a canal.
IV: Mechanical devices
So I want a more practical, perhaps defense-oriented way to use this system, perhaps some form of automata that can defend my castle. This is where user-built devices come in.
Sword Swingers: This is a device that causes a sword to spin repeatedly if a shaft is connected to its side. It can be useful for making deathpits and a number of other objects.
Arrow Shooters: This device causes arrows to shoot repeatedly if a shaft is connected to it. It requires an input of arrows, but can be easily turned off to conserve them. With the creation of tripwires, this makes a fun dungeon-style trap.
Cannons: With gunpowder and an iron ball, you can fire this forward and deal damage in a straight line ahead of you.
Powered lighting: With the introduction of electricity, you can have bright, semi-permanent lighting.
V: Making it all move: Some ideas
I'm not a programmer and I don't really understand everything that goes down with this, but one user, Mystify, posted up the idea of Block-Grid Entities in his thread and this looked very promising. (http://www.minecraftforum.net/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=19455) Additionally, I know that T&T acquires a certain level of physics when you activate it, I wonder if this can't be applied to a series of blocks at once when making a vehicle? For this I have no answer. d:
{Semi-finished, open for suggestions}
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Water Mills - Using small one-block water wheels you can generate M.E., angle of water flow (and thus kinetic energy produced by gravitational accelleration) determines the amount of M.E. produced.
M.E. Should have a quantitative system. Number of units determines the amount of force that can be produced and therefore how much work you can do, so putting numbers on it makes our life much easier.
I like the idea of an effective mechanical system, so this is looking good. :smile.gif: