Modular Tunnel Boring Machine
aka The Almighty Digtron
This mod contains a set of blocks that can be used to construct highly customizable and modular tunnel-boring machines, bridge-builders, road-pavers, wall-o-matics, and other such construction/destruction contraptions.
A digging machine's components must be connected to the control block via a path leading through the faces of the blocks - diagonal connections across edges and corners don't count.
The basic block types that can be assembled into a functioning digging machine are:
- Digger heads, which excavate material in front of them when the machine is triggered
- Builder heads, which build a user-configured node in the direction they're facing
- Inventory modules, which hold material produced by the digger and provide material to the builders
- Fuel modules, which holds flammable materials to feed the beast
- Control block, used to trigger the machine and move it in a particular direction.
Diggers mine out blocks and shunt them into the Digtron's inventory, or drop them on the ground if there isn't room in the inventory to store them.
Builder heads can be used to lay down a solid surface as the Digtron moves, useful for situations where a tunnel-borer intersects a cavern. Builder heads can be set to construct their target block "intermittently", allowing for regularly-spaced structures to be constructed. Common uses include building support arches at regular intervals in a tunnel, adding a torch on the wall at regular intervals, laying rails with regularly-spaced powered rails interspersed, and adding stairs to vertical shafts.
The auto-controller block is able to trigger automatically for a user-selected number of cycles. A player can ride their Digtron as it goes.
Other specialized Digtron blocks include:
- An "axle" block that allows an assembled Digtron to be rotated into new orientations without needing to be rebuilt block-by-block
- A crate that can store an assembled Digtron and allow the player to transport it to a new location
- A duplicator that can create a copy of an existing Digtron (if provided with enough spare parts)
- An item ejector to clear Digtron's inventory of excavated materials and inject it into pipeworks tubes if that mod is installed.
- A light that can be mounted on a Digtron to illuminate the workspace as it moves
- Structural components to make it look cool
The Digtron mod only depends on the default mod, but includes optional support for several other mods.
You can't imagine how it's important to survival world...
When I first join the LinuxForks server, I quickly figure out I could go to deep underground with Teleport Potions to get minerals. However, that's still a headache to be rich, as digging by hand, even with the OP Crystal Pickaxes, is a tough task.
With the help of digtrons, I could obtain minerals more effectively, or even during AFK. Sometimes, when I was having lunch, my digtron is also “eating” the minerals and help me get a lot of resources.
The third-party mod support of digtron is brilliant. Using the item injectors from pipeworks, it's possible to make an automatic digtron unloader. With the API methods provided, Advtrains added the support of placing tracks (which require calling on-place callbacks) in parallel to digging tunnels. If HV cables or RE batteries are supplied instead of fuels, digtron can run on electric power.
Overall, the digtron mod is brilliant; it brings the boring machine (though not boring) to Minetest Game. I'm looking forward to this mod's development and hope someday this mod can be ported to MineClone2 or even NodeCore.
Logical mod that can be used to build or mine
These machines are fairly easy to figure out, and can be used to do almost anything: build complex walls, structures, mazes, roads, or railways, by building things with a delay or offset, dig uniquely shaped tunnels underground, cool lava or melt snow automatically, and a lot more. In general, this is one of the most intuitive machine mods that I have seen, where the user has incredible control over the machine they build.
One shortcoming is that the digtron inventory ejector is extremely laggy, and it's not clear how it can be dramatically optimized. Using pipeworks injectors for emptying the digtron inventory storages ends up being much nicer and reliable.
Inspiring, and fun to play with
This mod is inspiring! I know the author said (at one point) the code is smelly, but the mod is very fun. It's got fairly intuitive mechanics, that are simple on their own, but like a cellular automata ruleset, it has enjoyable cascading complexity.
My brother and I particularally enjoyed making "space & land ships" that would endlessly explore the world at y=3 height, by digging through the terrain, then placing stone beneath itself. It made snail-like land bridges and tunnels wherever it went, and could even erase the "trails" it made, if we so wished.
The mod is so versitile, and can take away some of the more tedious parts of surival voxel games that it's compatible with.
one of the best machine mods!
because its modular,you can build almost everything with it! for example, i made a harvester,an oil drilling truck,and much more....
I love the mod and it really deserves a like!
Amazing..
Amazing mod, recommending this for next generation servers as it includes.. next generation stuff, its pretty fun and a nice change for survival to play with machines; build it, make it dig and fuel it...
with this the player will need a great fuel source instead of.. digging.. i also like how this mod does not lag, usually (i think?) machines mods are laggy..
if i make a server with this, i'd not add the crate that's used to store the machine.. its cheaty.
this is epic
i love it, very good mod
AMAZING!!! Just one tiny bug though.
It says on the description that the crate is portable yet I can't figure out how to move it. please help me. Otherwise this mod is on my top 5.
The very best machine mod
It can fit in pretty much any loose enough fantasy setting, unlike most other automation mods, uses 16bit textures too. Even if game breaking for survival(accumulates ores too easily and overall too fast), it's under the best license, so I can nerf it without issues by maybe greatly increasing fuel consumption. Didn't look at the code yet, probably can take less server resources, but overall hands off the best.
Nice builder and digger
i use much in other server , but i have in my server too :-P what is this new element? Master builder module?
La mejor tuneladora
Es modular, se puede montar con bloques con la forma que tu quieras, funciona muy bien y tienes muchos complementos para añadirle
Nice mod
I just love your mod, your mod added a tunnel digger which helped me bore tunnel across my worrld and due to this I got a lot of resources in no time. Great effort man, keep it up. But please correct the distorted ui of your hv reactor core
digtron
please tell me how the module: “chief builder” works?