Newcomer Questions

[Omicron 62]

Hello all,

I've long been interested in TFC and finally decided to give it a whirl once build 76 drops. I'm fairly experienced with both vanilla and modded Minecraft, and I've looked at a few guides and tutorials to prepare myself so I don't stand there flailing helplessly at a tree and wondering why it can't be mined by hand, but there were some questions that occured to me while browsing.

- I've seen it mentioned that the world is segmented into geographical regions and that in order to find things like deserts or artic zones you have to travel to certain coordinates. Is this just a "neat thing", or does it have actual gameplay impact? As in, am I required to travel to these other regions, or is it purely for the flavor of finding different plants and landscapes?

- In the same vein (ba-dum-tsh), I wonder about ore distribution. Is it more or less random where I can find what, or do high-end ores intentionally spawn well away from my starting point? I don't mind exploration at all, you see, but I know I would be frustrated if I spent ages obliviously digging in areas that have no chance whatsoever to hold what I'm looking for...

- Since so many blocks in TFC adhere to gravity, aren't Endermen randomly stealing blocks a huge issue?

- Apparently animals and crops mature after a certain number of days, or so the wiki suggests. But does that go by the calendar, or by time spent playing? In vanilla Minecraft for example, if I use a bed, it just skips the night and crops don't grow any faster. But in TFC it marks a new day in the calendar, so crops or pregnant animals might track their time using that instead, meaning that sleeping through the night advances the maturing process just the same as if the player had not slept. (Anyone else wishing that Somnia was available for current Minecraft versions? )

- Has anyone tried using DynMap for their server? Is it compatible out of the box, or does it require tweaking, or does it not work at all?

- When looking at food, I notice that around 5 stars on the filling value is enough to get your food bar instantly maxed from pretty much any state. But there are also hot meals that have up to 10 stars. Does that mean that I could "overfill" my food meter to well over 200% if I consumed such meals?

- Since there's also a water meter, how does it affect health generation? Will my health regenerate solely based on food level, like in vanilla, or do I need to have a high water level as well? And, is it binary like in vanilla (i.e. both bars >90% means full regeneration, else zero regeneration), or does healing speed scale in some way (i.e. half speed if only one meter is >90%, or maybe even dependant on each bar's precise status)?

Apologies if those questions might seem to poke at silly details, but I'm the kind of person who gets enjoyment out of obscure knowledge And, figuring these things out for myself ingame would require systematic testing on a large time scale, and I'd rather just play.

[Sda215 8]

Hello all,

I've long been interested in TFC and finally decided to give it a whirl once build 76 drops. I'm fairly experienced with both vanilla and modded Minecraft, and I've looked at a few guides and tutorials to prepare myself so I don't stand there flailing helplessly at a tree and wondering why it can't be mined by hand, but there were some questions that occured to me while browsing.

- I've seen it mentioned that the world is segmented into geographical regions and that in order to find things like deserts or artic zones you have to travel to certain coordinates. Is this just a "neat thing", or does it have actual gameplay impact? As in, am I required to travel to these other regions, or is it purely for the flavor of finding different plants and landscapes?

You'll have to travel geographical regions that has the resources suitable for a settlement. Different plants, from my experience, just grows everywhere except for oceans, deserts, and the arctic. There are still some landscapes that should be implemented.

- In the same vein (ba-dum-tsh), I wonder about ore distribution. Is it more or less random where I can find what, or do high-end ores intentionally spawn well away from my starting point? I don't mind exploration at all, you see, but I know I would be frustrated if I spent ages obliviously digging in areas that have no chance whatsoever to hold what I'm looking for...

Not really. You could spawn on a magnetite vein and never realize it's there at all. I believe ores have a specific stone where they spawn, so look it up.

- Since so many blocks in TFC adhere to gravity, aren't Endermen randomly stealing blocks a huge issue?

There hasn't been any reports of Enderman-related landslides or building collapses, and from my experiences, the issue of block thievery is quite low, to be honest. Only dirt and cobblestone follow the laws of gravity from my knowledge.

- Apparently animals and crops mature after a certain number of days, or so the wiki suggests. But does that go by the calendar, or by time spent playing? In vanilla Minecraft for example, if I use a bed, it just skips the night and crops don't grow any faster. But in TFC it marks a new day in the calendar, so crops or pregnant animals might track their time using that instead, meaning that sleeping through the night advances the maturing process just the same as if the player had not slept. (Anyone else wishing that Somnia was available for current Minecraft versions? )

Well... I believe it's by the calender (ask someone other than me, I have no clue of the question you're asking).

- Has anyone tried using DynMap for their server? Is it compatible out of the box, or does it require tweaking, or does it not work at all?

Not that I know of.

- When looking at food, I notice that around 5 stars on the filling value is enough to get your food bar instantly maxed from pretty much any state. But there are also hot meals that have up to 10 stars. Does that mean that I could "overfill" my food meter to well over 200% if I consumed such meals?

I don't think so. Run an experiment and discover the results.

- Since there's also a water meter, how does it affect health generation? Will my health regenerate solely based on food level, like in vanilla, or do I need to have a high water level as well? And, is it binary like in vanilla (i.e. both bars >90% means full regeneration, else zero regeneration), or does healing speed scale in some way (i.e. half speed if only one meter is >90%, or maybe even dependant on each bar's precise status)?

The Water Meter currently only affects the running speed, and it is binary (50%, I believe you cannot sprint). The Hunger Meter I do not think it is binary.

Apologies if those questions might seem to poke at silly details, but I'm the kind of person who gets enjoyment out of obscure knowledge And, figuring these things out for myself ingame would require systematic testing on a large time scale, and I'd rather just play.

Don't feel shy! Just ask a user who is reliable around here.

WELCOME TO THE TERRAFIRMACRAFT FORUMS, OMICRON!

[Zerren 75]

Are you the boiler efficiency guy?

[Omicron 62]

@ Sda209: Many thanks for your answers! Shame about DynMap, but I suppose it can't be helped.

@ Zerren: Over on the FTB forums, yes. As I said, I enjoy obscure knowledge

[Emris 156]

There is a DynMap for Forge now that has TFC support, but it's very CPU hungry.

DynMap

[Omicron 62]

Oh, I see! Awesome. The CPU load is okay, I probably won't run it all the time... I just want to occasionally allow people to see the map as a whole. I'll be playing with a couple friends from IRC most likely.

[SteAStro88 15]

I will try to help you, because i noticed some infos missing from the explaination of other people no offense

Hello all,

I've long been interested in TFC and finally decided to give it a whirl once build 76 drops. I'm fairly experienced with both vanilla and modded Minecraft, and I've looked at a few guides and tutorials to prepare myself so I don't stand there flailing helplessly at a tree and wondering why it can't be mined by hand, but there were some questions that occured to me while browsing.

- I've seen it mentioned that the world is segmented into geographical regions and that in order to find things like deserts or artic zones you have to travel to certain coordinates. Is this just a "neat thing", or does it have actual gameplay impact? As in, am I required to travel to these other regions, or is it purely for the flavor of finding different plants and landscapes?

I've nothing to add to Sda209 reply to this question, just move to a temperate regione, water, trees, animals and wild vegetables are important.. And note that temperature don't influence at all you firepits, forges and bloomeries, at least not for me

- In the same vein (ba-dum-tsh), I wonder about ore distribution. Is it more or less random where I can find what, or do high-end ores intentionally spawn well away from my starting point? I don't mind exploration at all, you see, but I know I would be frustrated if I spent ages obliviously digging in areas that have no chance whatsoever to hold what I'm looking for...

As Sda209 has said metal ores and minerals spawn randomly but into specific layers, for example as the wiki says native gold spawns only in intrusive and extrusive igneous stones

- Since so many blocks in TFC adhere to gravity, aren't Endermen randomly stealing blocks a huge issue?

Enderman is not a great menace right now, i don't remember i've never seen an enderman with a block in TFC, moreover they could be a problem only if they pick up a dirt block that is part of the ceiling of a superficial cave, in that case all the dirt blocks around update themselves and the ceiling fall, uncovering the cave.. The complete list, on my experience, of the blocks affected to gravity is: Dirt, sand, gravel, raw stone (if floating alone in the air), cobblestones.. If you fear enderman for landslides make your house of planks or chiseled stone blocks

- Apparently animals and crops mature after a certain number of days, or so the wiki suggests. But does that go by the calendar, or by time spent playing? In vanilla Minecraft for example, if I use a bed, it just skips the night and crops don't grow any faster. But in TFC it marks a new day in the calendar, so crops or pregnant animals might track their time using that instead, meaning that sleeping through the night advances the maturing process just the same as if the player had not slept. (Anyone else wishing that Somnia was available for current Minecraft versions? )

Nature is affected by the seasons and by the passage of time, more precisely: fruit trees and landscape (grass and tree leaves) are affected by seasons, because fruits appear only in some periods and leaves change color at every season. Animals, crops and vegetables are affected by the passage of time, they need a certain amount of time to grow and make fruits/vegetables/breed.. Also, animals don't breed into the wild, you have to do it yourself, but now is in any case useless because breeding is not complete and animals stay pregnant forever..

- Has anyone tried using DynMap for their server? Is it compatible out of the box, or does it require tweaking, or does it not work at all?

Not me, i don't even know what it is

- When looking at food, I notice that around 5 stars on the filling value is enough to get your food bar instantly maxed from pretty much any state. But there are also hot meals that have up to 10 stars. Does that mean that I could "overfill" my food meter to well over 200% if I consumed such meals?

I noticed that instead of what you said, meals of 4 stars heal hunger for something similar to 40% so i assume that every star is about 10%.. so 10 star meals will heal 100% hunger

- Since there's also a water meter, how does it affect health generation? Will my health regenerate solely based on food level, like in vanilla, or do I need to have a high water level as well? And, is it binary like in vanilla (i.e. both bars >90% means full regeneration, else zero regeneration), or does healing speed scale in some way (i.e. half speed if only one meter is >90%, or maybe even dependant on each bar's precise status)?

Water meter affect your speed, i don't know if what Sda209 is true (of the 50% and sprint) because i use smartmoving so i can sprint just like in Skyrim lol i only know that if you permit your thirst to drop below something like 40-30% your field of view is a bit zoomed and you will move rather slower than before, so you will prefer to keep hydrated to this point i will advise you a simple mod compatible with TFC, it is the

Leather Water Sac Mod, this is the link: http://terrafirmacra...er-sac-for-tfc/

Apologies if those questions might seem to poke at silly details, but I'm the kind of person who gets enjoyment out of obscure knowledge And, figuring these things out for myself ingame would require systematic testing on a large time scale, and I'd rather just play.

Hope to help you with your great adventure

[Omicron 62]

Alright, so I got impatient with waiting and just thought "oh what the heck, let's start a hardcore world in build 75, I probably won't live that long anyway".

Actually had a quite nice spawn, with ash woods everywhere and all types of animals present. Built myself a spacious log cabin by the sea shore, with glass windows even (yay hot-burning ash wood). Thanks to eggs from wild chickens I can't possibly starve, and I've got a little grove of orange and apple trees slowly growing, and a wide assortment of crops planted (including wheat). Found some (floating, lol) sequoia too, had fun going through 4 axes bringing one down. The dominant rock is chalk, so I won't ever run out of flux. Plenty of sugarcane for paper, and I've slain enough squid to make ink for all seventeen scribing table plans. There's just one teeny-tiny problem... a distinct lack of surface ores.

And with "distinct lack" I mean none whatsoever.

I've visited four different regions so far (where I define a region as 'a different kind of tree grows here'), turning over every rock I could find. So far I have a chest with four stacks (256 pieces) of quartzite rock and nine stacks (576 pieces) of chalk rock. Also carrying another one to two stacks of rock with me, so in total I've picked up a good nine hundred rocks off the ground. And I have not one single tiny ore nugget to my name. I mean sure, I also haven't found any igneous rock to use as an anvil either, but shouldn't there be at least some kind of ore present in the world?

[Omicron 62]

...Actually, out of interest... would sluicing work in an area that does not yield ore from surface rocks? I read somewhere on these forums that the surface rocks check a certain depth, and according to the wiki the sluice checks 60 blocks down. The question is, does the sluice go deeper, or are the surface rocks indication enough that there won't be anything to get?

And, while I'm busy asking questions: how much of a tool durability difference is there between chalk and quartzite? I know you don't like exact numbers here, so you can just tell me 'negligible' or 'noticable' or 'significant' if you want.

[SteAStro88 15]

...Actually, out of interest... would sluicing work in an area that does not yield ore from surface rocks? I read somewhere on these forums that the surface rocks check a certain depth, and according to the wiki the sluice checks 60 blocks down. The question is, does the sluice go deeper, or are the surface rocks indication enough that there won't be anything to get?

And, while I'm busy asking questions: how much of a tool durability difference is there between chalk and quartzite? I know you don't like exact numbers here, so you can just tell me 'negligible' or 'noticable' or 'significant' if you want.

Look, i don't know how much chalk and quartzite tools differ in durability but for my experience for rhyolite (extrusive igneous rocks are the stronger) i need only two axes of that rock to take down a normal sequoia..

For the sluice, you need to know that it check much deeper than any other method for what i know, surface rocks check the first layer and only for few tens of metres, sluice reach even the second layer..

You have look roughly at the 3 layers in this way:

1st layer: from surface to about 100 metres

2nd layer: from 100 to about 50 metres

3rd layer: from 50 to 0

if a river or sea shore is about at 150 metres you understand that sluice check in the 2nd layer for about 10 metres..

Said this i have to say that sluice personally didn't helped me so much when i tried to use it, maybe it's better to build some stacks of ladder and dig down to 40 metres, to save ladders you can place them every 2 metres, precisely:

XXXXX

XXLXX Blocks are X

XXXXX Ladders are L

XXLXX

XXXXX

maybe i'm lucky but i find a great amount of veins only choosing a random spot and beginning to dig down

[Omicron 62]

Well, the issue with randomly digging down is that I kind of don't have a pickaxe After all, I have not found a single gram of metal so far. And I don't think I want to spend two RL hours punching some 40 blocks of stone by hand. I do however have a ton of small lakes that make suitable sluice spots, and gravel at my disposal. I reckon that if I built some 20 of them spread out over the area, I'd eventually get enough metal for a pick.

That said, without igneous stone I cannot craft the pick, and I need clay as well, so I'll be going exploring before anything else. Once I found suitable anvil rock, maybe the stones in that area (or on the way there) will yield some ore.

Also, if you managed to chop down a sequoia with two igneous extrusive axes where I needed four sedimentary, that would suggest a rough doubling from worst to best, or around 30%-40% for every step. Definitely a noticable improvement, good to know.

Thanks for your input!

[Aridhol 41]

Yeah, I use basalt stone axes and a smaller sequioa tree I could get with a single axe...

As for your surface ore problem... It happens. It sucks, but it does totally happen I'm afraid. You either have to get adventurous or start a new world. Good luck!

[Zerren 75]

The sluice question: to my knowledge, it does act like punching rocks, but with a larger radius. Not finding any surface ores on my world, I resorted to 15~ sluices, fed with a constant stream of gravel. Got enough cassiterite for a pickaxe in about 20 minutes. Turns out there was a huge vein under the ground, just low enough.

It's worth a shot.

[SteAStro88 15]

Well, the issue with randomly digging down is that I kind of don't have a pickaxe After all, I have not found a single gram of metal so far. And I don't think I want to spend two RL hours punching some 40 blocks of stone by hand. I do however have a ton of small lakes that make suitable sluice spots, and gravel at my disposal. I reckon that if I built some 20 of them spread out over the area, I'd eventually get enough metal for a pick.

That said, without igneous stone I cannot craft the pick, and I need clay as well, so I'll be going exploring before anything else. Once I found suitable anvil rock, maybe the stones in that area (or on the way there) will yield some ore.

Also, if you managed to chop down a sequoia with two igneous extrusive axes where I needed four sedimentary, that would suggest a rough doubling from worst to best, or around 30%-40% for every step. Definitely a noticable improvement, good to know.

Thanks for your input!

Oops. i missed that detail xD

However, missing that point i said you things useless to you right now.. my advise is too travel until you get a place where you can find surface ores, or simply create another world.. you can simply create it with the same seed, since ore generation is random, it doesn't follow the rules of world generation

[Omicron 62]

I went on a road trip, managed to find a tiny peninsula that had granite rocks and a granite boulder outcropping, as well as clay. I also found 11 small pieces of cassiterite there. Bit of a bummer, since that isn't enough for an ingot, and the rock I have elsewhere can't spawn cassiterite. Oh well, at least I marked the spots.

Oh, and also? Maple trees. Best wood, according to the wiki. Grabbed an armful of saplings and several stacks of logs before I left.

Next, I set up a couple sluices back home after returning with my loot. Most of them are just spitting out gems, despite feeding them gravel, but one of them is turning up sphalerite. Guess it's just a matter of time now! I got plenty of clay molds to fire while I wait. Once I have enough zinc for a pickaxe and prospector's pick, I can head back over to where I marked the cassiterite deposits.

On the topic of prospecting: does the pick also show minerals, like gypsum or saltpeter? Or does it only respond to metal ores?

[SteAStro88 15]

I went on a road trip, managed to find a tiny peninsula that had granite rocks and a granite boulder outcropping, as well as clay. I also found 11 small pieces of cassiterite there. Bit of a bummer, since that isn't enough for an ingot, and the rock I have elsewhere can't spawn cassiterite. Oh well, at least I marked the spots.

Oh, and also? Maple trees. Best wood, according to the wiki. Grabbed an armful of saplings and several stacks of logs before I left.

Next, I set up a couple sluices back home after returning with my loot. Most of them are just spitting out gems, despite feeding them gravel, but one of them is turning up sphalerite. Guess it's just a matter of time now! I got plenty of clay molds to fire while I wait. Once I have enough zinc for a pickaxe and prospector's pick, I can head back over to where I marked the cassiterite deposits.

On the topic of prospecting: does the pick also show minerals, like gypsum or saltpeter? Or does it only respond to metal ores?

It does show both ores and minerals, but minerals.. most of them are useless right now.. good to see you don't surrender, but keep it in mind that you can have a much easier game if you try another world, maybe are you afraid to not finding a place with all you need (apart ores) if you try with another game?

[Omicron 62]

But where's all the fun if you don't overcome the challenges set for you?

It's not like it's impossible to do or anything.

[SteAStro88 15]

But where's all the fun if you don't overcome the challenges set for you?

It's not like it's impossible to do or anything.

Ahahah yeah look at me, i mining from days ago to find gold, and i can't find it lol without gold, garnierite, and silver (i found silver only thanks to galena and tetrahedrite, but not native) i can't reach the last two tiers of metal, and i'm really close to give up

[Omicron 62]

Alright. "Operation: Cassiterite" was a rousing success, and I now have more ore than you can shake a stick at. Here are some questions that occured to me while preparing to process it:

- There seems to be a bit of a bug in the firepit, where excess liquid metal will overflow into a second empty mold only if that second mold is sitting in the right side of the two slots. But it won't overflow (and therefore waste all excess metal) when the second empty mold is in the left slot. Is this a known issue, or should I write Dunk a proper bug report for it?

- When you have a bloomery, and all the ore finishes processing and is ready to be removed with molds... what happens if you don't remove it all? Will it be lost the moment the bloomery cools down, or will it return to the unprocessed ore gauge, or will it remain ready for removal forever?

- If I have an ore like galena, which can yield two different metals, what happens if I throw it into a bloomery? Will I somehow get both metals, and if yes, how does that work? The bloomery only has a single finished product gauge, after all. And if it doesn't give you both, how is it decided which one you get? And what should I do if I wanted both?

[Emris 156]

- If that happens, it's probably a bug.

- Leaving ore in the bloomery crashed the server in b74, but that should be fixed now. When i tested this, i could always get the rest of the ore out with no problems. It was only in "Warming" state though.

- I say, try it out

Imho, half the fun is trying things out and discovering how they work.

And don't worry, you wont loose any ore

[Omicron 62]

Is there anything good to be had in caves?

As usual in Minecraft, I discovered a gigantic cave system under my base. I have no real third layer of stone, it's all cave, going on seemingly forever in all directions. The question is, should I bother exploring it? The cave is really pretty, especially with the stalagmites and stalactites (stroke of genius in terms of terrain generation), but really - exploring this thing will probably take many RL hours. And if all there is to get is more stalagmites, then well, I might as well enjoy the ones I have close by my mining shaft.

In vanilla, caves are great sources of ore, but there doesn't seem to be any in my TFC cave at all.

The entire map is very resource poor, it seems. I have found three mediocre deposits of tier 0 ores so far - only one near the surface, and another two in the second layer after digging half a kilometer of tunnel. There's not even a whisper of copper or any other higher tier resource, and no minerals either. Not even the useless ones like jet or petrified wood. My entire wealth after a wekk's worth of play amounts to 35 tin ingots and 25 zinc ingots (plus a zinc breastplate, sword, and four picks in all fairness).

Are there any advanced prospecting techniques beyond learning how to properly use the prospector's pick?

[Zerren 75]

Not much to be had directly from caves, but I like to use them as a prospecting tool.

It's a huge tunnel of exposed air, GREAT for prospecting around in. Usually how I find my first iron bearing ores.

[transcengopher 349]

Caves don't have an impact on ore generation, so if there's no ore deposits supposed to be generated, there wouldn't be any. But, just like in vanilla, caves are a great way to travel undergound without having to dig through stone.

As for your concerns about lack of ores - there's always some ore. It can be literally one block too far for your prospector's pick to catch though, keep that in mind when you're digging your kilometers.

[dunkleosteus 2,425]

I hope all of you have seen the update video for B76 where I go over all the new items and steps you have to work with.

However, B76 is going to include other features that don't have a physical form in-game. For example, climate and precipitation is being reworked. Snowfall used to be broken in TFC, but this wasn't noticeable because it never got cold enough in any of the locations that players spawned for snow to fall. This system has been reworked so that temperate climates actually experience seasonal temperature variations. This means warm summers in the mid-regions with cold winters. The higher climates will experience short warm periods in the summer months but long winters with harsh temperatures. The warmer, tropical climates will experience hot weather nearly all year round. Snow will also fall if the temperature falls below 0 and water will begin to freeze. Crops will now be impacted by weather more harshly, so planting at the beginning of the growing season (but not before!) is important. B77 and beyond will see more weather-related features being implemented such as cold damage and clothes to prevent it. The surface world will be transformed so that the climate has a bigger impact on how you live and what you see. The ores and rocks however will not depend on the region you live in, so the metals you should be able to find should remain constant. Southern settlement will probably find themselves taking advantage of long growing seasons. Northern ones will find themselves doing more hunting and less farming to support themselves.

Hopefully, more plants can be added in the future to help diversify the world you find yourselves living in and making a more aesthetically pleasing environment to play in

[Omicron 62]

Sounds neat! I also noticed the relatively temperate winters already and wondered, but I figured temperature was simply biome-based... the updates look interesting, though there should probably be a balancing factor in the crop suitability of warm climates. After all, too warm and too little rain isn't going to be ideal either. The best farmland is traditionall found in the middle between arctic and equatorial regions.

In the meantime, by the way, I've fallen to my death in a bout of careless impatience and remembered too late that the world was set to hardcore... oh well

I started a new world, and boy, what a difference. The game is all "shut up and take my metal" no matter where I go. I've had multiple instances of running out of rocks to mark surface ore sites. It's impossible to not find metal. I had three stacks of small cassiterite and one stack of native copper nuggets before I even built a roof over my head. The native copper vein below my house (which I discovered after building said house) is so massive that I get "very large" prospector pick results for 60 blocks or more in all cardinal directions, including down. Instead of lousy sedimentary rock everywhere, I got rhyolite, basalt, rhyolite, granite and some more rhyolite. Man, basalt is so awesome to build with.

The only roadblock, ironically, was the complete and utter lack of anything flux-like (which was the only thing my first world had an infinite amount of). And without flux, you can't progress past tier 0, no matter how much copper you have. I dug so many shafts in search of it, so very many... and ultimately had to boat over two thousand blocks of ocean to find a completely different geological makeup. But hey, I learned a lot about how TFC generates terrain in the meantime And now I am decked out in excessive amounts of pretty green bismuth bronze.