[GregTech-5][1.7.10-FORGE-1355+][Unofficial but approved Port][Stable] Even GT5 Experimental is slowly getting stable.

Quote from Sapient

It's most efficient i ever seen. You need to mine only 32% or vein volume to see every single block of ore.

And branch mining is 33%. While 32% is a little better than 33%, it doesn't seem worth the bother to worry about a pattern instead of just mining in a line.

More to the point, I was looking for advice for mining that's reasonably efficient and not confusing. My experience with very large branch mines on Gregtech veins is that they become random swiss cheese once I've actually started removing ore, and it's remarkably easy to get disoriented, or forget which branches still needed work if I leave and return. This is particularly true if I chase ore vertically instead of confining myself to removing what's on the current dig level.

Mostly I think what I need are landmarks so I can quickly orient myself. The wider corridor Mauve Cloud is a possibility, since it's obviously and visibly different from the branches. Maybe a sign or two saying "exit that way -->" as well.

Quote from benthehun1

Hello, I'm getting a crash when using the latest version:

WARNING: coremods are present:
  IC2core (industrialcraft-2-2.6.128-ex110.jar)
  GregtechASM (gregtech-5.10.06.jar)

Latest version is gregtech-5.09.27pre.jar
gregtech-5.10 is port for MC 1.10 made by another author.

Where would I go for support then?

Quote from Sapient

It's most efficient i ever seen. You need to mine only 32% or vein volume to see every single block of ore.

Tiny improvement (31%) :

Quote from Gus_Smedstad

And branch mining is 33%. While 32% is a little better than 33%, it doesn't seem worth the bother to worry about a pattern instead of just mining in a line.

More to the point, I was looking for advice for mining that's reasonably efficient and not confusing. My experience with very large branch mines on Gregtech veins is that they become random swiss cheese once I've actually started removing ore, and it's remarkably easy to get disoriented, or forget which branches still needed work if I leave and return. This is particularly true if I chase ore vertically instead of confining myself to removing what's on the current dig level.

Mostly I think what I need are landmarks so I can quickly orient myself. The wider corridor Mauve Cloud is a possibility, since it's obviously and visibly different from the branches. Maybe a sign or two saying "exit that way -->" as well.

If getting lost is the main concern, I came up with an alternative (attached). 43% might not be as good as 33%, but it leaves a nice big open area in the middle layers instead of a maze, and you can fill in the floor holes with some of the excess cobblestone, so you know you've already mined those spots.

Quote from junglejim

Tiny improvement (31%) :

Nice! Will save it

I'm in the process of automating my ore processing, and it seems like some steps are very expensive and bulky. Am I missing something?

For example, at the Purified Crushed Ore stage, I'd like to route some ores to a Sifter. Since there's some 26 ores that can benefit from the sifter, eventually this means a total of 6 item filters. 3 to specified all the ores that should go to the sifter, and 3 to prohibit those ores from moving into the auto hammer. Overall it's just cheaper and more compact to build a second, sifter-specific assembly line, macerator -> ore washer -> sifter, and take care to only put the correct ores into that macerator.

The Item Type filters don't really help, because the categories are too broad, and not processing-specific. For example, a type filter can specify "purified crushed ore," but not "purified crushed ores that can be used in the sifter."

Mercury baths are almost as bad, since there are 13 ores that benefit, which means 4 item filters (2 to transfer to the bath, 2 to ensure the ores don't go to the ore washer).

In a related note, dealing with tiny dust byproducts is a headache. I've got a large chest that's nothing but the various small accumulations of tiny dusts. While the packager is supposed to automate the consolidation of tiny and small dusts, it jams if there's anything but a multiple of 9 tiny or 4 small dusts. Regulators can address this, but regulators don't generalize, and they've only got 9 slots each. Which means 5-6 regulators just to ensure that the packager only gets the correct number of tiny dusts, and almost as many to deal with the small dusts.

Quote from Gus_Smedstad

automating my ore processing

Its better to use Storage Buses from AE - to set items for each step of processing.

And Ore Dictionary Export Bus (from Extra Cells) + Super Buffer + Packager for dust combining

Quote from Blood Asp

Doing the oreprocessing with GT machines only will get big. http://imgur.com/a/SXbus

That setup is far, far larger than what I was even envisioning.

I guess you're saying the answer is "yes, you end up using a lot of item filters" if you use GT item transport to route ores to the proper machines. Though you can cut that in half if you shut down default processing if any of the specialist processing buffers get full. At the cost of parallelism, since you're shutting down part of the system.

I don't think alternate mods address the stack-size issue of the tiny dust -> dust conversion, or if you're automating it, the centrifuge recipes that require a multiple of 3 or 12 or 39 or other combinations I don't recall. I've looked at a few, if not in depth, and while some have features like requesting X items, I've missed any mention of "request exactly 9 items, no more and no less."

I'm reluctant to use non-GT item transport, mostly because it feels like violating the spirit of playing Gregtech. Gregtech stuff tends to be much more expensive than the replacement, both for added demand (why else would you care about brass?) and challenge. Though maybe the cost argument doesn't apply to AE; I gather a basic glass cable costs about 1/2 Certus Quartz and 1/2 Nether Quartz, and while that's less than the 3 Brass required for a GT item pipe, it's a lot easier to get brass than the Quartz items.

I'm surprised you went entirely low voltage. Whenever I put together something with low voltage I'm constantly worrying about cable length and voltage drop from the nearest battery buffer.

I didn't know that item / type filters worked without power, provided you pull from them. Presumably you can do that even with GT, if you attach a conveyor to the item pipe.

For mining landmarks why not follow the right hand rule? Place torches on the right hand side as you're exploring away from the base. When trying to get back to a junction or your base always look for the torches on the left.

Quote from willis936

For mining landmarks why not follow the right hand rule? Place torches on the roght hand side as you're exploring away from the base. When trying to get back to a junction or your base always look for the torches on the left.

I don't think you understand the nature of the problem I was posting.

It's not about exploration. It's about clearing a large ore vein, not missing any ore, while keeping the mining site comprehensible. It's about clearing an area, not trying to find my way back to base. I don't have any problems with the latter.

If I mine out part of a vein, and then return later, there's always a question of which parts of the vein are exhausted, and which still need work. Even during a single run, it's easy to overlook some obscure corner.

As mining progresses, the worked vein doesn't retain any kind of order, no matter what pattern you use. Branch mining is simple in structure, but once you knock a bunch of big holes in the walls between the branches from removing ore, it can quickly become a random mess.

Part of my problem, historically, is that I tended to do what we call a "greedy algorithm" in programming. Basically, I'd dig out any piece of ore I saw, even if it was above or below my current level. This often ended up with a 3 dimensional maze that was hazardous to navigate because of long drops. The solution to that is simple - don't dig out any ore below my current working level, no matter how tempting it is.

The simple solution to all those problems is to remove everything. If there's a block left on the current working level, it's not done. Seeing which parts are incomplete is trivial, and navigation's not a problem because the final result is a big open space with no obstacles.

The problem is that this is far more work than necessary. I dig out a lot of stone that I don't really need to in order to expose ore. More efficient methods, however, leave lots of stone to block line of sight, so I can't just glance around the site to see what area still needs work.

I think the mining algorithm used should keep the oregen in mind. Most of minecraft assumes random 2x2 ores but GT oregen is in large clouds. I think picking the bottom layer that the target vein spawns in and strip mining is probably the most time efficient.

I can't think of a quick and easy solution to your problem besides a minimap that builds up a cave view.

Thanks for the update! I think I found a bug though: sodium + magnesium chloride does not give back the chlorine.

Also, whenever I run an entire oil drum through a brand new distillation tower, when everything is done I seem to be missing one cycle's worth of fuel. I'm not sure if this will happen again, but does anyone get this phenomenon?

Edit: the reaction to make titanium tetrachloride with rutile is also missing chlorine as an input.

Does anyone know if the 5.10 devs keep a changelog?

I guess the commit history is enough.

When i start my server it crashes when the server loads gregtech: http://pastebin.com/QatpMz8M

Quote from tilera

When i start my server it crashes when the server loads gregtech: http://pastebin.com/QatpMz8M

cpw.mods.fml.common.LoaderException: java.lang.NoClassDefFoundError: Could not initialize class Reika.DragonAPI.ModRegistry.ModCropList

Bloody, I believe since the update, Chlorine has been taken out of recipes that it used to be in. making Titaniumtetrachloride no longer requires chlorine and magnesiumchloride no longer outputs chlorine when reacted with sodium. I know you fixed the state of Chlorine with this patch but did you intend to remove it from recipes?