[Addon v1.95]Rocket Science v0.89 - flying autominers, missiles, and nuclear fusion!

Hey all. That side job I mentioned is finished, so I can probably crank out an update sometime this week/end. I can't promise that I'll have time to finish Bukkit compatibility, but (given how much trouble some of you are having) I'll definitely implement an easier way to find your Autominers and better ID collision handling. There might also be a new fusion fuel for you to play with. This is unfortunately going to be the last update for a while - my qualifying exams (aka, the second-most-terrifying grad school experience, right below thesis defense) are on the 25th-27th and I'll be spending the intervening time with my nose in various books trying to prepare.

(Also, regarding pipes - I'm not familiar with Buildcraft or similar mods, but if there's an API I can use, I'll consider adding pipe compatibility in the next release)

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Ion Drive

Our ion drives are based on the same glowstone technology as the Electric Jetpack. They are reusable, consuming 50,000EU per launch. Ion drives can be used in passenger rockets as shown (you'll have to charge the rocket before use):

Autominer

The ultimate in automated mining technology, our Mobile Auto-Miner needs no supervision - it will automatically withdraw pipe after it hits an obstacle. Better yet, it can run on Lapotrons and has a slot for a Recycler to turn unwanted stone into scrap! And best of all, after withdrawing its pipe, it will rocket off to a new position (moving outwards in a spiral pattern in multiples of nine squares) and begin mining again. This continues until its inventory is full or it runs out of energy.

To start the Auto-Miner, place the drill, scanner, and recycler (optional) in the appropriate slots, then place mining pipe and batteries/crystals/Lapotrons in any of its inventory slots. Once it shuts down, free up inventory space/replace the batteries and then simply punch it - the autominer will then resume its work and continue moving in the same spiral pattern.

Autominer Locator

Worried about where your Autominer went? Maybe loading it up with a dozen Lapotrons wasn't the greatest idea - it could be anywhere by now! This simple gadget tells you the relative locations of all nearby Autominers (that is, in all loaded chunks).

Wet/Dry Vac

Right-clicking with this handy gadget will suck up a cubic meter per second of water, lava, sand, or gravel! Note that you need to have empty cells in order to harvest liquids.

Hand Pump

Use this low-tech gadget to place water from your Water Cells.

Missile Defense System
So all of your neighbors have purchased our lovely missiles, and now they're gazing enviously upon the mine beneath your base? No worries! With a small investment in our state-of-the-art missile defense system, even nuclear weapons won't scratch your precious fortress.

Tell me more! How does it work?

Our missile defense system is entirely modular, and its pieces can be connected using any standard cable! Please note that components must be connected directly - that is, there must be an uninterrupted cable path between components for them to communicate (they can't, say, pass through an MFSU). Cables can carry both data and energy simultaneously.

Step one is detecting incoming missiles. For that, you'll have to use our patent-pending missile detection radar:

This ultra-efficient radar uses only 2EU/tick, yet scans a 50-block radius! Any missile targeted at a block in this radius will cause the radar to send a trigger signal to the defense coordinator block(s) it's attached to. What are defense coordinator blocks, you ask? Well...

Defense coordinators are the backbone of your missile defense system. Once an attached radar informs a defense coordinator that there's an incoming missile, the coordinator fires attached lasers one by one until the threat has been neutralized. In the event that you desire burning radioactive vengeance, it will also trigger all attached targeting systems to launch their missiles. Examining the status screens on your defense coordinator shows how many missile defense lasers (charged and discharged), radars, and targeting systems are attached. Please note that a radar won't count as connected unless it's receiving power!

So what about these defense lasers? Our industrial espionage teams have reverse-engineered Alblaka's mining laser technology to produce a higher-power, long-range turret capable of shooting down incoming missiles:

Firing a defense laser costs 100,000EU, and each laser can hold one charge at a time. Luckily, these wonderful gadgets can actually accept EV packets straight from transformers, providing rapid charging time in response to massive nuclear bombardment! Bear in mind that shooting down an ICBM is no small feat, so your defense lasers each have a 25% miss chance. (This is in no way a deliberate attempt to convince you to purchase more!)

And for the aggressors in the crowd, a missile targeting system:

Missiles can be connected to the targeting system via cable. Any connected missile will be fed the system's coordinates, which can be incremented in units of one, ten, and one hundred. You can also launch all attached missiles with the press of a button, or let your defense coordinator do it automatically! We've also included a slot for targeting discs produced by future Rocket Science products...

Here's an example of a full missile defense setup:

FAQ

Q: Is SMP supported?
A: v0.84b (for IC2 1.71) is partially compatible with SMP, while the current version (0.89) is not - I had to revamp a few things due to version changes and haven't gotten around to SMP compatibility yet. That's next on the agenda.

Q: I can't craft anything from this mod! (Alternatively, I get TileEntity bugs - Minecraft thinks the fusion reactor is something else, for example)
A: It's most likely an ID conflict. Rocket Science's default configuration is known to not play nice with Forestry and a few other mods, so if you have them installed, try using ID Resolver or manually changing IDs. I've added code in the latest release that identifies ID conflicts in the ModLoader log.

Q: How do I get lithium?
A: It's a secret. Sort of. There are quite a few sources of lithium in real life - try checking Wikipedia for a lithium source that's not quite a mineral and exists in Minecraft.

Q: Okay, I have some lithium-6. Why can't I breed it in a fission reactor?
A: Unfortunately the vanilla IC2 reactor isn't at all moddable (it has a hardcoded list of items it accepts) so I refrained from touching it for compatibility's sake.

Q: Do you have a donate button?
A: Nope! I've been lucky enough to make a decent amount of money from a couple of other hobby projects, so Rocket Science is my gift to you all. Support Alblaka if you have some spare change.

Q: Is there a high-res texture pack available?
A: Redled72 has been kind enough to produce a military-themed texture pack for Rocket Science. You can find it here.

Better break out your gold cable, because I had some unexpected free time today! v0.8 adds a new semi-secret fusion fuel (which boosts the reactor's output to 128EU!) and a device for locating missing Autominers. Hopefully the logging code I added will help you clear up some of those pesky ID conflicts.

C'mon, guys, it was secret for a reason. Part of the fun is figuring it out for yourself.