Stair Mining Tool (With Distance Input) - For N00bs

print("How far?")
dist= (read())
for i = 1, dist do
			 turtle.up()
			 turtle.up()
			 turtle.up()
			 turtle.dig()
			 turtle.forward()
			 turtle.digDown()
			 turtle.down()
			 turtle.digDown()
			 turtle.down()
			 turtle.digDown()
			 turtle.down()
			 turtle.digDown()
			 turtle.down()
end 

 read() 

 for i = 1, dist do 

Learning_inpaired, on 19 December 2012 - 03:39 PM said:

or you can craft and place a turtle at some random level under ground and simple type
tunnel 64
the program name and then the distance
But as for your program there, it looks nice outher then the fact that it goes stright down… some noob will most likly jump down the hole and die (i have done this many times)

ChunLing, on 19 December 2012 - 04:00 PM said:

It only goes down four at a time, then goes up three and forward one. That makes a staircase, not a vertical shaft.

Also, I dig vertical shafts all the time, right to bedrock. You just fill the bottom with water or something.

ChunLing, on 21 December 2012 - 01:33 AM said:

Yes, but if you use both digUp and digDown, you get a four block high staircase with just moving forward and down, you don't have to go back up at all. Just an efficiency/speed thing.

turtle.digUp()
turtle.digDown()
for i = 1, dist do
    turtle.dig()
    turtle.forward()
    turtle.digUp()
    turtle.digDown()
    turtle.down()
    turtle.digDown()
end

ChunLing, on 22 December 2012 - 05:06 PM said:

Possibly. Let's see:

turtle.digUp()
turtle.digDown()
for i = 1, dist do
	turtle.dig()
	turtle.forward()
	turtle.digUp()
	turtle.digDown()
	turtle.down()
	turtle.digDown()
end

Hmm…it's not so much a matter of coding experience, I think this version is just a tad harder to visualize.

It digs a lot faster, though.

Doyle3694, on 22 December 2012 - 11:20 PM said:

also, those brackets around read do nothing. if you really wanted to be proper, you could use tonumber(), but after all, lua is userfriendly enough to make it's for loops do it for you.

• Gravel-proofing it
• Allowing it to place torches every X blocks
• Making sure there is a block at the bottom of each step. (if you dig through a cave in this version you might fall)
• Allowing it to place actual stairs (on the way back up)
• Allowing it to dig out the walls and replace it with other block-types (for example: I want sandstone walls)

Ulthean, on 03 January 2013 - 01:44 AM said:

What is there to say? It just digs a staircase, in most cases the program is functional, and that's it.
Easy improvements could be:

• Gravel-proofing it
• Allowing it to place torches every X blocks
• Making sure there is a block at the bottom of each step. (if you dig through a cave in this version you might fall)
• Allowing it to place actual stairs (on the way back up)
• Allowing it to dig out the walls and replace it with other block-types (for example: I want sandstone walls)

Ulthean, on 04 January 2013 - 12:14 AM said:

In this case, you could start of with a basic, easy-to-understand program and then upgrade it along the way.