Advanced Branch Mine Program

I've created what I consider to be a fairly advanced branch mining program for turtles. It has an interactive menu system for configuring the branch mine parameters, and some advanced features not typically found elsewhere, such as 3 different sizes to pick from for the main trunk (1x2, 3x3, & 5x4), the ability to connect the branches at their ends, and automatically placing blocks down along the path and to the sides when there's no blocks below - perfect for branch mining at lava pool levels. :)/>

[attachment=836:IMG_20121229_143848.jpg]

A couple of features I'd like to add eventually are automatic torch placement every X blocks, and the ability to keep track of the turtle's progress and resume from where it left off if it gets interrupted (by quitting the game). However, seeing as I just started dabbling in Lua 5 days ago, I'm satisfied with what I've accomplished so far. :)/>

Check it out and let me know what you think!

https://github.com/p...age/branch_mine

Soo… no feedback, huh?

That's a lot of work for a mining program (e.g. readme, github, ect). If you want more views, add pictures of the mining branches (what are they exactly), of the interface, ect. It's more direct than text.

Looks nice. Can you can to pastebin for easy access?

I have a suggestion. Screenshots. Google it.

Very nice program, just started it and I already love the way it mines!
Now if only I could expand a turtle's inventory, heh.

Testing it out right now and so far it's pretty fantastic. I'll let you know if I notice any bizarre behavior.

Awesome program! The only problem seems to be that whenever it hits a cave, it will stop mining! Also a little suggestion. What about making the turtle place down a chest and deposit the items into it when the turtle is full?
Edit: I realized I forgot the cobble.

Wow, sorry guys! I clicked to get notified of replies to this topic, but I didn't realize I had to set my preferences to have the forum send me notifications by email. *facepalm* I just happened to check back here to see if anyone had responded. Encouraging to see the positive feedback! :)/>

CoolisTheName007, on 02 January 2013 - 04:56 AM said:

That's a lot of work for a mining program (e.g. readme, github, ect). If you want more views, add pictures of the mining branches (what are they exactly), of the interface, ect. It's more direct than text.

D3matt, on 07 January 2013 - 10:37 AM said:

I have a suggestion. Screenshots. Google it.

Hehe, you're right, I should post screenshots I guess… I'll try to do that later today.

SmirkNMerc, on 07 January 2013 - 10:23 AM said:

Looks nice. Can you can to pastebin for easy access?

Something wrong with GitHub?

Matttheripper, on 26 January 2013 - 10:54 AM said:

Awesome program! The only problem seems to be that whenever it hits a cave, it will stop mining! Also a little suggestion. What about making the turtle place down a chest and deposit the items into it when the turtle is full?
Edit: I realized I forgot the cobble.

Do you mean it stopped mining because you forgot the cobble? It uses an initial stack of cobble to jump-start creating a safe path through lava lakes, and I presumed that that stack would never run out since it would always be getting refilled by what it mines.

I thought about the chest deposit, but it seemed like a bit too much effort for a small benefit. The program does branch mining, not strip mining. To clarify, strip mining completely mines out an area, leaving nothing behind, whereas branch mining cuts paths through the rock every so often to reveal ore deposits for you to come by and mine later on (with a fortune or silk touch pickaxe, hopefully). Sure, it'll mine some of the ore here and there, but that's why I wrote in the readme:

I recommend you fill the rest of the turtle's inventory with single "placeholders" (a block of ore, a diamond, a piece of redstone dust, etc) that you want the turtle to reserve space for, otherwise it'll fill up on cobblestone and discard all the valuables.

tl;dr: This program is meant to find ore for you, not to mine the ore itself. ;)/>

Besides… I don't know how to make the turtle navigate the branch tunnels to find the chest and deposit things in it, then find its way back… :huh:/> :unsure:/>

The reason he was asking about pastebin is because you can input a pastebin program from inside of the game. With github you have to navigate folders on your computer to install it. Pastebin just makes it a lot easier to install your program.

the program looks great, I can't wait to fully test it out.

SmirkNMerc, on 07 January 2013 - 10:23 AM said:

Looks nice. Can you can to pastebin for easy access?

I dont know if anyone else has done it but I copied it to pastebin.
http://pastebin.com/BftbY9hx

Looks like its way better than the branch mining program I just cobbled together. Why didn't I find this a couple hours ago.

A idea for the chest deposit. Set it up to use an ender chest Test for when the inventory is full then just place the chest, dump the stuff and break the chest. That way you don't need to worry about going back to a central chest.