Sorting systems in BTW

[npauwels1988]

Usually one of the first things I do in a game is build an automatic sorting system.
This being a deformation of playing other mods. With hoppers I could have a sorting system I believe
but sometimes automatic transport of items seems to be tricky, so we come to minecarts.
And we stop there, since I can't figure out a way of getting items out of a storage minecart.

Anyone have some words of inspiration, or perhaps a screenshot of their sorting systems? :)

[Daisjun]

Haven't made one myself, but from what I've heard the best way to do it is to use water to push items along a canal with hoppers underneath containing various filters, what you can actually sort is pretty restrictive though. Don't expect to be able to create the sorts of mind blowing sorting systems available in mods such as Buildcraft and Industrialcraft :)

[OldMarriedDude]

you can build some really cool sorting systems. Try setting up a system that sorts mobs from your trap before killing them then sort the drops. You can also use bellows to sort lighter objects from heavier objects as well as taking advantage of Hardcore Buoy and item filters. Keep in mind BTW isnt really about compact.

[Taleric]

I use water flowing over hopper filters for large overworld grinders and machinery.

For BTW I have had little if any issues with item storage. Things are procured so gradually that I chershish what little I have till VERY late game. Everything is so hard fought that even cobble is monitored closely till mid game.

It is not like vMC or other mods where you are swimming in an inordinate pool of items in under 30 minutes.

The following chests are really the only max I have reach beyond grinder and machine inventories:
Food
Cobble
Dirt
Mob drops
Plants
Valuable
Wood
Misc block
Drop box

About a chest for each and I have other bases before I need more chests.

[Whisp]

If I understand you correctly, your specific question was how to unload a minecart.
It has come up several times on the forum, I think the cleanest version I've seen up to date would be this one: minecart unloader

The earliest one I remember is from a video of Battosay, where he actually incorporated it in his base, it was quite an impressive design.

[npauwels1988]

Thanks, my minecart plans may pick up again. My problem was getting the goods to the sorting center, this seems like what I needed ;)
from there on out I think hoppers can do the rest of the trick, combined with hardcore buoy I think most items should find their way to their correct chest

[BlackCat]

Six and myself have made quite a few of these, you check my channel for the ones I built, but IIRC six made a better one. You would have to hop in the irc to ask him for his, but there are plenty to choose from.

[FlowerChild]

Haven't made one myself, but from what I've heard the best way to do it is to use water to push items along a canal with hoppers underneath containing various filters, what you can actually sort is pretty restrictive though. Don't expect to be able to create the sorts of mind blowing sorting systems available in mods such as Buildcraft and Industrialcraft :)

I beg to differ. This is part of the sorting/processing area off my mob-trap in my main world:

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There is very little that you can't sort in BTW. What you don't have is a magical sorting block, so there is generally much more thought/gameplay involved, and as was mentioned above, the corresponding contraptions tend to be *much* larger :)

[matty79321]

@FC I think "much" is an understatement.

*goes back to old changelogs to figure out sorting*

[FlowerChild]

Well, the thing to understand about sorting in BTW is it's largely based on the "physical properties" of the items in questions rather than just which item is which. I've never been a big fan of the "magic eye" filtering methods in other mods that somehow recognize which item is which and automatically sort them out, as it seems in sharp contrast to the tech level of MC in general, and frankly removes a lot of potential interesting gameplay IMO.

So, in keeping with that, the Hopper is good at sorting items based on their granularity, as you would expect with physical filters. You can get by with just the various filters that can be placed in a Hopper in most sorting tasks.

To supplement that further for advanced applications, you can use how heavy an object is relative to others to sort with the Bellows which blows objects of different "weights" different distances (or not at all). This can be used when the items are of similar physical shape, with separating bones from arrows being a good example.

And finally, when all else fails, Hardcore Buoyancy can be used to separate items based on whether they float, sink, or are of neutral buoyancy (although there are only a few items in the latter category like slime balls).

With those tools there's very few items that can't be sorted from each other with a little thought, and generally the ones that can't be separated aren't mixed together in any automated processes to begin with unless you intentionally merge them together in a water flow or what have you. With time, I've added to the mod to basically make sure that all automation tasks have a corresponding filtering technique (if not several) to go along with them.

Oh, and one last trick: sometimes the "cooked" versions of items (whether that be in a Cauldron, Crucible, or what have you) are of different size and shape than the uncooked version, which means you can sometimes separate them from items you couldn't otherwise. This can be used in combination with the tipping mechanic to process items into a form that can be filtered.

[Daisjun]

Wow, you've opened my eyes FC, that's amazing! It's a whole 'nother puzzle that I never really considered before, I take back what I said :)

[FlowerChild]

Wow, you've opened my eyes FC, that's amazing! It's a whole 'nother puzzle that I never really considered before, I take back what I said :)

Hehe...it's kind of amusing in that I think BTW used to be considered a "tech mod", but with all the work I've put into the early game and survival aspects as of late, I think there are a lot of newcomers to the mod that may not even realize how robust that side of it is anymore ;)

[Ethazeriel]

Pretty sure I've posted this here before, but here's an old (pre-HCB) sorting system of mine:

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and here's the one I just finished building on the Official Server:

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The old system looks good but is rather basic. The newer one is somewhat more complicated (full separation of all items into their own storage areas, two bellows setups, melting down of iron and bows...) but it doesn't look like much due to its position underground. In the future I think I'll build all my sorting systems in the sky, they look way cooler that way :P

As you might guess, I highly recommend sorting the output of a mob farm as a starting point. It's some of the most fun I've had playing BTW, and the first time a game has had me up and playing past 6 in the morning without realizing it. Way more fun than pipes and the like.

[TheGatesofLogic]

you can build some really cool sorting systems. Try setting up a system that sorts mobs from your trap before killing them then sort the drops. You can also use bellows to sort lighter objects from heavier objects as well as taking advantage of Hardcore Buoy and item filters. Keep in mind BTW isnt really about compact.

No man, really that's a bad idea. Separating the mobs is more complex, costs more time, consumes more resources, and ultimately is less efficient when you factor in the relative rate of despawning of mobs vs the rate of des pawning of their drops, which is much more forgiving. If you list them via sequential sorting types it can become clear quite quickly how to separate the drops. In fact when you combine different methods in each "separation unit" you can effectively cut down on the necessary resources by a considerable factor.
you can separate everything with only a few more hoppers than the different items by combining the effects of Bouyancy and filtering, and using a single bellows to separate string from scrolls

[OldMarriedDude]

you can build some really cool sorting systems. Try setting up a system that sorts mobs from your trap before killing them then sort the drops. You can also use bellows to sort lighter objects from heavier objects as well as taking advantage of Hardcore Buoy and item filters. Keep in mind BTW isnt really about compact.

No man, really that's a bad idea. Separating the mobs is more complex, costs more time, consumes more resources, and ultimately is less efficient when you factor in the relative rate of despawning of mobs vs the rate of des pawning of their drops, which is much more forgiving. If you list them via sequential sorting types it can become clear quite quickly how to separate the drops. In fact when you combine different methods in each "separation unit" you can effectively cut down on the necessary resources by a considerable factor.
you can separate everything with only a few more hoppers than the different items by combining the effects of Bouyancy and filtering, and using a single bellows to separate string from scrolls

You are correct but i like the added complexity of separating mobs first. It may slow down production a bit but Im not concerned with maximum efficiency nor do I generally worry about space.

[Soaplegs]

I made my mob trap in a swamp biome even before witches could spawn anywhere in swamps. The one block thick layer of water made it far easier for me to build it (screw you, screw pumps!), And it is generally right outside my base. When the witches were updated I thought it wouldn't affect me anyways because I made my spawning pads only 2,5 blocks apart (the mobs spawn on upside down half slabs), and the witches are visually 3 blocks tall. But the witches are spawning in my trap, and I was positively surprised. They don't seem to get stuck on my 2,5 blocks tall spawning pads, and flow right through the system no problem.

The point is that I haven't found any way to sort out some of the witch drops from the regular drops. For example witch wart behaves exactly the same way as creeper oysters as far as hoppers, bellows and buoyancy is concerned. Is there a way to sort the witches from the other mobs, or is there something else I am missing completely? Because this suddenly became a little bit of a pain in my ass when I started building my sorting system recently. Please send help now or I might give up and make an imperfect sorting system.

[Psion]

That is one case where monster sorting is actually useful. You can separate creepers from witches using cats as a way to scare the creepers into another channel, then kill them from there. Whether the hit to item production efficiency and the added space of a monster sorting system is worth it, is up to you.

That being said, you could also sort individual monster heads using said system too. :p

[Soaplegs]

That is one case where monster sorting is actually useful. You can separate creepers from witches using cats as a way to scare the creepers into another channel, then kill them from there. Whether the hit to item production efficiency and the added space of a monster sorting system is worth it, is up to you.

That being said, you could also sort individual monster heads using said system too. :p

I think I know how to do the sorting for creepers, zombies and spiders using cats and bait, but the thing that is bugging me are the skeletons because bones sort identically with the sticks witches drop. Is there any way to seperate the two?

I just realized that I may just have been dumb and the witches actually are something between 2,5 and 2 blocks tall, but I am out in the wilderness after another lovely hardcore spawn right now and can not test it at the moment.