Board Thread:Suggestions forum/@comment-27130828-20160910211119/@comment-27219153-20160913015452

JohnandT wrote: Before I begin my suggestion I would like to say that I understand that these topics have been suggested before, and miners are even on FAQ. However, I am giving an argument for them being added fairly soon, and trying to give an original and fleshed out spin on the ideas. I know that Mevans likes to create his own unique code and probably gets annoyed by people saying that there is another mod that does this sort of thing, but I am just including examples to show that my ideas are plausible. Feel free to discuss what factions should have these units. I had a lot of material, so buckle in for a long ride.

Reasons to implement these units.) 

1.) Currently, a player can gain alignment with a faction until he/she is practically a king/queen. The player can hire armies numbering into the thousands (with a good computer), craft armor and weapons that is the stuff of legends, and claim vast expanses of land. But, no matter how powerful the player becomes, when it comes to the humdrum duties of everyday life, the player has to do everything himself, with the exception of farming crops. These roles are not befitting a mighty conqueror.

2.) While major builds are planned, it could take years for them to be implemented. The only way to build them is by hand. On servers this can be done with a great amount of work, even with creative mode. However, it still takes thousands of man hours to create the larger builds. On single player, it is almost impossible to build larger builds.Having units to help build these structures would help immensely.

3.) Apart from major builds, if a player wants to make his/her own fortress or town the player must do everything by him/herself. The player can have troops that will literally die for him/her, but when it comes to building a wall you are on your own.

Disclaimer- All of these units will not chop, mine, or build in areas protected by other players banners.

Marking Powder- This is a new item that will be used for both the Builder and Miner units. M arking powder would be made by placing 2 chalk, white sandstone, or wheat above each other in the crafting grid. This would yield 16 marking powder from the chalk and sandstone, or 4 from the wheat. It would be white and look similar to white redstone, both in the inventory and when placed on the ground.

Hiring Units- All of the new or modified units that a player could hire from would be placed in an appropriate setting. Ex. Towns, mines, camps etc.

Lumbermen

These units will probably be the easiest to implement. A mod that is has similar properties is the minions mod.

Factions- Most factions would use these units, with the exception of perhaps the elves.

Primary properties- These units can be hired from units such as Hobbit orcharders, Gondorian Lumbermen, and any future NPC's similar to these. They would be hired for between 200 and 300 coins and 75 to 100 alignment depending on the faction. The command GUI would be similar to that of a farmers. The inventory would be similar to that of a shire ponies with a chest. The player would set the radius that the unit would cut down trees in.These units could use code similar to that of the Treecapitator mod to identify what are trees and what aren't. When cutting down the trees, the unit would use the Treecapitator mod's code to determine how long it would take to cut down the tree. After "chopping" for the correct period of time, the wood and other items from the tree would appear in the units inventory, similar to that of a farmhand harvesting crops. Using the Treecapitator method will prevent the tops of trees being left because the unit could not reach them. If the unit is interrupted during cutting, such as being attacked, the chopping time will reset. Also similar to farmhands, the lumbermen will deposit all of their goods into chests marked with an item frame containing an axe.

Secondary Properties (properties that can be added in later) - Lumbermen could also replant saplings. This would be a seperate mode, similar to gaurd mode on military units. The units could have 4 slots for different saplings. All of these slots could be used to make a diverse forest, one could be used to maximize one would type, or any number in between. These slots would act similarly to a farmhands seed slots. Lumbermen could also have a bonemeal slot.There could be toggles to adjust planting patterns and density. The first and most simple pattern would be the row pattern. The lumberman would simply plant saplings an even distance apart on both the x and z axis, creating a grid pattern. The density would toggle would affect how close the saplings are planted. The range could be from 3 to 20 blocks. This pattern would be useful in orchards. The second pattern would be a random pattern. The unit would plant saplings at random intervals. The density would work by using the selected density e.g. 5, and than adding or subtractin 2-3 blocks. This would mean that the saplings would be planted anywhere from 3 to 7 blocks apart in a random pattern.

Griefing prevention- The first protection is that t hese units should be fairly expensive to prevent griefing enemy territories. Losing one of thes units should hurt ones wallet. The next protection would be for the large forests such as Lothlorien, Fangorn, the Woodland realm, and others that Mevans see's fit to add. Lumbermen that are nuetral or allied with these factions would follow you into these forests, but "refuse" to cut wood because of fear. Enemy lumbermen could cut the trees, but do so at the risk of being killed by the resident faction. The final and most drastic prevention would be to add a toggle in the config menu to turn off these units. This would cause the hire option button to be unusable. This option could be used by servers who worry about griefing.

Miners

Miners would be a very useful and powerful unit. They would provide stone and ore to build fortresses, towns, and other builds. The minions mod has a mechanic that allows for mining.

Factions- All Human factions, Orc factions, and Dwarf factions

Primary properties- Miners would be hired from miner foremen or Stonemasons(possibly). The cost to hire these units range from 400-600 coins, with faction required being from 100-150 for Orcs and Human and from 150-250 for Dwarves. The high cost is due to the incredible usefulness of these units. They could essentially pay for themselves in mined materials. The high cost will also help prevent greifing. The GUI would be similar to that of the of Lumbermen. They would have the same inventory space as a chest. The unit will use either their factions pickaxe and shovel or an iron pickaxe and shovel. The unit would do the mining action for as long as it takes to mine the ore or stone. The material would then appear in their inventory, just like a farmhand harvesting. The unit would deposit its materials in a chest marked with an item frame and a pickaxe. There would be three options for mining. They are Shaft mines, Pit mines, and Step mines. There would be a button in the miners GUI that toggles between these similar to a military units toggle between gaurd and active. Miners will stop mining and return to the surface if they encounter an obstacle such as a hole, ravine, water, or lava. When the player fixes the problem the miner will resume

Shaft mine- This mine is simply a square vertical shaft going straight down into the earth, like the dwarven mines. The player would toggle the mining option to Shaft mine. Below that button would be a sliding toggle that would determine the width of the mine. The unit would identify where to start mining when the player places down black marking powder. To make black marking powder an ink sac or charcoal dust would be surrounded by 8 marking powders to create 8 black marking powders. Normal marking powder could also be bought from a miner foreman for 1 coin = 4-8 powder (depending on the foreman). One black marking powder would place on the ground. The miner would then begin mining that block and move in a north east direction, creating a hole the size selected e.g. a 7 block hole with marking powder represented by redstone. The yellow wool is for reference. The miner would then build steps down into the whole using materials that it mined or was provided with by player. How exactly this is done and with what materials is up to Mevans and the mod team. The miner will continue to mine until he encounters an obstacle or hits bedrock.



Pit mining- This would be done by selecting Pit mine and then toggling the radius of the mine. The miner would then begin to mine out a circular pit into the ground as large as the radius selected. Example of a pit mine with radius of 4. Yellow wool is just a marker for the center.

Step mine- This mine would be made by selecting step mine. There would be 3 sliding toggles. The first would determine the width of the mine, the second would determine the height, and the third the length of the mine before it's steps down one block. The miner would identify where to start mining when the player puts down two black marking powders in the width of the mine. The miner would continue until he hits bedrock or an obstacle. Ex. A mine 2 blocks wide, 3 blocks tall, and 4 blocks long.

Dwarf miners could have a second option for mining. Instead of mining rock into cobblestone and breaking ore, they could have a silk touch option. This would be due to their increased skill in mining. This would be a toggle in the GUI. Secondary properties(thing that can be added later, if possible)- The most useful option would be an option to have miners be able to build, for example over a ravine ore lava, in order to keep mining. The other property that could be added could be an option to mine a certain area defined by a ring of black marking powder to a certain level. This would be a fourth mining option called free digging. The depth would be established by a sliding toggle that corresponds to the vertical y axis. In the pictures the first digging depth would be to 84 and the second would be 83.

Griefing prevention- The first prevention from griefing enemy territories would be the cost of the miners. They are expensive enough that enemy players would think twice about taking them into enemy territory. These units could also have a toggle in the mods config folder, just like the lumbermen.

Builders These units would alleviate the mind numbing task of building large walls or other objects. Factions- Humans, Orcs, Dwarves. Whether or not Elves and Hobbits should have them is debatable. It is unlikely that these races had professional builders at this time due to the elves waining in power and hobbits being more rural and family based. Primary properties- Builders could be hired from master builders. Builders could be hired for between 300-400 coins and 125- 150 alignment. They would have GUI's similar to the other workers. Their inventories would be about the size of a horse with a chest inventory. A player would fill a building slot (similar to a farmers seed slot) with a certain material. Then the player could fill the builders inventory with building blocks. The builder would refill the building slot from its inventory, until it has one block left which it retains like a farmer with seed. Builders can also obtain materials from a chest marked with an item frame with marking powder in it. To build a player must outline an area with normal white marking powder. Then the player will open the builders GUI. There will be two options, Level building and Free building. Level building is when the builder places materials to a certain y coordinate. Free building is when a buildier builds up from  the ground a certain number of blocks. This will create a wall with different levels of blocks. There is also the option of building a hollow structure by making two rings of marking powder. Marking powder would be used in place of redstone

Level building to y=81

Free building to a height of 3 blocks

Hollow Structure built using Level building to y = 75

The builders would continue building until the desired level is reached. Something that I haven't found a good solution for is how the builders will climb up to the top. I thought maybe some sort of ladder system that would be placed and broken down at the end by the builder might work. However this might be hard to code. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Griefing prevention- Builders are less destructive than the other workers. So the only real griefing prevention is the cost of the builder and a toggle in the mod config options. I hope that you liked this. I believe that it would add a great mechanic to the game. Any and all feedback is great. You mention that humdrum duties of everyday life are not befitting of a mighty conquerer. However, when you list the alignment required to hire these units, it is not reflective of this statement whatsoever.