Mods/Minecart Mania!

Minecart Mania! is a Minecraft Beta server mod created by Afforess that reinvents the minecart game mechanics. It can create boosted track sections, brakes, cart dispensers and more. A video demonstration of some of the features is available here.

= Overview =

= Installation = The installation package can be downloaded from here.

The mod uses the Hey0 plugin format, and is installed by moving it into the Hey0 plugin folder, and adding it the the server.properties plugin list.

= Track Modifiers = Track modifiers work by placing different block types underneath (or in some cases in between) the track sections. Depending on what block is used, different effects can be achieved.

Boosters
Placing minecart tracks on top of gold ore or gold blocks (made from 9 gold ingots) will yield boosted track sections. Gold ore will only boost the minecart by 25% of its speed / momentum, while gold blocks will double it. Minecarts that are not moving will not be affected by these track sections. Boosted track sections can be disabled by applying a redstone current to them.

Brakes
Placing Soul Sand or gravel underneath a section of a minecart track will cause any minecart in motion to slow down dramatically as it passes over it. Soul Sand slows a minecart by 50%, gravel only by 20%. This means one soul sand block will undo the boost given by a gold block, while one gravel will undo the boost from a gold ore block. Additionally, hooking up a powered redstone current to the brake will disable the brake.

Ejectors
Placing an iron block underneath of a track section will force any player or mob out of a cart as it passes over it, placing them directly behind where the minecart previously was. This can be disabled by applying an active redstone current.

Pressure Plates
Both wooden and stone pressure plates act as straight tracks. Although it won't be visible in the game, they will act as a combination of a plate and a track when a minecart passes over them. Pressure plates can also act as a neutral 4 way intersection. Normally, track intersections force carts to switch directions. Using a pressure plate allows minecarts to continue in their original direction. This way, intersecting lanes of track can be built that don't cause the carts to change directions.

Bouncers
Placing a wool block underneath a section of track will cause any minecart in motion to change directions and continue in the opposite direction with the same speed it had before. Additionally, hooking up a powered redstone current to the wool will disable the bouncing mechanic.

Launchers / Catchers
Obsidian can be used to launch stopped minecarts forward. Placing Obsidian underneath track, and applying an active redstone current to it will cause a stationary minecart placed on top to accelerate in the direction the track continues in. In case there is more than one direction available to launch in, the game will follow the compass rose, trying north, east, south and last, west. Their exact speed can be controlled by signs. Signs with the text "speed X%", where X is an integer between 1 and 100 affect its initial speed. 100% implies full speed, 50% half speed, etc...

Obsidian can also be used to catch moving minecarts and hold them until a redstone current launches them forward again. To make obsidian act as a catcher, an inactive redstone current must be applied to the block. No redstone, or an active current will not work. Because the catching mechanic can sometimes interfere with the launching mechanic of the block, signs can be used to disable catching. Placing a sign adjacent to the track above the obsidian with the word "Launcher" in any of the 4 lines will disable the ability for it to catch moving carts, until the sign is removed.

Obsidian can be used to stop a cars motion temporarily. Placing obsidian underneath a track, and a sign adjacent to it with the text "hold for X" will hold a cart stationary on the obsidian for X seconds. (X should be between 1 and 999). If there is room on the sign, a countdown will appear.

Dispensers
Minecarts can be automatically stored in single or double chests without the aid or intervention of a player. Placing a track up to a chest, and pushing a minecart towards it will cause the minecart to be stored in the chest, thus dissappearing from the track once it touches the chest. Giving the chest a redstone current will dispense a minecart if one is available. Used in conjunction with a minecart launcher, this can automate minecart storage. In case there is more than one direction available to dispense to, the game will follow the compass rose, trying north, east, south and last, west. Alternatively, a player can place a sign adjacent to the chest with the direction name on any of the four lines to force a specific direction.

Placing a sign next to a chest with the text "Minecarts:" on one of the lines will cause it to be updated with a total number of the minecarts present in the chest, useful for knowing whether dispensers are empty or full without looking in each one. Open the chest or apply a redstone current to update the sign.

Additionally, a sign placed to a chest with text "collect only" in one of the lines will force the chest to only collect passing carts. Chests designated as only collectors will also collect carts that pass parallel to it. Furthermore, a sign with the text "collect empty" in one of the lines will force the chest to only collect empty minecarts, ignoring those whith anything in them. This can be used in combination with the "collect only" line.

Placing a sign next to a chest with the text "parallel" will allow the chest to collect carts passing by while still allowing the chest to dispense minecarts. This can be used in combination with "collect empty" to allow the chest to collect passing minecarts that are empty and dispense minecarts unlike "collect only" which only collects and does not allow the chest to dispense minecarts.

Finally, placing a sign with the first line "Minecart Types" and the following lines as types of minecarts ("minecart", "powered" or "storage") will allow the chest to only dispense the listed types. Example sign:

Line 1: Minecart Types Line 2: Powered Line 3: Storage Line 4:

Would allow a nearby chest to dispense Powered and Storage minecarts, but not empty minecarts. The order is based on the order inside the chest, with the top left most spot being the first slot chosen.

Example sign with most switches enabled. (Order does not matter.)

Line 1: North Line 2: Minecarts: Line 3: collect only Line 4: collect empty

Stations
Station blocks are only used in SMP. When a station block is placed underneath an intersection, any minecart with a player inside will stop and prompt the user for instructions on how to continue via the chat dialog. Users then can use the chat dialog to change their direction. The accepted chat commands are "/straight", "/left", "/right", "/north", "/south", "/east", and "/west". For ease of typing, the first letter lowercase of straight, left and right can be used (straight can either be "/straight" or "/s"), and the first letter uppercase for cardinal directions (north can be "/north" or "/N"). Once players issue a command, the minecart will continue in the new direction with the previous momentum.

Kill Switch for Empty Minecarts
A kill switch for empty minecarts has also been made available in a configuration file that is automatically created the first time the mod is run, for both servers and clients. The file "MinecartManiaSettings.txt" allows the user to set a specified time period for killing empty minecarts. Intended mostly for server use (but it does work on clients), it will destroy and remove minecarts that remain empty for longer than the time allotted. Entering and exiting the minecart resets the timer for each particular minecart. Integer (whole numbers) only.

= Sign Instructions = Signs are used to control a variety of actions that occur to minecarts.

Elevator Signs
A sign with the text "Elevator" (case-insensitive) on it at a particular spot, and a similar sign with matching text somewhere on the same Y plane (above or below it) with track leading to one sign, and away from the other, will cause minecarts to be transported from one sign to the other, seamlessly without the loss of motion.

Switch Signs
Station blocks at intersections normally prompt passengers for a chat command direction - but this can be overriden and replaced by switch signs. Switch signs must be placed adjacent to an intersection, with a station block underneath the intersection track. Switch signs consist of 2 components - the qualifier and the direction. The qualifier is a keyword from the following list: "player", "empty", "powered", "storage", "mobs", or an individual player's name (like "Afforess"). The direction is either the direction in full, like "north" or the first letter of the direction, uppercase, like "S" (for south). They are seperated by a ":" on the sign. An example sign might look like this:

Line 1: empty : north Line 2: mobs : S: Line 3: storage : West Line 4: powered: E

Ejector Signs
A sign with the text "Eject Here" anywhere on the sign, at least 2 blocks away from an ejector block, will cause players and mobs to be ejected at the location of the sign.

= SMP Chat Commands = Chat commands are chat entries that begin with a '/' character and are only available to users using the SMP version of the mod.

Throttle
Using "/throttle [percentage]" when inside a minecart will adjust your speed on the fly. While originally intended for autocart only, to allow users to see scenic views and vistas without whipping by everything, it also works in non-autocart servers. Stepping out of the minecart will reset the throttle to 100%.

Brake
Using "/brake" inside of a minecart will engage the braking mechanism, bringing a full speed minecart to a hard stop in several blocks. The brake will not reset when you leave the minecart, so it can be used to put minecarts in the way of other people's tracks, or use minecarts as roadblocks.

Momentum
Using "/momentum" when inside a minecart will show your minecart's X, Y, and Z momentum on the chat dialog.

Track Direction
Track direction and placement can be altered by using the "/trackdir" command. For example, using "/trackdir n-s" will force the minecart track you are standing on to switch to face north-south directions, ignoring the track around it. The total list of usable track direction commands is "/trackdir n-s", "/trackdir e-w", "/trackdir slope-s", "/trackdir slope-n", "/trackdir slope-e", "/trackdir slope-w", "/trackdir curve-sw", "/trackdir curve-nw", "/trackdir curve-se" and "/trackdir curve-ne".

Track Direction
= Version History =

= Links = Forum Thread