Create

This chapter introduces Create, the showpiece kinetic-automation mod from Tech & Automation Mods. As the intro itself notes, Create has excellent built-in guides: hover any item in REI/your inventory and hold W to “ponder” it for an animated explanation. Because of that, the chapter is mostly a map of what exists and a rough progression outline rather than step-by-step recipes.

Progression outline

1. Generate kinetic power (SU). Start with the simplest sources and scale up:

  • Hand Crank — you are the power source; simplest possible.
  • Water Wheel — same SU at the same RPM as long as one block of flowing water is adjacent (still pools don’t work). Right-click with any wood plank to reskin it.
  • Large Water Wheel — twice the SU at slower RPM.
  • Steam Engine — the densest source, but most complex: needs a steady water + heat supply.

2. Read your network. Use the Goggles (essential — shows stress impact and block info), plus the Stressometer and Speedometer.

3. Brass & processing. Heat a Mechanical Mixer over a Blaze Burner (fill an empty burner by right-clicking a blaze or blaze spawner) to mix copper + zinc into brass. The mixer autocrafts shapeless recipes and mixes potions, and needs ≥30 RPM to run.

4. Core machines to build toward:

  • Encased Fan — extremely versatile: wash, haunt, blast, and smoke items. Add Nozzle for spherical AoE; front-mounted casings (Haunting/Blasting/Smoking/Splashing) set the mode. Notably sand→soul sand (haunt) and soul sand→nether quartz (wash).
  • Mechanical Press — bonks ingots into plates.
  • Millstone / Crushing Wheels — grind to dust (keep both around for different recipes).
  • Mechanical Drill / Saw / Harvester / Plough — for contraption tools, tunnel bores, and farms.
  • Mechanical Crafter & Mechanical Arm — automatic and oversized crafting, plus advanced item distribution.

5. Contraptions. Super Glue binds blocks; then Mechanical Pistons / Bearings / Gantries / Cart Assemblers move them linearly, rotationally, or along rails. Rope Pulley and the fancier Elevator Pulley handle vertical movement.

6. Trains (endgame). Minimum: 1 Train Casing, 1 Train Station, and enough Train Tracks. Ponder the Train Station to learn assembly. Add Train Signals, Track Switches, Schedules, and a Display Board for a real rail network.

Notable rewards & tips

  • The chapter’s completion reward is flagged as an Eternal Challenge (“One Cookie to Rule Them All”).
  • Create: Crafts & Additions content appears here too: Electric Motor (energy→kinetic), Alternator (kinetic→energy, caps at 256 E/t), Rolling Mill, Tesla Coil, and the Modular Accumulator — this is your bridge between Create and electrical tech.
  • Infinite fluids: a Hose Pulley extracts infinitely from any pool of ≥10,000 source blocks (search $create:bottomless in REI).
  • Diving kit: Copper Backtank + Diving Helmet/Boots to walk and breathe underwater.

Anticipated questions

  • How do I learn a specific block? Hold W to Ponder it — the mod’s own tutorial is better than any recipe list.
  • My water wheel won’t spin. It needs genuinely flowing water adjacent, not a still source pool.
  • Do I need the Goggles? Effectively yes — they show stress capacity/impact, which you need to avoid overstressing your network.