【Minecraft】GregTech 6 Development Guide and Tutorial (Part 1)

1. Introduction

GregTech (GregTech Intergalactical, also known as GT) is a mod developed by GregoriusT and one of the most famous add-ons for IndustrialCraft (IC). The official version of GregTech has now reached the sixth version (GT6 for short). It has made extensive modifications based on previous versions, adding a large number of real-world materials and elements, significantly increasing the difficulty and content of the early industrial game. You could say that GT6 is a microcosm of modern industrial development.

Although six years have passed since GT6 was released in 2016, its current development progress is probably less than 50% (this is a rough guess based on the playable content I've seen). The actual game currently ends around the early electrical age. Additionally, GT6 has poor balance and quite a few bugs. If a full score is 10, I'd personally only give it a 5. However, as the only remaining ultra-large-scale industrial mod, it's still worth experiencing for fans of MC industry.

The main reason for writing this article is that documentation and tutorials for GT6 are extremely scarce, while its progression is very complex and rigid. In many cases, checking NEI (Not Enough Items) yields no results, and hitting bottlenecks can be hard to resolve. Therefore, I'm writing this article to roughly describe GT6's progression and common pitfalls, hoping to help you enjoy the gameplay more.

Note: This tutorial does not cover detailed crafting recipes or specific operation details. The focus is on describing the goals and precautions for different stages. I'm still exploring some areas myself, so feel free to discuss and share insights.

2. Preparation

Before starting your GregTech journey, there are a few things to note:

First is the modpack configuration. While the latest version of GT6 no longer requires IndustrialCraft 2 (IC2) as a dependency, I strongly recommend installing IC2 anyway. Because IC2's Advanced Miner and EU cables are very useful (by comparison, Greg's cables are harder to use early on). Besides IC2, I also recommend installing the following mods:

• BuildCraft (BC): Provides plenty of fluid and item pipes for easy automation.
• Applied Energistics 2 (AE2): Provides item storage and industrial automation. Without AE2, managing thousands of different materials would be a nightmare.
• Extra Cells 2 (EC2): For fluid storage and processing, filling the gap where AE2 lacks fluid storage in Minecraft 1.7.10.
• Chunk Loader: Some of Greg's machines can't stay in your main base forever; you'll need chunk loading to keep remote machines running.

Regarding the game environment, I don't recommend playing GT6 in single-player, as you'll often need to AFK while waiting for materials to process. I strongly suggest renting a server with friends or setting up your own to keep the game running long-term while AFK.

For configuration files, I strongly recommend disabling the generation of salt water and lakes. The water generated by Greg's defaults differs significantly from vanilla water and behaves strangely. Especially when installing multi-world mods, this can make certain worlds unplayable due to being covered in salt water.

Finally, when looking up recipes in NEI, be careful to avoid dead ends (e.g., ingot turns into plate, plate turns back into ingot). Focus on the original acquisition path of materials, and refer to guides on mcmod or MCBBS.

3. Stone Age

3.1 Early Preparation

The first step is prospecting. In GT6, you prospect by looking at small stones on the ground: the type of small ore stone on the surface indicates what ore vein is directly below. If you dig randomly, you'll only get poor ore. When exploring early on, mark the ore veins, and prioritize looking for lead, copper, tin, and coal.

The second step is building a base. I recommend taking over a village house to ensure a food supply, or building right next to an ore vein. Since Greg's machines and materials are very messy, plan a large enough space, as moving later is a huge hassle.

Next is the mining phase. Mine plenty of lead, copper, tin, and coal. For mining, I don't recommend using vanilla stone pickaxes; instead, use pickaxes and hammers made from Greg's small stones. Using a hammer can directly crush ore into dust, saving you trouble later.

3.2 Basic Industry

GT6 changes the recipes for vanilla furnaces. You first need to kill mobs to get flint and steel to craft one. The vanilla furnace can be used to smelt simple ores like lead and copper.

Once you have lead, craft a lead solid-fuel firebox. Then use clay to make a ceramic crucible, ceramic casting head, and ceramic molds. With this setup, you can start smelting bronze.

For early tools you won't use often (like anvils, knives, etc.), I suggest making them from lead to save more important copper and tin resources.

After completing these steps, you've entered the Bronze Age. Now you can craft bronze machines and tools. Prioritize making a bronze firebox, bronze boiler, and bronze steam engine — these are your ticket to the Steam Era.

3.3 Using the Crucible

The crucible will be used throughout the entire GT6 process, so mastering it is crucial:

1. Prepare molds: Have various molds ready depending on your needs. Avoid cold-working materials as much as possible, as it causes heavy material loss. Note that once you carve a mold wrong, it can't be undone; you'll have to remake it.
2. Material choice: Early on, you'll mostly only use ceramic crucibles. Other materials aren't cost-effective early on.
3. Waste handling: Items thrown into the crucible turn into waste. When smelting impure ores, you can right-click to remove stone waste, effectively washing the ore. You can even throw unwanted rails in; after removing wooden waste, you'll get pure iron.
4. Pure input: Unless you're making alloys, always ensure you're inputting pure materials. Too many impurities can cause explosions. When alloying, strictly follow the material ratios.
5. Temperature control: Crucibles, casting heads, and molds will explode if they exceed their temperature limit; metals will also explode if they exceed their boiling point. I suggest making a thermometer as soon as possible.
6. Firebox management: Solid-fuel fireboxes must run until the fuel is completely consumed before they stop, which can easily lead to overheating. For small melts, use wood or tiny piles of coal dust to keep the machine from running uncontrollably and exploding.

4. Steam Era

Once you've built a steam boiler and engine, you've officially entered the Steam Era. In the current version, the Steam Era takes up a large part of the progression. You must operate steam equipment strictly: always shut down machines when you're not nearby to prevent dry running or overpressure explosions. I recommend placing steam engines at a safe distance from your main storage to avoid an accident that could "set your industry back decades."

4.1 Units and Conversions

Before diving deep into the Steam Era, you need to understand Greg's energy and efficiency calculations. Inputting the wrong energy tier won't just stop machines — it can cause explosions. Greg has a huge variety of energy types, each with different requirements for different machines...