Note: My username on reddit, the FTB forums, and the Minecraft Mod Development discord is lucariomaster2. (Updated May 10, 2018)

Factory Tech is a tech mod, centred around designing intricate automation setups. It adds some of the same machines as other tech mods, but it differs from them in that no machine in Factory Tech requires power. Instead, each machine has a list of parts that it needs to run, which gradually wear out and need replacing. It aims to be as close to a true tech mod as possible, in terms of making the challenge stem from creative engineering instead of resource acquisition.

List of machines:

Machines added:

River Grate: Slowly generates metal when placed in a river
Chop Saw: Converts logs into planks more efficiently than normal
Grindstone: Sharpens parts and tools
Metal Cutting Machine: Cuts ingots into precise metal parts
Woodcutter: Chops down trees
Drill Grinder: Grinds ores to dust to double their output
Magnetizer: Magnetizes iron ingots
Electric furnace: Smelts faster than a normal furnace and has a few unique recipes
Centrifuge: Separates things into their components
Magnetic Centrifuge: A specialized Centrifuge for extracting iron and nickel
Crucible: Melts things into liquids
Potion mixer: Combines potion effects
Circuit scribe: Etches circuit patterns onto quartz
Mining machine: Digs a large hole, outputting resources
Mob disassembler: Kills monsters for more loot than normal
Fluid drill: Extracts sulphur and propane from the Earth
Fluid agitator: Vigorously mixes solids and liquids together
Electroplater: Purifies ore dust, redoubling its output
Refrigerator: Freezes liquids back into solids
Compression chamber: Fills portable tanks with compressed fluid
Propane furnace: Uses propane tanks to smelt extremely quickly
Tempering Oven: Tempers mechanical parts to make them last longer
Core charger: Charges energy cores for eventual use
Stabilization table: Stabilizes charged energy cores to make them safe to use
Biosynthesis unit: Uses energy cores to spawn mobs
Mob disruptor: Stops nearby monsters from moving
Negative ion disperser: Applies positive potion effects to players
Tesla coil: Zaps any nearby creatures not wearing full chainmail
Universal Supercharger: Consumes energy cores to double the speed of adjacent machines

To begin playing with Factory Tech, craft a Blueprint Collection, which will explain everything else in the mod.

Factory Tech has a lot of potential for clever setups. Here is a very basic woodcutting factory with manual inputs, but you will find that all of your automation will end up intertwined as parts are produced and deployed to all of your machines.

CraftTweaker guide (Slightly outdated):

Chop Saw, Drill Grinder, and other simple single input / single output machines. First argument is output, second is input, third is whether the recipe works in a machine with stone parts. To remove a recipe, specify the output.

mods.factorytech.ChopSaw.addRecipe(<minecraft:gold_nugget> * 9, <minecraft:gold_ingot>, true);

mods.factorytech.ChopSaw.removeRecipe(<minecraft:stick> * 3);

mods.factorytech.DrillGrinder.addRecipe(...);

mods.factorytech.MetalCutter.addRecipe(...);

mods.factorytech.Magnetizer.addRecipe(...);

mods.factorytech.ElectricFurnace.addRecipe(...);

mods.factorytech.Electroplater.addRecipe(...);

mods.factorytech.Grindstone.addRecipe(...);

Tempering Oven: (Output item, input item, time in ticks) to add; (output item) to remove.

mods.factorytech.Temperer.addRecipe(<minecraft:leather>, <minecraft:rotten_flesh>, 60);

mods.factorytech.Temperer.removeRecipe(<minecraft:leather>);

Centrifuge: First argument is input, second three are outputs, then whether the recipe works with stone parts.

mods.factorytech.Centrifuge.addRecipe(<minecraft:soul_sand>, <minecraft:blaze_powder>, <minecraft:sand.0>, <minecraft:coal.0>, false);

mods.factorytech.Centrifuge.removeRecipe(<minecraft:soul_sand>, <minecraft:blaze_powder>, <minecraft:sand.0>, <minecraft:coal.0>);

Compression Chamber: (Output item, input item, input fluid) to add; (output item) to remove.

mods.factorytech.CompressionChamber.addRecipe(<minecraft:bucket>, <minecraft:lava_bucket>, <liquid:lava> * 1000);

mods.factorytech.CompressionChamber.removeRecipe(<minecraft:lava_bucket>);

Crucible: (Output fluid, input item) to add; (output fluid) to remove.

mods.factorytech.Crucible.addRecipe(<liquid:sulphur> * 50, <minecraft:blaze_powder>);

mods.factorytech.Crucible.removeRecipe(<liquid:sulphur> * 50);

Refrigerator: Same as the Crucible but in reverse.

Agitator: (Input liquid 1, input liquid 2, Input item, output fluid, output item). (Output item, output fluid) to remove. All of these can be null except for the first input liquid.

mods.factorytech.Agitator.addRecipe(<liquid:water> * 1000, <liquid:lava> * 1000, <minecraft:dirt>, null, <minecraft:iron_ore>);
River Grate: CraftTweaker can be used to add or remove possible outputs. The syntax is (item, chance) with 0 being never and 1 being always.
mods.factorytech.rivergrate.addRecipe(<minecraft:sand>, 0.1);

How to configure machine part lifetimes:

Machine part configuration happens in factorytech_maintenance.cfg. Each string of numbers separated by colons represents the statistics for a part. For example:

S:motor=motor:6:0.35:1.3:0.95

The first number is the minimum number of operations in a machine that a part can complete. The second number is the chance (between 0 and 1) that the part will break once the minimum operations complete. The third number indicates the break chance increase; once the minimum operations complete, the break chance is multiplied by the increase every operation afterwards. The fourth number indicates the chance that the machine will give back a broken part once the part breaks.

FAQ:

Q: I love this mod! How can I support it?
A: The best way is to let people to know that it exists. If you're a Youtuber, consider doing a spotlight!

Q: Will you add x machine/item/feature?

A: Feel free to suggest things (I don't bite), but I have no obligation to include them. That being said, if it fits in well with the mod, is balanced, and I like it, I may very well add it!

Q: Why do parts only stack to 4 now?

A: So that you can't stockpile a double chest of them and use that as your automation. Set up a proper supply line. It's fun. You know you want to.

Q: I feel like <machine> is unbalanced in its part consumption.
A: Balance is an ongoing challenge in designing the mod. The magic number for part consumption speed is high enough to force the player to automate production and distribution, but low enough that the player isn't using a big chunk of their resources just to keep their industry running. Fortunately, every aspect of part consumption is fully configurable in factorytech_maintenance.cfg.

Q: Your textures/sprites/models/othervisuals suck!

A: Yes, I am well aware of that. I'm a coder, not a pixel artist. However, if you make me some better ones I'll put your name in the mod!

Q: [Feature]/[Mechanic] is so unrealistic!

A: Yes, yes it is. Although this is a more down-to-earth tech mod, I do take creative liberties (e.g. circuit crafting) where I deem necessary. On the specific topic of machines not using power, Factory Tech is balanced differently. Instead of needing to hook up a wall of machines to a Big Reactor (tm), you keep them supplied with the parts they need. Making machines require both parts and power would be too cumbersome since you would have to hook up both a power line and a part supply line.

Q: Everything has too many steps to make! This is worse than GregTech!

A: Set up automation. That's the whole point.

Q: Why would I use this thing instead of Thermal Expansion which does everything this does but is easier?

A: Why would you use Thermal Expansion instead of this mod which does most things TE does but is more challenging? Different strokes for different folks; this mod is designed for people who like engineering.

Q: Why do you have 3 different internet usernames?

A: "lucariomaster2" comes from circa 2009 when I first registered my MC username. I was young and foolish, a big Pokemon fan (that has not changed), and "lucariomaster" was taken. It's since become my go-to username for sites since it's always available. "ProfessorLucario" is my new, much-less-cringeworthy MC username that also reflects my skin. "dalapo", my GitHub name, was chosen since in the future having a Pokemon-related username might not be the best idea.

Q: What software do you use for modding?
A: I write code using Eclipse, and then I use GIMP for making textures and Blender for modeling.

Known issues:

Many machines do not have animations (Planned)
Many of my textures, especially for the decorative blocks, are fairly ugly (Planned)
Balance may be out of whack (Ongoing)

A note on Modern Skyblock 3:

Modern Skyblock 3 is the most popular modpack that contains Factory Tech; thus, for many people it is their first experience. However, the way it was implemented into the pack encourages players to simply grind out every machine in order to unlock other processing options, after which it is never touched again. This is the exact playstyle that Factory Tech is designed to counter, and thus I feel like it was implemented very poorly. Thus, if your only experience with it is from MSB3, I highly encourage you to try it out standalone or in a more automation-focused pack.