LifeCrops Automation

Short Summary

Automation expansion for LifeCrops that adds the Auto Harvester, Auto Crop Pot, tiered upgrades, and life-essence-powered crop automation.

Description

LifeCrops Automation is a standalone crop automation expansion designed to pair with the LifeCrops mod. It adds automation machines that use Life Essence fuel to reduce repeated farm work while still requiring the player to build, fuel, and upgrade their setup.

The Auto Harvester harvests mature nearby crops and stores the output internally. The Auto Crop Pot grows crops internally from inserted seed bags and soil, with optional water and fertilizer boosters for faster growth.

Features

• Auto Harvester block for automated mature-crop harvesting
  - Auto Crop Pot block for internal seed-bag crop growing and harvesting
  - Life Essence fuel slots and internal output storage
  - Soil requirement for Auto Crop Pot growth
  - Optional water and fertilizer reservoirs for Auto Crop Pot growth boosts
  - Generic external Auto Crop Pot growth-stage visuals
  - Two-page custom UIs with main controls and upgrade tabs
  - Tiered Automation upgrades: Basic, Refined, Advanced, and Masterwork
  - Shared Speed, Fuel Efficiency, and Yield upgrade behavior across compatible machines
  - Range upgrades for the Auto Harvester
  - Water Efficiency and Fertilizer Efficiency upgrades for the Auto Crop Pot
  - Runtime configuration for scan interval, range, harvest limits, output mode, fuel item ID, upgrade behavior, and catch-up cap

How It Works

Place an Automation Workbench to craft any items related to the mod.

Place an Auto Harvester near mature crops. Add Life Essence fuel, then let the harvester scan nearby crops. Harvested output is stored in the harvester output slots.

Place an Auto Crop Pot when you want an internal growing machine. Add fuel, a supported seed bag, and soil. Normal seed bags are consumed one per successful harvest, while eternal seed bags act as reusable templates. Water and fertilizer are optional boosters and drain slowly while active.

Use the custom UI to:

- Deposit Life Essence fuel
- Pull fuel back out
- Collect output
- Add seed bags, soil, water, fertilizer, and upgrades where supported
- Pull upgrades back out

If the player inventory is full, pull and collect actions stop safely and leave remaining items in the machine.

Upgrades

Upgrades use four tiers:

- Basic
- Refined
- Advanced
- Masterwork

Higher tiers count as more upgrade weight. Machine effects clamp at their configured caps, and the machine UIs show current values, caps, and unused extra weight.

Current upgrade types:

- Range: increases Auto Harvester range.
- Speed: improves Auto Harvester throughput and reduces Auto Crop Pot growth cycle targets.
- Fuel Efficiency: gives a chance to preserve fuel after a successful harvest.
- Yield: increases expected harvest output in both machines.
- Water Efficiency: slows Auto Crop Pot water drain.
- Fertilizer Efficiency: slows Auto Crop Pot fertilizer drain.

Known Notes

- The Auto Crop Pot currently uses generic staged crop visuals rather than crop-specific plant models.
- The Auto Harvester is intended for crop automation, not general-purpose block harvesting.
- Server owners can tune machine behavior through the generated `LifeCropsAutomationAutoHarvester` config.

Links

- Wiki: https://hytale-lifecrops.fandom.com/wiki/Hytale_LifeCrops_Wiki