Create: Networking
- By
Curse Maven Snippet
What's new
Create: Networking 0.1.4
Economics Update — Part II
Economics Part II is here.
This is one of the largest updates I have made for Create: Networking so far.
Economics Part I introduced the banking foundation: ATMs, bank accounts, Bank Cards, physical Network Credit currency, Economic Controllers and the first version of Economic Links.
Part II turns that banking system into a physical market and logistics network.
Banks can now build real warehouses, connect stored items to an Economic Controller, create their own product catalogues, operate Trade Terminals, process persistent orders and deliver actual Create packages to player-facing Pickup Stations.
And this is still not the end of the Economics Update.
What's New?
The major additions in Part II are:
- A heavily expanded Economic Controller
- A completely new Trade Terminal
- Physical warehouse and inventory networks
- Hierarchical Economic Link storage trees
- Native Create Stock Link + Packager integration
- Persistent server-side orders
- Order Tickets
- Order Interfaces
- Package Hatches
- Multiple Pickup Stations per bank
- Physical Create package delivery
- Schematicannon Material Checklist integration
- Portable Shopping Lists
- Saved Trade Terminal carts
- New Display Board modes
- Expanded bank branding
- Live market stock and configurable product categories
Economic Controller — Major Rework
The Economic Controller has received a major interface and functionality expansion.
It is now the central management system for almost the entire economic network.
The current Controller contains six main tabs:
Overview
Shows the general state of the economic network, including:
- Bank identity
- Network ID
- Network health
- Cash reserve
- Connected ATMs
- Connected Economic Links
- Trade Terminals
- Pickup Stations
- Storage nodes
- Market categories
- Listings
- Warehouse items
- Connected screens
This gives the bank operator a quick overview of the entire network.
Branding
The Branding tab controls the identity of the bank.
Bank owners can:
- Set the bank name
- Select CN Blue, CN Green or CN Red branding
- Apply the selected network preset to connected devices
Supported devices can inherit the bank's network branding automatically.
Trade Terminals can also use their own local theme instead of the bank default.
More extensive visual customization may be expanded in future updates depending on feedback.
Market Management
The new Market tab is where the bank decides what it actually sells.
The Market is linked directly to the physical warehouse.
Items detected inside connected storage appear in the warehouse item browser and can then be configured individually.
For each item you can manage things such as:
- Whether it has a market listing
- Whether it is currently for sale
- Its Network Credit price
- Its product category
- Maximum purchasable quantities
- Live warehouse stock
Listings can remain configured even when physical stock reaches zero.
This means an item does not need to be recreated as a listing every time the warehouse temporarily runs out.
Market Categories
Products can be organized into custom categories.
Examples could be:
- Building
- Metals
- Ores
- Tools
- Mechanical Parts
- Food
- Resources
Categories can be created, renamed, ordered and removed.
They can also use actual Minecraft or modded items as category icons.
This means every bank can build a completely different kind of market.
One network could operate a building-material supplier while another acts as an industrial component warehouse.
Economic Links — The Backbone of Part II
The Economic Link has become one of the most important blocks in the Economics system.
It is now used for:
- Storage connections
- Warehouse hierarchy
- Storage relay nodes
- Create Stock Link integration
- Display Board connections
- Connecting large infrastructure branches back to the Economic Controller
Economic Links can connect to other Economic Links and form a tree.
Building a Storage Tree
Place an Economic Link directly against an inventory or Create Item Vault.
That Economic Link becomes a storage node representing the attached inventory.
Then use the Network Connector to connect Economic Links together.
Important connection order:
First click the child Economic Link.
Then click the parent Economic Link.
For example:
Vault → Economic Link → Main Storage Link → Economic Controller
A parent Economic Link can have multiple child links.
You can therefore build something like:
Iron Vaults ─┐
Copper Vaults ─┼→ Metals Storage → Main Warehouse → Economic Controller
Brass Vaults ─┘
Or:
Building Storage ─┐
Metals Storage ───┼→ Main Warehouse → Economic Controller
Ores Storage ─────┘
The hierarchy can be as simple or as complex as your bank requires.
You can also connect many Vault links directly to one collector if you do not need additional organisation.
Relay Economic Links
An Economic Link does not need to have its own inventory.
It can act as a pure relay or folder-like node.
For example:
Vault Link → Metals → Warehouse A → Main Storage
This allows large banks and warehouses to be divided into understandable sections.
Economic Link loops are rejected, so a child cannot eventually become its own parent.
The same physical inventory is also protected from accidentally being counted multiple times through different branches.
Naming Storage Links
Storage and relay Economic Links can be renamed.
Right-click a storage/relay Economic Link with an empty hand to open its management interface.
You can use names such as:
- Main Storage
- Metals
- Ores
- Building Materials
- Factory Warehouse
- Eastern Depot
These names appear in the Economic Controller's Storage Tree and update with the connected network.
Storage Tree
The Controller's Storage tab displays the physical warehouse as a hierarchical tree.
Instead of only showing a total item count, you can see how the network is actually structured.
You can inspect:
- Root storage links
- Relay nodes
- Child Economic Links
- Online/offline state
- Number of connected children
- Physical stored item totals
- Create logistics status
This makes it possible to build very large storage systems without every Vault needing its own direct connection to the Economic Controller.
Economic Link Status Lights
Economic Links now provide physical feedback about their current state.
Configured and healthy links use their powered appearance.
Unconfigured or disconnected links use their inactive appearance.
Fault conditions use a visible error/blinking state.
Economic Links can diagnose situations such as:
- Storage online
- Relay online
- Missing upstream connection
- Missing local storage
- Missing Display Board
- Not configured
They also have a short activity pulse.
Changes in connected storage or successful Create logistics dispatches can briefly trigger the activity light, making warehouse activity visible directly in the world.
Connecting the Storage Network
Only the top/root Economic Link of a storage branch needs to ultimately reach the Economic Controller.
You do not need to connect every Vault directly to the Controller.
Use the Network Connector to establish the hierarchy:
Vault Economic Links → Relay / Main Economic Link → Economic Controller
Newly connected branches are discovered by the Controller and the warehouse stock updates automatically.
Adding or removing items from connected Vaults also updates the market stock without requiring the entire network to be rebuilt.
Create Logistics Integration
Physical storage and physical delivery are both important parts of Part II.
A warehouse intended to fulfil Trade Terminal orders should use Create's logistics infrastructure.
A typical storage branch contains:
Inventory / Item Vault
↓
Packager
↓
Create Stock Link
↓
Economic Link
The Stock Link can be explicitly connected to its Economic Link using the Network Connector.
The Stock Link still needs a real Create Packager and a valid Create logistics network.
Multiple Warehouse Networks
Different storage branches can use different Create Stock Link logistics frequencies.
They do not all need to be forced onto one single Create logistics frequency.
During checkout, Create: Networking can determine which connected logistics networks can fulfil the requested products and split the request where necessary.
Create itself remains responsible for:
- Selecting inventories
- Extracting the items
- Using Packagers
- Creating the physical packages
This means the same order can potentially be supplied from multiple Vaults or warehouse sections.
Physical Logistics
After Create packages the requested products, the packages must physically travel to the selected Pickup Station.
How that transport system looks is up to you.
You can use normal Create infrastructure such as:
- Mechanical Belts
- Chutes
- Funnels
- Package routing
- Larger warehouse sorting systems
This is intentionally left flexible.
You can build a tiny warehouse behind a shop or an entire industrial logistics centre.
Delivering Packages into the Package Hatch
The final delivery route should feed packages into the correct Package Hatch.
A common setup is:
Packager → Belt Network → Funnel → Package Hatch
When feeding from a Mechanical Belt, the Funnel must point from the belt into the Package Hatch.
You do not need to manually configure an item or order filter on that Funnel.
Create: Networking gives every order package its own address.
The Package Hatch checks that address itself and rejects packages that belong to another:
- Economic network
- Pickup Station
- Order
So the Hatch itself is the final security gate.
Trade Terminal
The new Trade Terminal is the customer-facing marketplace.
Connect it to an Economic Controller using the Network Connector.
Once connected, it receives the market configured by that bank.
Players can:
- Browse categories
- Search for products
- Filter products
- View real Minecraft and modded item icons
- View Network Credit prices
- View live stock
- Adjust quantities
- Add products to their cart
- Browse multiple product pages
- Select a Pickup Station
- Review their complete order before payment
Products that are unavailable are shown as out of stock.
Persistent Shopping Carts
Closing the Trade Terminal no longer immediately destroys the player's cart.
During the current game session, carts are stored separately for each:
- Player
- Dimension
- Economic network / Controller
A failed checkout also keeps the cart intact.
A successful checkout clears it.
Order Review
Pressing Place Order does not immediately charge the account.
The Trade Terminal first opens a dedicated Order Review screen.
It shows information such as:
- Current Network Credit balance
- Total order price
- Balance after purchase
- Number of product types
- Total item count
- Selected Pickup Station
The transaction only occurs after the player presses Confirm.
Shopping Lists & Schematicannon Material Checklists
The Trade Terminal now includes a Lists / Recipes section.
This provides two different workflows.
Create Schematicannon Material Checklist
A Material Checklist generated by Create's Schematicannon can be held in the player's main hand and loaded into the Trade Terminal.
The Terminal reads the required materials.
Already completed/check-marked requirements are ignored.
The remaining required items are compared against:
- Products sold by this bank
- Current physical stock
- Listing limits
The interface can show whether checklist items are:
- Available
- Partially available
- Out of stock
- Not listed
Pressing Load to Cart replaces the current cart with the purchasable quantities from that checklist.
This makes it possible to take a large Create construction project directly to a Trade Terminal instead of manually searching for every required material.
Create: Networking Shopping Lists
You can also create portable Shopping Lists.
First build your normal cart.
Then hold either:
- A Book
- A Book & Quill
in your main hand.
The Lists page can convert that book into a machine-readable Create: Networking Shopping List containing the cart.
The Shopping List can then be:
- Carried elsewhere
- Saved for later
- Given to another player
- Loaded into another compatible Trade Terminal
The receiving terminal still validates the list against its own market and current physical stock.
Orders
A successful Trade Terminal checkout creates a real persistent server-side order.
Each order receives its own unique ID.
The order stores information including:
- Customer
- Economic network
- Selected Pickup Station
- Purchased items
- Total purchase price
- Package arrival state
- Package claim state
- Completion state
Order IDs are not reused.
The player's account is charged in Network Credits and the player receives an Order Ticket.
Pickup Stations
Banks can operate multiple Pickup Stations.
Players select their desired Pickup Station during Trade Terminal checkout.
A Pickup Station consists of two blocks:
Order Interface + Package Hatch
Place the two blocks directly beside each other.
They form the physical customer collection point.
The Order Interface is then connected to the Economic Controller with the Network Connector.
The Package Hatch belongs to that Order Interface and does not need its own separate direct Controller connection.
Order Interface
The Order Interface manages the customer-facing part of a Pickup Station.
Players can use it to see their active orders for that station.
Order information can include:
- Current state
- Package progress
- Ready status
- Order total
- Purchased items
Pickup Stations can also be renamed from the Economic Controller.
Their network branding follows the connected bank.
Order Tickets
Every successful order produces a unique Order Ticket.
This ticket belongs to:
- One player
- One economic network
- One Pickup Station
- One exact order
Take the Order Ticket to the matching Order Interface and scan it.
If the order is ready, the associated Package Hatch becomes authorized for that player and order.
The package can then be collected from the Hatch.
Copied or stale tickets cannot be used to claim an order that has already been completed.
Lost Order Tickets
Losing an active Order Ticket does not automatically mean losing the order.
The Order Interface contains a player-specific order view where eligible active tickets can be reprinted.
The system also prevents simply creating unlimited replacement tickets while the correct ticket is already being carried.
Package Hatch
The Package Hatch is the physical endpoint of the order system.
Packages arrive from the Create logistics network and are stored inside until the matching customer authorizes collection.
The Hatch includes:
- A physical delivery compartment
- Animated opening door
- Visible Create packages
- Address validation
- Private order claiming
An order is only completed after all packages belonging to it have been collected.
Bank owners/operators also have maintenance access to the Package Hatch, while normal automation is prevented from simply extracting customer packages.
Comparator Support
Pickup Stations support Redstone Comparator output.
The signal represents the number of claimable orders, not the number of individual packages.
Example:
1 order containing 3 packages = signal strength 1
5 ready orders containing 26 packages = signal strength 5
The output is clamped to Minecraft's normal maximum of 15.
This allows you to build simple physical order indicators, lamps or other redstone systems around a Pickup Station.
More detailed order-display infrastructure is planned for a later Economics update.
Orders Tab
The Economic Controller's Orders tab provides bank-side Pickup Station management.
It can show:
- Registered Pickup Stations
- Station names
- Online state
- Active orders
- Ready orders
- Order Interface position
- Package Hatch position
Pickup Stations can be selected and renamed from here.
Screens
Economic Controller screen management has also been expanded.
Create Display Boards can still be connected using Economic Links.
The available display modes now include:
- Bank Status
- Cash Reserve
- Device Status
- Screen Label
- Market Prices
- Market Headlines
- Stock Alerts
- Orders / Logistics
- Bank Stats
Market information can use multiple pages where necessary and rotate automatically.
The displays also use semantic colours where Create's native display system allows it, for example for healthy states, unavailable stock, prices and logistics information.
Connecting Display Boards
The existing Economic Link Display Board workflow remains available.
Hold an Economic Link and right-click a Create Display Board screen to select it.
Multiple logical Display Board screens can be selected with one Economic Link.
- Right-click a selected screen again to remove it
- Sneak-use the Economic Link in the air to clear the selection
- Use the selected Economic Link on the Economic Controller to create the connection
Connected screens can then be renamed, identified and configured from the Controller's Screens tab.
How to Build a Complete Part II Network
A basic full system looks something like this:
Bank Management
Economic Controller
↓
Trade Terminal
↓
Pickup Stations
↓
Display Boards
↓
Warehouse
Warehouse
Item Vault / Inventory
↓
Economic Link
↓
optional Relay / Category Economic Links
↓
Main Storage Economic Link
↓
Economic Controller
Create Logistics
For each appropriate warehouse branch:
Vault / Inventory
↓
Packager
↓
Stock Link
↔
Economic Link
Delivery
Packager
↓
Mechanical Belts / Create Logistics
↓
Funnel
↓
Package Hatch
↔
Order Interface
↓
Economic Controller
Complete Order Flow
When everything is connected, the complete system works approximately like this:
1. Real items are stored inside the warehouse.
2. Economic Links report the warehouse structure and live stock to the Economic Controller.
3. The bank owner decides which stored items should be sold and configures their categories and prices.
4. Players browse those listings from a connected Trade Terminal.
5. The player adds items to the cart and selects a Pickup Station.
6. The Trade Terminal shows the final Order Review.
7. After confirmation, the player's Network Credit account is charged.
8. A persistent order and unique Order Ticket are created.
9. Create: Networking submits the required products to the connected Create logistics infrastructure.
10. Create extracts the real items and Packagers create physical packages.
11. Packages travel through the player's actual Create logistics system.
12. The matching Package Hatch accepts packages addressed to that station and order.
13. The player takes the Order Ticket to the Order Interface.
14. The ticket authorizes the Package Hatch.
15. The player collects the packages.
16. Once every required package has been collected, the order is completed.
Network Connector — Important
The Network Connector is still the tool used to establish most Economics connections.
However, not every block connects directly to the Controller.
Typical connections are:
- Trade Terminal ↔ Economic Controller
- Order Interface ↔ Economic Controller
- Root Economic Link ↔ Economic Controller
- Child Economic Link → Parent Economic Link
- Create Stock Link ↔ Economic Link
The Package Hatch instead belongs to the adjacent Order Interface.
Display Boards are selected and connected through an Economic Link.
This is what allows the Economics network to remain modular instead of requiring every single physical device to connect directly to the Controller.
Recipes
The new infrastructure has normal recipes.
I am intentionally not listing every crafting recipe in this changelog.
If you use JEI or another compatible recipe viewer, the recipes can be inspected directly in-game.
More visual documentation may be added to the mod description in the future.
Beta Status — Please Read
Part II is one of the largest updates Create: Networking has received so far.
It also connects a lot of completely new systems:
banking, markets, storage scanning, Create logistics, physical packages, persistent orders, Pickup Stations, Trade Terminals and Display Boards.
Because of that:
I am aware that not everything is perfect yet.
Some interfaces still need visual polish.
Some layouts may still feel a little rough.
There may be unusual edge cases or bugs I have not encountered during testing.
And some parts of the current UX will probably change again.
Create: Networking is still in beta, and Economics Part II should be viewed as a major new foundation rather than the final form of the system.
So please don't be too harsh if you find something that still looks or behaves a little strange. :)
Constructive feedback is extremely welcome.
If something breaks, reports are especially useful when they include:
- What you were trying to do
- Which blocks were involved
- How the Economic Links were connected
- How the Create logistics system was built
- Which Pickup Station was selected
- What happened instead of the expected behaviour
Suggestions for improving the UI and workflow are also very welcome.
What's Next?
Economics Part II is not the final Economics Update.
There are still several areas I would like to expand.
One planned direction is a much more capable Network Screen rather than relying only on Create Display Boards.
That could eventually allow larger dynamically rendered interfaces with things such as:
- Tables
- Graphs
- Market statistics
- Price information
- Detailed warehouse status
- Live order information
- Logistics activity
- Network diagnostics
The ATM interface and other Economics UIs will also continue to receive polish.
Further branding and customization options may also be expanded if there is enough interest from the community.
Whether and how far these systems grow will also depend on feedback to Part II.
Thank You
Part I created the bank.
Part II connects that bank to real warehouses, markets, logistics and physical delivery.
This update became significantly larger than I originally expected, and I am very happy to finally make this part of the Economics system available.
Thank you for testing Create: Networking, reporting bugs and helping decide where the project goes next.
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