Galacticraft Getting Started Guide

Welcome to the Galacticraft Getting Started Guide. This tutorial will cover the basics of making your first machine to landing on Mars.

Introduction

Building rockets, space stations and colonies on new worlds may seem a little overwhelming, if you’re just starting out. So here is a small guide to getting started with Galacticraft!

Quick Start

Before you head into space, you will need a few items including the Tier 1 Rocket, Rocket Launch Pad, Fuel Loader, Fuel Canister, Oxygen Gear, Oxygen Mask, Oxygen Compressor, Oxygen Tanks, Parachute.

To make all those items, first up you will need a Circuit Fabricator and a Compressor or Electric Compressor which are the most basic machines in Galacticraft. Basic energy can be made using a Coal Generator. Watch demonstration here (starts at 11:28).

Later, for a proper scientific look (once you have obtained the basic items from a Circuit Fabricator and a Compressor), you can power your base using Basic or Advanced Solar Panels which track the movement of the sun.

The NASA Workbench and Refinery are needed to create your rocket and make the fuel for it. You will also need plenty of raw materials: a stack or more of iron ore, copper ore, tin ore, aluminum ore, and some silicon.

Additionally, you can make a Display Screen to place in your control room, which shows some of the planets and other interesting information.

Life Support and a Parachute

If you don’t take oxygen equipment with you into space, you will die. The four most crucial items you will need are the Oxygen Gear and Oxygen Mask and Oxygen Tank, and a Parachute of course. Once you have this equipment, you are almost ready.

Launch Your Ship

You will need to make the Rocket Launch Pad and Tier 1 Rocket, of course. Make the rocket in the NASA Workbench.

Place the nine rocket launch pads you have on the ground in a 3×3 square shape, so they join up to make a launch pad. Place your rocket on top of them. You will then place a Fuel Loader directly adjacent on any side of the launch pad. You are all but ready. You will of course need some Fuel to put in the Fuel Loader.

If you haven’t found any oil yet, go ahead and get some, which generates deep in the ground around the gold ore level. Use a Portable Oil Extractor to place the oil into canisters, take those Oil Canisters to your Refinery and start converting the crude oil to Rocket Fuel. Place the Fuel Canisters in the Fuel Loader and click the load fuel button to have it fuel your rocket.

You can now go to the Moon! All you have to do is equip your Parachute and Oxygen Gear and mask, climb in your rocket, and hit Launch. If you want to be able to come back again, it’s also essential that you take a Fuel Loader with you, also a couple of charged batteries or something else to power it with and an Empty Canister, a spare Fuel Canister would also be wise just in case.

Once you reach the Moon, you can finally explore the lunar surface for Moon Village(s) or even the prized Moon Dungeon. For a longer stay, build a Moon Base.

Next stop, Mars!

Full Guide

Before we begin: Mod Compatibility Notes

Some quick points that you will be interested in if you are using Galacticraft in conjunction with other mods. For full notes on compatibility see Compatibility.

Power Sources

Some Galacticraft machines need power to function. This can be provided in the form of:

• Galacticraft energy (from the Coal Generator, Basic Solar Panel, or Advanced Solar Panel)
• RF (Redstone Flux) (requires Thermal Expansion in Galacticraft 2 – Galacticraft 3 and Galacticraft 4 work with all RF mods)
• Mekanism J (Joules)
• IC2 EU (Energy Units)
• Buildcraft MJ (Minecraft Joules)
• Universal Electricity’s UE units (Galacticraft 1 only)

Ore Dictionary

Galacticraft’s ores and fluids are registered with the ore dictionary, thus making them compatible with most other mods. For example, Galacticraft Copper Ingots and Tin Ingots are interchangeable with: Mekanism, IC2, Tinker’s Construct, Thermal Expansion or Forestry copper and tin. Galacticraft Oil and Rocket Fuel are interchangeable with Buildcraft oil and fuel. EnderIO Rocket Fuel Buckets can also be used in your Fuel Loader.

Aluminum Ore can be powdered in Thermal Expansion’s Pulverizer. From version 139 (February 2018), Galacticraft 4 also lets Aluminum Ore be ground in a Grindstone from Applied Energistics 2 or it can be macerated in an IC2 Macerator (and then processed further in IC2 by ore washing and thermal centrifuge).

Step One: Gathering Resources

Overworld Ores

The first thing is to gather Tin Ore, Copper Ore, and Aluminum Ore (which can be smelted into Tin Ingots, Copper Ingots, and Aluminum Ingots respectively). You will also want to find some Silicon Ore, which is rarer than the other three ores and forms at deeper levels (drops Raw Silicon when mined).

Oil

If Galacticraft is the only mod that you have installed, you can gather oil using either regular buckets, or Empty Canisters and a Portable Oil Extractor — we’ll get to these in a minute.

If you have Buildcraft installed, the recommended method for gathering oil is by using a pump and Buildcraft or Railcraft tanks. Buildcraft also has the ability to gather oil in buckets. Forestry gives you the option of using tin cans, which are cheap, but single-use. Or, you can wait until we’ve created the Galacticraft tools necessary for oil collection.

Step Two: Power Source

In order to make most of the Galacticraft components and tools, you need Galacticraft machines which themselves need power to run. You’ll need to create a Coal Generator first, since crafting Basic Solar Panels and Advanced Solar Panels involves components that require power for the machines that make them. Of course, if you already have a power infrastructure from another of the mods mentioned at the top of this page, you’re golden.

Step Three: Crafting Machines

Galacticraft has quite a number of machines – usually the size of a crafting table – that perform some amazing functions. This part of the tutorial covers the basic machines you need to start off with.

Although the orientation of a simple crafting table doesn’t matter much, the machines you create using Galacticraft have some unique sides to them. Some might require power input on a particular side, some might produce oxygen on another side, and so on. Many of the machines need electricity to power up, though a couple of them are powered using coal.

Like regular Furnaces and Crafting Tables, usually right-clicking on the machine will let you view its console. Moving your mouse over the slots in the machine’s console will give you some information about what each part does, and what materials go where.

Circuit Fabricator

The first machine that you will want to build is the Circuit Fabricator, since it creates the Basic Wafer and Advanced Wafer which are essential components used in many of the other machines. (It also creates Solar Panels which you will use later to make solar power.)

Side Note (Galacticraft 2 only): If you power a Circuit Fabricator via a Buildcraft kinesis pipe network, we recommend using an iron kinesis pipe to limit the power that it draws. It works fine on an iron pipe at the lowest 2 MJ setting, but connected directly to a high-power pipe network, it can draw all available power.

Compressor

Now that you are able to create a Basic Wafer, the next machine to build is a Compressor, which compacts ingots into more durable, compressed versions of the material. The Compressor runs on coal, or other combustibles. Later you will be able to make an Electric Compressor that runs from a power source instead, but since it requires compressed materials to build, you need to make the coal-fired one first.

Step Four: Begin Refining Fuel

Gather oil, using either buckets or a Portable Oil Extractor and some Empty Liquid Canisters.

You will need either the Galacticraft Refinery or the Buildcraft refinery to (slowly, using much power in the process) refine the oil into Rocket Fuel / Fuel. (Later, once you get as far as Mars, you can find other ways to manufacture Fuel).

Step Five: Collecting Oxygen

Eventually, you will be able to create oxygen while in space. But your first time up, it’s a rather crucial resource to bring with you!

Oxygen Collector

First, you will need to create an Oxygen Collector, which likewise requires power to run. In the Overworld, you can place it anywhere to begin gathering oxygen.

In space or a no-atmosphere environment, you would need to surround the Oxygen Collector either with leaves or growing wheat. But in the Overworld, you can place it anywhere, it just takes oxygen out of the air.

Oxygen Pipe

In order to do anything with the oxygen collected by the collector, you will need to create Oxygen Pipes using six panes of glass on the regular crafting grid – three across the top and bottom.

 

 

 

 

 

 

You will use the Oxygen Pipe to feed the Oxygen from the Oxygen Collector to the…

Oxygen Compressor

You will need to pipe the oxygen into the Oxygen Compressor, which will use it to fill….

Oxygen Tanks

You will use the Oxygen Compressor to fill Oxygen Tanks. There are three sizes of oxygen tank that you can build — the Light Oxygen Tank, the Medium Oxygen Tank, or the Heavy Oxygen Tank. In order to have ample time to start your moon base, bringing multiple medium or heavy tanks is recommended. For detailed information on oxygen tanks as well as how to put on your spacesuit, head over to the Oxygen Tutorial page.

Step Six: Building a Rocket

Reviewing steps completed so far: you’ve gathered ore and oil, created a power source (perhaps even solar power), crafted various machines for processing ore and filling both fuel and oxygen tanks, you’re wearing your spacesuit gear – or at least the oxygen-related components – since it’s always a good idea when leaving solid ground to carry a Parachute, add that too. The last slot on the spacesuit tab is for a Frequency Module – it’s optional, but will help you hear sounds properly while in space (it’s also used with the Telemetry Unit so that your buddies can keep track on you from your base, if you are playing with friends).

Every space program of course needs a rocket. It’s now time to get to work on that. First up, build the NASA Workbench – right click to view the Tier 1 Rocket layout. Insert the various components to make the rocket – nose cone, plating, fins and of course, the engine. Pro Tip: wooden chests are optional, but not expensive, so you should always add 3 wooden chests when crafting your rocket to give it the maximum cargo hold.

Build a launch pad and place your rocket on it and you’re almost ready for take-off!

Installing a Fuel Loader next to the launch pad enables the loading of fuel via canisters made in your Refinery. Other mods can also enable piping fuel directly, rather than using canisters. Click the Load Fuel button to start the fuelling process for your rocket. Enter your rocket and press “F” to not only view the fuel load percentage but also your inventory and – if you added chests during assembly – the inventory of the rocket itself.

Step Seven

It would be a good idea now to read Pre-Flight Checklist to make sure you have everything you need before going into space. If there’s something you forgot, it’s a long way to come back…

Hit SPACE to launch your rocket. As the countdown counts to 0, try to relax and enjoy your ride into space!

Don’t Forget!

Your Tier 1 Rocket can take you either to the Moon or to a Space Station (if you have the materials to create one).

Be sure to do a little research about the Moon so that you know how and when to land safely!

Moon Base

For a longer stay on the Moon, apart from the Fuel Loader and Empty Canister (needed to refuel your rocket to come home again), the items you should be taking to the Moon with you might include:

• power source – solar panels, wires and Energy Storage Module
• oxygen source – Oxygen Compressor, some dirt and seeds or saplings, or a couple of stacks of leaves
• a source of light
• food(!)
• Oxygen Bubble Distributor or Oxygen Sealer and some Oxygen Pipes

 

You might also want a couple of water buckets to make a water supply, although water can sometimes be found in Alien Villages.

If you are wondering what the Sealer’s, Collector’s and Bubble Distributor’s function and purposes are, oxygen can be provided to your Moon-base through the use of the Oxygen Collector.

Breathable oxygen is created by planting two or more trees on the moon with a source of water nearby with the Oxygen Collector very close to the leaves of the trees. Then, connect the Oxygen Bubble Distributor to the Oxygen Collector with Oxygen Pipes, so that the oxygen can travel from the collector to the Bubble Distributor.

The Bubble Distributor is meant as a quick way to get you started, so you can take your mask off. For a more permanent base you will probably want to build an Oxygen Sealer which can fill any enclosed space with oxygen. To “enclose” your future Moon-base, it’s just a case of making sure that the walls are solid, and you will need a door made of solid blocks.

If you are good with redstone, you can perhaps make a piston door, otherwise Galacticraft has Air Locks. To make one of these you will need at least seven Air Lock Frames, and one Air Lock Controller – note that has Meteoric Iron in its recipe so it can’t be made until you get to the Moon.

Like all Galacticraft machines, the oxygen providing machines require a source of power to work. A good source of power on the Moon is the solar panel, so long as you have a couple of Energy Storage Modules to keep everything running during the long Lunar night. A Coal Generator might be good to have as a backup.

Can you live permanently on the Moon?

The short answer is yes, as long as you took some supplies with you for farming food – so some wheat seeds, and maybe some pumpkin seeds, cane, and chicken eggs (to make a chicken farm, and eventually pumpkin pie). You will also need saplings to grow trees (needed to make enough oxygen for the Oxygen Collector) and as a supply of wood – or you can maybe steal saplings from an Alien Village.

There are some mineral resources on the Moon: so you can gather plenty of copper ore and tin ore, and Meteoric Iron which is an important resource to build some of the more advanced mid-game items, and to get to Mars.

However, some materials are lacking on the Moon and can only be found on the Overworld. These include: iron ore, silicon, gold ore, lapis lazuli, redstone, diamonds, lava and obsidian. Maybe also ores from other mods (depending on your worldgen settings). Also cobblestone, gravel, sand, flint and dirt! All are suddenly precious commodities on the Moon, as you will only have what you brought with you.

To replenish supplies of these materials, and perhaps also for food or other items, you will probably need to return to the Overworld sometimes – at least until you reach Mars, after that you can maybe set up an automatic system of Cargo Rockets and loaders and unloaders to bring you the items you need.

There are mobs on the Moon (Evolved Creeper, Evolved Zombie, Evolved Spider, Evolved Skeleton) and also (in Galacticraft 4 Evolved Endermen, so you can find Ender Pearls on the Moon.

It is impossible to reach The End from the Moon, and it is hard to reach the Nether as a Nether portal cannot be ignited in a no-oxygen environment. (Future versions of Galacticraft may disable Nether portals totally in space dimensions.)

There are no animals on the moon, and you cannot carry living animals with you in a rocket (unless you have another mod giving you a way to transport animals). This means normally in Galacticraft the only animals you can have on the Moon with you are chickens, because you can at least carry eggs.

What Next?

There are tons of great things you can try out in Galacticraft, and more are being added all the time!

Here’s a short list of things to try out:

• Construct an Overworld Space Station and invite your friends.
• Explore the Moon and make contact with a colony of Moon Villagers.
• Make your mark, by placing a Flag on the Moon or try it on the Overworld.
• Mine up some Cheese Ore.
  Establish an oxygen supply system on your Space Station, or Moon Colony.
• Make a Moon Buggy and drive around in it.
• Mine some Meteoric Iron and build Spin Thrusters to have your Space Station spin
• Build a more technological looking base, with Arc Lamps for illumination (this is the brightest light source available in Minecraft) and Display Screens on the walls
• Continue on to Mars.
• Mars unlocks a new material, Desh which will let you make better armour and tools and some other more powerful items
• Mars also unlocks new machines, and access to the Asteroids …

 

This How To guide can give you some more ideas for what is truly possible in Galacticraft…

Creative Mode start

Galacticraft is supposed to be a detailed technological mod with a lot of things to do, so that it takes a lot of time and effort for a player to make it as far as the Moon, Mars and beyond. (It can be easier and more fun if you play in a team with 2 or 3 people helping.) It is not supposed to be easy, and space is a dangerous place when you get there. There are plenty of possibilities for having accidents, running out of oxygen or getting stranded with no way home.

Why is Galacticraft like this? Basically the Galacticraft creators see vanilla Minecraft as being fairly easy to achieve all main quests in the game like getting diamond armor, getting to the Nether or reaching the End and slaying the Ender Dragon.

Almost any achievement which doesn’t involve a huge build can be achieved within 1 or 2 hours of game time. (Some people with lucky seeds and some practice runs have killed the Ender Dragon within 16 minutes of game start.) The Galacticraft creators wanted to make a mod which gives players more of a sustained challenge. Getting to space should be hard.

It is possible to get to space in less game time by using a Fast Mode setting: this reduces the metal resources needed, which saves you time, but it does not offer any other speed ups.

If you are impatient to see some of the other planets in Galacticraft quickly, you may want to use Creative Mode.

In Creative Mode you can give yourself a pre-fuelled rocket, so you only need that rocket and 9 launchpads and you will be all set to travel to the other planets. Creative Mode also has the other advantage that you will not die from lack of oxygen nor from the extreme temperatures or dangerous mobs you may find out there in space…