Laser setup (advanced)

Introduction

This is the full tutorial on how to setup basic and amplified lasers.

Pre-requisites

You need at least a [Laser Camera](Laser Camera) with a few [Laser mediums](Laser medium) and a monitor. Ideally, you would use 1 Laser Camera with boosters and a bunch of laser with [Laser mediums](Laser medium). Laser Camera is used to designate a target: Any Laser or Laser Camera should have clear view to its target and a bunch of Laser mediums. Laser frequency 1420 is reserved for scanning. Any other frequency is for attacking or boosting.

Building

For the non-geeky, non-amplified version, check the basic setup in the related [page](Laser setup (basic)). Here's the geeky setup used by Cr0s:

1- Targeting laser

Place a compute with modem next to your Laser Camera. Type this program:

modem = peripheral.wrap("right")
laser = peripheral.wrap("left")
laser.freq(1420)
laser.camFreq(100)

-- Previous target coordinates
px, py, pz = -1

while true do
  -- poll a laser head for new target
  x_, y_, z_, id, meta, res = laser.getFirstHit()
  if res ~= -1 and px ~= x_ and py ~= y_ and pz ~= z_ then
    -- send serialized target info
    target = { x = x_, y = y_, z = z_ }
    print("Target: " .. textutils.serialize(target))

    -- init boost (remove comment on next line if you use boosters)
    -- modem.transmit(4, 1, "go")

    sleep(0.1)

    -- init main laser with target
    modem.transmit(3, 1, textutils.serialize(target))

    -- remember previous target
    px = x_
    py = y_
    pz = z_
  end
  sleep(0)
end

2- Monitor

Place a monitor and set its frequency to match the Laser Camera cameraFrequency (100 in our case). To set it's frequency, place a computer on its left and type:

lua
peripheral.wrap("right").freq(100)

(you can then break the computer afterward)

3- Main laser

Place a laser 'head' with a few laser medium blocks and a computer (below) with a modem on its left. Type this program:

laser = peripheral.wrap("top")

laser.freq(1010)

modem = peripheral.wrap("left")

-- listening for targets
mode.open(3)

while true do
  -- receive target info
  local event, _, ch, _, msg, _ = os.pullEvent("modem_message")

  -- is targeting channel ?
  if ch == 3 then
    print("Got target: " .. msg)

    -- get coordinates
    target = textutils.unserialize(msg)

    -- calculate targeting vector
    myX, myY, myZ = laser.pos()

    dx = target.x - myX
    dy = target.y - myY
    dz = target.z - myZ

    -- shoot
    laser.emitBeam(dx, dy, -dz)
  end

  sleep(0)
end

4- Boosting lasers

Repeat step 3 with laser boosters and a modem on channel 4 (optional) Each laser booster should be targeting the laser head to boost its charge (increasing it's destructive power). Each laser booster should have the same frequency as the laser head (otherwise it'll break it). As said earlier, each laser booster should have a clear view to the laser head. Here's an example program, remember to adjust the coordinates in emitBeam calls:

modem = peripheral.wrap("bottom")
laser1 = peripheral.wrap("top")
laser2 = peripheral.wrap("left")
laser3 = peripheral.wrap("right")
laser1.freq(1010)
laser2.freq(1010)
laser3.freq(1010)

modem.open(4)

while true do
  local event, _, ch, _, _, _ = os.pullEvent("modem_message")
  -- is boosting channel ?
  if ch == 4 then
    laser1.emitBeam( 0, 1, 4)
    laser2.emitBeam( 1, 0, 4)
    laser3.emitBeam(-1, 0, 4)
  end
  sleep(0)
end

5- Powering

Power all the particle boosters with your favorite energy (all blocks accept both RF & EU) Here's an example with IndustrialCraft2 Fiber cables:

6- Fire!

Right click the monitor:

• move your mouse around to select a target
• use left click to cycle zoom level
• press space to shoot!
• use right click to exit the monitor

A first blue laser from the targeting laser will acquire the target, then the boosting lasers will charge the head laser then the main laser will shoot.

Tips!

This is a very lag-inducing example, it'll kill your server resources pretty fast (loop on sleep(0) and 3 computers per weapon).

It's strongly advised to use wired modems instead of wireless ones to have a single loop on a single computer. A wired version is notably more stable and you can't be 'hacked' by your enemy.