Tie item ejection rate to machine production rate.

Items will be ejected from machines as quickly as they are processed only while the machine is active and fully upgraded with control logic units.

technic/machines/register/common.lua

@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ local function on_machine_downgrade(meta, stack, list)
 		local inv = meta:get_inventory()
 		local upg1, upg2 = inv:get_stack("upgrade1", 1), inv:get_stack("upgrade2", 1)
 
-		-- only set 0 if theres not a nother chest in the other list too
+		-- only set 0 if theres not another chest in the other list too
 		if (not upg1 or not upg2 or upg1:get_name() ~= upg2:get_name()) then
 			meta:set_int("public", 0)
 		end
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ local function on_machine_downgrade(meta, stack, list)
 end
 
 
-function technic.send_items(pos, x_velocity, z_velocity, output_name)
+function technic.send_items(pos, x_velocity, z_velocity, output_name, item_count)
 	-- Send items on their way in the pipe system.
 	if output_name == nil then
 		output_name = "dst"
@@ -74,9 +74,14 @@ function technic.send_items(pos, x_velocity, z_velocity, output_name)
 		if stack then
 			local item0 = stack:to_table()
 			if item0 then 
-				item0["count"] = "1"
+				-- Calculate how many items to move. Don't move more items than exist.
+				-- Basically, 'item_count' is the maximum number of items to move.
+				local num_items = item_count or 1
+				if stack:get_count() < num_items then num_items = stack:get_count() end
+
+				item0["count"] = tostring(num_items)
 				technic.tube_inject_item(pos, pos, vector.new(x_velocity, 0, z_velocity), item0)
-				stack:take_item(1)
+				stack:take_item(num_items)
 				inv:set_stack(output_name, i, stack)
 				return
 			end
@@ -84,7 +89,6 @@ function technic.send_items(pos, x_velocity, z_velocity, output_name)
 	end
 end
 
-
 function technic.smelt_item(meta, result, speed)
 	local inv = meta:get_inventory()
 	meta:set_int("cook_time", meta:get_int("cook_time") + 1)
@@ -105,7 +109,7 @@ function technic.smelt_item(meta, result, speed)
 	end
 end
 
-function technic.handle_machine_pipeworks(pos, tube_upgrade, send_function)
+function technic.handle_machine_pipeworks(pos, tube_upgrade, send_function, items_processed_this_cycle)
 	if send_function == nil then
 		send_function = technic.send_items
 	end
@@ -117,7 +121,6 @@ function technic.handle_machine_pipeworks(pos, tube_upgrade, send_function)
 	local x_velocity = 0
 	local z_velocity = 0
 
-	-- Output is on the left side of the furnace
 	if node.param2 == 3 then pos1.z = pos1.z - 1  z_velocity = -1 end
 	if node.param2 == 2 then pos1.x = pos1.x - 1  x_velocity = -1 end
 	if node.param2 == 1 then pos1.z = pos1.z + 1  z_velocity =  1 end
@@ -128,13 +131,43 @@ function technic.handle_machine_pipeworks(pos, tube_upgrade, send_function)
 	if minetest.get_item_group(node1.name, "tubedevice") > 0 then
 		output_tube_connected = true
 	end
-	local tube_time = meta:get_int("tube_time") + tube_upgrade
-	if tube_time >= 2 then
+
+	items_processed_this_cycle = items_processed_this_cycle or 1
+	local eject_count = meta:get_int("eject_count") + items_processed_this_cycle
+	meta:set_int("eject_count", eject_count)
+
+	local tube_upgrade_max = 2
+	local norm_tube_upgrade = tube_upgrade / tube_upgrade_max
+	local stack_size = 11
+	local tube_time = meta:get_int("tube_time") + 1
+
+	if tube_time >= 10 then
 		tube_time = 0
+
 		if output_tube_connected then
-			send_function(pos, x_velocity, z_velocity)
+			-- Calculate how many items to eject during this run. Eject none if no
+			-- tube upgrades exist, and eject as many as were produced if the max
+			-- number of tube upgrades exist.
+			-- Always try to eject at least 5 to 10 items per execution. This is the
+			-- fallback behavior for when the machine isn't producing anything (and
+			-- thus 'eject_count' is 0).
+			if eject_count < 10 then eject_count = 10 end
+			eject_count = eject_count * norm_tube_upgrade
+
+			if eject_count > 0 then
+				-- Eject items. Use multiple stacks if needed, to avoid ejecting a
+				-- monolithic stack.
+				while eject_count >= stack_size do
+					send_function(pos, x_velocity, z_velocity, nil, stack_size)
+					eject_count = eject_count - stack_size
+				end
+				send_function(pos, x_velocity, z_velocity, nil, eject_count)
 			end
 		end
+
+		meta:set_int("eject_count", 0)
+	end
+
 	meta:set_int("tube_time", tube_time)
 end
 

technic/machines/register/machine_base.lua

@@ -78,22 +78,22 @@ function technic.register_base_machine(data)
 		if data.upgrade then
 			EU_upgrade, tube_upgrade = technic.handle_machine_upgrades(meta)
 		end
-		if data.tube then
-			technic.handle_machine_pipeworks(pos, tube_upgrade)
-		end
 
 		local powered = eu_input >= machine_demand[EU_upgrade+1]
 		if powered then
 			meta:set_int("src_time", meta:get_int("src_time") + round(data.speed*10))
 		end
-		while true do
+
+		local items_processed_this_cycle = 0
+
+		while true do -- Begin recipe processing.
 			local result = technic.get_recipe(typename, inv:get_list("src"))
 			if not result then
 				technic.swap_node(pos, machine_node)
 				meta:set_string("infotext", S("%s Idle"):format(machine_desc_tier))
 				meta:set_int(tier.."_EU_demand", 0)
 				meta:set_int("src_time", 0)
-				return
+				break
 			end
 			meta:set_int(tier.."_EU_demand", machine_demand[EU_upgrade+1])
 			technic.swap_node(pos, machine_node.."_active")
@@ -103,7 +103,7 @@ function technic.register_base_machine(data)
 					technic.swap_node(pos, machine_node)
 					meta:set_string("infotext", S("%s Unpowered"):format(machine_desc_tier))
 				end
-				return
+				break
 			end
 			local output = result.output
 			if type(output) ~= "table" then output = { output } end
@@ -120,14 +120,19 @@ function technic.register_base_machine(data)
 					break
 				end
 				inv:add_item("dst_tmp", o)
+				items_processed_this_cycle = items_processed_this_cycle + o:get_count()
 			end
 			if not room_for_output then
 				meta:set_int("src_time", round(result.time*10))
-				return
+				break
 			end
 			meta:set_int("src_time", meta:get_int("src_time") - round(result.time*10))
 			inv:set_list("src", result.new_input)
 			inv:set_list("dst", inv:get_list("dst_tmp"))
+		end -- End of recipe processing.
+
+		if data.tube then
+			technic.handle_machine_pipeworks(pos, tube_upgrade, nil, items_processed_this_cycle)
 		end
 	end