Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
Redstone Wiring
Redstone is harvested from redstone ore with an iron, gold, or diamond pickaxe. When
placed on the ground, the redstone transforms into a trail, also called
redstone wire
, that
carries power or signals between components.
Redstone wire has some interesting properties (see
Figure 9.2
):
Laying a trail is quite easy because the wire automatically connects adjacent nodes.
Just click on blocks where you'd like to place the wire, and it bends around
corners, goes up and down solid block ramps, and creates three-and four-way junc-
tion points as required. It's sticky stuff, so prevent separate circuits from connect-
ing by keeping them separated by at least one block or they'll join together togeth-
er to form a lattice. If space is tight and you must run two separate strands side by
side, use a parallel run of repeaters instead.
Water and electricity don't mix. The water just washes away the redstone wire
turning it back into collectable redstone. Be prepared to climb over or tunnel under
any water blocks.
Powered wire sparkles with a red glow that gradually diminishes until the current
runs out in 15 blocks. You'll need repeaters or torches to boost the power for
longer circuits as described below.
The current runs in the space above the block on which the trail appears but
provides power (see below) to the block underneath and the block directly in front
of the end of the wire.
Think of the wire as actually occupying the space above its depicted location. That
space must be contiguous with the exception of slabs or transparent blocks such as
glass, ice, leaves, and glowstone.
Figure 9.3
shows a blocked current.
