Getting Started
Ala Industrial is an industrial tech mod about energy and automation. It adds an energy system based on EU/FE (Energy Units), generators that produce it, machines that consume it, storage and cables to move it around. This page covers the bare minimum to get going.
Key terms
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
EU/FE | Energy Unit — the mod's energy currency. Produced by generators, stored in buffers, consumed by machines. |
Tick | A game tick (1/20 of a second). EU/FE/tick (EU/FE/t) is the standard rate — generation, consumption and transfer are all measured in EU/FE/t. |
LV / MV / HV | Voltage tiers: Low (32 EU/FE/t), Medium (128 EU/FE/t), High (512 EU/FE/t). Every generator, cable and machine belongs to a tier; mixing tiers safely is the core of progression. |
Buffer | Internal EU/FE storage of a block (a generator, machine or Battery Box). Sized per block. |
Tier | A block's voltage tier. LV machines accept ≤32 EU/FE/t; feeding them more from a higher-tier source does nothing (they cap at their limit). |
Your first energy chain
The starter progression is a loop of four blocks. Build them in this order and you have a working ore-doubling setup:
Solar Panel
Produces EU/FE during the day, with open sky above. Your first power source.
Copper Cable
Cheap LV wire that carries EU/FE from the panel to your machines.
Battery Box
Stores EU/FE for the night, so your machines can run when the panel sleeps.
Macerator
Grinds ore into dust — doubles your metal output. The first real EU/FE consumer.
Your first generator
Power has to come from somewhere. Start with the cheapest, simplest generator and grow from there — these are the earliest options:
Generator (LV)
The simplest start: burns coal for EU/FE on demand — and runs at night too.
Solar Panel
Free EU/FE in daylight under open sky; it sleeps at night — pair with a Battery Box.
Water Mill / Wind Mill
Passive LV power from flowing water or wind — no fuel needed.
Geothermal Generator
Stronger LV output from lava — a solid next step once you have a supply.
Tips
- Place the Solar Panel with clear sky above it — any opaque block stops generation entirely.
- The Macerator doubles both ore blocks and raw ore (2 dust each). Only a ready ingot grinds back into a single dust — no doubling on that.
- Cables don't explode from overload; they just cap out, and the excess is simply not transferred.
- Mixing cable grades on one line? The whole network runs on the strongest cable present — both its throughput and its higher loss. One gold segment re-tariffs the entire run.
- Energy flows on 5 faces of a machine; the front face (where it points) is usually inert for EU/FE.
- Store day-time EU/FE in a Battery Box — without it, your machines go dark the moment the sun sets.
Where next
Once your first chain runs, explore the categories in the sidebar — more generators, machines, and material processing open up.