Shield Generators guide for FTB Skies 2: Aero 1.6.0 to 1.7.3

Same as in the FTB Skies 2: Aero 1.10.0 guide

Every mechanic below runs through the Shield Generator. Its screen has controls for shield shape, shield distance, ground radius, crystal burn, Forge Energy input and shield heat. Everything here comes from that screen text and from the pack's config file.^[1][2]

Shield GeneratorMod recipe

Crafting Shaped

Crafting Shaped

Amethyst Shard	Lightning Rod	Amethyst Shard
Electron Tube	Precision Mechanism	Electron Tube
Obsidian	Brass Casing	Obsidian

Recipe id: shield_generators:shield_generator

This is the in-pack recipe for the generator.

Power and fuel

The generator takes Forge Energy, and the screen shows it as Forge Energy Input. It does not work like a battery. energyCapacity is a virtual per-tick input capacity that the generator advertises to energy networks, and it is set to 50,000. Energy is not stored between ticks.^[1][2]

A single insertion accepts at most 2,000 FE, set by energyMaxReceive. Both values match the mod defaults in this pack.^[2]

The screen also has a Crystal Burn entry. energyPerBurnTick sets how much Forge Energy is consumed per equivalent crystal burn tick before crystal fuel is used, and the pack keeps it at 20.^[1][2]

Power also drives shield heat. energyShieldHeat is the maximum heat produced from Forge Energy at full redstone signal, and the pack sets it to 100. Setting it to 0 makes FE storage input-only.^[1][2]

How fast fuel burns

Crystal fuel burn is tied to the size of the shield. A generated shield surface of 64 square blocks burns crystal fuel at the normal 1x rate, set by shieldBurnReferenceSurfaceArea. The burn rate multiplier is kept within limits:^[2]

• minShieldBurnRate: the minimum burn multiplier for an active shield, 0.1 in this pack.^[2]
• maxShieldBurnRate: the maximum multiplier for very large shields, 32 in this pack.^[2]
• maxGroundShieldBurnRate: the maximum multiplier for very large ground dome shields, 8,192 in this pack.^[2]

Shield shape and size

The screen offers these shield shapes: Convex Hull, Ground Dome and Metaball. Convex Hull and Metaball each have their own distance readout, and the screen also shows the current and maximum distance.^[1]

The maximum adjustable distance from the protected object's bounds is 5 blocks, set by maxShieldDistance. New or legacy generators start at the distance from shieldPadding, which is 0.45 blocks.^[2]

The Ground Dome is a hemispherical shield with its own radius setting. maxGroundShieldRadius caps the radius you can select in game at 50 blocks.^[1][2]

How the generator scans what it protects

When the generator is placed outside a Sable object, it scans connected blocks to work out the shape. The scan is limited by staticScanRadius (64 blocks radius) and maxStaticScanBlocks (32,768 connected blocks).^[2]

While building a detailed shape, the generator inspects at most 262,144 block positions, set by maxStaticScanPositions. Larger objects fall back to a box shell.^[2]

The shield is a mesh of triangles. The target is 6 triangles per square block of surface (shieldTrianglesPerSurfaceBlock), with an absolute ceiling of 6,000 triangles (maxShieldTriangles). The ceiling is a safety limit, so a very large shield will not get unlimited detail.^[2]

What the shield blocks

Projectiles moving at or above 0.35 blocks per tick are blocked, and slower objects pass through (blockProjectileSpeed). The shell has a collision thickness of 0.75 blocks (shieldThickness).^[2]

reflectOutgoingObjects is true in this pack. Shield surfaces reflect fast objects crossing outward, so they do not pass through on the way out.^[2]

Breaches and heat

Repeated hits make the shield shudder locally, and enough shudder opens a breach. The config sets these values, and the pack keeps all of them at the mod defaults:^[2]

• shieldBreachThreshold (5.5): the local shudder strength where impacts begin to momentarily open a breach.^[2]
• shieldFullBreachThreshold (11): the strength where a breach lets all matching projectile and explosion effects through.^[2]
• shieldBreachRegionRadius (2.75 blocks): the render-space radius for grouping repeated hits into the same breach region.^[2]
• shieldBreachCarryoverTicks (18 ticks): how long local shudder carries over for repeated hits in the same region.^[2]

Shield heat also changes how explosions feel. maxHeatExplosionShudderResistance is the explosion shudder divisor at full shield heat, 2.5 in this pack. Lower heat blends back toward normal 1x explosion shudder.^[2]

Same as in the FTB Skies 2: Aero 1.10.0 guide

Everything here is set in config/shield_generators-common.toml. Every option that lists a mod default is set to exactly that default in this pack, so the pack changes none of those values. What you see below is what you get out of the box.^[2]

Power

• energyCapacity is 50,000. It is a virtual per-tick Forge Energy input capacity advertised to energy networks, and energy is not stored between ticks.^[2]
• energyMaxReceive is 2,000 FE, the most the generator accepts per insertion.^[2]
• energyPerBurnTick is 20 FE per equivalent crystal burn tick, used before crystal fuel is consumed.^[2]
• energyShieldHeat is 100, the maximum shield heat produced from Forge Energy at full redstone signal. Set it to 0 and FE storage becomes input-only.^[2]

Size and distance

• maxShieldDistance is 5 blocks, the furthest you can adjust the shield from the protected object's bounds.^[2]
• shieldPadding is 0.45 blocks, the default distance outside the object's bounds for newly placed or legacy generators.^[2]
• maxGroundShieldRadius is 50 blocks, the largest radius you can select in-game for ground hemispherical shields.^[2]
• shieldThickness is 0.75 blocks, the collision thickness of the shield shell.^[2]

Crystal fuel burn rate

Bigger shields burn fuel faster. shieldBurnReferenceSurfaceArea is 64 square blocks of generated surface, which consumes crystal fuel at the normal 1x rate. An active shield burns at least 0.1x (minShieldBurnRate), and very large shields are capped at 32x (maxShieldBurnRate). For very large ground domes the cap is 8,192x (maxGroundShieldBurnRate).^[2]

Projectiles and breaches

• blockProjectileSpeed is 0.35 blocks/tick. Projectiles moving at or above that speed are blocked, and slower objects pass through.^[2]
• reflectOutgoingObjects is true in this pack, so shield surfaces reflect fast objects crossing outward. If it were false, objects leaving the shield would pass through.^[2]
• shieldBreachThreshold is 5.5, the local shudder strength where impacts begin to momentarily open a breach. At shieldFullBreachThreshold (11), a breach lets all matching projectile and explosion effects through.^[2]
• shieldBreachCarryoverTicks is 18 ticks of carried-over shudder for repeated hits in the same region, and shieldBreachRegionRadius is 2.75 blocks for grouping those hits.^[2]
• maxHeatExplosionShudderResistance is 2.5, the explosion shudder divisor at full shield heat. Lower heat blends down toward normal 1x explosion shudder.^[2]

Performance limits

If a huge build gives you trouble, these are the knobs. maxShieldTriangles is the safety ceiling for generated mesh triangles at 6,000, and shieldTrianglesPerSurfaceBlock targets 6 triangles per square block of surface. For a generator placed outside a Sable object, staticScanRadius is 64 and maxStaticScanBlocks is 32,768 connected blocks. maxStaticScanPositions is 262,144 positions, and larger objects fall back to a box shell.^[2]