[1.6.4] Cataclysm ModPack [HardCore, Post-Apocalyptic Survival]

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Xile

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Jul 29, 2019
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He he maybe :). I was considering adding Terra firma craft... But it doesn't really work with other mods balance wise :(. Some of the features would have been really cool though.
 

Mikhaila666

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Jul 29, 2019
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He he maybe :). I was considering adding Terra firma craft... But it doesn't really work with other mods balance wise :(. Some of the features would have been really cool though.

I played it a bit. It has a nice, slow, build up, but a lot of it really doesnt work with the post apoc feel. It's requirements seem more tuned to a vanilla world where you have ample wood, water, etc.

Galacticraft might fit. It takes quite a bit of resources just to get to the point where you could actually accomplish getting to the moon. So while the moon gives you villages with dirt and crops, you'd have to be past that point if you can build the rocket.
 

Xile

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Jul 29, 2019
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Lol xD. I'll be working on making the server a bit more starter friendly xD and yes after testing terrafirmacraft I agree its much better suited for vanilla. Galacticraft is a definite maybe tho :) am considering it to give people something to work towards.
 

Mikhaila666

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Jul 29, 2019
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Speaking of stuff to work towards, i was very surprised to find fields of cactus, sugar cane, potatoes and carrots all ready to be harvested.
 

Xile

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Jul 29, 2019
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Yea there was a bug on the server where it reset some configs and it made the world gen go to non apocalyptic for a bit Lol so some places are, as termed by the players, "oasis's". To be honest. Next time I make a new map I will probably make an "oasis" in the middle of the map surrounded by apocalypse work gen like the rest of the server and then players will want to fight for the middle oasis.
 

Mikhaila666

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Jul 29, 2019
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Ok, have played a couple of hours on the server and have some feedback. And i mean feedback, not criticism. I know how much work goes into projects like this. I tend to look at things from the perspective of a game designer, not a player. I've got two degrees in mathematics, own game stores for 25 years, and have done both game design and math modelling. Add to that a huge amount of playtime on the old MIningDead server using some similar mods and the Mortuus Terra world gen.

Assumptions: -A harder server where you have to work to survive, and harder to get things done.
-Rare resources (-Ores And Resources Are RARE! Iron Is Almost As Rare As Vanilla Diamond!)
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Rarity of resources force a player to expose themselves in dangerous areas where the undead pose a threat.

Feedback:
-Mobs are dangerous. Hordes of them at night, and while it's possible to move around, you had better keep moving or they'll swarm you. Dark buildings provide problems during the day, and mobs don't magically go poof in sunlight.
-Mobs do however seem to clear when you die. So getting rid of them just means dumping your gear in a chest and suiciding.
-I like the random teleport when you die, but it's almost like free exploration, since you have /sethome and /home. Now if you had to actually work your way back to your base after each death, that would be a real disincentive to dying. Possibly the cooldown for /home could be something like 5-15 minutes.
-Ores/metals aren't rare. I started a mine and got 13 iron ored 2 layers below ground. Add to that thousands upon thousands of iron grates to melt down and there is no iron shortage at all. Other ores appear in the rock of buildins and streets. I saw copper, silver, platinum, tin, etc. Meteors will be bringing down a lot more. Setting world gen some ores only generate below 50 would fix the problem of ores in streets and other areas where stone is used.
-Coal blocks. Thousands of them, each with 9 coal in them.

So right off the bat, i've got a lot of ores, plenty of coal, and will have plenty of armor, weapons, torches and can get working on machines. (I do see that you mentioned the problem of the 'oasis', if that get fixed it goes a long way to making food tougher.)

So it just depends on the level of difficulty you want. But I'd suggest:
-Setting ore to be more rare, and much deeper. People scavenging for iron in the city to meltdown fits the theme, but if they have to hunt hard for tin/copper etc for machines, it adds to the struggle.
-Substituted something else for coal blocks in world gen. Just too easy of a powersouce. Some buildings will give you stacks of coal blocks.
-Add longer cooldown to /home.
 

Xile

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Jul 29, 2019
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Great feedback! I share many of the same views. When I released this I knew balancing was going to be a progressive thing with this pack, trying to straddle the point of being too hard and too easy. I agree ores should be rarer so I'll turn those down a bit. Problem is I can't specify the world gen not to use coalblocks and iron which is an issue I've yet to find a solution to. The /home thing could definitely use some work! Originally I planned on not allowing teleports of any sort, but later thought that might just be mean. However maybe a long delay as you suggested might make it better. Considering there is factions people can set home too in their base with that and spawn there on death so I should probably disable spawning there on death. How much rarer do you think ores should be in your opinion?
 

Mikhaila666

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Jul 29, 2019
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When i was playing with Skuli on miningdead, he had it set to 1/4th normal ore generation, and while it took a bit of work, people still had no problem making all the resource intensive stuff in tekkit with IC2 and Redpower. Just took a bit more work. There is a lot less needed for this pack. Industrial craft was a hog when it came to machines :)

Making iron even rarer, like 1/8th normal would mean players would have to scavenge the iron bars from buildings, which isn't a bad compromise. I can't count the number of times i died doing that.[DOUBLEPOST=1402973983][/DOUBLEPOST]One thing i've noticed is the server lagging quite a bit, i assume from the vast horde of undead at night. Not sure what you'd do to stop that, unless there is a way to limit mobs spawning in an area after a certain amount are loaded.
 

Xile

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Jul 29, 2019
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That sounds Like a good idea. Also we are getting a more powerful server in the next few days. I'll also be doing optimizations wherever possible. Do you think zombies count is good as is?
 

Mikhaila666

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Jul 29, 2019
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It's certainly high enough to swamp a player. When the sun comes down, they crawl out of the woodwork and you have at least a dozen on your butt within a minute. Later, it's hundreds clustered where ever you are hiding. If mob count is causing lag, turning it down a bit certainly won't drop the danger level.
 

Mikhaila666

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Jul 29, 2019
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Ok, definitely too high :)

I had done some mining, was crafting items, and mobs just kept building up outside of my building until they were in the hundreds. Went down to mine, whenever i hit a small cave, or the tunnels that are fun to explore and might lead to bunkers, they were filled with dozen of mobs waiting for me to break through. Eventually the lag from them was so bad I had a huge delay in anything, and their moans were just one high pitched tone. No clue how many mobs were around me.[DOUBLEPOST=1403055300][/DOUBLEPOST]Ideally, you want enough that it's a threat in daytime in dark places, dangerous at night, but you should still be able to explore buildings, bunkers, tunnels, and caves without having teeming hordes coming at you. High threat, but not enough that it's totally impossible, or lagging out the game.
 

Mikhaila666

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Jul 29, 2019
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Made a basic mob trap to see what sort of drops the horde would give, since that's a basic strategy i see every single player do. Got few bones and arrows, about 9 stacks of ears, a dozen potions. So far i've only gotten weapons/armor when i kill them myself. I like that the drops from a mobtrap are pretty insignificant.

I also like the ranking system. I picked up a 1% bonus with iron sword and 1% for killing zombies. So longterm players will not only achieve much better armor and weapons, but be doing extra damage, eventually being able to handle a lot more mobs while the newbs die in the same situations.
 

Mikhaila666

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Jul 29, 2019
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Meteorcraft might need some tweaking. They seem to come in 3 varieties: Nether ores, endstone, overworld ores. Endstone is no big deal. Overworld ores are containing diamonds, lapis etc. Might want to tone them down to just iron/copper/tin. Nether meteors are a huge amount of ardite and cobalt. One meteor gives you a full set of Manyullen weapons.

I was wandering around a different part of the map after a death. Trees are bare, gardens just dead bushes, and buildings are ruined and tumbled. This is the Mortuus terra landscape I was more used to, and i think it adds more to the feel of the wasteland. You mentioned the pretty green areas were a glitch in worldgen? I'd say next map go with the barren/ruined look for the whole world.
 

Xile

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Jul 29, 2019
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OK thats a good idea for the meteors. Also I think I will probably just go with all apocalypse world for next world.
 

Mikhaila666

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Jul 29, 2019
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it means more death at the start, since 'food' is rotten flesh :)

I assume zombies still have carrots and potatoes for drops though? Kill enough, start a garden. And if i remember correctly, the chests you may find while digging, or in tunnels may have seeds and things to plant.

For a bit more work, you could set up a a building at spawn, make it the starting point, and use a money system. Make people buy a seed or a carrot for a stack of iron ingots :)
 

Xile

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Jul 29, 2019
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I considered doing a central spawn but I didn't for a few reasons. For one I didn't think it really fit the atmosphere. Though maybe if it was a vault spawn it might be cool. I also wanted to use the random spawning mechanic. Third that would require a lot more maintenance because of griefing and what not. However I think it would be cool to do for the next map with a fallout style vault as the spawn.
 

Mikhaila666

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Jul 29, 2019
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Fallout style vault could be cool. To get out of spawn without a sethome, there could be "an escape chute" that takes you to a lava filled pit :) Instant random teleport. Claim the areas as your own faction to prevent griefing. Use something like signshop/chestshop/Iconomy for things you want players to be able to buy with ores if they aren't available in the world.