Update on my world, keeping in mind this is my 1st complete GregTech pack:
== Forestry ==
Tree farm up and running, with peat farm to power it. Not the most efficient setup, but I wanted to stick with the Forestry theme and the dirt-->sand-->dirt cycle. I also re-enabled the apatite + ash == fertilizer recipe so I can use the ash from the peat engines. I can see why it was disabled since GT produces a *ton* of ash, and it does it early-game. But, I'm role-playing a bit here. Wanted to keep Forestry as closed-loop as possible.
Bees are progressing. Just got pure-bred Noble and Diligent. Trying to time it so I have Imperial + Industrious by the time I get more power. Speaking of which...
== Power ==
Steady supply of charcoal into generators @ 30 EU/t for 32 UE/t machines, and have enough creosote to occasionally fire up an 18HP boiler to feed an
RC Steam Turbine @ 200 EU/t for 128 EU/t machines.
I also made a 1-rod (very small)
BigReactor for RF/MJ power before the big recipe changes now requiring stainless and tungsten. Am using that for a few Forestry engines and to power up my 3x Ender IO energy modules for...
== Resources ==
A
quarry ! I barely had enough stainless to build a diamond drill for the quarry, but I built it. I've been running small quarries near base, but completely over water, to reach bedrock (redstone and diamond territory) ASAP. No fancy sorting or powering, just diamond pipes, JABBA barrels, chests, and shuttling Ender IO energy modules back and forth. The quarry found 1 Iridium ore my 2nd 9x9 quarry. From a chest, I guess ?
I (finally) have a full 128 EU/t tier (-ish) processing setup, which means fully processing through an Industrial Grinder, then RC Rock Crusher, then Macerator or Centrifuge, then furnace takes a loooong time. But, I guess that's the way of GregTech, or so I've heard.
== Upcoming ==
I've been processing
Uranium and preparing other stuff for nuclear power. Very glad I got it started last night and am running on a server. Centrifuging a single U238 to a small piece of U235 takes 2,500 seconds - for 1 piece ! The
230 EU/t reactor design I'm aiming towards has 16 Uranium Cells, so I'm going to be centrifuging for many, many hours.
Forestry-wise, I may start breeding trees to make profitable Ethanol, but if the nuclear reactor works out well and if I don't need more RF/MJ power, then I'll stick with my 1-rod BigReactor. The BigReactor is easy, but the Forestry is more role-playing.
I'm not a huge fan of quarries, because they are brute-force and very messy. I'd like to use bees for most/all of my resources, but I don't think I'll be able to do that.
I'm pretty sure the rare GT metals don't have bees, right ? I'll look into IC crops.
For now, I'm just aiming for diamonds, redstone, glowstone, iron, and eventually ender pearls from bees. Maybe Quantum bees for AE, but Quantum bees take a *lot* of breeding. Also, strange how diamond bees are far easier than iron bees.
Storage and processing-wise, I'll build an
ME system once I have rock-solid base power. I'm not a big fan of dumb solar panels and similar "single-block, super-simple, passive power solutions", but the RTGs are looking mighty nice for 100% reliable AE power. Requiring RTGs for my ME system will also limit/gate/throttle AE, which is not a bad thing. RTG fuel is expensive.
== Conclusion ==
Very happy with this mod-pack 
A *lot* of work and balancing put in and I rarely mind when I find a recipe I can't make yet. It just means I get to build more machines, gather more resources, etc.,. Easy-mode this pack is not and that's the way I like it
