Mariculture is absolutely useful. It's the easiest way to get ender pearls early game (not to mention the only way to do it without cheating in the dream world) and it makes underwater exploration both pleasant and rewarding. Have you worn a diving helmet with a ring of chordata yet? It's amazing. Some of us enjoy playing with genetics and making enchanted jewelry. I also appreciate the gating with the smeltery and it gives some very early power source options as well as making obsidian available early. IMO it would be a serious mistake to remove it.
It could be my fault (it probably
IS my fault) for just not getting Mariculture then. Obviously the mod author put a ton of time and effort into it as it seems like it should be one of the "big boy" mods out there, but it just feels clunky to me. To make obsidian for the nether portal, I just built up a frame out of cobblestone and lava, poured water, did it again, etc. 5 minutes, nether portal made. To play with genetics, I've done a lot with bees and trees and that made me happy.
As far as underwater stuff, I went the pure Botania route with it: I did the incense stick, stuck it on a man-made island, and had unlimited underwater breathing. A second incense stick with night vision and I could see as well.
I see a ton of potential for Mariculture...maybe I just need to stick it in a stand-alone world and play it out to see what all I can do with it, then go back to it in Regrowth when I understand it better.
Pretty sure that the mod-list is fixed at this point. The 'final release' version is being tested as we speak, and removing the mod would entail re-working the quest progression at a bare minimum.
Very true - I was frustrated on that post and didn't really think all the way through what I was writing. The Regrowth author has made an amazing modpack - probably my favorite one I've played so far. I would love to have the knowledge and/or talent to do something like this myself.
