Been away for a while - mod suggestions?

[Omicron]

I've played a lot of modded Mineraft in the past, up until 1.7.x. Then Kerbal Space Program happened, and I've not touched it since. Now I discover that we're at 1.10.x, and that there was a huge watershed somewhere in between those two versions, and a lot of my favorite old mods did not port forward.

Can you guys maybe recommend me some promising newcomers instead? "New" defined as "started in 1.8.x or later".

What I'm specifially looking for in my Mineraft experience is mechanical engineering with a touch of realism. I want to solve problems in hardware, and ideally learn something about real physics along the way. Sprawling pipe networks with hand-crafted item routing, power systems that talk in watts and torque, stuff that moves in the world, that sort of thing. Building semi-automated systems where I still need to pull levers and interact with my builds in order for them to work. In the past, mods like RotaryCraft, Cogs of the Machine, Redpower and the like scratched that itch.

Conversely, things like teleportation, programming, handwavy future tech, spellcasting (not all forms of magic, just spellcasting), super-multifunction-combo-blocks/cables and mods that automate the player out of the game tend to bore me relatively quickly, unless it's done in an exceptionally unusual, game-mechanically brilliant manner.

I notice that both Forestry and IC2 seem available, which is a great start; together they cover a huge amount of different "must haves" already in only two content mods, while having very little redundant overlap. But I need some sort of item/liquid transport solution, ideally a mechanically interesting one that doesn't do everything by itself, so I can dig my teeth into it. Also, I'm already very familiar with IC2 and Forestry, so are there any new entries in the field of tech content mods that go well together with them?

And is there perhaps something else that you consider an absolute must-see in today's modding community?

 

[erindalc]

Chisel and Bits is and artist's dream. Essentially any supporting block (Most do) can be cut up into pixel sized cubes. The possibilities are endless.

Cyberware lets you turn yourself into an android (Kinda like Matter Overdrive did, but better)

Tough as Nails is a cool difficulty adding mod

Tesla is a new power API that a lot of people are moving too, its essentially a more modernized version of RF

Roots is a cool new magic mod with some cool new features, definitely worth checking out.

Quark is a great vanilla enhancement mod by Vazkii.

Psi is essentially a spell programming mod, you have to try it yourself to understand it.

JEI is the new NEI.

Refined Storage and Correlated Potentialistics are "replacements" for Applied Energistics at the moment.

Some mods have also gotten overhauls:
Tinker's Construct, Pam's Harvestcraft, and Extra Utilities

Some mods never got past 1.8, such as Intangible and Thaumcraft 5

I've probably missed some things, but that's a good start. All the Mods is (I've heard) a good pack to experience some of the new mods.

 

[Omicron]

Thanks for the suggestions! I'll take a look at them.

Got any ideas item transport solutions, though? I mean, something that isn't an AE clone, which I don't want? Just some simple pipes where I can see my stuff zip around my base is fine. I'd pick Buildcraft or Project Red or Thermal Expansion, but none of those are updated...

 

[erindalc]

Charset (search Curse forge) has pipes (and some red power style wires) but they aren't very fast. Maybe ender IO conduits? Extra Utils has transfer nodes as well.

 

[lenscas]

I personally see Inductive automation as a must have. Its power system is more complicated then rf and you can easily use it to replace ic2 and forestry. It then also gives you access to a way to transport items but that may not be made in a way that you enjoy.

 

[Omicron]

Charset (search Curse forge) has pipes (and some red power style wires) but they aren't very fast. Maybe ender IO conduits? Extra Utils has transfer nodes as well.

Charset looks great, actually - especially since the modules are individually configurable. Too many mods just go "here have a million items!" even if you only need a subset of them.

I personally see Inductive automation as a must have. Its power system is more complicated then rf and you can easily use it to replace ic2 and forestry. It then also gives you access to a way to transport items but that may not be made in a way that you enjoy.

Unique power system? Love that. Definitely will give it a go.

 

[Omicron]

Tesla is a new power API that a lot of people are moving too, its essentially a more modernized version of RF

Hmmm, could you elaborate a bit more? Is that something I actually have to install, or is it like RF where any mod that uses this API just works on its own? I would assume it's the latter, but you did link me to a download page, so...

 

[erindalc]

Hmmm, could you elaborate a bit more? Is that something I actually have to install, or is it like RF where any mod that uses this API just works on its own? I would assume it's the latter, but you did link me to a download page, so...

Tesla IS a required library, unlike RF. But in game it works the same, except it uses longs inside ints to contain power values (ints are 8bit and longs are 32bit iirc)

Tesla is a bit controversial atm, because some people think it's being forced upon us and that using longs is a bad idea. Personally I disagree, and for now most mods that used RF and decided to support Tesla still support RF, so if you don't want use it now, there aren't many mods that support only Tesla.

 

[SevenMass]

(ints are 8bit and longs are 32bit iirc)

Sorry for the off-topic, but I feel an urge to correct.

Chars are always 8 bit
Ints have a size that depends on the processor, they are 8 bit on an 8 bit CPU 16 bit on an 16 bit CPU and 32 Bit on a 32 Bit CPU... However, for some reason, most people nowadays assume 32 bit even on a 64 bit CPU. So by today's standard, you can assume an int is 32 bits, unless stated otherwise.

The main difference between an Int and a long, is that a long is specifically always 32 bits, and is always an unsigned integer. While an integer is usually signed unless stated otherwise and can be a different size when compiling for a different CPU.

An other way to look at it is to see a long as a reference to the amount of memory it uses (4 bytes) while an int is a reference to how the CPU should interpret the data. As an int is treated physically different by the CPU than a float.


Now you are wondering; But the FAQ on the curse page for Tesla said:

Another decision was using longs over integers. This change allows for mods to easily work with larger power numbers.

Yes, I've noticed that too. I would argue that the FAQ is really unhelpful here. That, or the author assumes the reader already know exactly what what data type RF uses. (I don't though)

 

[Omicron]

I've put together a couple mods and started playing. Something I found myself missing, to my surprise, is Hunger Overhaul. Without it, Pam's Harvestcraft is borderline unplayable for honest survival gameplay - you might as well turn the hunger mechanic off entirely, the effect would be similar. Additionally, it has always greatly irked me how vanilla Minecraft stops you regenerating health when your hunger bar is still nearly completely full, and most foods give way more nourishment than those little 1.5 haunches.

Seeing as Hunger Overhaul looks like it might not ever port past 1.7.x, do you guys know of a suitable replacement? Or failing that, at least an alternative way to modify the health regeneration threshold, if nothing else?