FTB - It´s to easy, how to make it hard?

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YX33A

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Jul 29, 2019
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Compact storage means you dont have to plan your base as well. IE easier.
Pffft, who really plans their base? My plans for my base (if you can call them plans or it a base) are, in a nutshell, a bit like this:

"Hm, I wanna build a big ass tower. And have death traps where I drop Testificates to a painful death, maybe a prison ward and a place to cook my bacon on a frying pan."

No real dimensions, just a rough idea. Note the two completely pointless sections I have "planned" for my base, and I'm not shitting you, I like to cook my bacon on a TiC frying pan.
A more number chrunch'n person would have maybe the dimensions of the death drops planned, or know how many people they want to hold in their prison, but I tend to fly by the seat of my pants with everything I do anyway, so it's all trial and error for death traps and constant expansion in the prisons.
 

Hambeau

Over-Achiever
Jul 24, 2013
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My thoughts in increasing the difficulty of FTB?

Play it without the use of a computer. :D
 

zorn

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Jul 29, 2019
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Play with a blindfold if you want a challenge from minecraft.


Is this really helping the OP?

Basically OP, if you notice, people say there is no challenge, but then note that if you ignore or remove certain mods... it becomes a challenge again. No AE, MFR, or MPS. No gravisuit addon, and now you have more of a challenge. The quantum suit at least cannot fly, but is still pretty OP. Look for configs for tougher recipes, MPS has them, even thermal expansion has configs that let you enable recipes that add steel to the cost of building machines. Ideally quarries should cost like 500 mj to run full speed, but... people want 'epic'. Epic invites power creep, but also removes the challenge.

most importantly remove quarries or at least eliminate land marks, and without ee3 the slower resource gathering slows everything else down. Enable all harder recipes, use gregtech, etc.
 

Eyamaz

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Jul 29, 2019
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Have you tried packs like UHS, Magic Farm, or my BNB yet? All three are aimed at increasing the difficulty in a way that's not a "need to gather more resources" type of play.
 

twisto51

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Jul 29, 2019
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Is this really helping the OP?

Basically OP, if you notice, people say there is no challenge, but then note that if you ignore or remove certain mods... it becomes a challenge again. No AE, MFR, or MPS. No gravisuit addon, and now you have more of a challenge. The quantum suit at least cannot fly, but is still pretty OP. Look for configs for tougher recipes, MPS has them, even thermal expansion has configs that let you enable recipes that add steel to the cost of building machines. Ideally quarries should cost like 500 mj to run full speed, but... people want 'epic'. Epic invites power creep, but also removes the challenge.

most importantly remove quarries or at least eliminate land marks, and without ee3 the slower resource gathering slows everything else down. Enable all harder recipes, use gregtech, etc.

I think the OP would find that it is very challenging to play minecraft with a blindfold on. Are you saying it wouldn't be?

None of your suggestions make the game challenging, they only add tedium to resource gathering. People who a) want more challenging gameplay and b) can't make their own rules of play that add challenge are quite frankly playing the wrong game.

There isn't any challenge in minecraft to remove in the first place except for challenges you add with your own willpower and imagination. Complaining about lack of challenge in minecraft is like complaining about lack of water when you're in the middle of the desert. The wise people bring it with them because they know they're not finding any in the sandbox.
 

zorn

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Jul 29, 2019
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I think the OP would find that it is very challenging to play minecraft with a blindfold on. Are you saying it wouldn't be?

None of your suggestions make the game challenging, they only add tedium to resource gathering. People who a) want more challenging gameplay and b) can't make their own rules of play that add challenge are quite frankly playing the wrong game.

There isn't any challenge in minecraft to remove in the first place except for challenges you add with your own willpower and imagination. Complaining about lack of challenge in minecraft is like complaining about lack of water when you're in the middle of the desert. The wise people bring it with them because they know they're not finding any in the sandbox.

How elitist of you. Everything you said is opinion. Challenging means different things to different people. But wait let me guess the way YOU play is the REAL challenge right? Give me a break what a bunch of posers on this forum. Elitist snobs.

The point of a Sandbox is that each player can do what they want. If that means the OP likes to play differently than you... So what? Telling him wise players play the SANDBOX game YOUR way is ridiculous snobbery.
 

Hoff

Tech Support
Oct 30, 2012
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How elitist of you. Everything you said is opinion. Challenging means different things to different people. But wait let me guess the way YOU play is the REAL challenge right? Give me a break what a bunch of posers on this forum. Elitist snobs.
Cool your jets.

Any suggestions to the OP are pointless anyway. It is true that minecraft is one of the only games that has the potential to meet the tastes of virtually anyone, but this gives all the more credit to the last thing twisto said:
Complaining about lack of challenge in minecraft is like complaining about lack of water when you're in the middle of the desert. The wise people bring it with them because they know they're not finding any in the sandbox.

If you want minecraft to become something to you then you must add it yourself. Minecraft is a nearly blank canvas that you're able to paint. If you want to paint it a certain way you can't use every type of paint because not all of them fit the way you want.

If you want more of a challenge use completely different mods. Don't use anything you've used before because the things you've used before are no longer a challenge. More often than not people find challenge in learning new things rather than refining the technicalities of old things. That is not to say the latter is invalid but far fewer people enjoy it than those that claim to.

Yes that's an opinion. No I don't care if you don't agree. This is a forum; if you wish to show reason that I should change that view, offer a convincing argument. Don't stoop to name calling and childishness. Especially since your avatar makes you out to be someone of decent age and potentially a father.
 

Eyamaz

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Jul 29, 2019
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How elitist of you. Everything you said is opinion. Challenging means different things to different people. But wait let me guess the way YOU play is the REAL challenge right? Give me a break what a bunch of posers on this forum. Elitist snobs.

When you ask anyone a question like in the OP, it is just a matter of opinion. Every player will offer something different as to what they find challenging or what they enjoy. Some prefer trying for the ultimate efficiency power system, creative building, harder survival, etc. etc.

If you have nothing constructive to say, please refrain from saying anything.
 

Vauthil

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Jul 29, 2019
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How elitist of you. Everything you said is opinion. Challenging means different things to different people. But wait let me guess the way YOU play is the REAL challenge right? Give me a break what a bunch of posers on this forum. Elitist snobs.

I have an exciting and challenging new game for you, then! Everybody else in the forum is welcome to join in, too. It's called "rebut the other guy's assertion without descending into ad hominem flaming". Challenging and exciting, isn't it?

It's also not optional. Next one gets a warning point. Collect five points of those and you get a temporary vacation. Collect ten and you get a permanent vacation. More details on the terms and conditions of this exciting new game can be found here.

Back on topic, folks.
 

GPuzzle

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Jul 29, 2019
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Want a tip?
Slow down the progress by braching into other stuff or having a giant-ass project that probably will take forever (or close to).
No, seriously. I try to get AE and a Quarry as fast as I can in my world, but when I feel like I need to do something different...
I do.
SC2 and Railcraft? I've automated everything I can with it.
Computercraft? I've completed the ROBOTS! ROBOTS! challenge from Saice's thread.
Forestry? I've built several domes with fake biomes just to have a place to put my trees and bees.
Cave complex? I live in one.
Going Dwarven, Elven and Human? I've done it, more than once.

Actually, here, have this threads:
http://forum.feed-the-beast.com/threads/this-old-9x9-challange-and-share.25358/
http://forum.feed-the-beast.com/threads/need-or-have-ideas-check-here.28895/
 

zorn

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Jul 29, 2019
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http://www.reddit.com/r/feedthebeast/comments/1nxozh/with_the_discussions_of_x_mod_is_or_isnt/


It most definitely is related to it. But not exclusive.
The problem is everyone wants to do what's best. Both the consumer (player) and the designer (Modder). So you end up with a couple of situations that are bad.
One: Multiple people meeting the same problem. Tubes, Pipes, ME-cable, Enderchests, Tesseracts, Railcraft and more all essentially are, at some place in their heart, item transport mods.
Two: Someone does something innovative, making their mod absolutely essential. Wand of Exchange. Doubling Ore (we'll come back to that). Barrels. Frames. They all make their respective mods completely irreplacable for many people, at least until...
Three: Someone else copies the idea, or reaches the same end place with a different lineup. Tripling ores. Deep Storage. MFFS.
And so then we end up trying to decide which one is better.

But here's the kicker. As long as they're similar, it's not an issue. IndustrialCraft introduced the doubling ore principal, and balanced itself around that. In the process a few other 'related' mods played into that and balanced around the assumption that if you have one, you likely have both.
Then other mods incorporated their own versions of that. Macerators for pulverisers, Smelteries, Crystallisers or even Native clusters. All of them doing the same thing, in different ways.
But then something gets updated, and whether it's because a mod author is sad at people moving away from their mod, or wanting to help users, or any other reason, they increase the returns from their own mod. And hence the power creep struggle begins.

Direwolf20 loves using these mods that just make so many other mods completely irrelevant, and is a prime example of a decent sized demographic in the FTB community. "I want it as quickly and easily as possible".
I would love to see a DW20 series where he doesn't use Enderchests, AE, Portalgun or MPS. (And now Ars Magicka).
If you watch his series, you would have seen CPW's train station set up. With an array of signalling, tracks, locomotives, and more, he has a cross world transport, item transfer, liquid transfer and infrastructure that took time and resources to set up. Yes, it's more expensive than Enderchests and Portalgun, but doesn't that say how poorly balanced those mods are in these packs?
Dartcraft is another culprit currently decrying the "It's a beta" status, but that's only going to sting them later when they remove the proverbial candy and the userbase goes mental.

It's about balance, and whilst it's easier sometimes to just throw something in (Portalgun, for instance) there are other much more fitting mods that do the job. Sure, they might take more setting up, but that's the DAMNED POINT. If you wanted the quickest, easiest route to being supreme master of the cube world, then hit creative.


Ok, an argument with no name calling. This quote above was a post on reddit about power creep with these mods. This comment/quote is basically what is going on here. People want it quickly, so their base can be 'epic', but no one wants to admit they want it easy, so they shout down anyone who claims to like competition and to slow things down, or gregtech or whatever. No, people like twisto want to use mass fabs and then make super easy Ultimates, then brag about how uber his build is.

Twisto51 has a post in the community showcase. He claims to be uber creative, but his showcase post is just showcasing everything he claims to be against.

http://forum.feed-the-beast.com/thr...r-panel-factory-unleashed-survival-smp.31893/

There is no creativity here. No making noteblocks play a song, or whatever else people use as evidence of being creative and not wanting competition. no crazy building, no refined designs. Its a square box with a slanted roof. Which isnt bad... unless you are arguing that people should be designers and super creative when you really churn out ultimate solar panels and showcase it on forums.

So the point is that this is why people dont like gregtech: you can't fill the roof of your building with ultimate solar panels and have people replying that your build is 'epic'... because it's hard to do that with gregtech. People like 'epic', and people want others to marvel at their builds. By allowing all the OP mods, people can churn out ultimate solar panels and brag at how uber their build is... but hey, we aren't competiting to see who can generate more power right? Except that is exactly what his post looks like? Where is the creativity? is this what you call creativity? Putting all the necessary things to make solar panels in a box and calling it a factory? With applied energistics? This isn't creative, this is doing exactly what the mods intend, there is nothing unique or original here.

So there is the argument. Lots of people only pretend to be creative and do funny stuff, but they really want to showcase how they had 50 boilers, or whatever. Even the mod that posted here, i read a post where he talked about having a frame quarry that he shut off after 50,000 blocks because "that was enough". Like he was affectionately patting an old dog that had had its day. Its bragging. And most importantly, we all do it somewhat. The difference is that some people are honest about it, others want to pretend to be Leonardo Davinci and be creative geniuses, but still brag about their 300 ultimate panels, or the frame quarry they ran 50K blocks. It's not wrong to brag about your frame quarry, but its wrong that the community here tries to pretend they dont brag about things like that.

I might be guilty of name calling, but im way more honest with myself and others than many people here are. And most importantly... its absolutely fine if someone wants to make a solar panel factory and post about his 300 panels. Puff out your chest, have fun, hopefully get some admiration and feel good about yourself. Congrats! but be honest about it. And don't bash others for doing *exactly what you are doing* and pretend to be some uber creative guru. making a shit ton of solar panels is like step 1 when finding out what AE does. now go do it with hv panels, or with gregtech. But you see... no one wants to do all that work, as the comment above said, they want it easy, but they still want to be 'epic'.

The reality is that when the OP posts that FTB is too easy.. it's is saying to people like twisto that they didn't really deserve that adulation and praise. Neither is right or wrong, but that is the message these posts send, and THAT is why so many people get upset over posts like this.
 

GPuzzle

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Jul 29, 2019
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Wait a minute there, zorn. Ever heard of the necessity of compliments?
People want to feel rewarded. Sure, it doesn't have a lot of "creativity" but it was a fun side-project for him. That's what matters. He felt like he was doing something awesome that required his knowledge in mods in many different areas. That's what matters. One of the projects I've been working on is Skynet. It feels fun, it feels creative. It doesn't need to be a schizophrenic mad building with functionality bigger than a Swiss Army Knife and prettier then a Monet painting. It just needs to be something most people like.
And most people don't like living like moles. Grinding is not good.
 

Hoff

Tech Support
Oct 30, 2012
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So I'm not going into any kind of detail because I don't want to bash my head in tonight but:

Whoever made that post has an extremely poor understanding of what power creep is. Mods do not all exist at the same time. Ideas are not unique. The numbers balance of one mod does not apply to another.


If you wish to call that bragging; have at it. It's an innate human trait. I highly doubt twisto thought anything of this thread before your recent posts toward him. When you make an attack on the achievements of someone(And don't kid yourself saying it wasn't), you've forced them into a defensive position. Not to mention what you feel as a menial task or something that's not unique is totally up to you. Keep it to yourself too.

In the end most people get mad over posts like the OP because the OP was made for the same reason the solar panel factory thread was made. The only difference is it has more of the vibe of "Hey look at my giant penis right in your face because I think everything you do is trivial" rather than that of something like twistos which is more "Hey I took the time to make this; cool ain't it?"
 

Eyamaz

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Jul 29, 2019
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Zorn, I think you should play my BNB pack. Many of the mods that the redit post pertains to have config options to change the things that make them OP and I take advantage of that. Stock, out of the box, mods? Yeah, some of them I agree are OP, but they at least allow us the freedom to change the "difficultly."

Well, at least SOME of them do.
 
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Hoff

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There is a need for objective. Like killing dragon. Or feeding the beast.
The difference comes in with those that are able to assign their own goals and those that want goals assigned for them. The former are those who wish to use their recreational time in whatever way pleases them while the later wishes to rely less upon their own creative thinking and instead rely upon their problem solving capabilities. Both are valid ways to both play games and relax but at the same time conflict with each other at every level. Because of this finding an area suitable for both to enjoy themselves becomes increasingly difficult to the point of near impossibility.