FTB SSP Retro Pyramid Newb

[Physicist]

Important: Please don't post spoilers, I'm still figuring this out. The purpose of this thread is to ask the community if there is knowledge I should already have before starting this map.

I did play a lot of Skyblock, so I've got the right frame of mind on that front.

For a relative newcomer, it's not easy. I started Minecraft in 1.4.7 and I started FTB with the DW20 1.5 pack, so there are some differences I'm getting adjusted to. I have never played with Redpower. I haven't played with EE3 much at all, other than building a stone, deciding it was (probably) cheating in normal survival, and dropping it. I DO really like the use EE2 is put to in this map.

What else should I count on being different?

I read the rules in the initial room, and I'm having a little trouble being sure, but:

• The "monument" is defined as the Basalt Pyramid in it's entirety, including decorations, and no blocks of it should ever be broken. Right?
• I should never again approach the starting area after leaving it, except for if I have died. Right? (Or, should I live there but not build there?)
• Otherwise, build/live/play/mobfarm anywhere else. Right?

Also, I had no idea what EMC meant when I started, but I'm gathering it's really important; am I supposed to figure it out on my own, or is there some spoiler-free reading I should do?

So far I'm up to a 20x10 grass pad and a cobble generator, waiting on trees to grow. I accidentally discovered I could transmute planted saplings by transmuting my jungle sapling into a spruce. I presume there is a way to get a jungle sapling back, but if not, I feel like I need to restart, so can I get it back? (Honestly, this is about restart number 51, with the first 50 involving learning about the philosopher's stone, so one more can't hurt.)

 

[Physicist]

Oh, one other thought: I'm guessing there is a short list of unrecoverable mistakes like turning your lava to obsidian in Skyblock, or losing your bucket too early. What mistakes could I make in this map without knowing I had broken my game until I invested more time?

 

[Physicist]

And the Nether portal, is breaking it off limits? What about the Basalt around it?

 

[Hoff]

The sapling cannot be gained in any "easy" way.

Lava to obsidian is also a possible loss. If you don't know of the transmutation tablet yet; look into it. It is the key for the entire map.

E: And as for the three questions: Yes; Yes(Though it's not important later on as there's nothing overly powerful there after a certain point); Yes.

 

[Physicist]

The tip about the tablet is important... I almost think that recipe should be in the map's description. Thanks!

So I got two challenges turned in: Iron Chest and Companion Cube. I was on my way to setting up IC2 infrastructure, I had cows and pigs spawn on big grass pads, and had Ender Pearls.

Then a creeper blew up my tablet, and I didn't have any obsidian to make another.

 

[Yusunoha]

actually I'm playing FTB Insanity right now, just taking it really slow and just having fun. the rules say you can't touch the monument, that's true, but during the charity stream slow and stray changed the monument themselves even though it was a rule. so it's better to think of the rule as "you cannot break any important parts of the monument, or dig yourself a way to the inside of the monument) for the rest, it should be fine to do with the monument whatever you want, as long as you don't harvest the whole thing for free EMC (meaning not picking up all the torches, or all the gold microblocks to get EMC from it) or break any of the systems inside the monument. as for the starting area, the rule is kind of the same as the monument, you can do whatever you want with it, as long as you don't use it for free EMC or breaking any systems of it. as for the rest, you decide what you want to do with the map. you could speedrun the whole thing, you could try to do it as efficiently as possible, you could take it slow and relaxed and just have fun, whatever you want. right now I'm just having fun and I'm trying to make it all as complete as possible.

breaking the nether portal isn't against the rules, same for mining the basalt at the portal, but if you break the portal you won't be able to get back to the nether unless you rebuild it and relight it. but if you lose your jungle sapling, yes, you'll need to probably restart as with Insanity the jungle log is one of the requirements (don't know for other versions though) also, a smart idea is to learn anything you can get your hands on to your tablet, so any reward you get, first learn it to your tablet before doing anything else with it

as for things you should watch out for, don't pull a pahimar (turning your cobble/dirt below you into sand, which falls down and you along with it) and always make more then 1 tablet, because if you lose your only tablet without having any extra obsidian, you're out of luck and will have to restart.

 

[Physicist]

Yeah, now that I understand how EMC works, I think I've started to get a handle on what 'cheating' would be on this map, so I feel a little more comfortable doing what I want. I have to understand the 'why' of the rules before I can work at 110% efficiency within them (bending 10%!).

It seems like the game is finding the most time/effort-efficient way of producing EMC.

Insanity: How is it different?

I'm thinking Gregtech on this map would be *delightful*. (Right before trying this map I moved from DW20/Unleashed to Unhinged, and it's awesome. I love that I just HAVE to stay in early-game longer. It makes the early-game machines/gear actually worth having.)

 

[Hoff]

There are tons of old methods for EMC, many requiring redpower machines(It'll give you a good chance to learn them[Redpower is also 90000000% less laggy in 1.2.5]), and learning them yourself is quite a fun way to play. As a hint; flowers and cows are your friends.

Insanity has more goals the most arduous being the bee task.

 

[Ember Quill]

FYI, if you lose something irreplaceable, like a transmutation tablet or your bucket of lava, it can be replaced. If you jump off the edge or otherwise die and respawn back up in the starting area, there's a room off to the side where you can receive replacements of all of the starting materials that were in the chest. It takes forever though (you have to stand on a pressure plate for five minutes straight), and isn't really worth doing just to get extra materials. It's only really useful if you lose something you absolutely can't replace normally. So if you're at a point in the map when adding five minutes to your time would be preferable to starting over entirely, you can do that.

On the Insanity map, all of the goals are more difficult to meet, most of them requiring nine items instead of one. You also need to generate a million EU for one of the goals.

 

[Physicist]

So I restarted and picked Insanity. Wow, it's insane.

I'm finding 1.3 to have some changes from the 1.5 that I'm so used to. I tried reading through patch notes on the MC wiki, but the going there is rough with also having to sift through miscellaneous behind-the-scenes changes. I was interested to find that pigs eat wheat. I saw brewing stands in the start, so I presume blazes could spawn if I built nether platforms in just the right places. I'm guessing no to wither skeletons. No carrots.

Anyone know any particularly noteworthy things that changed between 1.3 and 1.5?

And now a ghast trapped me in the nether...

 

[GPuzzle]

I LOVE this map because it's the fun type of grinding.
Anyway: when you get redstone, aim for the following 3 EMC generators:
Dark room (automated with transposers)
Mob farm using transposers
Killing pigmen in the nether
Farming those will help you a lot.
Also, GT wouldn't WORK on this map - it's the boring type of grinding.

 

[Hoff]

Actually GT on this map would introduce a very easily automated EMC farm. Though you'd need a condenser and a huge number of centrifuges.

 

[lavarthan]

So I restarted and picked Insanity. Wow, it's insane.

It can be that is why they called it that. ;p Take your time the map is not meant to be done in a sitting. This one is not meant for a speed run.

I'm finding 1.3 to have some changes from the 1.5 that I'm so used to. I tried reading through patch notes on the MC wiki, but the going there is rough with also having to sift through miscellaneous behind-the-scenes changes. I was interested to find that pigs eat wheat. I saw brewing stands in the start, so I presume blazes could spawn if I built nether platforms in just the right places. I'm guessing no to wither skeletons. No carrots.

1.3? The pack is 1.2.5 and no you will not spawn any blazes that way. Nor will you be able to get wither skeletons in this version.

Anyone know any particularly noteworthy things that changed between 1.3 and 1.5?

I cannot think of any more at the moment.

And now a ghast trapped me in the nether...

That can happen if you wait too long in the nether they will spawn. Your best bet is to die and respawn in the overworld, unless you have flint and steel or the ingredients to make one. I hope your portal does not spawn you in a different place now once you reactivate it. Make a chest to store your items for when you get back so you do not loose them if possible. Use the alchemical chest that is provided next to the portal if you have to and provided its still there. Just be careful upon re-entering as the ghast will still be there.

 

[Physicist]

Yeah, I used that chest to drop all my stuff in and suicided. It made a new portal right near the first when I came back through. And yeah, I meant 1.2.5.

I'm excited to see how much EMC a ghast tear is.

GPuzzle, that's exactly what I was doing when I got trapped: Farming pigmen. Trying to decide if I can get it faster another way; I think I'll need to time both ways.

 

[Yusunoha]

if you're playing insanity now this might help you, I wrote down all the needed items for each achievement

Spoiler

A Redstone Paradise (Pink)
* Clock
* Block Breaker
* Energy Crystal
* Deployer
* Piston
* Dispenser
* Transposer
* Timer
* Quarry

Advanced Machines (Grey)
* MFSU
* Terraformer
* Rotary Macerator
* Induction Furnace
* Recycler
* Singularity Compressor
* Mass Fabricator
* Geothermal Generator
* Centrifuge Extractor

Blood and Water (Refractory Capsules) (Light Blue)
* Lava Capsule x64
* Biofuel Capsule x64
* Seed Oil Capsule x64
* Water Capsule x64
* Oil Capsule x64
* Honey Capsule x64
* Biomass Capsule x64
* Fuel Capsule x64
* Juice Capsule x64

Blood, Sweat and Tears (Purple)
* Splash Potion of Slowness (3:00)
* Splash Potion of Strength (1:07)
* Splash Potion of Weakness (1:07)
* Splash Potion of Poison (0:16)
* Splash Potion of Fire Resistance (2:15)
* Splash Potion of Swiftness
* Splash Potion of Regeneration
* Splash Potion of Harming II
* Splash Potion of Healing II

Burn Rubber (Cyan)
* EU Detector Cable
* Miner
* MFE
* Macerator
* HV Transformer
* Electric Furnace
* Compressor
* Tesla Coil
* Crop-matron

Fires of Hell (Yellow)
* Abyss Helmet
* Infernal Armor
* Gravity Greaves
* Hurricane Boots
* Red Katar
* Red Morning Star
* Pedestal
* Alchermical Tome
* Red Matter Furnace

Gated Logic (Lime)
* Request Logistics Pipe x64
* Gold AND Gate x64
* Quick Sort Module x64
* Diamond AND Gate x64
* Apiarist's Pipe x64
* Diamond OR Gate x64
* Liquid Supplier Logistics Pipe x64
* Gold OR Gate x64
* Chassis Pipe Mk5 x64

Items of Power (Light Grey)
* Body Stone
* Soul Stone
* Volcanite Amulet
* Life Stone
* Catalytic Lens
* Watch of Flowing Time
* Mind Stone
* Evertide Amulet
* Mercurial Eye

Power Ranger (Uncharged) (Orange)
* Nano Helmet
* Near Depleted Uranium Cell
* Quantum Body Armor
* Nano Body Armor
* Nano Boots
* Quantum Leggings
* Nano Leggins
* Quantum Helmet
* Quantum Boots

Shit Ton of Energy (White)
* 100 Million EU

Small but Mighty (Red)
* Central Processing Unit
* Backplane x8
* Frame Motor
* Disk Drive
* 8k RAM Module x8
* Redpower Pump
* Monitor
* IO Expander x8
* Accelerator

Solar Power (Black)
* LV Solar Array
* MV Solar Array
* Light Sensor
* Redpower Solar Panel
* HV Solary Array
* Apiary
* IC2 Solar Panel
* Solar Helmet
* Collector Mk3

The Bronze Age (Brown)
* Carpenter
* Forester
* Mushroom Picker
* Biogas Engine
* Rainmaker
* Electrical Engine
* Pumpkin Farm
* Bio-power Generator
* Still

The Rings (Blue)
* Black Hole Band
* Swiftwolf's Rending Gale
* Ring of Arcana
* Harvest Goddess Band
* Void Ring
* Iron Band
* Ring of Ignition
* Zero Ring
* Archangel's Smite

Things that make you go BOOM! (Green)
* Nova Catalyst
* TNT
* Combustion Engine
* Reactor Chamber
* Hyperkinetic Lens
* Nuke
* Nuclear Reactor
* Nova Cataclysm
* Defective Turret

Where their story begins... (Magenta)
* Screwdriver
* Transmutation Tablet
* Auto-crafting Table
* Iron Chest
* Stone Bowl
* Project Table
* Scoop
* Torch x4
* Jungle Wood Block

Bonus:
Bees
* Industrious Princess
* Demonic Princess
* Austere Princess
* Exotic Princess
* Edenic Princess
* Imperial Princess
* Rural Princess
* Frugal Princess
* Omega Princess

Ender Dragon:
* Dragon's Egg

since I'm just playing for fun now I used an EMC generator that really could be called the best one out there. I got it from watching straymav's stream, it's basically a dupe, but eh, anything goes and I'm just playing for the fun anyways. this EMC generator only takes a few things and can give me 1 red matter every 4-5 seconds, and you can do it as soon as you get redstone.

 

[Physicist]

Gah! Red matter every 4-5 seconds? Must be unintended. I'll not look it up. I still haven't figured out how to make Dark Matter. I'll get there. For now, I'm proud of myself to have a diamond block. Also, I'm still trying to figure out how to make glowstone. It's EMC numbers mystify me; I can't find any logical combination of items to transmute, but I don't want to cheat and look it up.

The list is really handy. I was concerned that Bees would be pretty silly, what with only having the 5 types listed in NEI. I'm glad to see they're just unlisted. That's probably the way it should be in current NEI.[DOUBLEPOST=1381317976][/DOUBLEPOST]I ran into a silly problem; I only got half of the items for an extra life, and now I have to wait another 5 minutes.

 

[Golrith]

Just a tip, you don't need to get exact numbers on the EMC. The Trans Table will hold excess EMC (I think). If it doesn't hold the EMC, then take the item you need, and then use up the remaining EMC on other items. You can always feed those items back into it later to get that EMC back.

Also, when you can, make a condensor. It's an upgraded form of the trans table, but it works like a chest, so you can automate feeding items into it. A "simple" automated way would be a mob drop farm, with an obsidian pipe to suck up the items into the condensor. You can use a normal chest before hand to get some EMC that way. I'll let you figure out how to build the farm

 

[Physicist]

Yeah, I just mean that with the strange numbers that are Glowstone's EMC, I don't yet know what it's transmute components would be. I suspect that I need to make the transmute on a block in the nether, but I don't yet know from what.

 

[Golrith]

Ah. Not sure, as it's been a while, but I believe glowstone is classed as a fuel. Fuel and non-Fuel items can't be cross transmuted in the tablet.

 

[GPuzzle]

IC2 has a way of creating glowstone with redstone and gold dust in a TNT pattern. Also, my favourite way of using EE2 and IC2 to exploit the game is a blaze rod through Macerator.
Men, that thing is just too powerful.