Future of Mods With 1.5

[danidas]

EE2 has been removed from tekkit for awhile, it is just in tekkit classic still as it is a legacy pack for the few servers still hanging on to the old rusty bukkit.

Personally I love all the changes they made to minecraft over the years even the ones that make little sense as content is content and not everyone plays with mods.

Now since this is about the future of minecraft lets shed some light on what Greg mentioned a little bit ago about the modding API.

http://www.polygon.com/2013/3/18/41...pes-to-make-an-increasingly-complex-game-more

A lot of amazing things are in the pipe line for minecraft especially with the new service called Realms that will be a Mojang ran private/SMP server system. In addition the modding api will be integrated into the system so that any mod made with it will work with the realms seamlessly. Another big item is that mod authors will no longer need to update their mods for anything other then adding/changing content so no more waiting on mod updates when a new minecraft version is out. Which is something CPW is already helping out with, via the forge mod loader's new features that reduces the need to update mods from minor update to minor update.

However the main downside of Realms is that it is not free and costs 10 to 15 dollars a month but that is only if you host a server via it. However the big ticket item is it appears Mojang is going to rewrite their TOS for mods to better define things and possibly open the door to allow modders to profit from their mods. Which is both a good thing and a very horrible one at the same time, for example if Greg here decided to charge for Gregtech how many people will be willing to buy it or Covert decided to sell railcraft. It could have a massive effect on the modding community and the mod pack environment.

 

[Dravarden]

how do you know all that it costs 10-15 bucks, and will be implemented with the api? mojang hasnt said anything official yet.

Iron golem farm not hard? Dude you need such a massive amount of blocks, room, and hope that your server admin allows it. Maybe because I saw DocM's farm it makes me wow at it but still it is what..20x20 for the base then add in four pods for villagers, doors, water, glass, lava, signs, one piston, redstone, ect. Far from easy.

You are right that not everyone plays with mods but mods do add in a lot of lifeblood to a game. Example is Terraria. Red said no mods or really anything. After a nice update he says he is stopping development and leaves. Now Terraria is an awesome game but it has little life in it due to it being closed source and no mods made for it. The conent is all there is and some of it still needs fixing.

as you said, people stopped playing after they stopped updating

oh, and making an iron farm is just like building a house + a mob spawner... the hard part is to build an enderman one.

 

[ILoveGregTech]

EE2 has been removed from tekkit for awhile, it is just in tekkit classic still as it is a legacy pack for the few servers still hanging on to the old rusty bukkit.

Personally I love all the changes they made to minecraft over the years even the ones that make little sense as content is content and not everyone plays with mods.

Now since this is about the future of minecraft lets shed some light on what Greg mentioned a little bit ago about the modding API.

http://www.polygon.com/2013/3/18/41...pes-to-make-an-increasingly-complex-game-more

A lot of amazing things are in the pipe line for minecraft especially with the new service called Realms that will be a Mojang ran private/SMP server system. In addition the modding api will be integrated into the system so that any mod made with it will work with the realms seamlessly. Another big item is that mod authors will no longer need to update their mods for anything other then adding/changing content so no more waiting on mod updates when a new minecraft version is out. Which is something CPW is already helping out with, via the forge mod loader's new features that reduces the need to update mods from minor update to minor update.

However the main downside of Realms is that it is not free and costs 10 to 15 dollars a month but that is only if you host a server via it. However the big ticket item is it appears Mojang is going to rewrite their TOS for mods to better define things and possibly open the door to allow modders to profit from their mods. Which is both a good thing and a very horrible one at the same time, for example if Greg here decided to charge for Gregtech how many people will be willing to buy it or Covert decided to sell railcraft. It could have a massive effect on the modding community and the mod pack environment.

I hope not cause I sure as heck ain't payin' for no mods. I mean I'm fine with going to an adfly page to support the artist but I ain't paying money for it. I already bought an account what else do you people want from me. And I'm sure other people feel the same way. If mods start to cost money I feel FTB will go to flames IMO

 

[slay_mithos]

Ouah, this article makes me fear a lot for mods...

Particularily thins one: "This would eventually allow Mojang to standardize how mods work with the game and, hopefully, cut down on player-created changes that can cause the game to act up or break."

If you take it on the good side, it would mean great compatibility, mods working great together, and no mod doing core changes that prevent other from working (EE2 preventing other mods to allow flight, anyone?).

But if you take it from the bad side...
Basically, that would mean no more Forge, no more TerrafirmaCraft, no more shader mods.
That would also mean that they would greatly restrain the ability to make updates, as it would be harder to control the quality and bugs.
Sounds far too much like the XBox system for indie games, that cost them money to roll out an update.

I really want to think that the point was the "everything working together", but I can't help but fear for the worst when people put things in place to bride the creativity to a set of standards. That, and making a paying service for a game you already bought.
For 10-15 dollars per month, it better be a damn good service, because it's the cost of an MMO subscription, and I fear that Minecraft doesn't offer nearly enough to justify such cost. Hell, it's paying every month what I paid for the whole game...
But as long as it's only an option, and that we can keep using the normal client instead (and still have the normal updates), that might not be a problem.


If they do it right, it could be a really amazing service, as well as concurrence for server providers, so for once, I will try to believe in them (more than with the API...), and wait to see what this is really made off.
This is entirely based on my own thinking, feel free to disregard any or all of this content.

 

[danidas]

The 10 to 15 dollars is only if you want to host a server via it and in fact is in line with most small 10 to 20 player vanilla servers and 5 to 10 player modded servers out their. So not really that bad as it will be free to connect to those servers and use the system as long as you do not want to host a server via it.

 

[Dravarden]

well, the modding comunity are a bunch of... well, annoying people? so they might as well start asking for money.

not like nobody will touch their mod again or anything, I mean, look at whatsapp, 0,89 cents a year in spain, people hate it and changed it for line...

 

[danidas]

I am hoping the profit for modders will only be if you want to add their mod to your realms server where Mojang gets a cut of the money and whats left goes to the mod author. In much the same way as modded servers tend to be twice the cost per slot as unmodded ones due to the extra strain caused by running a mod pack on the server. If the whole modders profiting from their mods is left to only getting a cut of the mark up linked with adding the mod to a realm then I am mostly fine with it. But opening the door to pay walls or even having to pay for mod packs that is way across the line for me.

I guess we will not know more until the whole thing is out in 10 years judging from Mojangs track record

 

[Guswut]

well, the modding comunity are a bunch of... well, annoying people? so they might as well start asking for money.

They cannot directly/openly ask for money. That is why adfly/ads/etc are used so often, and why that needs to be entirely done away with as such. It's also why modders are more likely to add interesting content, as opposed to sterilized generalistic content that Mojang has to offer.

 

[brujon]

I just wish Mojang would actually stop trying to add in new features for a couple of months, and start actually fixing the game properly. World generation hasn't been touched in a VERY long time, and there's a LOT of room for improvement in that area. Also, most FPS problems. Many people can't even PLAY the game if Optifine is not installed, because their FPS is too bad. That doesn't sound much like a finished product for me. They've sold millions of copies already, and there are still bugs that go back to Beta. Not just bugs, but actual problems with the game's engine as well. There's no native support for HD textures in the game, and Mojang hasn't even released alternate official texture packs for their game yet. Terrain generation is still very problematic. Ravines cutting into the middle of Villages? And have you found even one Nether Fortress that wasn't at least partially covered in Netherrack/Lava?

Also, i was reading through minecraftforum and i saw a thread that gathered my attention. What about Oceans? Big stretches of nothingness. Sometimes, you get oceans that stretch up to 100 THOUSAND blocks. And what's there to find in Oceans? Squids. Only Squids. Really, that's it. There are no Ocean generated structures, there are no Ocean mobs other than Squids, in fact, there is no reason whatsoever for the EXISTENCE of Oceans as it stands on Vanilla minecraft. The same can be said for a lot of biomes.

What are the most unique biomes? Jungle(Different Trees, textures, Cocoa, Ocelots, Jungle temples) ; Swamp (Witch Huts, Mushrooms, different color palette, Different Oaks) ; Deserts (Different Villages, Desert Temples, Cacti) and that's it. What's unique about Snow biomes? Oh, there's snow in them. Gotcha. Nothing else. Plains? More cows and sheep, and that's about it.

I'd really like to see more updates featuring the breathing of life into the world of Minecraft. As it is, there's no atmosphere (Seriously, play the game with MATMOS. Everything changes.), there are too few mobs (passive, agressive & neutral), and too much terrain that's just completely taken by nothingness. I'd also like to see updates that improve the generation of structures like villages, abandoned mineshafts, dungeons, and strongholds, and the adding of more generated structures to the game. As it stands right now, most of the structures are formed and cut by terrain. Too many times you get ravines that cut right through the middle of Strongholds & Abandoned Mineshafts that make them almost comical... I really feel very happy when i find a Village that's not overtaken by terrain! It looks so pretty.

Once terrain generation is fixed so as to not be so taxing on your computer, it would probably also be nice to see an increase of the average terrain height. 74 average doesn't permit really deep oceans, makes "really tall" mountains be just 30 blocks or so high, etc... TerrafirmaCraft actually did this, as you can see your average world terrain height is almost doubled, so that the average is about 128 or so. A lot of new ores can be added to these new heights, new types of stone... Really, the possibilities = endless.

One of the thingsi really like about modded minecraft is that aspect. ExtraBiomesXL does a nice job of adding a bit of life into Minecraft, as does RP Volcanoes, and the Thaumcraft Dungeons & Mystraft Libraries (In Mystcraft Ages). You know which mod i think is a good example of a world that's basically never really boring? Twilight Forest. A lot of critters buzzing around, squirrels, little birds, a lot of enemies, a nice amount of generated structures, unique "snow" mobs (Penguins!). Why can't the vanilla world be a bit more like this, i wonder?

Big rant.

TL;DR version:

- Mojang should fix their game code to allow for faster/more efficient terrain generation.
- Expanding on the point above, Mojang should optimize their code so that it doesn't tax resources as much.
- Mojang should bugfix more, and add less features, at least until the game's more polished.
- Mojang should fix generated structures so the terrain/other structures don't intersect with them all the time like it does now.
- Mojang should add more mobs (passive/neutral/hostile) to biomes that currently don't have them.
- Same as above for generated structures.

The first 3 points are more important, and i think everything should be put on hold until those 3 main points are addressed.

 

[PhilHibbs]

Just vanilla? Are you serious? Have you seen how difficult it is to try and create a witch farm in vanilla? It'd on the same level of stupidity as making an iron golem farm...

WHAT? Mobs are useless unless you can easily farm them? That's just bizarre.

Back to FTB, I guess Direwolf20 pack will update to 1.5 if and when direwolf20 himself wants to. Likewise Mindcrack.

Hoppers in vanilla are useless because MineCraft has had hoppers for a while now via mods.

No, hoppers have auto-input and directional output, so if they are useless its because of Transposers and Filters. And Pulverizers are useless because of Macerators. Etcetera.

 

[Iskandar]

WHAT? Mobs are useless unless you can easily farm them? That's just bizarre.

Back to FTB, I guess Direwolf20 pack will update to 1.5 if and when direwolf20 himself wants to. Likewise Mindcrack.

Not quite. At this point, both packs have to wait for all the mods to update before they can move to 1.5. I fully expect Direwolf20's Let's play to end its current season when that happens. It would be nice, but somehow I don't expect it, to see Direwolf20 do something at least somewhat new in 1.5. The collection of mods he is using really haven't changed all that much since he started, Redpower, IC2, Buildcraft, Forestry, and Railcraft make up the bulk of what he does, with Thaumcraft and TE really being the newest additions.I still enjoy his LP, but it is starting to get a bit stale. I would be ecstatic to see his take on Universal Electricity, for instance, watch him tinker with Modular Powersuits instead of just heading straight for Quantum armor, setup automation with Applied Energistics instead of Redpower.

Speaking of Redpower, and I hate to say this, but if it wasn't so wedded so closely to all the mod packs, I'd say it is time to just drop it. Other mods already do about 90% of everything Redpower does, and Applied Energistics looks to be taking Redpower's place as THE sorting system of choice. Redpower has been in a sort of perpetual beta state for close to two years, with Eloraam only making spastic updates only when an update to Minecraft forces her to do so. I think the only reason that mod hasn't been kicked out of FTB entirely is because it would break everyone's saved games.

 

[PhilHibbs]

Speaking of Redpower, and I hate to say this, but if it wasn't so wedded so closely to all the mod packs, I'd say it is time to just drop it.

That is precisely why Mojang will continue to add new stuff like hoppers even though it overlaps with mods. Because mods can come and go, leaving their customers high and dry. Not that I think that Redpower is going or gone. I expect Realms will be vanilla only, so there's another reason that Mojang should continue despite - but occasinally inspired by - mods.

And I don't like the basic premise of AE, effectively destroying everything and recreating it isn't a sorting system. I don't want a mod that does everything for me.

 

[ILoveGregTech]

Not quite. At this point, both packs have to wait for all the mods to update before they can move to 1.5. I fully expect Direwolf20's Let's play to end its current season when that happens. It would be nice, but somehow I don't expect it, to see Direwolf20 do something at least somewhat new in 1.5. The collection of mods he is using really haven't changed all that much since he started, Redpower, IC2, Buildcraft, Forestry, and Railcraft make up the bulk of what he does, with Thaumcraft and TE really being the newest additions.I still enjoy his LP, but it is starting to get a bit stale. I would be ecstatic to see his take on Universal Electricity, for instance, watch him tinker with Modular Powersuits instead of just heading straight for Quantum armor, setup automation with Applied Energistics instead of Redpower.

Speaking of Redpower, and I hate to say this, but if it wasn't so wedded so closely to all the mod packs, I'd say it is time to just drop it. Other mods already do about 90% of everything Redpower does, and Applied Energistics looks to be taking Redpower's place as THE sorting system of choice. Redpower has been in a sort of perpetual beta state for close to two years, with Eloraam only making spastic updates only when an update to Minecraft forces her to do so. I think the only reason that mod hasn't been kicked out of FTB entirely is because it would break everyone's saved games.

Phew I wasn't the only one who thought that... I hope he plays with gregtech honestly... Or UE but yea the only good things about RP are project table sickle and gems for GT

 

[benben500]

well, the modding comunity are a bunch of... well, annoying people?

You belong here.
http://forums.technicpack.net

 

[bwillb]

You belong here.
http://forums.technicpack.net

Yeah Dravarden GTFO opinions aren't allowed here unless they are "modders are gods!"

 

[Lambert2191]

the only good things about RP are project table sickle and gems for GT

Frames
Microblocks
Sorter
FORTH
Tubes
A HUGELY Improved redstone system in Red Alloy Wire
Logic Gates

Project table, sickle and gems are the only good parts? You're a fool.

 

[Whovian]

Project table, sickle and gems are the only good parts? You're a fool.

You forgot realistic electricity.

 

[PhilHibbs]

Frames
Microblocks
Sorter
FORTH
Tubes
A HUGELY Improved redstone system in Red Alloy Wire
Logic Gates

And marble, and volcanoes. I'm not sure why just adding a second kind of stone makes such a difference, but I feel like the Minecraft world is much richer for it.

 

[Whovian]

And marble, and volcanoes. I'm not sure why just adding a second kind of stone makes such a difference, but I feel like the Minecraft world is much richer for it.

And there's Redrock for a third kind of stone, though that's technically EBXL, not RP2.

 

[PhilHibbs]

And there's Redrock for a third kind of stone, though that's technically EBXL, not RP2.

Aesthetically, in terms of its effect in the world, that's more like a third kind of dirt, as it's a surface layer like Cracked Sand. I'm referring to the look of the underground in caves and ravines and mines.