I wondered why my config pack thread was suddenly getting fresh likes and attention.
There are a few things I want to address that have been buried over time in this topic. I've spent some time playing the Ultimate pack with more or less default settings (except I crippled lava and solar Brutality-style to make easy power generation a challenge and buffed nuclear power to compensate) and this has given me some insight into how Mindcrack and Ultimate differ. Currently my opinion regarding Ultimate is this:
For single player, GregTech's default settings are obnoxious for most users and an "easy mode" rebalancing should be applied to taste. For
servers GregTech's default settings are tuned expertly. No, really. Let me explain.
The big difference that makes Hard Mode GregTech much less of a nightmare in Ultimate is the fact that you have two very powerful mod suites that make life much easier in general: Power Crystals' mod suite including Power Converters, and Applied Energistics. The difference these two mods make is nothing short of incredible and they really take the sting out of GregTech. The only thing you'll be hurting for is Iridium like always but even then end-game materials are still realistically achievable.
Power Crystals' mod suite as a whole includes MineFactory Reloaded, Nether Ores, Power Converters and Flat Bedrock, so let's review that for a sec. MFR is not a mod I've had direct experience with just yet but it is effectively a full replacement for Forestry that is also considerably more flexible and easier to maintain. This alone is very helpful. Nether Ores not only gives you a reason to mine in the Nether, it also makes the Nether viable to dump a quarry into, although handling the lava will still be a challenge. Flat Bedrock effectively boosts the output of a quarry by giving you more access to useful resources at the very greatest depths of the map. All of this is a notable power multiplier.
Then there's Power Converters. Oh how I love this thing. It's balanced around the often-hated 5:2 IC2:BC power ratio which gets hate because IC2 power scales a lot faster than BC power. There's an excellent example of this that works well for you in Ultimate: if you produce a Fuel Cell from oil and place it in a Diesel Generator from GregTech, you get 387 000 EU @ 12EU/t for your trouble. Place this same cell in a Combustion Engine and you get 600 000MJ @ 6MJ/t. This is all well and good... until you realise that 600 000MJ converts to 1 461 000 EU @ 14.61EU/t with an Energy Bridge. This also means that the
portable Redstone Energy Cell is worth roughly 2.5 MFEs as it happens to be able to store 600 000MJ. Why yes I'd love to have a portable superbattery that makes my MFE look like complete ass, thanks Power Converters! This is before you even touch a tesseract and this is also with crippled lava power.
Let me stress that:
oil is finally viable again! Having a unified power grid is a godsend and more importantly it makes IC2 attractive again to people who were beginning to feel it was obsolete as its enormous power generation dwarfs the output of other mods entirely, and all you need to tap that sweet, sweet electricity is an Energy Bridge. Being able to quickly convert
to EU power also makes GregTech easier as it uses access to on-demand power as a gating mechanism. Most importantly though, it means you can run stuff like your Quarry directly off a nuclear reactor or other electrical power generation with no significant effort required
and teleport this power around the multiverse with a tesseract.
Then there's Applied Energistics. The automation potential enabled by this mod is utterly phenomenal, it makes RedPower look pathetic and that's a very significant triumph on AlgorithmX2's part. It's not just powerful, it's relatively
easy to set up, too. I already have a setup that allows me to flawlessly process the entire input of a quarry with no bottlenecks, and all I had to do was hook my AE system to an Industrial Grinder and an Induction Furnace. Magic. You can of course further refine that process too. What that means is that, on servers especially, you can AFK mine overnight, have a good night's sleep and come back the next day to a fully processed and ready to use set of fresh materials. I have already done this several days in a row. The power of this cannot be underestimated. Better yet, with GregTech it's also perfectly possible using AE to
autorefine fusion fuel from water with absolutely no effort required. Automation is GT's worst nightmare for maintaining a sense of difficulty - everything he's time-gated can be done by a smartass computer whilst you're doing something you enjoy more. Based on firsthand experience it's also incredibly satisfying watching a quarry mine and refine itself.
So in short, the presence of Applied Energistics and Power Converters are such a huge mitigating factor to GregTech's difficulty that they cancel each other out and you're left with a different, yet still not punishing experience that I find thoroughly enjoyable. With that in mind, no I don't feel Ultimate should use Easy Mode by default at all.
The other important point: GregTech doesn't actually have "modes". Most mods don't - the only exception I know of is Forestry. The "Easy Mode" I achieved in my config pack was based solely on me fiddling around with the config in my own time trying to find what felt right for me, then cleaning that up for a public release. To get an Easy Mode config, first someone from the FTB team has to invent it.
Or borrow mine.
