Welp! As what generally happens after taking a break in a minecraft world, we have moved on to the next one already! I don't have any media for you (Will be screenshots this time around because we're doing 1.7.10 and I need the later versions for ReplayMod) but for today, I'll just set the stage:
By some miracle, I've not only convinced everyone to try Infinity Evolved Expert Mode, but we're actually *crushing it*! Ok, I'm doing the heavy lifting on progression. But we're working as a team everywhere and it's really, really working! I'm temporarily staying with them while I'm waiting to find my next apartment, so in the meantime we're all playing together in the same room. And that, I think, has been the difference.
The other difference is that I've gained a few levels in Mincecraft Setting Configuration since the last time I played 1.7 and I got this thing running better than any 1.10 world I've ever done. This is largely because I've finally relaxed a bit on view distance, but I got the whole thing feeling very smooth. Other than the combat changes being gone and losing my off-hand slot, plus a few other little 1.7 quirks that you get used to quickly, this is running great. Having someone else (FTB) make the server files for me was also a huge help! This was the simplest setup I've ever done. I even found the same texture packs I've been using from 1.10, so this is almost perfect!
Progression is no joke, though! Whew! Hard mode indeed! We're juggling basic setup and normal minecraft settling practices with progression through the book. I'm getting close to completing the first chapter. Should have a blast furnace up and running by the time I get home from work tonight, which means we'll be open up recipes with some Steel finally, which also means we can finally pop into, and likely die, in the nether. The progression like this is great, though. It's like the modpack gets bigger as you go along (and this might ACTUALLY mean that it will be worth it to start doing some stuff with railcraft for a little bit). I don't think I would have liked this progression if not for the book guiding me in the right direction. This has been great.
Tinkers, the mod that was turning some of my teammates away, turned out to be a huge hit. We're actually pretty well suited up at the moment. I've got a nice every-day pickaxe that's got electrum speed, obsidian reinforced, diamond level gathering, auto mending, hasted and getting close to maxed lapis for the luck. We're all decked out in the much harder to make diamond armor (is there some better armor we should be shooting for, though?) with some basic enchantments. I think we're ready to dip into the nether and set up a safe zone.
So much to do right now it's crazy, but I'm really proud of the progress we've made so far. I half expected the team to up and quit on me 2 hours into it, and it was rough going at first. The spawn zone was a ways away from the build zone (great seed, btw), so there was some frustration getting started. But now that we're settled, things are a-cookin'. For a noob, a vanilla builder and me jumping in there blind, we're doing really, really well.
Screenshots tomorrow! Another gorgeous seed. When finding seeds, what I'll typically do is enter some kind of text or a phrase as the seed. I could go random, of course, but there's something about naming the seed before hand that makes it feel more real. You type in, say "A wonderful new world to explore" and you just might get it. So, we tried all kinds of things, and none of the seeds were really all that impressive. Until we found the one. Another gorgeous mountain range with a dozen great places to build.
So, come, follow along with us in our new world! Welcome.... to "Tim's sweaty nutsack"!
