For the "vanilla" feels, it would have to be TiCo for me.
But I do love my magic mods... It would be a toss up between Botania or Thaumcraft, as both have great stuff.. But in the end, I would probably pick Botania for the Coporial stuff Who needs AE2 when you can have sparks and flowers give you access to all your stuff?
Oh boy, it would be a helluva time figuring out how to automate jet fuel using only the mod and vanilla mechanics. Magma cream would be the biggest bottleneck since they don't have a spawner. The main problem is that RoC's chunk loader is too crazy expensive to use (it would end up using more jet fuel than I could produce) so the farm would only work if I was in the nether. For the rest of the automation, I'd need two bores (1 for nether, 1 for overworld), automatic sugar cane farm for ethanol with fans... and if I desire double sludge which I probably would I'd need to figure out how to automate a tree farm that shears the leaves but will never shut down due to lack of saplings. I would also need to utilize RoC's item transport, which I have never done. I would need a blaze farm: silk touch bore a spawner, create a box, slap a spawner controller on it, and make fans push them into a looting enchanted mob harvester. Oh boy, then I would need to 'grinder' the rods for maximum efficiency--- and I completely forget about needing to grind nether-rack and soul sand. The simplest part would be the coal.
You see, this is exactly why I pick RotaryCraft. It would be very involving and exciting trying to figure out all these logistics and problems that the other mods in the pack would nullify.
Although I would love to agree with computercraft, at its own it has some problems.
The awesome interaction with pretty much everything comes from an add on and no other mods=no chunkloaders and that can be a pain for cc
maybe I would play with just ancient warfare, I haven't used it enough though to really know for sure how it would fit alone.
So, the direwolf20 server I am playing on - and admin for - is being decommissioned, so I was looking around for a replacement fix.
And I noticed the majoriy of the major modded servers are running modpacks with 100-200 mods - such as Infinity or Direwolf20. Modpacks with a lot of mods, and while definitions of balance may vary, modpacks that discourage deep investigation of single mods in isolation.
And I wondered for a moment, If I was to join a server that didn't ask me to install a modpack, but just one mod - a server offering a true vanilla+once experience - what that one mod might be.
For me, I considered Thaumcraft, Blood Magic and Twilight Forest, but settled on Witchery as the mod I'd most like to add to an otherwise vanilla server - with Zelda Sword Skills a close 2nd contender.
--
But It would have to be Thaumcraft too. Because I live and breathe that mod. And Chisel. Because I can't do a build without thinking it would look a lot better with factory and laboratory blocks. And ZTones. Because those blocks look bloody gorgeous too.
So
Thaumitcheryiseltone would be the ONE, single, unitary mod I'd install alongside vanilla. Definately just that one.
Ender IO. It's an extremely comprehensive tech mod. Item, energy, & fluid transfer. Mob spawning, tools, weapons, and armor. Auto farms, various energy generation methods, and even autocrafting. Heck it even has a storage solution that is a blend of logistics pipes and AE, though in a simplistic form.
Plus I'm pretty much not even using magic mods at all anymore.
If I want to have a sort of "Vanilla +" pack, wherein vanilla-style building and mining is still present, I'd have to say Steve's Factory Manager, as, albeit with a lot of effort, you can replicate some functionality from other mods to automate things which are tedious or impossible in vanilla -- Automatic cobble/stone gen, auto-smelting, possible auto-tree-farm, a wall of buttons for autocrafting, some autostorage... I'd really want to have JABBA, too, to go alongside SFM, but if I only have one mod...
In terms of depth of gameplay, I'd have to say Rotarycraft. (+ Reactorcraft, if that wouldn't count as a true "second mod") Lots of challenging automation potential, a wide variety of useful machines, a unique form of power which actually requires thinking to get working.
If I'm allowed to choose a grand total of 15 mods, not including any base/api/quality of life (NEI, WAILA) mods:
Rotarycraft
Reactorcraft
Electricraft
Chromaticraft
EnderIO
ThermalExpansion
ThermalDynamics
MFR (Specifically the grinder, laser drill, autospawner, chunkloader, and autojukebox)
AE2
ExtraCells
Botania
JABBA
Chisel
Extra Utilities
SFM
-----
+ 5 optional ones I would really want:
Pam's Harvestcraft
Tinkers Construct
Iron Chest
Some minimap mod
Carpenter's blocks
If you want magic, Thaumcraft. If you want tech, Rotarycraft. Both have a depth and balance unmatched by all but the fewest mods. Both have the option to automate most things, while maintaining a complexity and versatility that ensures you haven't blasted through your entire range of options in a single sitting.
I've played a bit with Ancient Warfare 2, in hopes to base my own personal pack around it (or similar). I like the idea of building an empire, and having the village actually help you as you help them. I would be curious to see how it worked on a larger server, and would consider giving it a go, if only because its something a bit different.
There are a lot of interesting choices. I've wanted to give Better Than Wolves a good go, for a long time.
I would would definitely enjoy a Rotarycraft-only world. But I feel it does lack a few important things, already mentioned in previous comments.
I guess IC2 + Gregtech might be considered a single mod? I'm not hardcore enough to play with GT alone, but I can see the charm. Playing with GT alone seems so dirty, gritty and industrial. Those are all great things (in a game!)
Railcraft, Botania, EnderIO, Thaumcraft and Forestry also sounds pretty awesome.
I feel BuildCraft deserves a mention. It's very well-rounded, offers challenge, and doesn't rely on other mods
My first thought was, why? But upon further reflection, I realized that I've never actually used Factorization to complete anything by itself. I've used bits and pieces of it in builds. I've dabbled in it, and usually found an easier path to the outcome I wanted with a different mod in the pack. Singled out, it would force me to actually use and learn the mod, and from what I remember of it (it's been stripped from my mod list for a world or two now) it had enough components to stand alone while being useful. On the other hand, it lacks long term depth offered by a mod such as TC.
If I were to join a server with just Vanilla+FZ, I doubt it would be a long term stay.
I dunno if it counts, but I feel compelled to register my vote for the greatest mod of all-time: GregTech Intergalactical
Now then... my vote probably doesn't count, because GregTech is not a stand-alone mod - rather, it piggybacks atop the IndustrialCraft mod. Therefore to run GT you really need both IC2 and GT installed together (right?).
But... I've spoken my mind - LONG LIVE THE GLORIOUS GREGORIOUS!
P.S. I second the vote for EnderIO, for all the reasons RedBoss listed above.
gregtech.. cant live without it. And it could be a lot of fun without things like AE, having to do it all by hand.. hmm.. I see a challenge in my future
gregtech.. cant live without it. And it could be a lot of fun without things like AE, having to do it all by hand.. hmm.. I see a challenge in my future
Trying to keep all my ores separated without JABBA, Drawers, or Enhanced Inventories would likely break my brain, but seeing it on a vacuum would be interesting.
Who needs AE2 when you can have sparks and flowers give you access to all your stuff?
