Just not having fun, too overwhelmed

[Tyrindor]

To simply put, FTB Ultimate is not exactly ideal for solo play when you have this many mods and are new to the game. You need multiple people to figure stuff out, or to play with people that already know whats going on. I have no friends that play. I've put probably 50 hours into the game... and i'm totally burnt out. It's 90% trying to research things and getting stuff to work. Why is everything so complex?!

My play style is basically forced to:
1) Launch the game
2) Decide what i'm going to do
3) Start watching tons of youtube videos/reading wiki trying to figure out how to do that
4) 2 hours later, finally feel like I can accomplish it.
5) Start building, figure out you need to make X, and in order to make X you need to make X, and so on and so forth.
6) Another 2 hours later you finally got stuff ready and start to build it.
7) Build finished... but it's not working?!
8) 4 hours of troubleshooting why it's not working for you, it finally works. You should be happy but you just spend 8 hours figuring out a few simple things and getting them to work.

I was going to make a new, larger, building and move all my machines/power into it because I'm having to micro-manage things every couple minutes. Then I find out about redpower2 and how it's much more compact than using redpower engines/levers/tubes, so I was going to research that before making the new building. That's where i've decided just to give up. There's so many items and so much stuff to try to learn just in this mod alone. It seems there no easy way to get everything automated without turning your nice house into a giant spider web, and that's what I was trying to accomplish with this mod.

I want to enjoy this game, it feels like I barely scratched the surface, but I just quit in frustration. Everytime I start the game up, it's immediately alt tabbing to try to figure stuff out. Half the time I don't even have a clue what I need to search for.

Any advice or what should I do?

 

[Bloodfrost]

I'll be honest with you, i think half of the draw towards FTB is the unknown and the thrill of the chase per say. I'll admit i was a little put off with how much there was at first but at the same time, i felt more of a sense of accomplishment in FTB then i ever have in Vanilla minecraft. The best thing i can say to you and advice is just to keep at it. Maybe go find a public server or private whitelisted server <there is a forum for it on here> and apply. I did do that for a bit and met a lot of nice people and had a lot of fun!

 

[whizzball1]

Why don't you watch DW20? He moves through all the mods. I would suggest going for quartz to make a Quartz Grinder, a nice early game ore duplication process that requires only a hand crank and you hand. Then you can get into things like TE with Hobbyist's steam engines. I would suggest trying out an infinite Power Loop. It goes like this: 4 36HP Steam Boilers, Liquid Fired. Fully heat them with fuel. All the way. The steam can be powerconverted into EV which can be fed into an Oil Fabricator, fed into a refinery, fed back into the Boilers. 3 outputs per boiler into one Steam Consumer per Boiler. One EV Producer per 2 boilers. One BC Producer per 2 boilers. EV leads into one Oil Fab per 4 boilers. Oil Fab leads into Refinery, powered by the BC Producers. Refinery leads right back into the boilers. Inf Power Loop FTW.

 

[chronos_qc]

Try by focusing on only one mod, for example try to start learning about Industrial Craft alone. After you think you have a good comprehension of it, add another mod (like redpower, Buildcraft/Thermal expansion). Do not try to learn random pieces about each mod at the same time, you will get lost very quickly.

 

[Tyrindor]

Ultimate is one of the hard packs, due to GT.
My basic advice for those who lack goals is to take a look at achievements, pick one set, and then try them until they get bored.

I forgot to mention, I am using easy mode scripts, so GT is not a problem.

Why don't you watch DW20? He moves through all the mods. I would suggest going for quartz to make a Quartz Grinder, a nice early game ore duplication process that requires only a hand crank and you hand. Then you can get into things like TE with Hobbyist's steam engines. I would suggest trying out an infinite Power Loop. It goes like this: 4 36HP Steam Boilers, Liquid Fired. Fully heat them with fuel. All the way. The steam can be powerconverted into EV which can be fed into an Oil Fabricator, fed into a refinery, fed back into the Boilers. 3 outputs per boiler into one Steam Consumer per Boiler. One EV Producer per 2 boilers. One BC Producer per 2 boilers. EV leads into one Oil Fab per 4 boilers. Oil Fab leads into Refinery, powered by the BC Producers. Refinery leads right back into the boilers. Inf Power Loop FTW.

This?

 

[RedBoss]

Any advice or what should I do?

Go play outside. Drink some lemonade. If you feel like FTB after that then play it, if not there's always Netflix.

 

[Mash]

I did the one mod at a time method when I was first starting.

Trying to tackle all of the mods at once is going to melt your brain. It's too much information to take in at once, and will make you all the more likely to screw something up. I started with IC2, and then started poking into GT, BC, TE, etc. RP2 didn't come until quite a ways later, and soon after that I was playing around with Thaumcraft and so on and so forth.

Working by achievements is a good method to help with this particular strategy.

 

[dlord]

Some of my friends have been pushing me to make a Let's Play series for FTB Ultimate, mainly because of how "excessive" my builds are, even if I tell them it's not. And it's also for my friends who have absolutely no idea where to start in the sea of mods that is FTB.

If you were to watch something like that, what do you want to see?

 

[whizzball1]

Yes. Watch that. That is by Direwolf20. Watch his LP. It will teach you everything you need to know. And when you are done, and you want more, go to the various FTB wikis:
Official: http://wiki.feed-the-beast.com/index.php?title=Main_Page
Unofficial (But has highest quality): http://ftbwiki.org/Feed_The_Beast_Wiki

 

[Tyrindor]

Thanks for the DW20 suggestions. I'll watch his LP.

 

[Enigmius1]

I generally buck the trend and recommend against focusing on one mod and then another mod etc. No mod offers a natural progression or will allow you to cover all the bases. You're either stuck on the path that mod offers or you do what I'd recommend anyways which is to figure out what you want to do and learn how to do that regardless of which mods it requires you to use.

And disable Gregtech from the launcher. If you're feeling overwhelmed (which is reasonable given the learning curve with these packs), GregTech is the last mod you want to be using. GregTech is best saved for people who have already been around the mod pack block a few times but lack the creativity to define their own objectives once they finish making the gear that apparently signals the end of the game.

 

[Tyrindor]

I generally buck the trend and recommend against focusing on one mod and then another mod etc. No mod offers a natural progression or will allow you to cover all the bases. You're either stuck on the path that mod offers or you do what I'd recommend anyways which is to figure out what you want to do and learn how to do that regardless of which mods it requires you to use.

And disable Gregtech from the launcher. If you're feeling overwhelmed (which is reasonable given the learning curve with these packs), GregTech is the last mod you want to be using. GregTech is best saved for people who have already been around the mod pack block a few times but lack the creativity to define their own objectives once they finish making the gear that apparently signals the end of the game.

I'm currently using the easy mode scripts for GT. However, i'd like to update to 1.0.2 and my main holdup is the script pack I used was never updated (forum.feed-the-beast.com/threads/the-universal-ftb-config-pack-easy-mode-gregtech-and-brutality-mode-everything-else-included.9536/). I'm not comfortable editing them myself, because they got even more complex with this newer version.

Everything i've read recommends using easy scripts over disabling completely because GT (apparently?) offers lots of good things. I'm not sure what these things are, and i've been debating on just disabling it completely so I can update to 1.0.2 with no script hassles.

 

[Chocorate]

1. Turn GT nerfs off.

2. build a basic house, like you'd play vanilla.

3. make some basic systems. Need to smelt stuff but want to mine? Make a hopper or something with some pipes. Expand your storage. turn your basic smelting line into a Thermal Expansion line. Basically, start simple and figure out what you can do to improve stuff.

4. Once you have all your stuff how want it and have enough materials, pick something to do. I recommend trying to start Applied Energistics, as it doesn't require a huge tech tree.

5. To do this, you'll likely need some more materials or energy.

6. While SteveCarts farm might seem like a great idea for charcoal and stuff, this is not an easy way to go about it. There's other mods which can do this well and cheaply, like MFR.

7. Once you have enough stuff for Applied Energistics, you'll likely feel a lot less overwhelmed. You'll have a very clean system for mass storage.

8. Decide what you want next. I'm not going to tell you what to do, but BuildCraft and ComputerCraft are cheap nominees. Once you're done finding out what you need to tackle your next mod, get all that stuff.

9. A HUGE THING TO REMEMBER: It's good to count how much stuff you need for ____ rather than trying to tackle it all at once. If I want to make some stuff for IC2, (one of the hardest/overwhelming mods) I won't just make a generator, then a batbox, etc. I'll count all the stuff I need (78 redstone, 77 copper, 24 iron, etc.) then do it all at once.

10. Moral of the story is: Don't get caught up in 30 different mods at once. Find out what you wanna do, figure out what mods will help you do that, and do it. Some mods will take a long time, and some mods will have things to help you along your journey. I also feel a lot less overwhelmed if I spend a bit of time expanding my base to get a bit more breathing room. And make it pretty too.

 

[Velotican]

I'm going to update the config pack fairly soon. More changed under the hood with GregTech than people realised; in fact I'm going to do a PSA about it. 1.0.2 dropped on Wednesday and I only just finished doing damage control on my server tonight. When the new config pack version comes out it's going to basically be a total re-do.

As for your personal issue, although the advice you've been given is worth listening to, there is also the possibility that FTB is simply not for you. You're supposed to be having fun playing and if you're not, why bother?

 

[Tyrindor]

I'm going to update the config pack fairly soon. More changed under the hood with GregTech than people realised; in fact I'm going to do a PSA about it. 1.0.2 dropped on Wednesday and I only just finished doing damage control on my server tonight. When the new config pack version comes out it's going to basically be a total re-do.

As for your personal issue, although the advice you've been given is worth listening to, there is also the possibility that FTB is simply not for you. You're supposed to be having fun playing and if you're not, why bother?

Thanks, i'll likely do a fresh restart with 1.0.2 when your script gets released. By then i'll probably have a few of the DW20 videos watched and have a better idea on the paths I should take.

I love the game, when I actually know what i'm doing.

 

[b0bst3r]

It's easy to get overwhelmed, not just in FTB but in any modded package which contains a lot of mods. The only advice I can give to you is to relax, take it one step at a time and don't get frustrated but think of what you're working towards.

It's true if you set your heights too far too early that you will end up needing X to make Y and Z to make X and A to make Z and so on. Half the reason there are no "walkthrough" guides for FTB is because there are so many different ways to do the same thing and what one person does is not necessarily what the other 20 people would do. Also you only need to read on some of the forum topics to see that when someone posts a guide like this that someone else knocks it down and says "nah you want to do it this way instead"....

You can watch tons of videos or you can find a good whitelisted server with some resident "DireWolf20"s on to give you a hand, if you join a server and find no help then try another.

 

[Virgoddess]

I've felt this way before, too. Watching DW is a really good suggestion - he's very knowledgeable about the mods, and he teaches in a way that's actually very interesting.

I also used to do a lot of wiki/YouTube hopping while playing, but I really don't have to much anymore. It took a while, but I have a pretty good grasp on the mechanics now, and you will too. You know what really helped? Using Thermal Expansion exclusively for power/ore processing (at least early game). The machines are just really intuitive and very easy to understand/configure. Once I got into a good rhythm with that mod, the rest just felt easier. Having a "test" world in creative helps, too. Especially for bigger/more complicated builds.
And you can always ask for help here - the people here are great.

 

[netmc]

You can still do all the things you can do in vanilla. Some days when I feel overwhelmed, I go mining. Copper is found around Y=50, and all the other materials can be found around the same depth, or at y=12. I don my vanilla iron armor, some picks, some backpacks or canvas bags for the extra space, some food, a stack of wood, then just disappear underground for a while. It's quite refreshing not to worry about any builds or mods, or what to do with what.. Just getting the resources by hand. Later on I will figure out what to do with them, but for now, it is just the mining.

 

[GPuzzle]

My first plan was to basically start by trying to connect mods. After two weeks playing in a server with friends, I had more infrastructure and I knew what I was doing. I learnt about vis and coke ovens and generators. About solar panels, alloy furnaces and peat bogs.
My friend who went with Thaumcraft was being attacked by wisps, my friend with Railcraft, Steve's Carts and Forestry was low on resources, my IC2 friend was slow but sure, my TE friend was at a point he did not have anything to do.
Later on, I had my Black Mesa, complete with rockets, a crazy-ass lab, a dam, and an electrical power plant with Tesla Coils.
The rest of my friends was stuck and did not knew what to do.

 

[sivina]

I suggest playing DW20 pack first, since Ultimate have Gregtech with normal setting packed which definitely killing newbies.
I have played DW20 pack for about two months, and yes i follow Direwolf20 LP series...he teach me/us a lot in the starting phrase of the FTB packs.
After that, i feels like i m ready to start to learn gregtech,so switched to Ultimate and having great fun until now

Still got brunch of cool stuff/gadget blocks which i don't know how to use yet, but that's okay since you will dig into it once you love to stay in your FTB overworld.

TL,DR : start to learn one mod first, when it's done/accomplished what you need atm. go to play other mod that goes into your eyes.Never messing all the mods together at once when you start to play mod packs