Magic vs. Science vs. Awesome

[Swaffer]

I see a lot of people denouncing magicky mods, claiming incongruity with tech mods.

or even I saw a post where the rope mod was outcast because it wasn't tech, in a 'tech' pack

I for one am of the school of thought that the more the better. at least in terms of what stability will allow, and certainly mods should be prioritised.

but for me the mixture of mods and the general ecclecticism of Minecraft is what makes it so creative.

also ofc you are free to play however you want, so I have no problem with the 'tech' purists. in fact I see their point of defing boundaries, and that strong imagination is a great strength. Still, i'll stick to the myriad modded experience where possible.

if I can have a rope bridge in my tech based world, then why not.

Also, who says Magic doesn't exist anyway... @:~)

Swaffer

 

[slay_mithos]

Well, you will also see a lot of people complaining about tech mods not blending with normal minecraft, so you can't please everyone.

I like to have variety in my worlds, meaning that having a couple "magic" is great too (thaumcraft was one of those in 1.2.5).

well, to be fair, it is more about what you do with the mods than if they are tech or magic (or none).

 

[Swaffer]

Very true slay_mithos, what you do with them is what.really counts.

People are different and I really don't mind people playing in many different ways, with different combos of mods. if they go really deep with just a few then thats cool, rather than just scraping the surface.

I do really like seeing a ton of mods all tied together, maxxing out their combined capabilities as much ad possible.

hehe, maybe i'm just greedy. I want it all! All your mods are belong to...

no

I did like Slowpoke's comment in the video with Azanor, and I agree with him; that there should be more 'endgame' stuff.

I also think that's partly what I mean about lots of mods bundled together. like with.the Ftb modpack, will there really be any excuse to say you're bored?

I bet you could play for years and there would still be near infinite possibilities of stuff to do

 

[MrJeff]

"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." -Arthur C. Clarke.

I'm of the belief that good "magicky" mods can fit well in a "Tech" pack. Good mods have an advancement path that strives to have unique additions without being overpowered. They also keep a consistant theme and method to item generation. Thaumcraft 2's method was the extraction of energy from items and the world around you. Consider that at some point, collecting energy from the sun to power would be considered impossible and magic. And yet, now we have solar panels. And think about cell phones... near-instant person to person communication in a block smaller then a person's hand?

I always liked options in modpacks. It allows you to explore different ways of doing the same thing in SSP, and not everyone's home looks the same in SMP.

 

[Swaffer]

Hey, thanks your awesome comment. I like it.

nice quote too

I like stuff like this which draws the line between MC and real life narrower, and sparks thoughts about the way we play the game. immersion and imagination.

but yeah, not everyone's the same. I guess you could say:

'variety is the spice of Minecraft'

 

[RampantPanda65]

I go with anything that makes sense like I wouldn't put like a my little pony mod when I'm playing with redpower and ic2 for example but anything within reason, I'll use it.

 

[slay_mithos]

Well, there are mods and mods.

The well realised mods will have you make stuff in order to make more advanced stuff.
Be it with magic or science, the result is an advancement tree, so that not everything is possible from the start.

The best example of this so far have been Thaumcraft, with the research system, and (for me) IC2, with the various components being used to make more advanced stuff (even if some are sub mods, like compact solar or advanced machines)

Edit: just thought of this, but isn't a mod like Mystcraft considered like magical?
I mean, you basically create worlds by writing books, right?
And yet, it has become one of the known mods and is widely used by both "tecky" and magical mod players.

 

[Swaffer]

dammit i love those frickin ponies!

good point about Mystcraft. Doesn't thaumcraft even have a kind of magical technology, like a bridge between the two anyway. Idk i've not played Thaumcraft at all tbh, can't wait to start getting stuck into version 3 whenever it's released. Patience is indeed a virtue, especially when it comes to mods being released.

When it comes to Redpower though, i really think it breaks the mold as it really doesn't seem to limited by that same developmental 'tree' which you talked about RampantPanda,

I guess it does have elements of that with the alloy furnace etc. but it doesn't seem like Eloraam is thinking along those lines. I mean there's a debate whether even Minecraft itself is a game or 'merely' a toy. I don't really think of Redpower as a 'game' type mod it's more of a 'tool'

Of course this can be said about other mods also, IC2's infrastructure of power is a kind of tool, Buildcraft & Forestry certainly provides tools for use as the user can imagine it - this kind of 'game'play is what excites me so much. Not a lot of games or mods are shipped and then the results that the players come up with surprise the makers of said games.

I think at it's best that's what makes Minecraft amazing, and is a kind of lynchpin of the modding community that all the developers and players alike get a real kick out of.

 

[Swaffer]

I also just thought about Computercraft: if ever there was a mod that fits that Isaac Asimov quote it's got to be CC

And really, how different are the arcane symbols in mystcraft's books to the 'magical' (to the lay-man) code of Lua!?

haha, I'm so fired up. I better go play some...

 

[Gewitters]

I am of the "give me all you can" crowd when it comes to the mods. However, I do find myself thinking of different ways to only utilize certain mods in a world that I may theme a certain way. Using only the mods that fit that theme. It could be a magical theme or a industrial theme. However, I do have a world that has all of the mods I can get letting me blend the world in any way I feel at the moment. The addition of mods make the game a whole new game with new possibilities. That is what keeps me hooked.

 

[MrJeff]

One of the things I liked about Direwolf's server-play series was seeing how each person used the same options differently. Every player's world had a completely different feel. I understand why they went away from the one-person-one-world, but I can't help but wonder if that will take away something.

 

[corvus mortis]

as a wise man once said.. is it magic? or just sufficiently advanced science?

 

[ApSciLiara]

Really, to me, it doesn't matter all that much. If a mod is good, and works well with the other mods I have (both in terms of balance and compatibility), then I'm more than happy to use it. Otherwise, I won't use it.