Mod Pros-Cons Debate Thread

[trajing]

Current Debate: How do you feel about the current magic mod scene?
Alright, this is for friendly debates about mods. Like simple "I prefer IC2 over RoC for x." and "I disagree because RoC has y." and so on. If a discussion dissolves into name-calling and I cannot get it to stop, I will ask a mod to lock the thread. Remember, friendly debates only. I'll start with this:
So, I've been wondering why people like IC2 in the 1.6 update. I find myself making a machine for a single thing, and then moving on. I find that it's tedious rather than hard, and RoC gives me the difficulty that I need, with a good amount of novelty and reward at the end of it, too. Why do you like/not like IC2?

 

[Azzanine]

IC2 had it's day, it's just been usurped by other better/ more nuanced/ easier/ challenging mods. On it's own merits IC2 is a great mod but in comparison to other mods in the packs it's just a case of been there done that, at least for me.

I think those who prefer IC2 are probably old hat when it comes to FTB and don't want nor see the need to get used to anything else.

 

[pizzawolf14]

IC2 had it's day, it's just been usurped by other better/ more nuanced/ easier/ challenging mods. On it's own merits IC2 is a great mod but in comparison to other mods in the packs it's just a case of been there done that, at least for me.

I think those who prefer IC2 are probably old hat when it comes to FTB and don't want nor see the need to get used to anything else.

I agree, IC2 was fun the first what, 40000 times I did it? It was (and still is) a great mod but I feel like TE and RoC have just surpassed it. It really doesn't help that IC2 only has changed recipes and liquid uu matter while rotary went from not existing to where it is now, and TE has become a standalone mod rather than an addon.

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[Azzanine]

I agree, IC2 was fun the first what, 40000 times I did it? It was (and still is) a great mod but I feel like TE and RoC have just surpassed it. It really doesn't help that IC2 only has changed recipes and liquid uu matter while rotary went from not existing to where it is now, and TE has become a standalone mod rather than an addon.

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Me too with TE but lately I have been sussing out RotaryCraft, people say it's later game then it actually is. It's a little tougher to get started by the reward is much more robust and nuanced. I mean the amount of thinking you have to do to divert the power of one engine to multiple machines can break your head sometimes. I remember wracking my brain trying to use 8 junctions in split mode to power 8 fans with a steam engine then I derped and realized I only needed 7 junctions.
RotaryCraft really does have it all but in a more nuanced way.

 

[pizzawolf14]

I agree, rotarycraft is very complex and definitely not for the average player. Personally, I love RoC. I see why people don't, but for me it just feels like it's the one thing modded mc has been missing. It combines insanely accurate realism the Minecraft not-so-realistic world. Four example, shafts through portals. IRL, this isn't possible (of course) but in Minecraft where it is, it fits. This is what I feel clenched RoC's popularity in 1.6.4 packs. Don't get me wrong, we need mods that aren't necessarily realistic to keep mc from not feeling like a job, but I think no one has dared to try because of the criticism from real life scientists (or knowledgeable hobbyists.

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[darkeshrine]

I like IC2 for multiple reasons. The most simple reason is because fast machines are fast. The second reason is because of the plethora of really great add-ons.

The reason i dislike IC2 is that it doesn't change. Sure, it added a few machines and changed a few recipes, but all that did was make processing and crafting a tad bit more efficient and/or tedious. All the really good mods change as time passes. To be honest, I don't see why Gregorious is still piggybacking off of it. Gregtech is easily large enough to be it's own mod instead of just an add-on. IC2 is just too small and too unchanging to continue for much longer. Unless they do something fairly drastic soon, the only people that'll use it are using it for gregtech.

 

[RedBoss]

I never liked IC2. Coming from vanilla I didn't understand why I'd want to macerate my iron before smelting but I got over that. I didn't like the "destroyed of you don't use a wrench" mechanic. I hated the crater in my house from the explosion mechanics. I found it tedious, boring, & dammit I just want the diamond drill thingy!

I perused forums and eventually found an answer (all those that whine about wikis are brats. It wasn't that easy back then).

I mainly dealt with it because IC2 was the only mod offering tech toys at the time. I was new and dependent on mod packs so adding mods wasn't an option, and there weren't a lot of options.

Now there's lots of options and most don't blow up your base for simple mistakes. I'm partial to Mekanism since it's not overly technical. I'll NEVER use IC2 again, especially with the changes to the experimental branch.

 

[eric167]

for me, it seems IC2 both has too little and too much content.
it feels like more of a mid-game mod, as theres not much end-game content to it, and the UU-matter is a bit unwieldy for anything but making the rare materials you need for other IC2 stuff.
once I have geothermal/nuclear power and an ore processing chain, there isn't much in the mod to hold me to it, especially when others have come along and done IC2 better than IC2. I cant really recall any unique features (or at least, ones that are still unique) to it outside the experimental version, and those are the two new processing machines.

doesn't help that in the monster pack, its Uranium becomes incompatible with big reactors and ReC (Reactor Craft) after the first and second processing steps, respectively (macerating and washing) theres a few other incmpatabilities I find annoying. for example, the uranium blocks can be made with ReC pitchblende. they decraft into nearly useless U-238. goodbye thousands of reactor fuel. hello Yucca Mountain.

my favorite thing about pre-exp. IC2 (and I mean the version in the Ultimate and Unleashed packs) was actually those packs version of GregTech, simply because it added something worth building a nuclear reactor to power, and the other stuff it added to explore and build.

the textures are also, to me at least, a bit drab/simple for even an industrial look.

in a nutshell, ive moved on, and find RoC and its companion mods (along with TE, etc.) to be a better fit for my playstyle and aesthetic tastes.

 

[ThatOneSlowking]

I never liked IC2. Coming from vanilla I didn't understand why I'd want to macerate my iron before smelting but I got over that. I didn't like the "destroyed of you don't use a wrench" mechanic. I hated the crater in my house from the explosion mechanics. I found it tedious, boring, & dammit I just want the diamond drill thingy!

I perused forums and eventually found an answer (all those that whine about wikis are brats. It wasn't that easy back then).

I mainly dealt with it because IC2 was the only mod offering tech toys at the time. I was new and dependent on mod packs so adding mods wasn't an option, and there weren't a lot of options.

Now there's lots of options and most don't blow up your base for simple mistakes. I'm partial to Mekanism since it's not overly technical. I'll NEVER use IC2 again, especially with the changes to the experimental branch.

I feel that IC2 had its time and agree with most of what you said. Also I never was in the "dependent on modpacks" stage

 

[Mevansuto]

I feel Mekanism has all of the great features of IC2 covered (its machines are even faster).

 

[McJty]

I feel Mekanism has all of the great features of IC2 covered (its machines are even faster).

I have Mekanism installed but never really got into it. I will have to do that at some point. I use IC2 in my world but only to get the things like Power Armor and such running. I don't use it for anything else. The tech mods I'm using most myself are RotaryCraft, Thermal Expansion, Ender IO and MineFactory Reloaded.

 

[ThatOneSlowking]

I have Mekanism installed but never really got into it. I will have to do that at some point. I use IC2 in my world but only to get the things like Power Armor and such running. I don't use it for anything else. The tech mods I'm using most myself are RotaryCraft, Thermal Expansion, Ender IO and MineFactory Reloaded.

Power Armor is compatible with TE

 

[McJty]

Power Armor is compatible with TE

Yes but only if you have that option enabled in the config. My config didn't have that and I only found that out *after* making my armor completely

 

[Zenthon_127]

IMO, IC2 needs to just die. I've expressed in other threads why I dislike it now (in short, absolute failure to add anything meaningful while still causing major bugs), but watching it wither away like this is painful.

Mek and TE are probably my favorite tech mods atm. TE is TE ('nuff said), and while Mek needs a little more focus it's got a lot of amazing features.

From my comparatively brief experience from RoC, it has an interesting early-mid game, but while it's got the strongest late-game that's only because the late-game content is either hilariously overpowered or just comes down to throwing stupid amounts of power to magic block that smelts/processes/mines really fast, and half of the late-game stuff is SO powerful that it's not even useful. I mean, I can already smelt cobble faster than I can place it thanks to Mek, anything past that is overkill.

So yeah, that's pretty much how I feel about the major tech mods. I feel like we need a BM-style innovation in the tech community, because right now they all basically do the same things, with variations mostly being in how power works and the ore processing lines. I'm not sure what new things they could do, but it's not like new ideas are impossible (Witchery and BM proved us wrong there).

 

[trajing]

IMO, IC2 needs to just die. I've expressed in other threads why I dislike it now (in short, absolute failure to add anything meaningful while still causing major bugs), but watching it wither away like this is painful.

Mek and TE are probably my favorite tech mods atm. TE is TE ('nuff said), and while Mek needs a little more focus it's got a lot of amazing features.

From my comparatively brief experience from RoC, it has an interesting early-mid game, but while it's got the strongest late-game that's only because the late-game content is either hilariously overpowered or just comes down to throwing stupid amounts of power to magic block that smelts/processes/mines really fast, and half of the late-game stuff is SO powerful that it's not even useful. I mean, I can already smelt cobble faster than I can place it thanks to Mek, anything past that is overkill.

So yeah, that's pretty much how I feel about the major tech mods. I feel like we need a BM-style innovation in the tech community, because right now they all basically do the same things, with variations mostly being in how power works and the ore processing lines. I'm not sure what new things they could do, but it's not like new ideas are impossible (Witchery and BM proved us wrong there).

RoC is pretty much the opposite of "magic block" for me. TE is the magic block one.

 

[Golrith]

IC2 is still sitting in the 1.2.5 era. Current mods are using custom models instead of blocks/texture items, multiblocks, snazzy effects, etc.
Nothing has really changed in IC2 from those 1.2.5 days, apart from a lot of things that just make things even more tedius.

Mekanism to me is the tech mod that IC2 should have evolved into.


A agree though that it's hard to be new things for tech mods. At their core, they will all do the same things.

Magic Mods are a bit easier to deal with, since the only limit is your imagination with no need to try and stick to "realistic" systems.
Personally not that keen on magic mods. Disliked AM2, BM just seems meh to me (sure, it can do a lot, but there's nothing in it that I'd actually want to do/use, and I dislike the ritual block spam system), Witchery looks promising, Thaumcraft is still amazing.
I guess I'm just a tech person at my heart, loving seeing something I've built work (hopefully)

 

[trajing]

Yeah, I've been getting into Mek, but I don't like the idea that the beginning generator is renewable. I want power renewability to be endgame or at the least very slow AND has low output.[DOUBLEPOST=1401701824][/DOUBLEPOST]Keep in mind that if you don't like the current debate, you can suggest a replacement!

 

[Golrith]

Yeah, I've been getting into Mek, but I don't like the idea that the beginning generator is renewable. I want power renewability to be endgame or at the least very slow AND has low output.[DOUBLEPOST=1401701824][/DOUBLEPOST]Keep in mind that if you don't like the current debate, you can suggest a replacement!

Heat generator is the beginner engine, which requires multiple lava source blocks for a small amount of power. It can burn stuff, but is very inefficient at doing so.
After that it's wind power which by default is too powerful. (2 wind turbines can power a quarry quite fast)

I personally edited the configs to double the power usage of the mek machines, halfed the power of the wind turbine (so it's total output in a day is the same as a solar panel), and reduced the power output of the hydro-generator.
Great thing about Mek is that a lot of stuff is configurable to your tastes.

I've been building the Ore Tripling Process with just chests of raw materials (aka from scratch), and with some recipe changes and the power changes, I needed the heat generator to get started, then two windmills to power just 5 machines (steel production and ore doubling), which if all are running drains all the power. That feels more "right" to me.

 

[trajing]

Heat generator is the beginner engine, which requires multiple lava source blocks for a small amount of power. It can burn stuff, but is very inefficient at doing so.
After that it's wind power which by default is too powerful. (2 wind turbines can power a quarry quite fast)

I personally edited the configs to double the power usage of the mek machines, halfed the power of the wind turbine (so it's total output in a day is the same as a solar panel), and reduced the power output of the hydro-generator.
Great thing about Mek is that a lot of stuff is configurable to your tastes.

I've been building the Ore Tripling Process with just chests of raw materials (aka from scratch), and with some recipe changes and the power changes, I needed the heat generator to get started, then two windmills to power just 5 machines (steel production and ore doubling), which if all are running drains all the power. That feels more "right" to me.

If you place lava around a heat generator, it generates power. Easy renewable energy. And, IMO, renewable energy should be something to work for.

 

[Golrith]

If you place lava around a heat generator, it generates power. Easy renewable energy. And, IMO, renewable energy should be something to work for.

Yes, I know how it works. But the amount of power from one heat generator is small (and you can configure it to be even less if you wish). So to get a good amount of power, you need a big setup, which is a lot of power cables (steel) and playing around with lots of buckets of lava to get an optimal layout. Using Mek only to create steel requires machines and power, and early game it's slow. So to me, it kinda balances out.
Could always change the heat gen to require steel in it's crafting recipe. That pushes it back a bit in the tech tree. You might have to power your first few machines with raw redstone.

Also, the other problem I see in all packs is that ore gen is way too common, (there's actually need for any ore processing systems really). Reduce that ore gen (which I do in my personal pack), and things get a lot more tricky with managing your resources.