New Player needs Guidance

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Beach

New Member
Jul 29, 2019
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Hello this is my first time playing Minecraft and a few friends talked me into to playing this modpack with them. Problem is my friends aren't around to help as much as I need and I just don't really know where to go with a lot of the stuff I have gathered. Any kind of new player guidance would be appreciated.
 

rhn

Too Much Free Time
Nov 11, 2013
5,706
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Start out with doing some IC2 machines: Electric furnace, macerator etc. Its a nice intro to the modded parts. I was rather confused first time on where to start with the mods. It all seemed so confusing. After setting up a few machines, try some transport pipes. They are really simple and not the most ideal way of automating stuff, but again its a nice intro into how stuff works. Maybe make some basic automated storage system.
No matter what you choose to do, reading wikis is probably the best way of getting info on how stuff works. Mod spotlights can also be a good source of some inspiration on how to use the different items in a mod, but they usually don't go to as much detail as the wikis do. I wouldent reccomend spending time on "Lets plays". The information density of those are usually really low, and its mostly just watching someone else play the basic parts of the game.

Experiment a lot. Look through the NEI and google interesting looking items to figure out how they work.
 
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Kahless61

New Member
Jul 29, 2019
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2 things:
1) Watch some youtubers and get ideas from them. That's how I got into FTB, and that's how I've always learned new systems.
2) The wiki. http://ftbwiki.org/Feed_The_Beast_Wiki If you ever want to know how something works, what it does, etc, find the wiki page on it. Just type its name in the search box.
 

Tyrindor

New Member
Jul 29, 2019
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Sub and watch Direwolf20 videos on youtube. Learn one mod at a time, watch mod spotlights, especially from him. He should be starting his Season 6 single player series when the 1.6.4 launcher arrives. Following that series will teach you all the basics and much much more, they usually go about 100 episodes. Learning all the popular mods is something that will take months, even with daily research. It's a lot to take in, and even after a year of playing I still feel like a complete noob sometimes.

Personally, if I was new i'd just wait for the 1.6.4 packs. The game has completely changed for the better, and even advanced FTB players will have to relearn many of the mods. Many mods for 1.6 added much better pipes and machines to make learning easier (New Thermal Expansion is incredible, same with EnderIO). You won't be able to take a 1.5 world into a 1.6 world either. Hopefully should be out before years end...

To add to what rhn said above, the only lets plays I would watch (from a learning perceptive) is Direwolf20's. He does let's plays like extremely long tutorials, and I would of never got to where I am today without his videos. Sadly, his season 5 is outdated now and many of the stuff explained in it wouldn't make sense anymore.
 
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BeastFeeder

New Member
Jul 29, 2019
190
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I'd dig into one or two mods at a time. As you decide you want to do something (like fly, or automate farming or mining), google "FTB Jetpack tutorial" or whatever it is and watch some tutorials.

Thats how I've learned. Every time I start a new world I try to do things I haven't done in the past. One world I used thaumcraft for everything, once I built a crap ton of quarries and an elaborate sorting system, once I used mostly railcraft and forestry, etc.
 

Tristam Izumi

New Member
Jul 29, 2019
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All the above is great advice. Personally, I'd go a step further back though.

Play some un-modded Minecraft. Or if you insist on using some mods, limit it to things like:

NEI - It's the list of items on the right when you open your inventory; it lets you look up recipes so you don't have to scour the net for how to make something.

Inventory Tweaks - It lets you middle click when looking in a chest to sort the items in it. Very handy in my opinion.

Rei's Minimap/Zan's Minimap - Having a minimap is very helpful while playing Minecraft.

Essentially, limit yourself at first to "ease of use" mods. Then, spend some time and learn vanilla. It shouldn't take too long, but it's always good to learn the basics in my opinion. Learn how to survive, build a shelter, and farm. Learn some basic redstone contraptions; try looking here for some ideas. While not essential for everything in the modded Minecraft ecosystem, having a basic understanding of redstone can be helpful for some fun setups.
 

rhn

Too Much Free Time
Nov 11, 2013
5,706
4,420
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All the above is great advice. Personally, I'd go a step further back though.

Play some un-modded Minecraft. Or if you insist on using some mods, limit it to things like:

NEI - It's the list of items on the right when you open your inventory; it lets you look up recipes so you don't have to scour the net for how to make something.

Inventory Tweaks - It lets you middle click when looking in a chest to sort the items in it. Very handy in my opinion.

Rei's Minimap/Zan's Minimap - Having a minimap is very helpful while playing Minecraft.

Essentially, limit yourself at first to "ease of use" mods. Then, spend some time and learn vanilla. It shouldn't take too long, but it's always good to learn the basics in my opinion. Learn how to survive, build a shelter, and farm. Learn some basic redstone contraptions; try looking here for some ideas. While not essential for everything in the modded Minecraft ecosystem, having a basic understanding of redstone can be helpful for some fun setups.
Yes if you aren't already past that stage, spend a few hours in vanilla and just do some mining, farming and build some basic house. If you are completely green, there is some videos on the official Minecraft page that explains the very basics of crafting stuff etc.
 
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Larmonade

New Member
Jul 29, 2019
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When I first started, I did a LOT of fooling around in creative, just to figure out what I ultimately wanted to do and would be able to do.
 

kaiomann

New Member
Jul 29, 2019
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Yeah. Like the others said, I suggest you first play some unmodded minecraft to learn its mechanics. Then you can hop into mods.
 

Shevron

Well-Known Member
Aug 12, 2013
838
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Direwolf20's let's play Season 5 was my teacher.

True some things might have changed and been updated, but the basics are all there. You can figure out the changes and the rest for yourself once you get the jist of it :)
 

xSINZx

New Member
Jul 29, 2019
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ShneekeyTheLost

Too Much Free Time
Dec 8, 2012
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Lost as always
Some tips:

1) When In Doubt: NEI. When you bring up your inventory screen, you'll see a new overlay. This is NEI, and it is used to track recipes, and has some very useful integration with crafting in general. When your question is 'how do I make x', your answer can be found in NEI. You can search by name, you can also click on an item to see how it is made, and press 'u' while hovering over an item to find out how it is made. When you have opened a crafting table (or most other crafting interfaces), you can bring up a recipe in NEI, then press Shift + the ? button and it will automatically populate the recipe for you!

2) You probably started with a book in your inventory (unless you are playing Unhinged). READ IT. This is the start of a mod called 'Tinkers Construct', and it is made of win. It completely revolutionizes your tool crafting, repairing, and augmenting. I consider it to be in every way superior to vanilla tool crafting. You'll need a Stencil Table to make the patterns, a Part Builder to bring the patterns and the materials together to make the tool pieces, and finally, the Tool Station, which is where the tools themselves are crafted, named, repaired, and modified. The moment you make one of these, you'll get a new book, telling you the ins and outs of tool manufacturing and modifying. Cooking up Grout will net you Seared Bricks. Four of them in a square nets you a Seared Brick block, and a third book which will tell you how to make your Smeltery (needed for any tools made with metal parts), how to upgrade your Tool Station to a Tool Forge, and some information on alloys.

3) There's several magical mods and several technological mods out there. It's best to find a guide or a Let's Play or something when starting fresh on one of them. In general, for tech mods, you're going to need something that makes power, then machines that use power, and some form of transmitting that power from the something that makes the power to the machines that use it. You can also see what machines can make and what they require to make it in NEI as well.

4) Many mods include new 'worldgen' or new things that appear in the world for you to harvest and use. For example, you are likely to encounter Copper and Tin ores in the world. If you aren't sure what it is, then bag it and figure it out when you get back to base and you have the luxury of browsing NEI at length. Trying to navigate NEI while in possibly hostile territory is not recommended.

5) Don't Panic! All the vanilla minecraft stuff still works, so if you don't want to dive into the deep end, you can start off normally and ease your way into the mods.
 
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rhn

Too Much Free Time
Nov 11, 2013
5,706
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Some tips:

1) When In Doubt: NEI. When you bring up your inventory screen, you'll see a new overlay. This is NEI, and it is used to track recipes, and has some very useful integration with crafting in general. When your question is 'how do I make x', your answer can be found in NEI. You can search by name, you can also click on an item to see how it is made, and press 'u' while hovering over an item to find out how it is made. When you have opened a crafting table (or most other crafting interfaces), you can bring up a recipe in NEI, then press Shift + the ? button and it will automatically populate the recipe for you!
Also if you dont know what an item is used for, you can rightclick in the NEI on it to show which recipes use it. If you for example look up Iron Ingot and right click it, it will show you all the recipes that uses Iron ingots. This can be quite handy if you find some new ore or gem and are unsure of its use.

Also the NEI uses categories when you click on something(specially if you rightclick), such as Shaped crafting, Unshaped crafting and different machines. You can browse through them, but also notice that there are sometimes multiple pages for each category.