All right. I don't post much. First post actually, but I've played FTB packs since Ultimate came out and I fell in love with them. Infinity Expert mode was a shining gem of a creation that I loved to death, playing it for thousands of hours. I am sure that there are people better qualified than me to make suggestions and recommendations, but for now, this will do I hope. Much of what I say will refer back to infinity as that is the crown gem, un-usurped at this point. I also understand that we do not want it to be identical.
For the suggestions:
- Expert mode in infinity was mentally broken down into tiers of machines. You had your basic machines that were mainly used in general processing (Thermionic Centrifuge/Macerator/Pulverizer) These machines took very little effort to create. You could argue they took an assembly table, but most things did. The Assembly table was an interesting concept, and not too hard for the seasoned to get up and running. It was a major hurdle. That said, the fact that it gated the most basic machines was cumbersome. These "Tier 1" machines being gated made the early game arduous and tedious. In Beyond, if any such system is implemented to gate machinery like the assembly table did, I would suggest that it comes into effect in second tier crafting. (Magma Crucible, Induction Smelter, Alloy Furnace)
- Expert mode should always have a strong focus on 'Goals' that the player can set for themselves. Many people like myself would make the automated mining machines (Quarries/Void Miners) into that goal. Less time mining means more time to progress. I would say most machines that can change the way the came is played can fall into this third tier. (Quarries/Void Miners/Teleporters/Powered Armor Variants/High tier upgrades/Item-Fluid-Energy Teleporters)
- Naturally, the Extreme crafting is a nice thing for those of us who put a ridiculous amount of time into the world. Given how insane the recipes are naturally, I can't see it as being very difficult to implement these as there is no need for any sense of balance in those recipes. Hahaha.
Power generation isn't an issue at all, either nerfing how much stuff generates power or making it so machines use a lot more power would add to the concept of not just having a few battery banks filled up at all times and no issues with power.
The wording on this is odd, but I think I understand. Regardless, people will always do whatever they have to do to get energy to the ponit they don't have to care. If you make a macerator need 5 generators or a filled batbox, people are going to build the five generators and a batbox. Maybe that's just me, but most things I have seen, regardless of the power draw needed, people will build a power source to match. Trying to gimp that in some way will only harm the early game of the modpack. Mid-late it will stop being relevant in most cases no matter what is done. If you want to make it relevant for mid-game, just make it harder for people to skip power generation methods by tiering them. Initial tier power for initial tier machines will work fine, but once you get to the next tier of machines, your stating power will be almost wholly unable to do so. Just an idea. It would encourage a steady progression instead of just jumping for the thing you want, and would avoid people just spamming a dozen or so low tier power gen options.
Additionally, many power options have been removed from the pack in compared to infinity. As it stands currently, making reliable piping is a pain in the ass until you have the stock of nether quartz, and we aren't even in expert mode yet. Not many of the current mods actually play very nice with each other, which is a very key point I will make in measuring the success of expert mode. For all that you can do to crafting recipes, if these mods don't start to play together better, it's going to always be lackluster in comparison to Infinity. At the moment, the only pipes I've found that play nice with everything are Ender IO Conduits.
If this is going to remain this way, Ender IO needs to take center stage in the entire modpack for tech progression at the very least.
Immersive Engineering removed the RF to EU conversion from their Cables. I understand why, I'm not totally in the dark. However this effectively means that in order to make IC2 or Tech Reborn work without Geothermal, (assuming it will be disabled like before) you would have to jump from normal generators to Solar panels/Windmills/Watermills. Which aren't expensive alone... except they produce less power unless you make a shitload of them. Naturally, batteries are the answer. Perhaps this is what you are seeking to do with all modpacks. Force a large battery usage to be able to deal with low power generation. It's a polarizing idea, and becomes a matter of tastes except... if you multiply the number of machines we have to use for power generation, you are VASTLY increasing the load on any servers running your pack. FTB has always been good to servers, and I personally hope that they do
NOT take this route.
-Geothermal: With item-liquid-energy teleportation locked back behind a large number of gates, it effectively cuts off the lava oceans in the nether from being used as a power source. If someone wants to transport fluid or energy from the bottom of the damn world into their systems, it's going to be expensive. There is only one black capable of creating lava. The Magma Crucible. If you merf the quantities of lava it makes, or boost how much power it takes to do so. I cannot see how Geothermal power will be an issue. It's an important stepping stone in IC2.
The Ender Dragon is a joke of a "Boss" fight and even then the [Wither] has been focused on so much that people [have] found ways to make that fight even easier than before. Stuff like this [would add] on to the expert mode effect, rather than you having to starve for resources 24/7
Fully agreed. Boost the dragon's HP. Make it have really strong knockback for getting hit. Most deaths to that dragon are from getting knocked around anyway. Good armor is easy to get, even in expert so death by damage is unlikely, and if they can fly, they may be able to dodge it entirely. Encase the crystals that heal it in something strong, like an obsidian variant. Force people to have to work to get to the bastard's regeneration. Make them have to stand still to get at them so that the dragon has a chance to hit them. The increased knockback would drain whatever flight system is being used, and to be quite frank, if a person has goddamn quantum armor before they fight the dragon, power to them. I'm looking at this as a balance to the Dark Armor, which is fairly simple to get in comparison.
As for the Wither, get rid of the wither-proof blocks. Bam, it's now something to be a little afraid of again. Perhaps I'm just old-school but nether-stars aren't something you should ever have "on farm". At least not without severe risk. Potentially, an option could be to have some form of force-field that could contain the wither. It would be end-game enough to stop it from being an issue.
Conclusion: Beyond is in a rough state of delicate balances as it is. Many of the mods don't play well together and progressing is already rather clunky. Implementation of expert mode needs to be done very carefully and needs to either address these problems, or incorporate them into the design. Re-balancing power for a harder power generation experience will only encourage people to build bigger power systems and lag the hell out of whatever server they play on. I understand we don't want this to be identical to infinity, but with all the changes and core mods dropping out, we should focus on making it as good as infinity before going off the deep end.