Principles in Design of FTB Modpacks

[DeathOfTime]

any plans to incorporate spongeforge? it has come a long way. I tried out the plugin named "Project Worlds". it has a feature that gens all chunks in a dim out to the world border. Massively reduced chunk gen lag on my server. I only tried it on the overworld. Took about a hour to gen to a 3000 world size limit. I was getting constant rubber banding on a a spilled juice server I had setup before I did this. After the rubberbanding lag from exploring itself was completely gone, for all players currently on server.

I've seen there are a lot of plugins for it. If it isn't added to a pack it might be worth looking into as a recommended addition to for server managers. I haven't used it much and its requirement of a specific forge version for the sponge file downloaded might be a slight problem for those playing packs that don't use it. On spilled juice I had to use the downgrade forge from "forge-1.10.2-12.18.2.2125" to "forge-1.10.2-12.18.2.2123". Not for sure how much of a issue that really is though. I know some mods won't work with forge below a certain version is about all i can think of.

 

[Cptqrk]

any plans to incorporate spongeforge? it has come a long way. I tried out the plugin named "Project Worlds". it has a feature that gens all chunks in a dim out to the world border. Massively reduced chunk gen lag on my server. I only tried it on the overworld. Took about a hour to gen to a 3000 world size limit. I was getting constant rubber banding on a a spilled juice server I had setup before I did this. After the rubberbanding lag from exploring itself was completely gone, for all players currently on server.

I've seen there are a lot of plugins for it. If it isn't added to a pack it might be worth looking into as a recommended addition to for server managers. I haven't used it much and its requirement of a specific forge version for the sponge file downloaded might be a slight problem for those playing packs that don't use it. On spilled juice I had to use the downgrade forge from "forge-1.10.2-12.18.2.2125" to "forge-1.10.2-12.18.2.2123". Not for sure how much of a issue that really is though. I know some mods won't work with forge below a certain version is about all i can think of.

I prefer to not pre-gen the world in case you add a mod that required world gen to work.. *glares at a yet to be released Thaumcraft*

 

[Magzie]

I prefer to not pre-gen the world in case you add a mod that required world gen to work.. *glares at a yet to be released Thaumcraft*

they have a mod in that adds non gen ores and stuff to pre gen worlds I believe.

 

[Brigadon]

Well, I would like to know why the first three packs are almost always nearly identical. And why nearly every pack seems to contain forestry and Thaumcraft. Don't people get tired of exactly the same modpacks update after update? I think that Thaumcraft is one of the worst mods ever designed, and Forestry has all the creativity of drying cement, It has been several years since either of those mods were interesting or new.
I haven't bothered even playing a core ftb pack since like... 1.6. they are same old same old. Thaumcraft, Forestry, AE, IC2, bleah bleah bleah boring boring boring.

I guess it's good that redpower was dumped, or THAT would still be in every 'new' modpack too.

 

[sgbros1]

I prefer to not pre-gen the world in case you add a mod that required world gen to work.. *glares at a yet to be released Thaumcraft*

I'm pretty sure Forge implemented a pretty nice system for retrogen post 1.7

 

[DeathOfTime]

Well, I would like to know why the first three packs are almost always nearly identical. And why nearly every pack seems to contain forestry and Thaumcraft. Don't people get tired of exactly the same modpacks update after update? I think that Thaumcraft is one of the worst mods ever designed, and Forestry has all the creativity of drying cement, It has been several years since either of those mods were interesting or new.
I haven't bothered even playing a core ftb pack since like... 1.6. they are same old same old. Thaumcraft, Forestry, AE, IC2, bleah bleah bleah boring boring boring.

I guess it's good that redpower was dumped, or THAT would still be in every 'new' modpack too.

??? why is minecraft included in every pack? that has been out forever and is still being included.

same isn't bad. it is nice to see new mods out there for packs though. Would also be nice to see a different load out of mods in packs. Almost every pack contains the same mods. Whether or not they are FTB. Just look through the mod lists on the Curse launcher and AT launcher. lots of the packs are nearly identical with only minor differences in the mods they use. Though it is still possible to be completely different even with the same mods. Such as FTB infinity evolved's two modes. they used the same list of mods. How they used them is vastly different.

Even a slight variation in a mod list can end with a completely different style of play to it. Look at the Equivalent Exchange variety of mods. Everything from Equivalent Exchange itself to the MFR laser drill. Just a single one of those means not having to depend on gathering resources through mining them. A lot, if not all the resources will become craftable.

I was even thinking of making a flavor pack. It would be a extremely small list of mods(with heavily modified config files) that might be able to be dropped into any pack of that iteration of minecraft. They would focus on changing a single facet of how minecraft plays. I was actually considering doing that with the modpack I am working on, later down the line. Skinning the pack down to its bare essentials and uploading it as a optional instance. Then anyone with enough knowledge of installing mods would be able to try dropping it into another pack, after downloading it through curse. For most the kitchen sink packs I play it wouldn't alter any of its mods. It would just add mods to make things more likely to kill the player, and add more things to kill the player. Will probably never do it. Still that is what I mean. Even a single mod can completely change a pack.

 

[Hambeau]

Well, I would like to know why the first three packs are almost always nearly identical. And why nearly every pack seems to contain forestry and Thaumcraft. Don't people get tired of exactly the same modpacks update after update? I think that Thaumcraft is one of the worst mods ever designed, and Forestry has all the creativity of drying cement, It has been several years since either of those mods were interesting or new.
I haven't bothered even playing a core ftb pack since like... 1.6. they are same old same old. Thaumcraft, Forestry, AE, IC2, bleah bleah bleah boring boring boring.

I guess it's good that redpower was dumped, or THAT would still be in every 'new' modpack too.

I see you haven't been around these forums long enough to stumble onto the perennial EU/RF/??? discussions...

 

[Scottly318]

Well, I would like to know why the first three packs are almost always nearly identical. And why nearly every pack seems to contain forestry and Thaumcraft. Don't people get tired of exactly the same modpacks update after update? I think that Thaumcraft is one of the worst mods ever designed, and Forestry has all the creativity of drying cement, It has been several years since either of those mods were interesting or new.
I haven't bothered even playing a core ftb pack since like... 1.6. they are same old same old. Thaumcraft, Forestry, AE, IC2, bleah bleah bleah boring boring boring.

I guess it's good that redpower was dumped, or THAT would still be in every 'new' modpack too.

To tack on with everyone else who's jumped on this... and to use the cliche of cliches...

If you don't like a mod? Don't use it. Don't like a mod list? Add to it or substitute for mods you like.

As for you assessment of forestry? Creativity there lies with the user... not the mod author. It's up to people like the users of this forum to figure out how to work the system to our advantage.

@DeathOfTime is right. Change a mod, you change the flavor.

Hey random food reference that actually fits (I'm hungry sue me) How many different ways can you make a marinade for a steak? Basic parts list is the same. Just one of two things can make a world of difference in the taste. Even the pack can change it. Skyblock/basic/expert. Grilling, pan frying, broiling. All change the result.

Basically it boils down to that extra grain of creativity that makes a pack different. Same ingredients list or not.

 

[Quetzi]

Well, I would like to know why the first three packs are almost always nearly identical. And why nearly every pack seems to contain forestry and Thaumcraft. Don't people get tired of exactly the same modpacks update after update? I think that Thaumcraft is one of the worst mods ever designed, and Forestry has all the creativity of drying cement, It has been several years since either of those mods were interesting or new.
I haven't bothered even playing a core ftb pack since like... 1.6. they are same old same old. Thaumcraft, Forestry, AE, IC2, bleah bleah bleah boring boring boring.

I guess it's good that redpower was dumped, or THAT would still be in every 'new' modpack too.

It isn't strange that packs that are designed to have as wide appeal as possible for general playing include what are considered to be staple mods. Experience shows us that pushing out these wide appeal packs first in a release cycle is what players prefer. Packs more focused around a theme typically take longer to develop and often require custom content to be produced which is another reason why pushing them later in the cycle just makes sense. Even with the more focused packs it often makes good sense to include a well established mod for players to fall back on to should they need to. The core packs are designed for wide appeal, they won't suit everyone but they will suit the majority of players, or at least that is the intent.

 

[Zein Eizoku]

Well, I would like to know why the first three packs are almost always nearly identical. And why nearly every pack seems to contain forestry and Thaumcraft. Don't people get tired of exactly the same modpacks update after update? I think that Thaumcraft is one of the worst mods ever designed, and Forestry has all the creativity of drying cement, It has been several years since either of those mods were interesting or new.
I haven't bothered even playing a core ftb pack since like... 1.6. they are same old same old. Thaumcraft, Forestry, AE, IC2, bleah bleah bleah boring boring boring.

I guess it's good that redpower was dumped, or THAT would still be in every 'new' modpack too.

And to further add to this... If these mods, Forestry, Thaumcraft, IC2, RedPower by good ol' Elo. "Lack Creativity" and are like "Drying Cement" then... get on Eclipse, download what you need, and start codding. Instead of berating a persons hard work and belittling the skill and accomplishments they've made. Try to make your own, use your own creativity and create a mod, or a mod pack if that creating a mod escapes you, and if creating a pack is something that falls short for you... then maybe you need to pick up a different game... I am pretty sure Runescape is all the rage again.

 

[sgbros1]

And to further add to this... If these mods, Forestry, Thaumcraft, IC2, RedPower by good ol' Elo. "Lack Creativity" and are like "Drying Cement" then... get on Eclipse, download what you need, and start codding. Instead of berating a persons hard work and belittling the skill and accomplishments they've made. Try to make your own, use your own creativity and create a mod, or a mod pack if that creating a mod escapes you, and if creating a pack is something that falls short for you... then maybe you need to pick up a different game... I am pretty sure Runescape is all the rage again.

I'm pretty damn sure a lot of people don't have the time to invest in the timesink that is mod developing or even pack developing

 

[Scottly318]

They may not. But his point is pretty clear. If you don't find enough content to your liking, there is the option of either adding to the community through coding, or even as you stated by making a pack for public consumption.