Is this thread right for me?
If your looking for a full run-through of setting up a custom modpack for the first time or just want tips on the do's and don'ts of modpacks and their interaction with servers read on. If not this thread probaly isn't for you... Unless your a rebel and want to stay, all fine by me.
Just thought i'd key you in on something you will have to know.
Custom modpacks are very buggy!
I can honestly swear to you, after running custom modpacks from 1.4.7 to 1.7.10 at www.prot3ch.net , things still crop up, even after 1/2 weeks of testing the modpack for errors.
I made a few charts for the number of mods and MC versions and how they will likely effect your modpack.
Sources:
Num of mods: http://modlist.mcf.li/
Please note all other information is based upon my own experience with developing packs and this may vary person to person, if you believe their is an error of judgement for one of the versions please post below, thank you!
As regards the Cauldron/bukkit DMCA takedown, Iknow bukkit is now not officially supported but I doubt you'll be killed for getting a cauldron version off a friend or off a seperate site. Though this can be avoided through many different methods, all outlined by the wonderful rebirth: *LINK*
Pick mods that update!
If that mod has problems and the developer is dead or on some island in tanzania. Your skrewed basicly and you wont be able to update the pack, this is a massive problem with large mods e.g. something like Thaumcraft that contains API's (interacts with other mods) because you then cannot update those mods without risk of an error occouring.
Be careful with W.I.P/bleeding edge mods & small independent mods
You may think, oh but saying it's W.I.P is just a failsafe for the mod developers so they don't get moaned at when the mod isn't working.
That is completely wrong 99% of the time, W.I.P mods are incredibly un-stable in most cases and will crash. I learnt this the hard way back in 1.4.7 when lockit a W.I.P, independant mod crashed and corrupted the server worldsave and again using a 1.6.4 modpack when Aether 2 continually crashed and we we're forced to abandon a 2 month old project.
Get a modding team.
Unless you know what your doing, I would reccomend a modding team. Even if thats just you and your friend. It's incredibly helpfull to have a different perspective on something especially if you've been having problems for a long time with a certain error.
Coders [optional] (If you have any) - Yes it is helpfull to code and edit the mods. However you do need permission from the modders. So it is a whole lot simpler to just submit it to them.
Testers - Yes, trust me. You need people to test your modpack.
Graphics (optional) - It is nice having you or someone else making the artwork for it. Iknow my logo was done by me and took around, hmm. 30 minuites xD.
Updaters - You need people to work on updating the mods/plugins.
Now clearly, per person you can do more than one of these 4 things. However I do thoroughly reccomend you do this.
Get a repository.
With a modpack team
I would personally reccomend bitbucket:https://bitbucket.org/ it's faster than github allows you to create private repositorys for free. With bitbucket you can colaborate with others and setup issues so people can submit bugs for you to fix and you can show you can fix them. If your not sure how it works I would reccomend googling instructions.
If you can't understand/don't want to use a git client I would reccomend setting up or using an existing FTP (file transfer protocol) server allowing you to individually edit single mods/configs with your mod development team. If you don't own an FTP server i'd reccomend using a free hosting provider such as oowebhost. Google it
.
Without a modpack team
You don't need any extra software, just upload it to a popular site such as google drive, mediafire or an FTP server.
Get permission.
Unless you wanna go be a pirate over at tekkit. Y'ar. I would never reccomend to almost steal mod developers mods without asking them for usage. Getting permissions used to be a pain but now modpack hosts such as FTB and the ATlauncher provide comprehensive sheets explaining if permissions are required for a certain mod.
FTB's list: *LINK*
To find a certain mod just click the 'find' button and input the name of the mod.
Type of modpack
Think about the type of modpack you would like to create and try to make it stand out from the others, e.g. do you wan't the modpack to only contain magic mods? Do you want to make an incredibly OP pack or would you rarther make it hardcore for players because all of these options can normally be determined by which mods/plugins(if your running a server) you choose and by what changes you make to the configs.
and last of all
Prepare to get annoyed & frustrated
I just spent 3 days trying to update 'unity reloaded' a 1.7.10 pack after cauldron conflicted with the Thaumcraft API and had to build the entire back up from the beggining and remove anchors from the world by adjusting the configs because they loaded a thaumcraft object that I needed to remove.
Point proven?
So now ive scared your witless and told you basicly how hard it is. A bit like owning a dog. This list should really help you on your line to success.
If your looking for a full run-through of setting up a custom modpack for the first time or just want tips on the do's and don'ts of modpacks and their interaction with servers read on. If not this thread probaly isn't for you... Unless your a rebel and want to stay, all fine by me.
Just thought i'd key you in on something you will have to know.
Custom modpacks are very buggy!
I can honestly swear to you, after running custom modpacks from 1.4.7 to 1.7.10 at www.prot3ch.net , things still crop up, even after 1/2 weeks of testing the modpack for errors.
I made a few charts for the number of mods and MC versions and how they will likely effect your modpack.
Num of mods: http://modlist.mcf.li/
Please note all other information is based upon my own experience with developing packs and this may vary person to person, if you believe their is an error of judgement for one of the versions please post below, thank you!
As regards the Cauldron/bukkit DMCA takedown, Iknow bukkit is now not officially supported but I doubt you'll be killed for getting a cauldron version off a friend or off a seperate site. Though this can be avoided through many different methods, all outlined by the wonderful rebirth: *LINK*
Pick mods that update!
If that mod has problems and the developer is dead or on some island in tanzania. Your skrewed basicly and you wont be able to update the pack, this is a massive problem with large mods e.g. something like Thaumcraft that contains API's (interacts with other mods) because you then cannot update those mods without risk of an error occouring.
Be careful with W.I.P/bleeding edge mods & small independent mods
You may think, oh but saying it's W.I.P is just a failsafe for the mod developers so they don't get moaned at when the mod isn't working.
That is completely wrong 99% of the time, W.I.P mods are incredibly un-stable in most cases and will crash. I learnt this the hard way back in 1.4.7 when lockit a W.I.P, independant mod crashed and corrupted the server worldsave and again using a 1.6.4 modpack when Aether 2 continually crashed and we we're forced to abandon a 2 month old project.
Get a modding team.
Unless you know what your doing, I would reccomend a modding team. Even if thats just you and your friend. It's incredibly helpfull to have a different perspective on something especially if you've been having problems for a long time with a certain error.
Coders [optional] (If you have any) - Yes it is helpfull to code and edit the mods. However you do need permission from the modders. So it is a whole lot simpler to just submit it to them.
Testers - Yes, trust me. You need people to test your modpack.
Graphics (optional) - It is nice having you or someone else making the artwork for it. Iknow my logo was done by me and took around, hmm. 30 minuites xD.
Updaters - You need people to work on updating the mods/plugins.
Now clearly, per person you can do more than one of these 4 things. However I do thoroughly reccomend you do this.
Get a repository.
With a modpack team
I would personally reccomend bitbucket:https://bitbucket.org/ it's faster than github allows you to create private repositorys for free. With bitbucket you can colaborate with others and setup issues so people can submit bugs for you to fix and you can show you can fix them. If your not sure how it works I would reccomend googling instructions.
If you can't understand/don't want to use a git client I would reccomend setting up or using an existing FTP (file transfer protocol) server allowing you to individually edit single mods/configs with your mod development team. If you don't own an FTP server i'd reccomend using a free hosting provider such as oowebhost. Google it
.Without a modpack team
You don't need any extra software, just upload it to a popular site such as google drive, mediafire or an FTP server.
Get permission.
Unless you wanna go be a pirate over at tekkit. Y'ar. I would never reccomend to almost steal mod developers mods without asking them for usage. Getting permissions used to be a pain but now modpack hosts such as FTB and the ATlauncher provide comprehensive sheets explaining if permissions are required for a certain mod.
FTB's list: *LINK*
To find a certain mod just click the 'find' button and input the name of the mod.
Type of modpack
Think about the type of modpack you would like to create and try to make it stand out from the others, e.g. do you wan't the modpack to only contain magic mods? Do you want to make an incredibly OP pack or would you rarther make it hardcore for players because all of these options can normally be determined by which mods/plugins(if your running a server) you choose and by what changes you make to the configs.
and last of all
Prepare to get annoyed & frustrated
I just spent 3 days trying to update 'unity reloaded' a 1.7.10 pack after cauldron conflicted with the Thaumcraft API and had to build the entire back up from the beggining and remove anchors from the world by adjusting the configs because they loaded a thaumcraft object that I needed to remove.
Point proven?
So now ive scared your witless and told you basicly how hard it is. A bit like owning a dog. This list should really help you on your line to success.
DO
Enjoy being able to change and add your own mods
-----------------------------------------------------------
Relish in the fact that you can fix errors much faster than conventional modpacks
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Take requests from the community for new mods
---------------------------------
Understand this modpack is PRIVATE. So you cannot give anyone else but whitelisted players the link
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Enjoy the fact that you (and maybe your modpack team) have created something players should enjoy for the forseable future.
DON'T
Do anything major without backing your world up
--------------------------------------------------------
Change block i.ds willy nilly (1.2.5 - 1.5.2)
-------------------------------
Start a modpack without a place to report bugs
-------------------------------------------
Be restrictive. The more people you have contributing the better
Hope this helps. Please feel free to rant about anything you dissagree with. If I get even one person looking at this thread ile be happy.
Thanks for reading, sorry for the bad spelling.
Enjoy being able to change and add your own mods
-----------------------------------------------------------
Relish in the fact that you can fix errors much faster than conventional modpacks
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Take requests from the community for new mods
---------------------------------
Understand this modpack is PRIVATE. So you cannot give anyone else but whitelisted players the link
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Enjoy the fact that you (and maybe your modpack team) have created something players should enjoy for the forseable future.
DON'T
Do anything major without backing your world up
--------------------------------------------------------
Change block i.ds willy nilly (1.2.5 - 1.5.2)
-------------------------------
Start a modpack without a place to report bugs
-------------------------------------------
Be restrictive. The more people you have contributing the better
Hope this helps. Please feel free to rant about anything you dissagree with. If I get even one person looking at this thread ile be happy.
Thanks for reading, sorry for the bad spelling.
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