What Makes a Modpack
- Thread starter InfidelGB
- Start date
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Okay I'll add my 2 cents, even if its over priced at that, the main selling point for me is a theme & a story, then its the mod list & most times hqm, if by checking the mod list I think I may be forced to down a very narrow path with mods I dislike I normally just pass, as to the unfavored mods often there is a reason, some are clunky, some buggy, often little if any up to date info, & some just seem so out dated like BC pipes, I do like BC but the pipes are like from 1.2.5, for that matter most of BC is now a bit retro, with the new mods on the block & new ones hitting every week it seems, that do all the things we need but often more compact, for me that's one of the points of the game.
I personally look for IO conduits, nodes+pipes & now the new TE ducts returning, like all things modded MC progresses & so do its players, we learn, we develop, & yes we have our own taste in mods, some mods get left behind it happens, if mods do not keep up with the bleeding edge often they can be superseded, as too the reddit crown meh nothing good to say about that lot so I will say nothing.
I personally look for IO conduits, nodes+pipes & now the new TE ducts returning, like all things modded MC progresses & so do its players, we learn, we develop, & yes we have our own taste in mods, some mods get left behind it happens, if mods do not keep up with the bleeding edge often they can be superseded, as too the reddit crown meh nothing good to say about that lot so I will say nothing.
A question to people who remove mods they'll never use: how do you know whether or not you're going to use it? As a personal example, I LOVE enderIO, despite never having tried it before ftb infinity came out. Conversely, IC2 (which I used religiously in ftb ultimate) has barely been touched. I had no way of knowing which mods I would and wouldn't use, so I left them all in. (Side note, the only mod I have removed is hats, because I'm playing on my own and they're annoying to look at).
I honestly think there should be an ftb pack showcasing a bunch of lesser known mods, so the community can decide which ones are the best. This would be especially useful for deciding which mods to later add to a kitchen-sink pack.
Also, calling for the deaths of BC and IC2 is just disgusting. Leaving a mod by the wayside because it's become obsolete and/or irrelevant is one thing. Actively and deliberately trying to kill someone else's project (for any reason) is quite another.
I honestly think there should be an ftb pack showcasing a bunch of lesser known mods, so the community can decide which ones are the best. This would be especially useful for deciding which mods to later add to a kitchen-sink pack.
Also, calling for the deaths of BC and IC2 is just disgusting. Leaving a mod by the wayside because it's become obsolete and/or irrelevant is one thing. Actively and deliberately trying to kill someone else's project (for any reason) is quite another.
I wasn't going exactly for subtle 
I feel you're free to set whatever terms you like (legally) and as far as terms they are not especially ethically odious (no more than I universally dislike EULAs). I wouldn't start an "avoid Reika" movement: only as part of a larger habit to advise others to consider carefully the licenses they agree to. As a general principle I encourage others to use permissively licensed works and for others to choose permissive licenses for their works as I feel it is better for society. I don't feel particularly strongly when it's something inconsequential like a game or mods (I will use use closed source mods or ones that are not permissively licensed, provided the terms are reasonable), but do take a much firmer stance on this principle when it really matters (OS, communications software, file formats, development tools, cryptography).
I don't care for AE2 meteors either, but it's easy enough to disable them and minetweak in other means of obtaining the plates.
I feel you're free to set whatever terms you like (legally) and as far as terms they are not especially ethically odious (no more than I universally dislike EULAs). I wouldn't start an "avoid Reika" movement: only as part of a larger habit to advise others to consider carefully the licenses they agree to. As a general principle I encourage others to use permissively licensed works and for others to choose permissive licenses for their works as I feel it is better for society. I don't feel particularly strongly when it's something inconsequential like a game or mods (I will use use closed source mods or ones that are not permissively licensed, provided the terms are reasonable), but do take a much firmer stance on this principle when it really matters (OS, communications software, file formats, development tools, cryptography).I don't care for AE2 meteors either, but it's easy enough to disable them and minetweak in other means of obtaining the plates.
Celestialphoenix
Too Much Free Time
Personal tastes; we all have our preferred gameplay mechanics, so we'll go for the mods that work with those.
I quite enjoy engineering and design puzzles, so stuff like TE, EIO et al get the axe.
Likewise I'm not the biggest fan of character augmentation which rules out MPS, Simply Jetpacks ect
Casual cheating mods such as minimaps and light level overlays [monster spawn highlight] can go.
Anything that junks up the HUD telling me information I already know annoys the living crap out of me; which cuts another 4.
Likewise I'm not the biggest fan of character augmentation which rules out MPS, Simply Jetpacks ect
Casual cheating mods such as minimaps and light level overlays [monster spawn highlight] can go.
Anything that junks up the HUD telling me information I already know annoys the living crap out of me; which cuts another 4.
Good design concepts. The really good modpack makers here could have a career in the gaming industry.
Does your modpack have a story, or is it more of a sandbox? Each requires the right approach to be done well. Crash Landing has some well thought-out quest lines, while quests in some similar mods are just a sloppy quantity over quality. Blood and Bones is an amazing sandbox that is done almost right, here the important thing is the finely tuned balance of tech progression.
Is it grindy? Is there appropriate automation to deal with the grindy parts? I've played several modpacks where the quests require you to hand in a ton of stuff for no apparent reason (and I mean a freaking ton). Please stand near the oak sieve and right-click it for hours. Boaring. Crash Landing is a good example of decently designed automation of the grindy bits. Regrowth is an example of a pack with good progression concepts, it's very slow and there's a ton of stuff to do, without much grind.
Then you have the choice of mods. If you are relying on less popular mods, will players be able to easily adjust with the in-game clues, or is it going to be like learning quantum physics? Do you think about its system requirements, or are you making a laggy clusterfuck? Are you making a modpack for yourself, or one that more people will enjoy? Are you including weird texture packs and the like, that not everyone is going to like?
A mod pack either has a theme, a purpose for packaging mods (kitchen sink packs for everything, lite packs for low end PCs), great configs, or is just some mods people like using together. In essence, a modpack IS just a collection of mods, but the purpose is what makes one unique.
OK my thoughts for this. What makes a modpack. Simple answer MODS. Any, everyone of them. I like kitchen sink packs because you can just do anything given you have enough resources. Not one way to do a task. makes every play through different. I like themed packs because its someone else's way of telling a "story" and you can be apart of it. Hqm is great for this as well. And the creative perspective of maps and such make them fun and different. Mods make a pack wat you do with them (rather it be themed, kitchen sink, or anything else its called) defines and shapes it into something more than just a list. This comes from a "veteran" modded minecraft player. Played with mods since 1.6 beta and played anything I could to have fun and see how others like to play.
Themed packs are fun but not for everybody.
Kitchen sink packs exist fir that very purpose. Anyone can jump in and have fun at their own pace instead of being forced to follow a certain progression route.
Ever since the release of 1.7.10, I've been running my own compilation since item ID conflicts is almost gone.
I've tried tech only kitchen sinks, magic only kitchen sinks as well as a mixed kitchen sink. And I've enjoyed them so far.
I dislike playing themed packs solo. I might be persuaded to play a hard themed pack if I go friends to play with... /sigh.
Kitchen sink packs exist fir that very purpose. Anyone can jump in and have fun at their own pace instead of being forced to follow a certain progression route.
Ever since the release of 1.7.10, I've been running my own compilation since item ID conflicts is almost gone.
I've tried tech only kitchen sinks, magic only kitchen sinks as well as a mixed kitchen sink. And I've enjoyed them so far.
I dislike playing themed packs solo. I might be persuaded to play a hard themed pack if I go friends to play with... /sigh.