Which Modpack for me?

[Boldar]

Hi,
in the past i always made my own (private) modpack (just for me, or maximum one or two friends), but now i want to have it at least loosely based on an existing pack to save the lot of config-work.
I always had gregtech in the past, but want to skip it now and try a different approach.
I want a kind of Magic-Centered Pack.
These Mods are kind of Must-have:

• Applied Energistics
• Buildcraft
• Thermalexpansion
• Factorization
• MFR
• Thaumcraft (+Automagy, tainted magic, forbidden magic, witching gadgets)
• ars Magica
• Botany
• ex nihilo
• aura cascade
• redlogic
• RemainInMotion
• extra utilities
• Twilight Forest
• railcraft
• reactorcraft
• pams Harvestcraft

I think that i at least need to add some mods to the pack i choose, but don't know which what to start.
Any suggestions on which pack i should base this?
lg Boldar

 

[Inaeo]

As you suspected, there isn't a pack that contains all of the mods you've listed, but using either Infinity or DW20 as a base and adding and subtracting from there is likely your best bet.

I can't help noticing you have listed Reactorcraft, but not RotaryCraft. Be aware that RoC (and DragonAPI) is a prerequisite here. Also, if you're going to add those, you may as well add ElectriCraft and ChromatiCraft. ElectriCraft helps to move your shaft power around, particularly over distance. ChromatiCraft is Reika's take on a research/magic mod, and since you're aiming for magic-centric, it's worth a look (note that it adds some immovable world gen).

 

[Boldar]

Ok, thanks for the reply.
I mentioned Reactorcraft because i wanted a replace for the IC2/Gregtech reactors and liked the screenshots i saw. I will follow your suggestion then about RoC, ElectriCraft and ChromatiCraft.
Another Question is then how to handle OreGen. I know there are several Oregen mods out there like CustomOreGen and that per Fabrica Ad Astra thing, i think i should use one of them. Without Gregtech i hope it will be easier to configure.
lg Boldar

 

[Inaeo]

If you are looking for a replacement reactor without all the associated mods, some people here on the forums have been using NuclearCraft. I've heard mostly good things about it, but I've not played with it myself. Perhaps @Pyure could give a brief overview of his experience?

So far as Ore Gen, you have already listed Thermal Expansion as a must have mod. COFHcore is one of the most powerful world generation tools I've ever played with, and just so happens to be the core mod for the Thermal Expansion/Dynamics/Foundation group. It can allow you to not only unify all your ores, but determine their spawning mechanics. For instance, in my current world, I have configured all my ores to spawn in infrequent but large veins - once you find one, you're set for a while. I also configured each ore to its own depth range based on tier, and reconfigured the TiCo gravel ores to spawn inside of naturally occurring gravel pockets. The json file editing takes a little work and getting used to, but once you understand how it works, the options are amazing.

For COFHcore json editing, I found this post to be quite helpful:
http://forum.feed-the-beast.com/threads/cofh-core-ores-and-more.87151/

 

[Pyure]

If you are looking for a replacement reactor without all the associated mods, some people here on the forums have been using NuclearCraft. I've heard mostly good things about it, but I've not played with it myself. Perhaps @Pyure could give a brief overview of his experience?

So far as Ore Gen, you have already listed Thermal Expansion as a must have mod. COFHcore is one of the most powerful world generation tools I've ever played with, and just so happens to be the core mod for the Thermal Expansion/Dynamics/Foundation group. It can allow you to not only unify all your ores, but determine their spawning mechanics. For instance, in my current world, I have configured all my ores to spawn in infrequent but large veins - once you find one, you're set for a while. I also configured each ore to its own depth range based on tier, and reconfigured the TiCo gravel ores to spawn inside of naturally occurring gravel pockets. The json file editing takes a little work and getting used to, but once you understand how it works, the options are amazing.

For COFHcore json editing, I found this post to be quite helpful:
http://forum.feed-the-beast.com/threads/cofh-core-ores-and-more.87151/

Its funny, I already had a half-typed response in this thread because I saw it earlier and had to abort for whatever reason.

Regarding NuclearCraft: if the OP is at all interested in ReactorCraft reactors, he may not be particularly interested in NuclearCraft. ReactorCraft removed an awful lot of abstraction and goes for a very emergent architecture: there's a virtually infinite number of possibilities when attempting to design a reactor.

That said, if he's interested in Big Reactors at all, now may be an interesting time to look into NC. The developer is probably within weeks of producing actively-cooled reactors (steam). There's a lot of interesting radioactive isotopes to play with. There's also fusion, although its undergoing some largescale changes as well.

I'd probably recommend waiting a month or two before hopping into NC just because its in the middle of a big dev cycle.

 

[Inaeo]

I figured you're around enough that you wouldn't mind being summoned for some objective opinion.

I don't want it to come off that I am in any way poopooing on RotaryCraft and Reactorcraft. My current custom pack features both of them, and I'm loving it. I just wanted to present new options, and I wasn't sure how much investment OP was looking for. Reactorcraft requires a substantial investment in time and setup before you even scratch the surface, but the whole suite is a fantastic play.

 

[Pyure]

Concur on all counts.

 

[Azzanine]

You could make a rather well rounded pack with just RoC, ElC, ReC and ChC. Maybe some quality of life/ adventure mods sprinkled in here and there.

As far as OP goes though; you will be hard pressed to find Factorization, Ars Magica or remain in motion in a pack.

Factorization is kind of a black sheep mod. Not nessesarily bad but outshone by other mods, usually gets overlooked.

Ars Magica is only bearly being developed for, there's a bug ridden version for 1.7.10. I'd be surprised if there was a version compatible with the most current 1.7.10 forge.

Remain in motion is sort of a fringe mod. I think it's a poor mans Funky locomotion but I could be wrong.


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[Boldar]

As mentioned, i had Gregtech in my previous packs, and quite liked it, so i am absolut positive that i am looking for a huge "investment". I decided to drop Gregtech to try out something new, and also feel that it does not fit into a magic themed pack because it is a bit too invasive. So when looking for some complexity, RotaryCraft and Reactorcraft feels nice. Also, i haven't tried any of them and really want to try them out.

So i made a pack based on infinity, removed forestry and ic2 and bigreactors and all their addons and added the mentioned mods, and it seems to run just fine after a bit fine-tuning. I only noticed, that with default-config the density of the Chromaticraft Pylons is quite high, so maybe i will reduce them a bit. But on the other Hand, since they can be destroyed and scavenged for the node if they are too annoying close to the base, it might be fine.
I also noticed that factorization changed quite a bit since i last used it. Back then it only had ore-processing, but now it seems to have much more content.
So again thanks for all your answers.
lg Boldar

 

[Inaeo]

In my limited experience with ChromatiCraft (try as I may with my ancient CPU, I just can't get any performance while using it), the pylons were a bit intrusive. I found more than one village besieged by a pylon, that inevitably led to a ghost town. I'm not sure how it would affect the playability of the mod, but spreading the pylons out a bit more might feel better. As I said, my exposure to ChromatiCraft is a tainted experiment at best, but I will be trying to play with it again at some point.

I do love RoC as a tech base for magic themed packs, as it has enough answers for automation and processing, but not a lot of gimmickry. The style of the mod also allows for a stark contrast between the reality of science and the mysticism of magic. Glad you're having fun with your new pack.