The last pack that I really put time in to was Ultimate (I know that’s ancient by today’s standards) and loved it. I’ve always wanted the old GregTech before everything went super grindy, but on 1.7.10. From what I’ve seen, I also didn’t like the direction that many modpacks are going in with magic blocks and super OP gear. This style of play may be fine for others but I like a challenge. I like thinking about how to design power grids, automated systems and the sense of having earned things. I’ve taken multiple stabs at making my own modpack, but have quit due to boredom, frustration, or just not having the free time. But, I was recently looking through the IC2 forums, trying to decide if I should give it another shot and found it. GregTech Reborn. This is exactly what I was looking for, so I’ve been trying to catch up on modded Minecraft but there’s a lot of information out there that’s outdated or simply not there. So I need the help of the FTB community here. But before that, I should probably give you an outline of the tone I’m going for with this modpack.
Like I said before, I’d like to encourage planning and thinking about how to do things so for the main tech mod I’m going with good ol’ IC2 with GregTech Reborn. Thermal Expansion seems to be everyone’s favorite tech mod right now but it just seems so easy and bland, just my opinion. I “grew up” on IC2 and really like the GT multi-block machines and forms of high level power generation/usage. Without TE, players wouldn’t have a Tesseract to rely on either so it would force them to build rail or piping systems. I also don’t like how fear of mobs and hunger is basically non-existent in modded MC so I’ve also included Hunger Overhaul, Spice of Life, The Thirst Mod, Deadly World and Zombie Awareness. One thing I did find while playing Ultimate was that I spent A LOT of time at the crafting table. Mods like AE2 & Super Crafting Frame will help mitigate that tedium and with the Aether II and the Twilight Forest, there will be interesting dimensions to explore. Most of the other mods are just staples in modpacks today that I liked, mods some buddies requested, or tools for making the pack exactly how I want. My overall goal is to provide the player with a challenging, heavily integrated and cohesive pack with plenty of content.
So on to the questions! The first is just an opinion but let the flame war begin… Why do people all of a sudden seem to hate IC2? Has something drastically changed that I’m not aware of between IC2 & experimental? Is there a mod where I can create my own custom trees, make them a template, and then make them replace all other natural trees when the world generates? I absolutely abhor vanilla trees & would love to have pretty trees all over the world. What’s the best piping mod for my playstyle, kind of Buildcraft-esque that can be a little more compacted, and not Ender IO please! Is there a way to disable mobs & players from showing on JourneyMap? Is there a way I could add my own TiC tool parts? Any suggestions on mods that could add to the difficulty and do any mods included have very OP features that I need to deal with? How could I disable the use of jetpacks in the Twilight Forest, and possibly Aether? Those things just make boss battles too easy imo. Using Iguana’s Tinker Tweaks, could I set what material can mine certain ores? I also need a mod to massively increase the health or damage of mobs. I think it would be cool if avoiding them rather than fighting would be encouraged until getting a solid set of gear. And is there a mod or way I could set the damage of modded weapons, to balance TC & IC2 somewhat with TiC? Does culling features from NEI, using INpure Core reduce lag? I’m sure I’ll randomly think of some more things so I’ll ask them as they pop up.
Aether II
Applied Energistics 2
Better Storage
BiblioCraft
Biomes O’ Plenty
Botania
Buildcraft
- Buildcraft Compatibility
Chicken Chunks
Chisel 2
ComputerCraft
- Open Peripherals
Cosmetic Armor
Custom Items
Custom Main Menu
Deadly World
Dragon Mounts
Ender Storage
FastCraft
Forestry
- Binnie’s Mods
Forge Multipart
Growthcraft
Hardcore Questing Mode
Hunger Overhaul
- The Spice of Life
IndustrialCraft 2 Experimental
- Advanced Solar Panels
- Gravitation Suite
- GregTech Reborn
- Nuclear Control
INpure Core
Inventory Tweaks
JABBA
JourneyMap
Lava Monsters
Loot ++
Mine & Blade: Battlegear 2
MineTweaker 3
- Mod Tweaker 2
Mo’ Creatures
NEI
- NEI Addons
- NEI Integration
- Thaumcraft NEI Plugin
- WAILA
Open Blocks
Pam’s Harvestcraft
Pistronics 2
Project Red
Railcraft
Random Things
Resource Loader
Roguelike Dungeons
Super Crafting Frame
Thaumcraft
- Forbidden Magic
- Thaumic Exploration
- Thaumic Tinkerer
The Thirst Mod
The Twilight Forest
Tinker’s Construct
- Iguana’s Tinker Tweaks
- TiC Tooltips
- Tinkers’ Mechworks
- Tinkers’ Steelworks
Wireless Redstone: Chicken Bones Edition
Applied Energistics 2
Better Storage
BiblioCraft
Biomes O’ Plenty
Botania
Buildcraft
- Buildcraft Compatibility
Chicken Chunks
Chisel 2
ComputerCraft
- Open Peripherals
Cosmetic Armor
Custom Items
Custom Main Menu
Deadly World
Dragon Mounts
Ender Storage
FastCraft
Forestry
- Binnie’s Mods
Forge Multipart
Growthcraft
Hardcore Questing Mode
Hunger Overhaul
- The Spice of Life
IndustrialCraft 2 Experimental
- Advanced Solar Panels
- Gravitation Suite
- GregTech Reborn
- Nuclear Control
INpure Core
Inventory Tweaks
JABBA
JourneyMap
Lava Monsters
Loot ++
Mine & Blade: Battlegear 2
MineTweaker 3
- Mod Tweaker 2
Mo’ Creatures
NEI
- NEI Addons
- NEI Integration
- Thaumcraft NEI Plugin
- WAILA
Open Blocks
Pam’s Harvestcraft
Pistronics 2
Project Red
Railcraft
Random Things
Resource Loader
Roguelike Dungeons
Super Crafting Frame
Thaumcraft
- Forbidden Magic
- Thaumic Exploration
- Thaumic Tinkerer
The Thirst Mod
The Twilight Forest
Tinker’s Construct
- Iguana’s Tinker Tweaks
- TiC Tooltips
- Tinkers’ Mechworks
- Tinkers’ Steelworks
Wireless Redstone: Chicken Bones Edition
Like I said before, I’d like to encourage planning and thinking about how to do things so for the main tech mod I’m going with good ol’ IC2 with GregTech Reborn. Thermal Expansion seems to be everyone’s favorite tech mod right now but it just seems so easy and bland, just my opinion. I “grew up” on IC2 and really like the GT multi-block machines and forms of high level power generation/usage. Without TE, players wouldn’t have a Tesseract to rely on either so it would force them to build rail or piping systems. I also don’t like how fear of mobs and hunger is basically non-existent in modded MC so I’ve also included Hunger Overhaul, Spice of Life, The Thirst Mod, Deadly World and Zombie Awareness. One thing I did find while playing Ultimate was that I spent A LOT of time at the crafting table. Mods like AE2 & Super Crafting Frame will help mitigate that tedium and with the Aether II and the Twilight Forest, there will be interesting dimensions to explore. Most of the other mods are just staples in modpacks today that I liked, mods some buddies requested, or tools for making the pack exactly how I want. My overall goal is to provide the player with a challenging, heavily integrated and cohesive pack with plenty of content.
So on to the questions! The first is just an opinion but let the flame war begin… Why do people all of a sudden seem to hate IC2? Has something drastically changed that I’m not aware of between IC2 & experimental? Is there a mod where I can create my own custom trees, make them a template, and then make them replace all other natural trees when the world generates? I absolutely abhor vanilla trees & would love to have pretty trees all over the world. What’s the best piping mod for my playstyle, kind of Buildcraft-esque that can be a little more compacted, and not Ender IO please! Is there a way to disable mobs & players from showing on JourneyMap? Is there a way I could add my own TiC tool parts? Any suggestions on mods that could add to the difficulty and do any mods included have very OP features that I need to deal with? How could I disable the use of jetpacks in the Twilight Forest, and possibly Aether? Those things just make boss battles too easy imo. Using Iguana’s Tinker Tweaks, could I set what material can mine certain ores? I also need a mod to massively increase the health or damage of mobs. I think it would be cool if avoiding them rather than fighting would be encouraged until getting a solid set of gear. And is there a mod or way I could set the damage of modded weapons, to balance TC & IC2 somewhat with TiC? Does culling features from NEI, using INpure Core reduce lag? I’m sure I’ll randomly think of some more things so I’ll ask them as they pop up.