[WIP] Running Red: Descent

buggirlexpres

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Ladies and gentlemen, I have returned to my first pack, the original Running Red. But this time, it's going to be in 1.7.10.
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Running Red: Descent is the remake of the original Running Red for 1.7.10. Ordinarily, I would call it something like Running Red 2.0, but I wanted to avoid confusion with Vampire Money. So, here we are. I hope, that with all my increased knowledge of modpack creation, I will be able to create a pack even more enjoyable than the original.

The concept is the same. Stranded on an island in the middle of the sky, you are forced to ponder why you got here whilst giving up your blood. Most of the symbolism remains the same as in the first pack, so I won't bother explaining that here.

But, based on feedback of many persons, I've decided to overhaul many of the mechanics that people complained about. For instance, instead of spending the non-renewable golden apples, the player will be allowed to grow their own method of regeneration. As well, I've removed the need to put logs through the Altar in order to create planks, allowing for far less early-game grinding.

But just the same, I've introduced new mechanics. I've put more of a focus on the Alchemic Chemistry Set, and boy, am I going to have fun with reagents. Although blood will be part of every activity you take part in, you won't spend all your time grinding at the Altar anymore.

I've cut down on the modlist to make it only mods I plan to use in the pack, and I'll be taking full advantage of CustomItems and Minetweaker to give a much more centralized experience, as in Phoenix Reborn. I'll provide tweaks to mobs depending on the condition, as in Vampire Money. But don't let that scare you - this isn't going to be a combat pack.

Now, the part you've all been waiting for... screenshots. I'll only be showing off the starting islands for this. Obviously, I tried to stick with the theme and order of islands provided by the first pack. So, here you go:
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The beginning island. Nothing special here. There will be a sapling there, I just didn't want trees growing while I built. This obviously sticks pretty closely to the original starting island. A Altar, chest, and sapling. One major improvement of this island is that it is in the blue area, not the black area with the irritating dark box.
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The second island, the blood lake, has changed significantly. Not only does it look much nicer now, but it also sticks more with the theme of the pack. Gone are the days when things looked lively - now we've just got a small island that looks as dry and dead as the rest of the place.
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And the witches' circle? Well, it's changed. You'll have to find out how exactly it did, aside from style, for yourself.

Early game has changed significantly. Although the early items may only be obtainable via the Blood Altar, you will quickly be obtaining items in other manners.
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The first new mechanic, the Blood Infused Wheat, is accessible very early on. This wheat presents an interesting mechanic. It can be grown and harvested like normal wheat, however, it can be eaten in it's raw wheat form. Eaten this way, it will provide Regeneration for twenty seconds. If turned into bread, it will apply Regeneration II for twenty seconds. So, one can choose between more overall regeneration or a faster, albeit shorter amount of regen.
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Gone is Ex Nihilo. Your leaves can be harvested very early game, using Bound Shears. In fact, most tools you'll be making use of early on will drain from your pool of life, instead of durability. So, you'd better watch your health, as some of this may be happening before you obtain a soul network.
Leaves will be used instead of saplings to be turned into dirt. And don't worry, it's fast this time. You'll have your dirt before you can say "He finally learned how to use proper drain rates!"
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Cobblestone, however, is obtained in a different fashion. You'll be making use of the Alchemic Chemistry Set to transmute your dirt into cobblestone. This works in varying degrees of efficiency. If you put one dirt in, the process will consume more overall blood. But, if you put five dirt in at a time, you'll get a much more efficient way of transmuting dirt into cobble.
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In addition to the Bound Shears, your early game tools will be Blood Infused Wooden ones. These tools are able to do whatever stone can do, but at a cost of blood. Once again, you'll need to watch out before you get yours soul network.

Now that you've seen all the things I've planned to change from the original, at least for the early game, it's time for you to speak up. What did you like from the original that you want me to keep? What didn't you like that you want me to get rid of? I'm looking to make a pack that is more fun for everybody involved, and honestly, I need your opinions to do so.
 

CaptPanda

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Well this looks cheery.

The new mechanics do look interesting, that's for certain. I did find it strange how ex nihilo was only in it for the earlygame, and the map does look more thematically consistent.

Gratz man, looks good.
 

Feed the beast 122

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hey so when your ready for any testing to happen like alpha/beta i would gladly like to help by testing this modpack (loved your other two modpacks both very awesome.)
 

Turmfalke

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I didn't liked the thermal expansion machines, they felt a bit off in the modpack. Also I hope the house of hades is going to be a bit more interesting than a default minecraft nether fortress.
 

buggirlexpres

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hey so when your ready for any testing to happen like alpha/beta i would gladly like to help by testing this modpack (loved your other two modpacks both very awesome.)
We'll see when it's time for that :)
I didn't liked the thermal expansion machines, they felt a bit off in the modpack. Also I hope the house of hades is going to be a bit more interesting than a default minecraft nether fortress.
As for the Nether Fortresses, they will definitely be improved. The Thermal Expansion Machines will stay, though.
 
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NunoAgapito

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YES!!!!

I want this so much!!!!

And I am so glad that you decided to go much deeper into BM mechanics. To me, was the only thing missing in RR1.0, but yeah... the contest didnt gave you time for more!
I hope that this time you have plans to go full deep on BM and witchery. Reagents, BM speels, killing the demons, making a tier 5/6 altar, werewolf's.... :p
 

Razerlution

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Awesome! I loved RR1.0 and I can't wait for an updated version.

Are you planning to flesh out the story more? I loved the story from the quests but it felt sorta empty at the end, I wanted so much more to do but everything was already done.

If I may make a suggestion:
If you plan to keep the questline mostly the same, could you please make it so all quests can be available in a single playthrough? In RR1.0 there was a point where you chose between a Pneumaticcraft line and a Witchery line, and once you chose 1 you couldn't do the other at all. Maybe have the same concept, but once you 100% the line you choose, the other line opens up?


(Oh and like ftb122 said, if you ever have closed beta/alpha testing I would love to participate :) )
 
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buggirlexpres

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I loved the story from the quests but it felt sorta empty at the end,
Not sure, that is actually a nice effect (leaving the ending empty). It's either that or try to make the ending as sad as possible.
If you plan to keep the questline mostly the same, could you please make it so all quests can be available in a single playthrough? In RR1.0 there was a point where you chose between a Pneumaticcraft line and a Witchery line, and once you chose 1 you couldn't do the other at all. Maybe have the same concept, but once you 100% the line you choose, the other line opens up?
Yeah, they will all be playable this time.
 

Adiem

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I really enjoyed the original Running Red. Of all the JamPacked entries, it was the only one I played to completion. I think my favorite things were the use of oreberries to generate resources instead of Ex Nihilo and the way Blood Magic was incorporated in just about all stages of the quest line. One thing I disliked were all the recipes that required a bucket of water or blood to craft. Liquicrafters helped not make it too annoying, but I had to discover those myself. I don't remember if they were ever mentioned in the quest book. However, it sounds like you'll be converting recipes like these into alchemical recipes, so no problems there. All in all, I look forward to seeing what you come up with in the remake.
 
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goreae

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I really enjoyed the original Running Red. Of all the JamPacked entries, it was the only one I played to completion. I think my favorite things were the use of oreberries to generate resources instead of Ex Nihilo and the way Blood Magic was incorporated in just about all stages of the quest line. One thing I disliked were all the recipes that required a bucket of water or blood to craft. Liquicrafters helped not make it too annoying, but I had to discover those myself. I don't remember if they were ever mentioned in the quest book. However, it sounds like you'll be converting recipes like these into alchemical recipes, so no problems there. All in all, I look forward to seeing what you come up with in the remake.
There's also the Cyclic Assembler, which a lot of people overlook.
 

Nezraddin

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I agree that the "oreberry-bushes as metal-ressource" was really great, hope that stays in. However I think they should be worth only 1 ingots this time at best. (If I remember correctly they were worth 2 ingots, 4 with pulverizer). Maybe something with the alchemical-stuff to turn them into ores before they can be used or so (just as an idea :p)

Mekanism was something I liked and disliked in the pack. While I really liked it's power-generation and it's cables, the rest felt kinda wrong in the pack.
Besides that I'm not a big fan of MFR anymore. Love the mod, but it made things too often too easy (and there are nice, fresh alternatives for stuff like tree-farms, cropfarms and such stuff)

[edit]
Ah and:
With the witches circle I guess it's no question, but: Witchery!
Aboslutely love the mod (besides the wolf-killing, poor wolfies :( ). Just trying to get a bat and a wolf was quiet a bit painful (and the only thing when I think back that I really, really loved MFR in the original for it's auto-spawner ^^)
 
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PokeMaserJ

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Just wondering. There a link to Custom Items mod? Or is it like Jaded Blood and it's only for this pack?