Workflow guide?

[williewillus]

Hey guys I'm new to FTB (and modded MC in general)
Is there any specific order you guys recommend to proceed through the various mods?
If any of you play StarCraft, it's kind of like build lists (what to build when)
e.g. when you get redstone, do this, when you get that, do that, etc. etc.
Thanks!

 

[Bibble]

One of the main points of the mod is that there are a number of ways to do it.

IC2 was my first way, but I've recently been trying thermal expansion, with railcraft steam as the power.

As a general guideline, I'd advise working towards an ore-doubling system, then self-sufficient power.

 

[williewillus]

Back in Tekkit, I would always do EE2 first to get unlimited resources and then develop from there.
Now, without that, I'm thinking IC2 solars first? Or maybe Thermal Expansion lava energy or Forestry Engines + BuildCraft

 

[Darlock Ahe]

Magma crucibles + geothermals + magma engines make a very good combo for starting power generation. This system will be almost self sustaining (except need for netherrack) and will cover your basic energy needs.
Afterwards you can automate it with railcraft or enderchests, making it 99% self sustaining.

 

[SilvasRuin]

I could write a whole page of chronological tips to follow for an efficient progression, but I'm going to trust you can look up for yourself anything I mention you don't understand.

Take care of necessities and things on the surface first, such as establishing farms for the basic renewable resources and food. Keep in mind that Books are valuable in FTB. So is Clay, and starting on gathering Bees (use a Scoop) early won't hurt either, especially if you can steal some Apiaries from a village. It's never too early to get a Coke Oven started.

Your first goal/milestone should be doubling your mining output. The Pulverizer + Engine is cheaper than the Macerator + Generator. You will want both eventually as they each have their advantages (look at their recipes) but the Pulverizer's advantages are more important to start with. Eventually the Pulverizer will be made obsolete by the Industrial Grinder once FTB includes the updated GregTech, but even then the Industrial Grinder will not be available nearly as soon in the "tech tree".

The second milestone to aim for is the Rock Cutter, a Silk Touch electric tool, for use with the Macerator to expand your increased yields further. This is especially valuable for Redstone, even over Fortune III, but it also works on ores Fortune does not such as Apatite, Uranium, and Iridium. The Igneous Extruder can help you get to the Nether early to start gathering materials for assembling a Blast Furnace for Steel production. Keep in mind as well that the necessary Diamonds can be synthesized from 3 stacks of Coal using the Macerator and Compressor.

I doubt I need to explain the IC2 and GregTech progression as those should be pretty simple and (mostly) straightforward. Just follow the crafting recipes. Be aware, however, that the Rolling Machine is a Railcraft device and thus requires BuildCraft compatible power, or Minecraft Joules. Now that you're established, you'll want to poke around online for ideas for MJ and Electrical Units generation and management. You'll also want to decide what to do with your first 1-11 Diamonds. Nanosuit and the Quarry are two obvious choices, but using one to get into the Twilight Forest to obtain an Uncrafting Bench is very, very useful in combination with the Enchanting Table and Anvil.

 

[Darlock Ahe]

The Igneous Extruder can help you get to the Nether early to start gathering materials for assembling a Blast Furnace for Steel production.

You can get to nether much earlier, all you need is a bucket, lava lake and water source.

 

[Antice]

I tend towards going for energy before food trough forestry myself. That is i get my food from my energy production if i have the resources to set it up early. biofuel can be really awesome since it can be used to both make MJ's for Buildcraft energy and EU's for IC energy.
Getting beeswax can be nice as well. saves you on using tin for capsules when needing to manually fill a water hungry device you don't plan on keeping at that spot for too long. (setting up a pump can be a bit of a bother if you are short on space in your "workshop"

 

[Decrayer]

I have a nice start:

1. Build your first house, look for rubber trees and plant some next to your house.
2. Mine for 3 Diamonds, craft yourself a mining turtle and write yourself a program so you can enter a number for the distance and it digs a 1x2 tunnel. With that you can stripmine very fast for more diamonds. Also you can use it to farm Obsidian Ore very fast.
3. Try to get a macerator for doubling your ore outcome.
4. Set up a manual tree farm (so you get charcoal for your turtle and for step 4) with this pattern:
x0x0x0x0x0x0x0x
00000000000000
0x0x0x0x0x0x0x0
00000000000000
x0x0x0x0x0x0x0x

x = torch
0 = sampling
This setup is good since it makes replanting the samplings very easy and it is very compact.


5. Head for 11 Diamonds, 16 Gold and about 28 Iron. Craft yourself a Quarry and set that up with a couple of stone engines
6. Head for a Fermenter to create biomass. Then switch your quarry to biogas engines.
7. head for more diamonds to build:
Diamond pipes to sort the outcome from your quarry (and maybe if you are drowning in cobble and eart, sort them out right after they come out of your quarry and pipe them into a void tube to destroy them).
A logger to semi-automate your treefarm (you only need to plant trees if you have a logger).
8. Build a second quarry and an automated ore processing and smelting fabric. You can choose what system you go for, either IC2 or Thermal Expansion.
IC2 is easier, but Thermal Expansion yields a bigger outcome since some metals have sidemetalls in them (copper has a chance for gold for example).

And then you are free to do whatever you want.

 

[MrAgle]

Keep in mind that Books are valuable in FTB. So is Clay...

If you can find one of the big silver veins early in the game, Factorization might be a good route to take. You'll need all that silver, and the lead you'll get by smelting the silver in a slag furnace, to get your power supply set up. Silver for reflective mirrors, and lead for wiring, battery production, etc. But it's worth it. For one, it's a good way to double your ore output using free solar power - even triple it if you use a crystalizer, but be warned, the crystalizer is SLOW - and as a bonus, it produces sludge as a waste product.

Combining dirt plus sludge and water in a Factorization mixer will produce clay. If you automate the process, using two mixers - one for ore and one for sludge - you'll soon enough have stacks of clay. More than enough for your coke ovens later in the game!

EDIT: Once you have coke ovens, you'll want a blast furnace, too. That's going to require a fair amount of slimeballs, since the materials require magma cream. Your Factorization crystalizer is your friend here, too - combine milk and lime dye in the crystalizer to produce homemade slimeballs!

 

[SilvasRuin]

Factorization's process provides a sizeable source of Clay, yes, but that only helps you recoup the costs of setting Factorization up and fuel later expansions to it. I pointed that out because players have to gather a fair amount from generation in order to fully set up. I also feel like it's worth getting started on Coke production right away, instead of waiting for Factorization to get built up first.

 

[zemerick]

For BC engine, I liked Peat. It's fairly simple and cheap ( Dirt, Sand, Water. ), manages itself to produce a large surplus, and lasts for a long time. A safe Plains+Desert checkered mystcraft age makes the sand and dirt extremely easy to get manually.

Remember with BC power to use conduits and redstone cells as soon as possible.

To get books, look for a village and steal their bookshelves. About 3-4 villages and you should be good for a maxed out enchanting table as well as plenty of books for Mystcraft ages, depending on your luck.

 

[Exedra]

I started with factorization first. Its rough to begin, but good fun. Im then using some IC2, and then some bees.