Some thoughts/feedback on modpack philosphy

[D3matt]

I see that a lot of packs, particularly the Technic official packs, seem to focus on getting as many mods as possible to work together. While this is certainly a worthy task, I don't think it necessarily makes a good mod pack. Looking through, for example, Big Dig, I can't really figure out what makes it substantially different from, say, Tekkit Lite. They both have massively cluttered mod lists with about 5 different duplicates of most items and machines.

Voltz is much more my cup of tea. Small, yet covering all the bases, without substantial unnecessary overlap, and everything works. This is truly an elegant pack. This is what I believe makes a truly good mod pack. And yet so few packs seem to take this high road. It seems everybody would rather put as much in as possible to appeal to as many of the short-attention-span children as possible to be as popular as possible.

I'm curious, what does the rest of the community have to say on this subject?

[RalphRoberts]

I say; Get that fanboy crap outta here!

On a more serious note, I think Voltz is best for a pvp server, and most other modpacks are suited to "peace" servers.

[D3matt]

But why? That seems like it should be more related to the content of the included mods than the number of mods.

[RalphRoberts]

Because Voltz is simple, easy, and quick. The others are mostly very complex, making it hard to compete with someone else if they get a head start.

[D3matt]

I see. I guess that makes sense. But what about a modpack that would be good for a "peace" server that are similarly simple and lightweight? Is such a thing possible, in your opinion? Personally I think yes, I've never been a fan of having 5 mods that do the same thing just for the sake of having them.

[RalphRoberts]

Yeah, I guess its possible, but Voltz is just geared for war don't ya think?

[D3matt]

I'm not so sure, honestly. No more so than anything else, tbh. There are plenty of "war" mods and items in Tekkit. Just because catching up is harder doesn't make it less of a battle mod. The same head start characteristics apply to any type of server. Although, if anything this just goes to support what I said about mod packs having too many mods. Tekkit doesn't really know what it wants to be, it just packs as much in as possible trying to attract as many people as possible. Same story with almost every pack I've looked at on here. Few seem to have such a well-defined purpose or just clean modlists as voltz.

[RalphRoberts]

You speak the truth, and TBH, I am not sure what to say to that!

[miniboxer]

Every reply you make further shows you don't know what you are talking about.

[Torezu]

Few seem to have such a well-defined purpose or just clean modlists as voltz.

I have a very simple reason for wanting to pack as many mods in as possible. I like to experiment with different types of machines, etc., and new mods, and I like to play survival. I don't want to get a very good start, which takes hours to weeks to accomplish, on a server, then discover another mod I want to play around with (Thaumcraft, for example, which is rather resource intensive for research) and discover that I need to start all over building up resources on a different server. I also like to incorporate elements from several different mods in my machine rooms and buildings. Sealed doors from Thaumcraft on an engineering block wall from Xycraft? Yes, I can and will do that.

Bottom line: different people have different play styles. Pick a mod pack you like, and don't jump on others because they don't fit your standard.

[D3matt]

Every reply you make further shows you don't know what you are talking about.

I love how you support you assertion very nicely, I'll be sure to take that into consideration.

Who's jumping on anybody? I'm just trying to figure out why there are no "lightweight" packs out there. You do bring up a valid point though, some people get bored of one thing after a few days and want to try something else.

[freakachu]

the technic packs aren't actually about stuffing everything possible into one pack. if you want to see what that looks like, check out the plus+ packs as that literally is the goal of those packs.

I find having multiple ways to do any given thing to be rather nice, as sometimes one mod's particular method of operation works better for whatever I'm making than another one does. obviously, it's all personal preference of course and no one is going to force you to play tekkit lite if you don't want to. just play what you like, who cares if others agree with you?

[theprolo]

I think there are less smaller modpacks because having less mods can be less interesting, so less people play packs with less mods because they enjoy variety and options. Trying to stick to a single theme can also be very constraining for the mods you can use, which can be frustrating when you can't use the mods I want.

[CanVox]

I think each modpack should generally try and support a single style of play relatively well. If you don't understand the appeal another modpack, it MIGHT mean it's a badly-designed pack, but it also might mean that it's designed around a style of play you aren't interested in. So obviously, there's a lot of tech mod overlap between Big Dig and Tekkit, but if you've played both, it's hard to argue that they're similar. The actual way the two mods play is very, very different.

But even though those two mods cover a lot of tech mod bases, there's probably room for even more tech packs- An IC2-centric pack that prominently features gregtech and is centered around tedium difficulty could be a lot of fun, although I don't think I'd play it myself. There's a lot more to a modpack than just the mod selection, is my point. Modpacks can be differentiated entirely by their configurations.

Also, a large mod selection evokes a particular play style (individual or small team projects, lots of experimentation with different mods), and a small mod selection evokes a particular play style more akin to a vanilla server (focused megaprojects, PVP).

Voltz's playstyle is interesting- it has very few automation mods, no automining at all, and even automatic ore processing and autocrafting takes a large time investment. This makes it good for a more vanilla-feeling minecraft experience, since everything has to be built by hand. Fun for new players, with some great projects to work toward, that don't just turn into waiting on quarries. This is just one game you can play with minecraft, though. When you make modpacks, you're pretty much trying to make a new, coherent game out of minecraft and some mods. I don't know that we always succeed, but I think it's myopic to see Voltz's game as the only game possible.

[Sev]

Voltz is based off a "universal" API. Tekkit Lite etc is based off of automate all the things and have motherfreaking fun

[Cheap Shot]

I think you're generalizing a bit. We're actually pretty choosy on which mods we want in. If you honestly think we just want to cram as many in as we can without caring, you haven't seen the plus packs before then. Ours are pretty reserved compared to many out there. Overall gameplay quality over quantity or popularity.

[Sev]

I don't no, I was a bit rushed to type so I kinda generalized yeah.

[Cheap Shot]

I don't no, I was a bit rushed to type so I kinda generalized yeah.

Not you chump! The OP.

[D3matt]

Well, Cheap Shot, I wasn't talking only about Technic Pack mods. I looked at several of the more popular modpacks and found them filled with more mods than I cared to read.

I certainly understand the appeal of more mods; More stuff to do! Personally I have only actually played Tekkit so far because I like it, and I've been playing it for a long time. I just don't see why ALL the modpacks have to be like that, and why there are no popular modpacks with a smaller footprint. With careful mod choice, one can still "Automate all the things!" without having 100 mods.

[CanVox]

Both Galacticraft and Business Elite have less than 20 mods, and they will be the #1 and #2 modpack after Big Dig is removed.

[Cheap Shot]

Well, Cheap Shot, I wasn't talking only about Technic Pack mods. .

I see that a lot of packs, particularly the Technic official packs, seem to focus on getting as many mods as possible to work together.

Your words not mine.

[D3matt]

Right, but only ONLY the technic pack mods. They were just the most popular and the ones I checked mod lists for in more detail already.

[watsonj11]

What is wrong with having lot's of mods?

most of them have a perfectly reasonable point and if you don't want all the mods then why not just delete the ones you don't want?

[Lethosos]

Simple, there's a natural saturation point where things get pretty muddy after a certain point. For example, if you throw in a large number of biome mods, it gets hard to pick and choose which biome you wanna live in.

[D3matt]

Exactly. And it's not so much that there's a problem with having a lot of mods, just that there aren't really any modpacks with a small number of mods. I was just throwing my opinions out there, not trying to tell people how to play the game. If you like have 100+ mods and 5 different blocks to do the same thing, that's fine.