I realized something about why I appreciate BTW

[Sarudak]

I just wanted to point out one of the pieces of design in BTW that I really appreciate in comparison to the other major tech mods. And that is that there is no universal resource. In most of the other tech mods there's basically one universal resource that you can gain from many different ways and then spend in many different ways. The worst offender in this case is by far EE, Thaumcraft is bad about it too as is industrial craft. Why is it such a problem? Well for the most part whatever you want from the mod is attained by spending this universal resource. But the issue is with generating the universal resource. Once you find the best way you're done. There's really no reason to explore other options only to increase the size of your melon farm/solar array/whatever. Once you've acquired a sufficient amount of said universal resource you've basically won minecraft. Btw on the other hand is different just because you have say a massive hemp farm doesn't allow you to make soul forged steel. For each resource/ability you want to acquire you generally have to set up a new system for it. The more systems you have to set up the more fun you have! ^_^

Anyway I used to be in love with the whole universal resource idea but now I realize that it's a big part of why I quickly lose interest in other tech mods. They are just too easily conquered.

So thank you FC for your thoughtful creation.

[Tekei]

Oh I wholeheartedly agree!
I started a new world now that I got back into minecraft and have just recently gotten to SFS and started automating stuff. There are so many things I need to do yet that I think I'll be occupied for quite a while, and by the time I've built most of it I am sure there will be a few new aspects added to BTW that I will need to explore.

[FlowerChild]

Huh. Interesting. I've never really thought about it before, but yeah, I guess I am doing that :)

I'm not always entirely conscious of all the decisions I make, unless someone suggests something to the contrary and I wind up having to vocalize my thought-process.

I doubt anyone would suggest "make a universal resource" for BTW, but it's the kind of thing I could see myself breaking out a high dose of sarcasm for. I think it's more of a design mistake I intuitively knew I shouldn't make. Like, it seems contrary to the whole vanilla design-philosophy to begin with.

[Ulfengaard]

That's an aspect of the mod I really enjoy as well. With other mods, I tend to power through and then sit with a discontented feeling: like it wasn't really fulfilling.

Enter BTW. Holy cow. Every time I enter my world, I'm so busy it's crazy. I have a whole laundry list of stuff that needs doing: complicated stuff that has many interim steps. There's never not anything to do. Depth. Lots of depth to this mod. And, I haven't even hit bottom yet. I'm only beginning to glimpse SFS, so my laundry list will expand exponentially.

Great stuff.

[th3m1ner]

I have to agree, the reason that i have been playing minecraft for over a year is because of the difficulty in btw. i like teh way it make me think about my designs, and ways to make them more efficient. i have tried a bunch of the large tech mods, it was fun for a week, but got borings once i got everything, and completed the tech tree (although they are not that complex)
BTW has kept my interests, and it aways will. Thanks FC!!

[Sarudak]

For example I'm in a position to get my half stack of SFS blocks. Which is A LOT of SFS. But I still feel strapped for a lot of resources. I only recently automated hemp production and I really want to automate gathering of the raw resources for mining charges, having all that SFS doesn't really help with that at all. The reason I haven't finished my stack of SFS blocks is that I need that iron for the massive numbers of pistons I need for my farms. Maybe it also just an issue of giving proper cost to resource production automation but it really is helpful in keeping my interest.

[HavokSCOUT]

If you want iron, Sarudak, Zombie spawners is where it's at. I have gotten about 3 stacks of iron blocks from my zombie farm alone. In my world right now, I've built an automatic soul urn maker-firer-filler in creative, and I'm planning on porting it over to my main world with blue prints. I just need my quarry to work faster. OT: I love BTW because there's ALWAYS a way to automate something. If you think it's already been done, it means you aren't thinking zany enough. A few days ago, I learned you can send timed pulses using a Buddy Block and a Turntable.very convenient for the timed parts of this mod (kilns, crucibles/ stewing pots, pottery). Very awesome.

[Sarudak]

For that I would need a zombie spawner though... I haven't been able to find one...

[HavokSCOUT]

Have one of the four I've found in my world. I know I wont need it, even for automated mossy gathering. :/

[embirrim]

I agree with you for the most part. However, I don't know if you've tried IC2. I'm not advertising this mod, I'm just saying that what the mod encourages isn't "increase power and size of solar array". The player is encouraged to build more ways of generating energy. Nuclear reactors are reaaally cool and difficult to set up.
But anyway, yes I agree with you for the most part. What BTW does is encourage you to automate more processes, but all those processes are different and unique in themselves.

[MoRmEnGiL]

Actually I just realized that too. I'm a hoarder by nature, I get a warm fuzzy feeling from seeing filled chests, but only if they are filled with something that has a use. In btw every single resource has one, and often more uses.

The second thing I just love about btw, as I've stated before, is the multiblock aspect, the entire "assembly line" style that automation requires. The fact that it can be done in many ways and people can come up with designs to suit their personal needs is pure bliss.

The above two factors have actually combined together and made me build new farms for resources I've already got full auto farms for. Just to get MORE and to try out new concepts and designs.

And all these without magical blocks that do the work for you. All the while maintaining the pure feeling of vMC. Truly this combination is a feat no other mod comes even remotely close.

[johnt]

Huh. Interesting. I've never really thought about it before, but yeah, I guess I am doing that :)

I'm not always entirely conscious of all the decisions I make, unless someone suggests something to the contrary and I wind up having to vocalize my thought-process.

I doubt anyone would suggest "make a universal resource" for BTW, but it's the kind of thing I could see myself breaking out a high dose of sarcasm for. I think it's more of a design mistake I intuitively knew I shouldn't make. Like, it seems contrary to the whole vanilla design-philosophy to begin with.

I think the Vat has that problem, tbh, which is why I'm glad it's not in BTB officially.

[Awfulcopter]

Twelve posts and not one example of "I appreciate cows in gimpsuits"?

Forum, I am disappoint.

[HavokSCOUT]

Well, that's a given ;)

[Tekei]

Forum, I am disappoint.

I just realized that you can't put breeding harnesses on wolves :( There goes my idea for mass producing companion slabs :/

[Poppycocks]

Forum, I am disappoint.

I just realized that you can't put breeding harnesses on wolves :( There goes my idea for mass producing companion slabs :/

Ok, you're straying waaaay off topic there and I'm going to push it a bit more by saying that FC stopped wolves from teleporting even when standing if they're in a cart. Not sure if they can breed that way, but hey, it's worth a try.

But after that I'm going to return to the discussion at hand and say that I suddenly find myself in a dire need of gravel.

Of all things.

This means I'll have to take a whack at a whole subsystem I mostly ignored before and at the rate at which I'm playing, that probably means a good months worth of work.

I love you FC, I hate you, but I love you.

[Heilkaiba]

One thing I've never understood though is how one is meant to play EE by itself. Mining is not exactly the most exciting aspect of Minecraft and you need to do a lot of it to get anything worth having. Buildcraft solves the problem I suppose but requiring another mod is not ideal.
When I tried out the Technic Pack, blasphemy I know, IC was the only mod I used with a sense of progression but in all honesty I spent most of my time attempting to automate the production of solar panels so I could make a huge solar panel roof and apart from some wind turbines used no other source of energy.

[Tekei]

Ok, you're straying waaaay off topic there [...]

Yep, sorry about that. Was so soaked up in trying to solve that problem that I forgot which thread I was in :)

On topic:

What makes BTW so enjoyable for me is not really one single aspect but the mod as a whole. It is a lot more challenging than your average mod, it provides you with interesting mechanics that you can play with for a long time before fully understanding and it does give your worlds in general a more interesting feel than vMC.
I also love any and all aesthetic additions that come with BTW even though I understand, and agree, that its not the focus of this mod.
The fact that there are so many different mechanics at work, and as the OP says, not one universal resource that you need, gives you a lot of challenges that aren't easy to speed through. That is probably what keeps BTW interesting when other mods would have grown stale.

[XantyZon]

The one time I played with the EE mod, it felt pointless. With in a few hours I had a row of derpy machines that gave me almost any block in the game that I wanted, but if I wanted that I would have just played in creative mode. With BTW I can spend weeks creating all manner of wonderful systems to help with resource collection and still feel like there so much more to do. Also when I'm not feeling creative or when I'm working on an Idea in my head I can go mine and still fell like I'm still accomplishing something. Sometimes I worry that with the new trading system for the villages it will make it to easy to get resources, and detract from the fun, even though I realize it could be a way for a mod to bring a resource that isn't in the world generation.

[Siege Wizard]

What I really apreciate, apart from black dressed cows obviously, is automatition. I'm studying engineering, industrial engineering actually, so I love that part of the mod. You can make everything work alone, while you keep making other stuff cos you will never run out of work, at least I don't know anyone that can say: "I've done everything with BTW".

I already able to make SFS in my survival, but I'm still designing my automatic wheat farm, that will only be used to breed my animals farms (still haven't started with these yet). And, even this mods tech tree may look small, it has a better sense of progression that all mods ever. Why? I will tell you. Progresion doesn't mean I need hemp to go to next level, so I build a fully automatic hemp farm and problem resolved, no more worries on hemp. In this mod you will have to make a manual hemp farm at the start, then, when you are a bit further in your tech tree, you will make it semi-automatic, and when you think you are reaching your last age, then you can make it fully automatic (hemp is just an example). What I'm trying to say is that having to make things gradual makes this mod fun for players for a much longer period of time that other similar (are there really similar ones?) mods.

Just one thing left to say: Thank you FC

[diegokilla]

Actually I just realized that too. I'm a hoarder by nature, I get a warm fuzzy feeling from seeing filled chests, but only if they are filled with something that has a use. In btw every single resource has one, and often more uses.

The second thing I just love about btw, as I've stated before, is the multiblock aspect, the entire "assembly line" style that automation requires. The fact that it can be done in many ways and people can come up with designs to suit their personal needs is pure bliss.

The above two factors have actually combined together and made me build new farms for resources I've already got full auto farms for. Just to get MORE and to try out new concepts and designs.

And all these without magical blocks that do the work for you. All the while maintaining the pure feeling of vMC. Truly this combination is a feat no other mod comes even remotely close.

You took the words right out of my mouth :P

[FlowerChild]

Awwww...so much love :)

Quick! Somebody say something bannable to help restore my balance! ;)

[morvelaira]

Need dimond sawz nao.

... please don't ban me, dear.

[FlowerChild]

Need dimond sawz nao.

... please don't ban me, dear.

Just a teeny tiny little temp-ban? Please?

[morvelaira]

I suppose I could be separated from your magnificence for like... five minutes? *winces in anticipation*