In the interest of providing some feedback on the current state of the mod, I’ve decided to record brief entries describing my progress in a brand new game. I'm starting from scratch using the 2.94 release that contains among other things the significantly revised tech tree. This will just be a simple text based review of my progress through the game. I’ve examined the mod quite extensively but what with one thing and another, I’ve never actually played with it. That changes today.
I have no intention of rushing through the tech tree, but I’m not planning on dawdling either. My prime focus in this journal is playing and testing the features of the mod. And what better place to test this out than on the Glacier seed?
Entry 1: Played about an hour getting shop set up before realizing I’d buggered up the installation because of the HD patcher. Fixed the problem and crafted gears. The ability of BTW to seamless add to a vanilla game shows it’s value once again!
Entry 2: About 4 stone hoes later I acquired 5 hemp seeds. I built a small ugly cobblestone greenhouse to start propagating them. I’ve heard how long they take to grow and it’s part of a lot of recipies so I’d better get started early.
Entry 3: Started digging a mineshaft from my base inside one of the epic cliff faces. On a whim, I left the shaft appropriately set up for a simple elevator setup as a thought for the future. For now though, ladders will have to do.
Entry 4: Struck Lapis of all things near the bottom of the shaft. It’s so much more exciting to get now that it’s useful. Quickly collected 25 pieces, enough for two detector blocks. Right below the deposit is a cave system. At depth 17, it’s a perfect spot to set up a deep base in preparation for a mining operation. I’ve got enough iron for my first pick and possibly even a cauldron. Granted, I don’t think I can use it until I have netherrack but it’s good to test these things. It’s interesting that the mod has me wanting to get access to nether materials before I even have my first diamond.
Entry 5: A quick excursion after some pigs for healing lead me to a small desert coastline with both cactus and reeds. I collected some samples and set up a small farm. Breaking some tall grass also gave me some wheat seeds so that’s coming up soon as well.
Entry 6: My first mod block is now crafted, although it’s not functional yet. One cauldron that is simply serving to store porkchops right now! I greatly appreciate getting the bucket back from the crafting recipie! Hemp production is also coming along nicely. I’ve harvested 7 hemp and added 6 more plants to the farm. I’m glad I started this early, the plants grow very slowly.
By the way, if anyone is curious, I’m using a personal mix pack of Albion, Misa and a handful of homespun textures of my own.