For many people, 2011 was the golden age of Minecraft. The game was still in its infancy, and new content was being added every couple of months. The beta 1.8 update signaled a turning point that disappointed a lot of people. The game ceased to be a simple world focused on just two mechanics, gathering stuff and building things with that stuff. Mining and crafting. Features like hunger, enchanting, and potions took away from the simple nature of the game, and in some cases made it trivially easy to survive in what is supposed to be a survival game. Many people (myself included) see beta 1.7.3 as the pinnacle of the game, and wish that development had focused on adding more content, not more mechanics.
Enter BetaExpansion
BetaExpansion is a mod that focuses on adding new content to version b1.7.3, without complicating it with new mechanics. The development of the mod focuses on adding more variety to the game along with balancing and tweaking existing features.
Features
A more dynamic and interesting world
With this mod the world around you will be constantly changing. Flowers and grass will sprout up in the spring time, and grow during the warm parts of the year. During Autumn the world will turn yellow and red, with plants begging to die off as winter approaches. Winter will blanket the land with dynamically accumulating snow, that will melt as Spring warms the earth. In addition to this, each season has some unique features, for instance, in Autumn crops will drop more than usual to simulate the harvest season.
Moreover, the world itself has much more variety. New plants and bushes will populate the earth, and the ground is filled with biome-dependent colored stone.
Pictures:
More Blocks
Half the point of this game is building, so why is there so little variety in what we can build with? Craft a chisel with some iron and leather and carve stone into fanciful designs! Decorate your house with tables and chairs that aren't just wood stairs and signs! Harvest the previously mentioned colored stone and build with that! Warm your house with campfires that can cook furn and won't burn down your work! Light your builds with glowstone lamps instead of a cubic meter of glowing rock.
Pictures:
Tweaks and Balancing
Ever wondered why mining a crafting table took ages, even with an ax? Or why you could accidentally eat some precious food even when you had full health? Its all been fixed!
Hand Tools
Unbind yourselves from the crafting bench, what has it ever done for you anyway? Having to use a crafting bench to experience more of the game than collecting dirt and sand is dumb, so you can craft these small, low durability tools on the go! Broke your axe halfway though a logging trip? A hatchet will more than suffice until you return to base.
Hard mode is Hard
Do you like placing torches everywhere in a two kilometer ring around your house so you never have to fear monsters? Better keep a flint and steel handy because those suckers are going to burn out! Want to punch logs out with your bare hands? Too bad!
The other modes are hard too
No longer can those pesky beds both let you skip the hard part of the game and move your spawn point into your nice and secure bunker. You better either invest in some defensive measures around the world spawn or build some handy dandy obsidian spawn obelisks.
Other Changes
Tall grass does not break instantly, use a sword or an axe
All plants need a shovel or spade to harvest
Clay generates underground
Can craft saplings into sticks and sticks into planks
More that I'm forgetting
Installation Instructions
There are two ways to install this mod, the (far) easier and "official" way through MultiMC and the more difficult way through the vanilla launcher.
Keep in mind this mod is in beta, there are bugs, loads of bugs. I will try to hotfix bugs as they are reported to me.
3.5) Put both ModLoader and BetaExpansion somewhere other than your downloads folder, maybe create a "Mods" folder in Documents.
4) Launch MultiMC. Right click and select "Create Instance". Give it a name. then select "b1.7.3" for the version.
5) In to top right corner, click on the "Accounts" button, and select "Manage Accounts". Click "add" and supply your credentials. You can close that window now.
6) On the right select "Edit Instance". Select "add jar mod", navigate to where you saved modloader, and add it. Then do the same with betaexpansion. Your loadorder MUST look like this: Minecraft LWJGL Modloader Betaexpansion
7) Still in the edit instance menu, click on "Loader Mods" on the left. Click on add, and install betaexpansion. Make sure the checkmark is clicked next to the mod. You can now exit the menu.
8) Double click on your instance, if everything worked Minecraft will launch with the mod and you can start playing!
* This might work with other launchers, but I haven't tested any.
Method two (Much harder!)
1) Get minecraft b.1.73 running with modloader on your launcher of choice. Due to changes in how the launcher works you need to do the patch described here[4]
2) Patch the contents of betaexpansion.zip into the minecraft.jar, how you do this depends on exactly what setup you're using.
3) Place betaexpansion.zip into the Mods folder of your minecraft installation.
4) Hopefully everything worked and you can now play!
We encourage you to share your creations, ideas, or bugs on our subreddit. It provides a nice platform for discussion and you are much more likely to reach someone who can help you!
Crafting Recipes
We plan on eventually having in-game documentation of the mod, but for now you can look at crafting recipes here, or try using a recipe book mod or something.
FAQ
Q) I found a bug! Fix please.
A) Post about it here or on reddit. Make sure to include a link to your crash log on something like pastebin, or it will be very hard to fix.
Q) I have an amazing idea!
A) Post here or on reddit, preferable on reddit or we might not see it!
Q) Why beta 1.7.3! Use a version that isn't four years old!
A) Read the preface
Q) This mod is dumb, make something better!
A) You can't stop me! I'm a man with a mission, and IDE, and a plentiful supply of caffeine. I can do anything!
The Meaning of Life, the Universe, and Everything.
Join Date:
6/21/2012
Posts:
58
Minecraft:
Oswald The Catfish
Member Details
Hey guys, for the most up to date version of the mod head over to https://www.reddit.com/r/BetaExpansion/. It isnt being updated regularly anymore but you can find more up to date information and ask questions there.
Preface
For many people, 2011 was the golden age of Minecraft. The game was still in its infancy, and new content was being added every couple of months. The beta 1.8 update signaled a turning point that disappointed a lot of people. The game ceased to be a simple world focused on just two mechanics, gathering stuff and building things with that stuff. Mining and crafting. Features like hunger, enchanting, and potions took away from the simple nature of the game, and in some cases made it trivially easy to survive in what is supposed to be a survival game. Many people (myself included) see beta 1.7.3 as the pinnacle of the game, and wish that development had focused on adding more content, not more mechanics.
Enter BetaExpansion
BetaExpansion is a mod that focuses on adding new content to version b1.7.3, without complicating it with new mechanics. The development of the mod focuses on adding more variety to the game along with balancing and tweaking existing features.
Features
A more dynamic and interesting world
With this mod the world around you will be constantly changing. Flowers and grass will sprout up in the spring time, and grow during the warm parts of the year. During Autumn the world will turn yellow and red, with plants begging to die off as winter approaches. Winter will blanket the land with dynamically accumulating snow, that will melt as Spring warms the earth. In addition to this, each season has some unique features, for instance, in Autumn crops will drop more than usual to simulate the harvest season.
Moreover, the world itself has much more variety. New plants and bushes will populate the earth, and the ground is filled with biome-dependent colored stone.
Pictures:
More Blocks
Half the point of this game is building, so why is there so little variety in what we can build with? Craft a chisel with some iron and leather and carve stone into fanciful designs! Decorate your house with tables and chairs that aren't just wood stairs and signs! Harvest the previously mentioned colored stone and build with that! Warm your house with campfires that can cook furn and won't burn down your work! Light your builds with glowstone lamps instead of a cubic meter of glowing rock.
Pictures:
Tweaks and Balancing
Ever wondered why mining a crafting table took ages, even with an ax? Or why you could accidentally eat some precious food even when you had full health? Its all been fixed!
Hand Tools
Unbind yourselves from the crafting bench, what has it ever done for you anyway? Having to use a crafting bench to experience more of the game than collecting dirt and sand is dumb, so you can craft these small, low durability tools on the go! Broke your axe halfway though a logging trip? A hatchet will more than suffice until you return to base.
Hard mode is Hard
Do you like placing torches everywhere in a two kilometer ring around your house so you never have to fear monsters? Better keep a flint and steel handy because those suckers are going to burn out! Want to punch logs out with your bare hands? Too bad!
The other modes are hard too
No longer can those pesky beds both let you skip the hard part of the game and move your spawn point into your nice and secure bunker. You better either invest in some defensive measures around the world spawn or build some handy dandy obsidian spawn obelisks.
Other Changes
Clay generates underground
Installation Instructions
There are two ways to install this mod, the (far) easier and "official" way through MultiMC and the more difficult way through the vanilla launcher.
Keep in mind this mod is in beta, there are bugs, loads of bugs. I will try to hotfix bugs as they are reported to me.
Method one (Please do this!)
1) Download and install MultiMC from here.
2) Download modloader from here (click on "old versions" then download "Modloader B1.7.3.zip")
3) Download betaexpansion from here
3.5) Put both ModLoader and BetaExpansion somewhere other than your downloads folder, maybe create a "Mods" folder in Documents.
4) Launch MultiMC. Right click and select "Create Instance". Give it a name. then select "b1.7.3" for the version.
5) In to top right corner, click on the "Accounts" button, and select "Manage Accounts". Click "add" and supply your credentials. You can close that window now.
6) On the right select "Edit Instance". Select "add jar mod", navigate to where you saved modloader, and add it. Then do the same with betaexpansion. Your loadorder MUST look like this: Minecraft LWJGL Modloader Betaexpansion
7) Still in the edit instance menu, click on "Loader Mods" on the left. Click on add, and install betaexpansion. Make sure the checkmark is clicked next to the mod. You can now exit the menu.
8) Double click on your instance, if everything worked Minecraft will launch with the mod and you can start playing!
* This might work with other launchers, but I haven't tested any.
Method two (Much harder!)
1) Get minecraft b.1.73 running with modloader on your launcher of choice. Due to changes in how the launcher works you need to do the patch described here[4]
2) Patch the contents of betaexpansion.zip into the minecraft.jar, how you do this depends on exactly what setup you're using.
3) Place betaexpansion.zip into the Mods folder of your minecraft installation.
4) Hopefully everything worked and you can now play!
We encourage you to share your creations, ideas, or bugs on our subreddit. It provides a nice platform for discussion and you are much more likely to reach someone who can help you!
Crafting Recipes
We plan on eventually having in-game documentation of the mod, but for now you can look at crafting recipes here, or try using a recipe book mod or something.
FAQ
Q) I found a bug! Fix please.
A) Post about it here or on reddit. Make sure to include a link to your crash log on something like pastebin, or it will be very hard to fix.
Q) I have an amazing idea!
A) Post here or on reddit, preferable on reddit or we might not see it!
Q) Why beta 1.7.3! Use a version that isn't four years old!
A) Read the preface
Q) This mod is dumb, make something better!
A) You can't stop me! I'm a man with a mission, and IDE, and a plentiful supply of caffeine. I can do anything!
Credits
Mentren - Lead programmer
TalismanII - Lead artist
IsisB - Programmer
-
View User Profile
-
View Posts
-
Send Message
Curse PremiumBeen Looking foward for this.
We've had an update!
Grow corn and toast it into popcorn!
Survive on root vegetables during the winter!
Fertilize your fields using peanuts!
Bake homemade pies!
I'll add more in-depth information to the main post soon. In the meantime you can look on reddit.
Hmm, this seems really nice, looking forward to this.
what is there gonna be in the way of multiplayer?
The link is broken...
If I helped, or you just like my post, please press the
button.
My mods...
Hey guys, for the most up to date version of the mod head over to https://www.reddit.com/r/BetaExpansion/. It isnt being updated regularly anymore but you can find more up to date information and ask questions there.
This mod is no longer dead. A complete rewrite is in the works. More information at https://www.reddit.com/r/BetaExpansion/