I was playing the new Minecraft 1.8 and found myself missing some features. So I put together a top-ten list of Better Than Wolves features that I wish were in vanilla:
10. - Hardcore Chicken - the player can only spawn chickens from eggs (not from breeding)
09. - Hardcore Lactation - player must wait for dairy cows' udders to refill before milking again.
08. - Hardcore Ores - smelting iron yields iron nuggets
I was playing the new Minecraft 1.8 and found myself missing some features. So I put together a top-ten list of Better Than Wolves features that I wish were in vanilla:
10. - Hardcore Chicken - the player can only spawn chickens from eggs (not from breeding)
09. - Hardcore Lactation - player must wait for dairy cows' udders to refill before milking again.
08. - Hardcore Ores - smelting iron yields iron nuggets
*00. - Hardcore Respawn & Hardcore Bedding. Without which, all the rest would just be fluff upon the basic model.
I think being able to sleep through the night should be disabled, but I think hardcore respawn should be optional. That feature is too frustrating for people new to the game. I don't like the current minimal penalties for dying, though. It kind of defeats the challenge of dealing with hunger. Maybe the player could only have 3/10 hearts upon respawn.
Quote from FlowerChild�
Do no mock the ocelots. They are absolutely perfect as they are
I would never! They're the only thing not trying to kill me (or be killed by me) in this savage land. Although, I'm sure a few of them bit the dust when I burned down the jungle, but that's a price I'm willing to pay to help alleviate the spider problem.
Quote from lelorius298�hey FC, any plans to add a blue dye alternative? i know it was talked about a long time ago, and the main reason for not doing it was that there werent any good forge-friendly implementations that made sense
since that's not a problem anymore, i wonder if it might still be on the table
It always struck me as odd that one of the dyes was neither renewable nor farmable, considering basically everything else is, even important ores (via the crucible). I'm luckily not such a huge fan of the color blue that I want to use it in my decorations/sails that badly; I don't consider "blue" to be a special color worth so much more than all the other colors. I would never consider wasting lapis lazuli as dye when it has multiple functional purposes.
Quote from jecowa»
I think being able to sleep through the night should be disabled, but I think hardcore respawn should be optional. That feature is too frustrating for people new to the game. I don't like the current minimal penalties for dying, though. It kind of defeats the challenge of dealing with hunger. Maybe the player could only have 3/10 hearts upon respawn.
That's the point. Part of progression is overcoming that frustration. Large-scale infrastructure is something you never consider normally, but here it becomes a natural part of advancement; it's something you develop because you as a player want to, not because the tech tree required you to (and as a result, it makes you as a player want to reach SFS that much faster).
In the meantime, it allows you to flex your creative muscles in determining the best way to approach the problem, and it's also extremely satisfying when you've finally overcome that challenge.
As for my favorite features (I don't think I'll manage to pick just 10), they'd be:
Hardcore Bedding/Spawn
Hardcore Stratification/Ores
Hardcore Buckets
Hardcore Movement/Bouncing
Hardcore Darkness/Torches
Hardcore Tools/Weapons
Hardcore Hunger/Melons/Fishing
Hardcore Info
Hardcore Hell/Sinkholes/Nothing To Worry About
Hardcore Beacons/Chests
Honorable mention: Hardcore Headwear (finally making it so oceans aren't lulzy levels of safe!).
I'd like to give Hardcore Sinkholes its own spot, as it makes spelunking quite a bit more exciting in many instances, but it can also be considered part of Hardcore Hell, and there are already so many features competing to get on this list. Hardcore Sinkholes is definitely awesome though.
My reasons for including Hardcore Bedding need no explanation, I hope; beds are one of the worst features in vMC.
Hardcore Spawning incentivises you build/explore above ground, and Hardcore Stratification does the same for underground (not to mention the fact it's making your mob traps more efficient). The fact you can't effectively mine the stone around diamonds without a diamond pickaxe was absolute genius in that regard. And you actually need to explore more than five feet into a cavern to collect enough ore, thanks to Hardcore Ore.
My appreciation for Hardcore Buckets cannot be overstated. I spent two hours yesterday making an elaborate irrigation system for a new base; a base whose location was chosen specifically because of the nearby water source. I'm always surrounding important source blocks with cobblestone/bricks to protect them, rather than mindlessly filling them in like I normally would have.
And while I absolutely love these complex aqueduct systems, I think my personal favorite project might be constructing a Nether Portal pre-diamonds (maybe because I get far fewer opportunities to enjoy it). Pools of lava large enough to make a portal this way are mostly near bedrock, and requires a bucket, so I'm typically in the iron->diamond stage by this point. This method doesn't work on the Nether side, of course. But man, there's a certain sense of accomplishment when your depth tests finally locate a suitable-sized pool of lava, and a growing sense of power/success as the portal itself starts slowly taking shape in front of you.
The rest of the features either make me want to explore, or make the exploration itself a lot more rewarding, exciting, and generally fun.
I guess the exception to that reason is the Hardcore Beacons/Chests, which needed to be on the list for the sheer amount of content they add to the game, and the especially awesome implementation of the Obsidian Beacon. SFS is a nice goal to work towards as well, and really gives you time to make your automation processes efficient while still rewarding you for doing so.
I have to say, thanks for making such a great mod. It's brought me a great many hours of enjoyment, and I would have abandoned MC long ago otherwise.
It always struck me as odd that one of the dyes was neither renewable nor farmable. I'm luckily not such a huge fan of the color blue that I want to use it in my decorations/sails; I don't consider "blue" to be a special color worth special treatment. I would absolutely never consider wasting lapis lazuli as dye when it has multiple functional purposes.
I think it would be cool to have blueberry bushes for blue dye, as mentioned in the sargunster thread, but I'm guessing hardcore sheep sort of fills the role for renewable dyes. I think the only things we can use dye on right now are wool blocks, leather armor, fabric armor, and windmills. And wool blocks are probably the main dyed item that you would want to be able to mass produce.
Hardcore Spawning incentivises you build/explore above ground, and Hardcore Stratification does the same for underground (not to mention the fact it's making your mob traps more efficient).
With hardcore spawn, hardcore info, and hardcore movement I can build long roads coming out of my base in every direction in single-player world, and they are actually useful.
How does hardcore stratification create an incentive to explore underground, and how does help with mob traps?
My appreciation for Hardcore Buckets cannot be overstated. I spent two hours yesterday making an elaborate irrigation system for a new base; a base whose location was chosen specifically because of the nearby water source. I'm always surrounding important source blocks with cobblestone/bricks to protect them, rather than mindlessly filling them in like I normally would have.
I love the hardcore buckets too. I think the hardcore buckets and screw pump was the best thing since the pulley platform system. I think a problem with adding hardcore buckets to vanilla, though, is that vanilla doesn't have screw pumps as an alternative method to move water around.
How does hardcore stratification create an incentive to explore underground, and how does help with mob traps?
Because you can no longer mine a hole straight down and start stockpiling iron/diamonds. Because of the stratification, it's far more efficient to explore caves, and mine exposed ores. In the case of diamonds, every other alternative is far more difficult and time-consuming. In the process of exploring, you're forced to light up more dark areas underground, which in turn makes your mob traps work better (higher probability of enemies spawning there instead of somewhere else).
I just have this feeling that Hardcore Fatigue might give beds a reason to exist:
As a general rule, I never implement anything just to give an existing feature a use. Rather, I look for what I feel the game needs in terms of gameplay. IMO, some of the worst design decisions are made on games when people try to find artificial reason for something else they've either planned or already implemented.
Do I feel the game needs an additional fatigue mechanism? No. I think it would be a large time investment with very little added value in terms of additional fun. I'd be much more likely to rip out beds as a decorative object than to try to tag a mechanism onto them to try and justify their presence.
Whether you love the idea or hate it, you can't deny that both the vanilla bed behaviour and the BTW HC Bedding feature are inadequate from a gameplay perspective - one is too safe and the other totally unrealistic.
And I also think "realism" is a dirty word in game design so win on both fronts
It also isn't realistic that Steve doesn't have to drop his drawers and poop in the woods every day. Would it bring anything to the game for him to have to? No, not really. So obviously, realism alone is really not a valid argument to put a feature into a game.
If a gamplay mechanism is evaluated to be fun, and it happens to correspond to reality, then bonus, as that tends to help it play into suspension of disbelief. But unless you're designing a simulator (and obviously neither vanilla MC or BTW are simulators), realism alone isn't really a valid justification for anything.
Personally, I would like it if you could lie on the bed, and have it do absolutely nothing other than give you a nice place to AFK the night away in, but I think that would be too much of a hassle.
I think a renewable source of blue die would be nice, Though, instead of something like a berry bush, couldn't you make a mob drop lapis so we can farm for lapis or something?
Re: Hardcore spawn is frustrating / Hardcore spawn is the point (I had quotes here, then the boards just displayed them and ate my text)
I can see both points. Hardcore spawn is probably the most frustrating feature for the brand-new BTW player. The other features encountered early game have a "what?! well, okay..." feel to them. Then you die, and realize you have to do all of that frustrating stuff over again. And you die a lot as a newbie, because there's so many things you don't expect to kill you. If there were a hypothetical "newbie mode", I'd say -- there's already a respawn-in-place timer, so increase it for the very first spawn. That would give a newbie one, maybe two 'free' deaths, depending on how facepalm-worthy their play is, and give them a chance to see how much better the game is when you aren't frantically hand-punching wood.
I can see both points. Hardcore spawn is probably the most frustrating feature for the brand-new BTW player. The other features encountered early game have a "what?! well, okay..." feel to them. Then you die, and realize you have to do all of that frustrating stuff over again. And you die a lot as a newbie, because there's so many things you don't expect to kill you. If there were a hypothetical "newbie mode", I'd say -- there's already a respawn-in-place timer, so increase it for the very first spawn. That would give a newbie one, maybe two 'free' deaths, depending on how facepalm-worthy their play is, and give them a chance to see how much better the game is when you aren't frantically hand-punching wood.
The above is actually an interesting idea (if I were to go that route I'd probably opt for a gradually expanding HC Spawn radius as time passes, which wouldn't be hard to implement either), but the flip side to it is that it does nothing to train the new player to avoid dying in the first place. I get the impression that what would wind up happening is it would cause players to just play as if they were playing vanilla for the first while, unaware that death is going to hurt like hell, build up further in a single area as a result, and wind up with more to lose on the first "real" HC death, which they probably won't see coming.
Also at issue is that any slack there will inevitably result in people exploiting the system and say intentionally dying early on to get a free ride out of their hunger bar or what have you.
IMO, I think it might be better to just punch them straight in the face and say "don't die" the very first time so they become abundantly aware of how much it hurts and that it is to be avoided.
Anyways, BTW isn't really noob-friendly, and I never really intended it to be either. If some wind up finding it too frustrating and stop playing...oh well. It's a hardcore mod for people that enjoy the extra challenge. If that's not what they're actually looking for, then probably best they move on early anyways.
Having recently spent some time exploring TFC, the other total conversion mod, I've really come to appreciate a lot of design features that BTW brings to the table.
Hardcore bedding and spawn mean you are constantly exploring the world and learning exactly what's available in every environment. Death is more than just a punishment for failure, it's also an opportunity to start fresh and establish another base of operations elsewhere in the world. You're driven to explore not just for extra resources to maybe climb a part of the tech tree someday, but to find your old bases and reclaim their unique regional resources.
The resource balancing system and emphasis on environmental control. Cobble in BTW isn't just cobble, it's WOOT COBBLE!. Dirt is: DIRT! YAY!. Whenever you collect anything, you automatically have something to either do with it, or something you want to do with it in the future. You never have too much of anything stockpiled about just waiting for a purpose that may never come. Due to the way dirt and stone are in TFC, blocking off and controlling tunnels is much more of a mid-game task there, while it's an essential part of gameplay in BTW.
Half slabs. Whenever I end up playing anything other than BTW, I always lament my lack of dirt half-slabs. Cheap, effective, energy saving devices that are great for landscaping to boot. Hardcore movement as well, having specific materials influencing what's best for a road and how really is just a wonderful thing.
Torches, hardcore darkness, and light in general. Light may be permanent once created, but it's not an insignificant investment to light up a large area until you get to nethertech or kilns. Even early on, you can light up for a while with enough precious logs chucked into the furnace. The Darkness is a tangible enemy you never really defeat, you just merely drive it back from the places you choose to reside.
Overall, I like the tactical mindset BTW tends to encourage, and how progression means more than upgrading from one material to another, but how the gameplay tends to change as well. Necessity is the mother of innovation, and innovation is greatly rewarded.
Anyways, BTW isn't really noob-friendly, and I never really intended it to be either. If some wind up finding it too frustrating and stop playing...oh well.
Well, I find BTW to be very noob-friendly as long as the said noob does not mind having to re-start over and over again.
As long as you have the mind to play BTW and keep on playing it, and have a flexible mind, it's actually pretty fun and easy to learn.
And I also find that BTW is very addictive. I range-deleted worlds about 5~6 ish times, and range-quit BTW 2~3 times, but I always ended up going back to BTW. I mean, played it once, and can't forget it.
Man, I've gotten pretty good about being aware of my environment around sand and gravel, but just now I was spelunking and saw several large ore deposits on the cavern wall, and was like "yes!" and rushed towards it, not realizing the stone changed to gravel. Normally I'd have walked on the edge of it first to test it, but of course this time I had to get distracted and run directly across lol.
While the fall barely hurt me, the mob of mobs were quite successful at preventing my escape. An otherwise uneventful evening quickly turned to gloom-encased slaughter with my heart caught in my throat and overwhelming panic interfering with my ability to react properly. A delicious price to pay for my own negligence Things like this are why I felt Hardcore Sinkholes deserved its own spot of my Top 10 Favorite Features list. This is the sort of danger and excitement I always wished the underground offered. Otherwise, aside from mining into lava (which is rarely even an issue), there's literally no environmental dangers to consider.
Those moments where you have to decide if the risk of collapse is worth pushing forward with your current health/hunger/equipment (especially if you have no building materials), and that second of holding your breath as you tense up and force yourself to jump down onto the next gravel block, and that intense wave of relief when the gamble pays off and the floor turns out to be safe: totally priceless.
It's also nice how the (arguably) safest biome, the desert, actually has potential hazards now. When it's safe, it's safe; but there's always that chance you'll suddenly be much less safe if you're not properly equipped. A little risk vs reward when deciding whether or not to enter the biome is such a good feeling, especially when there's temples in there.
The desert next to my main base now has supportive materials placed underneath all the stacks of sand that would have otherwise collapsed. Feels good
It's nice that you can easily trigger the collapse without falling in yourself (assuming you're paying attention to your surroundings) so luck never factors into the equation. It's also nice that the environment actually feels like a part of the game, something BTW accomplishes remarkably well (an aspect also enhanced quite a lot by Hardcore Buckets).
Basically, just throwing out some more experiences; it might sound like it's just intended as praise, but that's hard to help when my gameplay experience has always been so overwhelmingly positive.
Edit: Just noticed the donation link in the OP. This is probably more useful than just prattling on about how great the mod is lol. It's certainly worth it, for tapping into Minecraft's real potential and actually making it fun
Edit: Just noticed the donation link in the OP. This is probably more useful than just prattling on about how great the mod is lol. It's certainly worth it, for tapping into Minecraft's real potential and actually making it fun
It's incompatible with most things. I don't think it works with NEI or TMI anymore. It might have used to work back when Better Than Wolves required modloader. It doesn't hurt to try, though.
I think you might be able to get one of the mini map mods to work with it, but it kind of goes against the spirit of the mod. I think Rei's minimap might work, but it requires modloader too.
I think the older versions of these mods didn't require Forge. I'm not sure when Forge became a requirement for each of them, but Forge mods definitely don't work with Better Than Wolves.
Make sure to download the correct versions of the mods for the version of Minecraft you will be using (latest version of BTW is for Minecraft 1.5.2).
I believe Craftguide is one of the few mods that chooses to take pains to remain compatible with BTW, namely because all it really does is help minimize the time spent on the Wiki. TMI and NEI are both inventory mods, and pretty much do the exact same thing as creative mode anyway besides the Craftguide feature.
*00. - Hardcore Respawn & Hardcore Bedding. Without which, all the rest would just be fluff upon the basic model.
I think being able to sleep through the night should be disabled, but I think hardcore respawn should be optional. That feature is too frustrating for people new to the game. I don't like the current minimal penalties for dying, though. It kind of defeats the challenge of dealing with hunger. Maybe the player could only have 3/10 hearts upon respawn.
I would never! They're the only thing not trying to kill me (or be killed by me) in this savage land. Although, I'm sure a few of them bit the dust when I burned down the jungle, but that's a price I'm willing to pay to help alleviate the spider problem.
It always struck me as odd that one of the dyes was neither renewable nor farmable, considering basically everything else is, even important ores (via the crucible). I'm luckily not such a huge fan of the color blue that I want to use it in my decorations/sails that badly; I don't consider "blue" to be a special color worth so much more than all the other colors. I would never consider wasting lapis lazuli as dye when it has multiple functional purposes.
That's the point. Part of progression is overcoming that frustration. Large-scale infrastructure is something you never consider normally, but here it becomes a natural part of advancement; it's something you develop because you as a player want to, not because the tech tree required you to (and as a result, it makes you as a player want to reach SFS that much faster).
In the meantime, it allows you to flex your creative muscles in determining the best way to approach the problem, and it's also extremely satisfying when you've finally overcome that challenge.
As for my favorite features (I don't think I'll manage to pick just 10), they'd be:
- Hardcore Bedding/Spawn
- Hardcore Stratification/Ores
- Hardcore Buckets
- Hardcore Movement/Bouncing
- Hardcore Darkness/Torches
- Hardcore Tools/Weapons
- Hardcore Hunger/Melons/Fishing
- Hardcore Info
- Hardcore Hell/Sinkholes/Nothing To Worry About
- Hardcore Beacons/Chests
Honorable mention: Hardcore Headwear (finally making it so oceans aren't lulzy levels of safe!).I'd like to give Hardcore Sinkholes its own spot, as it makes spelunking quite a bit more exciting in many instances, but it can also be considered part of Hardcore Hell, and there are already so many features competing to get on this list. Hardcore Sinkholes is definitely awesome though.
My reasons for including Hardcore Bedding need no explanation, I hope; beds are one of the worst features in vMC.
Hardcore Spawning incentivises you build/explore above ground, and Hardcore Stratification does the same for underground (not to mention the fact it's making your mob traps more efficient). The fact you can't effectively mine the stone around diamonds without a diamond pickaxe was absolute genius in that regard. And you actually need to explore more than five feet into a cavern to collect enough ore, thanks to Hardcore Ore.
My appreciation for Hardcore Buckets cannot be overstated. I spent two hours yesterday making an elaborate irrigation system for a new base; a base whose location was chosen specifically because of the nearby water source. I'm always surrounding important source blocks with cobblestone/bricks to protect them, rather than mindlessly filling them in like I normally would have.
And while I absolutely love these complex aqueduct systems, I think my personal favorite project might be constructing a Nether Portal pre-diamonds (maybe because I get far fewer opportunities to enjoy it). Pools of lava large enough to make a portal this way are mostly near bedrock, and requires a bucket, so I'm typically in the iron->diamond stage by this point. This method doesn't work on the Nether side, of course. But man, there's a certain sense of accomplishment when your depth tests finally locate a suitable-sized pool of lava, and a growing sense of power/success as the portal itself starts slowly taking shape in front of you.
The rest of the features either make me want to explore, or make the exploration itself a lot more rewarding, exciting, and generally fun.
I guess the exception to that reason is the Hardcore Beacons/Chests, which needed to be on the list for the sheer amount of content they add to the game, and the especially awesome implementation of the Obsidian Beacon. SFS is a nice goal to work towards as well, and really gives you time to make your automation processes efficient while still rewarding you for doing so.
I have to say, thanks for making such a great mod. It's brought me a great many hours of enjoyment, and I would have abandoned MC long ago otherwise.
I read this, and all I could think about was crappy floats with Steves riding them
I think it would be cool to have blueberry bushes for blue dye, as mentioned in the sargunster thread, but I'm guessing hardcore sheep sort of fills the role for renewable dyes. I think the only things we can use dye on right now are wool blocks, leather armor, fabric armor, and windmills. And wool blocks are probably the main dyed item that you would want to be able to mass produce.
With hardcore spawn, hardcore info, and hardcore movement I can build long roads coming out of my base in every direction in single-player world, and they are actually useful.
How does hardcore stratification create an incentive to explore underground, and how does help with mob traps?
I love the hardcore buckets too. I think the hardcore buckets and screw pump was the best thing since the pulley platform system. I think a problem with adding hardcore buckets to vanilla, though, is that vanilla doesn't have screw pumps as an alternative method to move water around.
Because you can no longer mine a hole straight down and start stockpiling iron/diamonds. Because of the stratification, it's far more efficient to explore caves, and mine exposed ores. In the case of diamonds, every other alternative is far more difficult and time-consuming. In the process of exploring, you're forced to light up more dark areas underground, which in turn makes your mob traps work better (higher probability of enemies spawning there instead of somewhere else).
As a general rule, I never implement anything just to give an existing feature a use. Rather, I look for what I feel the game needs in terms of gameplay. IMO, some of the worst design decisions are made on games when people try to find artificial reason for something else they've either planned or already implemented.
Do I feel the game needs an additional fatigue mechanism? No. I think it would be a large time investment with very little added value in terms of additional fun. I'd be much more likely to rip out beds as a decorative object than to try to tag a mechanism onto them to try and justify their presence.
And I also think "realism" is a dirty word in game design so win on both fronts
It also isn't realistic that Steve doesn't have to drop his drawers and poop in the woods every day. Would it bring anything to the game for him to have to? No, not really. So obviously, realism alone is really not a valid argument to put a feature into a game.
If a gamplay mechanism is evaluated to be fun, and it happens to correspond to reality, then bonus, as that tends to help it play into suspension of disbelief. But unless you're designing a simulator (and obviously neither vanilla MC or BTW are simulators), realism alone isn't really a valid justification for anything.
I think a renewable source of blue die would be nice, Though, instead of something like a berry bush, couldn't you make a mob drop lapis so we can farm for lapis or something?
Thanks man! I appreciate the thoughtful message
I can see both points. Hardcore spawn is probably the most frustrating feature for the brand-new BTW player. The other features encountered early game have a "what?! well, okay..." feel to them. Then you die, and realize you have to do all of that frustrating stuff over again. And you die a lot as a newbie, because there's so many things you don't expect to kill you. If there were a hypothetical "newbie mode", I'd say -- there's already a respawn-in-place timer, so increase it for the very first spawn. That would give a newbie one, maybe two 'free' deaths, depending on how facepalm-worthy their play is, and give them a chance to see how much better the game is when you aren't frantically hand-punching wood.
The above is actually an interesting idea (if I were to go that route I'd probably opt for a gradually expanding HC Spawn radius as time passes, which wouldn't be hard to implement either), but the flip side to it is that it does nothing to train the new player to avoid dying in the first place. I get the impression that what would wind up happening is it would cause players to just play as if they were playing vanilla for the first while, unaware that death is going to hurt like hell, build up further in a single area as a result, and wind up with more to lose on the first "real" HC death, which they probably won't see coming.
Also at issue is that any slack there will inevitably result in people exploiting the system and say intentionally dying early on to get a free ride out of their hunger bar or what have you.
IMO, I think it might be better to just punch them straight in the face and say "don't die" the very first time so they become abundantly aware of how much it hurts and that it is to be avoided.
Anyways, BTW isn't really noob-friendly, and I never really intended it to be either. If some wind up finding it too frustrating and stop playing...oh well. It's a hardcore mod for people that enjoy the extra challenge. If that's not what they're actually looking for, then probably best they move on early anyways.
Hardcore bedding and spawn mean you are constantly exploring the world and learning exactly what's available in every environment. Death is more than just a punishment for failure, it's also an opportunity to start fresh and establish another base of operations elsewhere in the world. You're driven to explore not just for extra resources to maybe climb a part of the tech tree someday, but to find your old bases and reclaim their unique regional resources.
The resource balancing system and emphasis on environmental control. Cobble in BTW isn't just cobble, it's WOOT COBBLE!. Dirt is: DIRT! YAY!. Whenever you collect anything, you automatically have something to either do with it, or something you want to do with it in the future. You never have too much of anything stockpiled about just waiting for a purpose that may never come. Due to the way dirt and stone are in TFC, blocking off and controlling tunnels is much more of a mid-game task there, while it's an essential part of gameplay in BTW.
Half slabs. Whenever I end up playing anything other than BTW, I always lament my lack of dirt half-slabs. Cheap, effective, energy saving devices that are great for landscaping to boot. Hardcore movement as well, having specific materials influencing what's best for a road and how really is just a wonderful thing.
Torches, hardcore darkness, and light in general. Light may be permanent once created, but it's not an insignificant investment to light up a large area until you get to nethertech or kilns. Even early on, you can light up for a while with enough precious logs chucked into the furnace. The Darkness is a tangible enemy you never really defeat, you just merely drive it back from the places you choose to reside.
Overall, I like the tactical mindset BTW tends to encourage, and how progression means more than upgrading from one material to another, but how the gameplay tends to change as well. Necessity is the mother of innovation, and innovation is greatly rewarded.
Well, I find BTW to be very noob-friendly as long as the said noob does not mind having to re-start over and over again.
As long as you have the mind to play BTW and keep on playing it, and have a flexible mind, it's actually pretty fun and easy to learn.
And I also find that BTW is very addictive. I range-deleted worlds about 5~6 ish times, and range-quit BTW 2~3 times, but I always ended up going back to BTW. I mean, played it once, and can't forget it.
While the fall barely hurt me, the mob of mobs were quite successful at preventing my escape. An otherwise uneventful evening quickly turned to gloom-encased slaughter with my heart caught in my throat and overwhelming panic interfering with my ability to react properly. A delicious price to pay for my own negligence
Those moments where you have to decide if the risk of collapse is worth pushing forward with your current health/hunger/equipment (especially if you have no building materials), and that second of holding your breath as you tense up and force yourself to jump down onto the next gravel block, and that intense wave of relief when the gamble pays off and the floor turns out to be safe: totally priceless.
It's also nice how the (arguably) safest biome, the desert, actually has potential hazards now. When it's safe, it's safe; but there's always that chance you'll suddenly be much less safe if you're not properly equipped. A little risk vs reward when deciding whether or not to enter the biome is such a good feeling, especially when there's temples in there.
The desert next to my main base now has supportive materials placed underneath all the stacks of sand that would have otherwise collapsed. Feels good
It's nice that you can easily trigger the collapse without falling in yourself (assuming you're paying attention to your surroundings) so luck never factors into the equation. It's also nice that the environment actually feels like a part of the game, something BTW accomplishes remarkably well (an aspect also enhanced quite a lot by Hardcore Buckets).
Basically, just throwing out some more experiences; it might sound like it's just intended as praise, but that's hard to help when my gameplay experience has always been so overwhelmingly positive.
Edit: Just noticed the donation link in the OP. This is probably more useful than just prattling on about how great the mod is lol. It's certainly worth it, for tapping into Minecraft's real potential and actually making it fun
Thanks man! Much appreciated
Like. No NEI?
You need a hug?
How about some chocolate.
Wow I've had this account since I was 11 years old and I still can't figure out mods.
Sorry if I was ever cringe I was 11.
It's incompatible with most things. I don't think it works with NEI or TMI anymore. It might have used to work back when Better Than Wolves required modloader. It doesn't hurt to try, though.
I think you might be able to get one of the mini map mods to work with it, but it kind of goes against the spirit of the mod. I think Rei's minimap might work, but it requires modloader too.
I think the older versions of these mods didn't require Forge. I'm not sure when Forge became a requirement for each of them, but Forge mods definitely don't work with Better Than Wolves.
Make sure to download the correct versions of the mods for the version of Minecraft you will be using (latest version of BTW is for Minecraft 1.5.2).
That's an understatement.