So there's this mod I want to play with (not saying which one), but it requires 1.12.2, AND Forge. Now I don't want to have to downgrade and upgrade Forge constantly whenever I wanna play with this mod. But I am okay if I can get it running with 1.16.4 Forge OR vanilla 1.12.2, so if anyone could inform me how would this be possible, it would help me
Also, I'm not sure whether this is the right category.
Mods work on strict versions. Only sometimes like with 1.9.4 to 1.10.2 or 1.16.2 to 1.16.4 do mods work across versions. it mostly comes down to what changes the modloader has or what Mojang changes.
If the mods supports 1.16.4 and 1.12.2 then use the one for those versions, otherwise if it's for 1.12.2 it won't work on 1.16.4 as 1.13.2 changed a lot and so did Forge 1.13.2 itself and probably 1.16.4 Forge by now.
Also knowing the mod helps with solving your problem, no one will judge you on what the mod is. I document a lot of mods for both Forge & Fabric and I may have come across it so knowing what it is I can give a better answer.
Only mods like Bounding Box Outline Reloaded/Optifine are the only two mods I know that can run alongside Vanilla, otherwise you need a modloader like Forge, Fabric, etc. to add a modding layer and have other mods work.
I'm also wondering if I can get it running on vanilla 1.12 because getting forge 1.12 means I have to re-install the latest forge after I'm done, which isn't ideal, just sayin'
edit: i forgot to mention i found the mod on the aternos mod page
Once you install a version of Forge, its always available on what ever launcher you use. You don't need to keep re-installing the same version, or even delete a version. When you create a Profile, you can select what ever version of Forge is available.
99% of mods run on Forge (or another API like Fabric). Forge was created so other mods could easily run on MC. It is possible to create a non-API mod (Optifine is the best example), but it is very difficult.
If you want to use a mod in MC, you'll need to install the appropriate API that the mod requires. There's really no way around this.
Using a third-party app like CurseForge or MultiMC makes it a lot easier to install Forge and mods to play modded MC. I recommend using one of these.
What I meant was that if I run another version of Forge, the other one is replaced with that version. Like if i ran Forge for 1.15.2, it replaces Forge 1.16.4 with THAT, and then I have to run Forge 1.16.4 again afterwards.
Any modloaders I've used never replace a version (other than Forge being used on a new launcher now I guess, and most likely with 1.13.2+ versions of Forge I assume or 1.15.2+). The only thing that replaces a version is the latest release on the Mojang launcher, otherwise any other version whether modded or unmodified are never removed if you created a custom one yourself from the Installations tab or the modloader does for you when you use the Installer.
Otherwise the only other thing I can say/I may have come across was say the first Forge profile (simply 'forge' like the image) may do that as it's strictly for Forge updates I guess but any others you apply afterwards or if you make a custom one won't be removed. The first Forge profile is trying to be like the Latest Release I think, but you can ignore that and add your own if you want no matter the Forge version or other modloaders like Fabric.
Apparently, nobody had a clue as to how to do that, much less provided an example (this was posted back when the forums were far more active), while all I do to make my own mods is modify/replace existing vanilla code, without any worries about API rules or whatever, and a lot of what I do requires advanced knowledge to implement using Forge or another modloader since they don't provides the means to hook into every bit of code, especially when a lot of what you do involves changing existing behavior (this means working with bytecode and all that stuff, as opposed to normal Java code, I've seen the "source" for Forge mods that use ASM and I couldn't be more clueless as to what it did). The Forge documentation that I've seen doesn't even show what various methods and classes actually do, just their signatures with little description (by contrast, MCP is quite good at documenting methods, and of course, you have full access to the actual code so you can see exactly what it does). Another major advantage of plugging directly into the base game is efficiency; Forge code can't directly communicate with the game, rather using "reflection" and "events", which leads to a vast reduction in efficiency (it always boggles my mind how resource-intensive most mods are; there is no way on earth that even the biggest modpack should need even 1 GB of RAM unless it is using HD textures or such). I suppose that an API can make it much easier to update to newer versions though (Mojang changes the obfuscation mappings with every update but Forge, etc use their own mappings).
Of course, my own mods are incompatible with every known mod, even Optifine in the case of my flagship mod, TMCW (to compensate for this I actually added my own features based off of Optifine's, like more graphical settings and a zoom function, though none of its advanced resource pack or shader support, not that the 1.6.4 version had this). Some of my simpler mods can be used with Forge but you have to edit the JVM arguments to get it to accept a modified jar; otherwise, the only real issue is installing them (I don't have an installer so you have to manually install them, though I can do it within a minute and provided a custom version json file so you don't have to edit it yourself).
Either way, I doubt that any modders are willing to recode their mods to work by themselves, any more than I would be willing to make any of my own mods modloader-based (my main motive for modding is personal fun).
So there's this mod I want to play with (not saying which one), but it requires 1.12.2, AND Forge. Now I don't want to have to downgrade and upgrade Forge constantly whenever I wanna play with this mod. But I am okay if I can get it running with 1.16.4 Forge OR vanilla 1.12.2, so if anyone could inform me how would this be possible, it would help me
Also, I'm not sure whether this is the right category.
This is the right category.
Mods work on strict versions. Only sometimes like with 1.9.4 to 1.10.2 or 1.16.2 to 1.16.4 do mods work across versions. it mostly comes down to what changes the modloader has or what Mojang changes.
If the mods supports 1.16.4 and 1.12.2 then use the one for those versions, otherwise if it's for 1.12.2 it won't work on 1.16.4 as 1.13.2 changed a lot and so did Forge 1.13.2 itself and probably 1.16.4 Forge by now.
Also knowing the mod helps with solving your problem, no one will judge you on what the mod is. I document a lot of mods for both Forge & Fabric and I may have come across it so knowing what it is I can give a better answer.
Only mods like Bounding Box Outline Reloaded/Optifine are the only two mods I know that can run alongside Vanilla, otherwise you need a modloader like Forge, Fabric, etc. to add a modding layer and have other mods work.
Niche Community Content Finder, Youtuber, Modpack/Map Maker, Duck
Forum Thread Maintainer for APortingCore, Liteloader Download HUB, Asphodel Meadows, Fabric Project, Legacy Fabric/Cursed Fabric, Power API, Rift/Fabric/Forge 1.13 to 1.17.
Wikis I Maintain: https://modwiki.miraheze.org/wiki/User:SuntannedDuck2
I was sleeping, so i'm replying now, but here's the mod: https://www.curseforge.com/minecraft/mc-mods/more-crafts-igor-live96
I'm also wondering if I can get it running on vanilla 1.12 because getting forge 1.12 means I have to re-install the latest forge after I'm done, which isn't ideal, just sayin'
edit: i forgot to mention i found the mod on the aternos mod page
Once you install a version of Forge, its always available on what ever launcher you use. You don't need to keep re-installing the same version, or even delete a version. When you create a Profile, you can select what ever version of Forge is available.
99% of mods run on Forge (or another API like Fabric). Forge was created so other mods could easily run on MC. It is possible to create a non-API mod (Optifine is the best example), but it is very difficult.
If you want to use a mod in MC, you'll need to install the appropriate API that the mod requires. There's really no way around this.
Using a third-party app like CurseForge or MultiMC makes it a lot easier to install Forge and mods to play modded MC. I recommend using one of these.
"We live on a placid island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity, and it was not meant that we should voyage far."
What I meant was that if I run another version of Forge, the other one is replaced with that version. Like if i ran Forge for 1.15.2, it replaces Forge 1.16.4 with THAT, and then I have to run Forge 1.16.4 again afterwards.
Any modloaders I've used never replace a version (other than Forge being used on a new launcher now I guess, and most likely with 1.13.2+ versions of Forge I assume or 1.15.2+). The only thing that replaces a version is the latest release on the Mojang launcher, otherwise any other version whether modded or unmodified are never removed if you created a custom one yourself from the Installations tab or the modloader does for you when you use the Installer.
Otherwise the only other thing I can say/I may have come across was say the first Forge profile (simply 'forge' like the image) may do that as it's strictly for Forge updates I guess but any others you apply afterwards or if you make a custom one won't be removed. The first Forge profile is trying to be like the Latest Release I think, but you can ignore that and add your own if you want no matter the Forge version or other modloaders like Fabric.
Niche Community Content Finder, Youtuber, Modpack/Map Maker, Duck
Forum Thread Maintainer for APortingCore, Liteloader Download HUB, Asphodel Meadows, Fabric Project, Legacy Fabric/Cursed Fabric, Power API, Rift/Fabric/Forge 1.13 to 1.17.
Wikis I Maintain: https://modwiki.miraheze.org/wiki/User:SuntannedDuck2
Hmmm, now that I think about it, it might have just removed Forge 1.16.4 from the selection, and not removed it entirely. I'll keep you updated.
Edit: Yup, that's exactly what it did. It just removes 1.16.4 Forge from the list, but I can just click "New" and put it back in.
To the contrary, I had the opposite impression:
https://www.minecraftforum.net/forums/mapping-and-modding-java-edition/minecraft-mods/modification-development/1435224-replace-cave-generator-in-forge
Apparently, nobody had a clue as to how to do that, much less provided an example (this was posted back when the forums were far more active), while all I do to make my own mods is modify/replace existing vanilla code, without any worries about API rules or whatever, and a lot of what I do requires advanced knowledge to implement using Forge or another modloader since they don't provides the means to hook into every bit of code, especially when a lot of what you do involves changing existing behavior (this means working with bytecode and all that stuff, as opposed to normal Java code, I've seen the "source" for Forge mods that use ASM and I couldn't be more clueless as to what it did). The Forge documentation that I've seen doesn't even show what various methods and classes actually do, just their signatures with little description (by contrast, MCP is quite good at documenting methods, and of course, you have full access to the actual code so you can see exactly what it does). Another major advantage of plugging directly into the base game is efficiency; Forge code can't directly communicate with the game, rather using "reflection" and "events", which leads to a vast reduction in efficiency (it always boggles my mind how resource-intensive most mods are; there is no way on earth that even the biggest modpack should need even 1 GB of RAM unless it is using HD textures or such). I suppose that an API can make it much easier to update to newer versions though (Mojang changes the obfuscation mappings with every update but Forge, etc use their own mappings).
Of course, my own mods are incompatible with every known mod, even Optifine in the case of my flagship mod, TMCW (to compensate for this I actually added my own features based off of Optifine's, like more graphical settings and a zoom function, though none of its advanced resource pack or shader support, not that the 1.6.4 version had this). Some of my simpler mods can be used with Forge but you have to edit the JVM arguments to get it to accept a modified jar; otherwise, the only real issue is installing them (I don't have an installer so you have to manually install them, though I can do it within a minute and provided a custom version json file so you don't have to edit it yourself).
Either way, I doubt that any modders are willing to recode their mods to work by themselves, any more than I would be willing to make any of my own mods modloader-based (my main motive for modding is personal fun).
TheMasterCaver's First World - possibly the most caved-out world in Minecraft history - includes world download.
TheMasterCaver's World - my own version of Minecraft largely based on my views of how the game should have evolved since 1.6.4.
Why do I still play in 1.6.4?