YourLottery

I voted 10k in the original poll, and was disheartened to see that option wasn't available in the updated poll, so I voted 20k second time around. Reason being: the furthest I have ever travelled in minecraft was less than 4000 blocks from spawn. Most of the time a 2k radius is sufficient, even in SMP. A 10k distant pole still leaves 20,000 blocks from pole to pole, and if people want to travel further they can go infinite blocks east or west. If the distance from equator to pole ends up at 50k, it is unlikely I will ever move more then one temperature band in a given map. How about having world gen options that lets you pick distance from equator to pole?

Forge includes modloader functionality: you don't need both.

So the new smaller chests are certainly more 'realistic', but people don't have to pack stuff in chests to store it IRL because their possessions don't disappear 5 minutes after being dropped on the floor (contrary to the wishes of mothers everywhere). I think for small chests to really work, we need some alternate storage solutions. I'm just going to brainstorm a few ideas here: Bags/sacks made with leather or wool and string. These would hold less then a chest (maybe 3 or 6 stacks - perhaps 3 for wool and 6 for leather - maybe the leather one is called a backpack and uses leather and sticks), and could be kept in your inventory (probably in conjunction with a smaller inventory) or placed like a block on the ground. Tables or workbenches that items left on would not expire after 5 minutes. Or maybe a bed gives an 'aura' that prevents loose items from disappearing. This could cause lag, though, so its probably a bad idea. Something like the shelf mod (a container that displays what is in it) might work. 2x2 pallets that hold only one kind of item but perhaps 72 stacks of that item, with more stacks increasing the vertical size the pallet takes up. These might work like a bloomery - you place the 4 pallet pieces on the ground in a square, then just throw items onto it and they add to the contents. Flatbed minecarts that can hold stacks of the same item (similar to pallets, but smaller). Metal bound chests that have a larger capacity (size dependant on the metal). Storage bins - like pallets but requiring sides, and vertically expandable like a bloomery.

Also, check out Magic Launcher for managing mods. I just starting using it and it is the cat's meow.

If you look at the client installation instructions for TFC, you'll note it doesn't ask for modloader anymore. Apparently modloader functionality is included in forge.

It was an issue with mods I guess. I reinstalled everything, logging in after each mod to check, and the issue didn't occur again. Mods installed (in successful order) Modloader 2.2.78.153 Forge 3.3.8.152 TFC beta 2 pre 39 TFC Textures Optifine 1.2.5_HD_MT_AA_A7 Player API client 1.5 Render Player API 1.3 Smart Moving 9.4.2 CodeChickenCore-Client 0.5.3 NEI 1.2.2.4 ReiMinimap 3.2_04

So I recently started playing this mod again (SMP), deleting my pr29 install and reinstalling from scratch pr39. I've just got to the point where I am about to make some bismuth tools, and I've set up a firepit, bellows, stone anvil, etc. I've smelted the ore into a mold, but when I put the unshaped ingot onto the anvil, I just see 'rules:' in grey letters, and nothing listed. From memory I can work the unshaped ingots into ingots, then I put in a set of plans, lift and drop the ingot to update the anvil, and still just see 'rules:' in grey letters and no rules listed. Either I've forgot something obvious, or I have another issue. Anyone have any ideas?

By 'gate' I mean a barrier to advancement that must be overcome. Your Progressively Challenging Enemies thread is actually pretty much what I invisioned, though I think it should be boosted by increasing spawns around ore (with bigger deposits spawning mobs faster). This would give players a reason to make armor and weapons immediately rather then just waiting until they ran up the tech tree. I'm sure some people won't want to fight through a horde of trolls to get their hemitite, so the increased spawning near ore can scale with difficulty (no increase for easy, big increase for hard). Mob spawns are a way of gating tech advancement while giving players a reason to make gear at their current level, but other gates can be made too (or instead). Perhaps prospector's picks could be limited in what they can find: stone p-picks find cassiterite/bismuthinite/sphalerite; tin, zinc, and bismuth prospector picks find up to the copper ores and coal, etc. That won't make a player inclined to make armor and weapons, but at least they'll have to make the prospector's picks and they will be less likely to have stockpiled a bunch of high end ores by the time they find cassiterite.

Having put some hours into this mod now, I've found myself already growing bored for lack of a goal. You see, once you've found your cassiterite and can start the tech climb, it becomes a bit repetitive: smelt ores, make anvil, smelt ores, make anvil, etc. You only need to make a handful of tools at each metal level before you've obsoleted them. Armor is hardly needed, and takes so much ore that you just skip it (which is a shame, because the unique textures for various armors are very nice). In my SMP game we are currently about to produce blue steel, and i am still using a bronze sword and chestplate that are almost pristine (and an iron helmet from a zombie). By the time we found cassiterite, we already had copper and iron waiting to jump up to steel, and I only bothered to make some bronze things because our y=100 forge and bloomeries struggled to smelt the iron. The other part that leads to the forthcoming suggestion is that the vanilla mobs just don't seem to fit in with the dwarf fortressy feel. So my suggestion is to have new mobs (which I imagine is already planned). Not only that, but to have mob spawns based on biomes, rock type, depth, and type and quantity of nearby ores. Balance it so that to get higher tech metals you need to engage in more dangerous activities. If you dig to deep and unleash the balrog while wearing tin pants and brass boots you will be in for a world of hurt! tl;dr: Gate tech advancement with smart mob spawning requiring players to gear up to get better ores.

I noticed it in a desert river biome, underground. But I think I've seen the dirt change color when planting trees in the adjacent grassland too. I've also noticed sometimes planting a sapling kills the grass underneath, sometimes it doesn't (and sometimes when chopping a tree there is grass under the trunk, sometimes there isn't).

I've noticed that growing trees depletes the soil underneath, eventually turning it to sand. Is there a way of fertilizing or otherwise restoring soil?