Tsuarok

I love Thaumcraft, and I'd love for someone to make a compatibility mod for it, but as Gopher said, this should be a mod, not something integrated into TFC.  I'd happily use that mod though.

So, I understand that a current development goal in TFC is compatibility with other mods.  I think that one of the few things that Mojang did right in it's implementation of survival was allowing mods.  IMO, survival as it should be should include as much compatibility as possible (without making gameplay sacrifices).  That said, I'd like to make a list of things that devs can look at for increasing compatibility with other mods.  Please feel free to add any ideas you may have on this subject.

1. Return HP and damage to vanilla-reasonable levels.

          Many mods add in new mobs, and in every case, they simply don't stand a chance.  Since damage can use floating-point values, this should have no other effect on gameplay.  We should be able to keep the improved HP UI, and even display damage at current levels if desired.

2. Include a system to allow server administrators (and individuals in SP) to easily add in new alloy, leather, pottery, and anvil recipes.

          Progression in TFC is rather different than in vanilla, and it's awesome.  To truly integrate mods that add tons of new abilities and items, these need to be carefully added in at the correct tier for reasons of balance.  I'd recommend some system like Custom NPCs has for it's custom recipes, but a config file could be used as well, if it's easier.

3. Stabilize the other dimensions, and add the option for end frames/obsidian generation or crafting.

          Some mods use stuff from these places.  While I have no desire to see them standardly available in TFC, there needs to be the option to enable them, and they need to function smoothly.

4.  Biomes

          This is a really tough problem, since TFC changes terrain generation so much.  In reality, while I feel that it's very important to allow mods that include custom biomes, I have no good ideas on actual implementation in the TFC system.  Please post suggestions.

5.  Dirt that is dirt

          Mod trees and other plants do not grow on TFC dirt.  I'm not sure that this could be done, because there are not enough metadata slots to simply expand the dirt block, and limiting the number of dirt types for the sake of compatibility is not, imo, an option.  But some way to convert trees, perhaps some type of whitelist in the config files, may be sufficient.

6.  Structures

         Many mods add challenges in the form of structures, allowing partitioning of content based on challenge level.  This is pretty fantastic, since it gives you something to work toward.  Some way to add these into terrain generation would be good.

7.  Villages

          Similar to the previous point, a great many mods expand on villages and their inhabitants.  Like the other dimensions, these have no place in "vanilla TFC," but should be available if needed for other mod's content.

I know that compatibility, while a development goal, is often trumped in terms of priority by other features.  And that is okay.  I'd rather have ya'll make the best mod you can, and then figure out how to make it work with other stuff.  That said, it never hurts to keep compatibility in mind, because other mods can add so much to the TFC experience, and sometimes taking that extra step of asking yourself how this new system will interact with other mods can be quite worthwhile.

Again, please feel free to add any ideas you may have to improve compatibility.

I can understand the confusion. Items don't actually do the rotting tick until they are contained in some sort of inventory. While they are floating there on the ground, they aren't actually ticking except for the standard despawn timer. That's why when you go to pick meat that you left in an unloaded chunk for a long time, it quickly decays away to nothing in your hand.

Could a carcass be sort of "timeless"?  Like a container in which ticks do not occur beyond the original spawning?

As others have said, I'm not convinced of the value of the addition, but it seems like workarounds should be possible...

Well, I think one issue would be that while you can combine rocks to make cobblestone, trying to combine sand into sandstone doesn't work in real life.  A goal of this mod is believablity, and while it will break from this constraint in cases where enjoyable gameplay is at stake, I don't think that this would qualify in the eyes of most of the player base.

Now, adding sandstone back in as a rock type, and maybe using some of the vanilla textures as the textures for sandstone's smooth, cobble, and brick forms, would likely be acceptable to most.

Oh, can you not pan gems from sand?  I'd thought that that was a thing...

It would be nice to change the generation a little bit.  I've walked through the countryside quite a bit in my life, and I've never come across landscape pitted like this.  I get that ya'll wanted caves to be more accessible from the surface, and I agree that that's nice, but this solution creates some really bizarre and dangerous landscape.

It's pretty easy to do in a texture pack... what did you have in mind?  Just connecting the edges?  I think a lot of people use them as they are for a sort of tile-type look...

iron shears. no other metals. stop discussing it.

 

Clothing is for body temperature regulation.

What the hell is this?  Stop discussing it?  First of all, how could further discussion possibly hurt you?  Secondly, what if someone actually comes up with a cool idea that you like involving other metals?  Stop reading it if you want, but this is a ridiculous demand.

 

snip...

 

Stairs do turn into their own stair blocks instead of detailed blocks. Djakuta had this information wrong in the OP. The only reason they don't have corner stairs is because they were coded before vanilla added corner stairs, and haven't been updated to match vanilla's corner stair render code.

 

Very cool, I was not aware.  Any chance corner stairs could be added in as well?  I'd expect that it would be a fairly straightforward copy/paste, though I'm probably wrong...

I find that this goes away if you turn mipmapping all the way up.  This is supposed to have negligible performance impact, and improves the long distance rendering quite a bit. Alternatively, you could turn up antialiasing, which gives even better results, but can slow things down a bit.

I'm not really sure what causes this.  I think it may have something to do with high contrast pixels and the distance rendering mechanic, but I've noticed it in some, but not all, other HD packs as well.

Hope this helps, and I'm glad you're enjoying the pack so far.

FYI, if you turn mipmapping all the way up, you can reduce the sort of sparkly pixelation in the grass at a distance.  I believe that it has no real performance cost...

I'd like to keep the stairs limited to chiseled features, but it might be nice to have the stair function turn them into stair blocks instead of detailed blocks, complete with turning corners and whatnot.  It would reduce the lag (hopefully) and make them a bit easier to work with.

Very cool, love the stone.

er... don't take away the chiseled plank blocks.  It's realistic, and you can do much more with it than with only planks.

the dishes...

I think the early stone age is too short to squeeze another tech level inside it.

I agree, but I don't really think of this as another tech level.  I use wicker baskets in my home right now.  Just because this would be something you could have early access to doesn't mean that it can't be useful later in the game.  Just like pottery.  Sure, you probably won't be making molds in your late game, but for sure you'll have vessels and jugs.

I haven't had to do anything special for optifine really.  Just follow the link in the OP, download the correct version: HD C6, under the 1.6.4 files in the Older Versions spoiler.  I personally use the HD U C6 version, but I believe the other HD C6 versions work as well.  Move the file to your mods folder, and that's pretty much it.

If you're looking at adding the Better Grass and Leaves mod (which I highly recommend, link is there under the mod support spoiler, make sure you download the config file too), some users need to modify the optifine file slightly.  I personally didn't need to, but I know the steps if you need help.

Other than that, the only thing you need to do is make sure your optifine is set to Connected Textures: Fancy, and you're set.  This can be found under video settings in the esc menu.  I also recommend turning mipmapping all the way up, especially for the higher definition packs.  It can get this weird graininess without it.

And just in case you've never used any resource pack before, press esc, click on resource packs, and select this one.

I'm glad you like the look of the pack, and hope you enjoy using it.  Feel free to post any further questions, or PM me if you run into any problems.

The question is, if this was implemented would we remove the functionality of using a knife to shear sheep? Currently there is no motive to make shears since you can get wool using just a stone knife, and you aren't supposed to be able to use shears to gather leaf blocks (the blocks you do currently get are bugged and aren't supposed to happen).

Can't you get vines this way?  Granted, not a huge use, but present...

Don't worry thatch towers will get nerfed.

Please don't nerf mountains in the process...

I agree, keep the nerf to the thatch itself.  Or do an overhall of structure mechanics.  But keep the cold temperatures at higher altitudes.

I like it, but most of those things would really be made from saplings.  Which we have in game.  So yeah, I'd suggest we make them out of saplings.  Except the hat.

Sounds like a reasonable recipe.  In any case it should be an anvil recipe.

I dont know about lava but maybe we could have hot springs heat up and area enough to prevent crops popping out.

I have never seen a hot spring in a snow place in real life.

Can anyone tell me how do plants behave close to a hot spring IRL?

I visited some hot springs in Colorado during the winter some years ago.  The heat seems to just go straight up; snow went right up to the edge of the water.  Of course, if they stuck a glass house over it, the plants would easily grow.  

I'd really like to see ambient sounds, wind, birds, crickets, etc, maybe dependent on temperature, altitude, latitude, and rainfall (which determine the presence of trees and such).

Right, but I mean, you can build them in your basement or something, they don't actually need to be open to the sky like the forge.

Neither the bloomery nor the blast furnace require sky access.