My favourite Minecraft modpacks
Recently I’ve been getting into Skyfactory 3, a Minecraft skyblock modpack, and I thought I’d write up a list of some of my favourite (pretty old) packs, so here they are in no particular order!
Feed The Beast Unleashed
Minecaft version: 1.5.2
Notable mods: Thermal Expansion, IndustrialCraft, Minefactory Reloaded, Applied Energistics, Forestry, Mystcraft, Thaumcraft
Undoubtedly my most-played Minecraft modpack, FTB Unleashed is probably my all-time non skyblock pack. FTB Unleashed was an ‘all-round’ modpack with a mix of tech and magic mods.
Unleashed is available on the FTB launcher.
Agrarian Skies
Minecraft version: 1.6.4
Notable mods: HQM, Ex Nihilo, Thermal Expansion, Minefactory Reloaded, Applied Energistics, Forestry, Big Reactors, Thaumcraft, Blood Magic
Created by JadedCat, Agrarian Skies was my first introduction to modded skyblock Minecraft. Built around the Hardcore Questing (HQM) and Ex Nihilo mods, Agrarian Skies allows you to progress from just a single tree on a block of dirt to a huge floating skyblock world filled with tech and magic. The questing element of the pack really helped in learning the new mods, as well as guiding the player in terms of progression and rewarding the crafting or handing-in of certain items.
Now on my third Agrarian Skies world, Agrarian Skies has been a source of great enjoyment and has taught me a lot about various mods, in particular Blood Magic, Big Reactors and Applied Energistics.
Agrarian Skies is available under the third party modpack list on the FTB launcher.
YogCraft
Minecraft version: 1.4.7
Notable mods: BuildCraft, Thermal Expansion, IndustrialCraft, Forestry, Thaumcraft, Twilight Forest
Not to be confused with the ‘Yogbox’ modpack, YogCraft was a Feed The Beast pack created for the Yogscast to succeed Tekkit. Close to the end of their long-running and much-loved ‘Jaffa Factory’ Tekkit series, the Yogscast decided to export their large Tekkit world to the new Yogcraft pack, much to the ire of their fans. A move to a new base and the now infamous bee and tree breeding episodes brought an end to the Yogscast’s most successful Minecraft series.
Despite the negative response to the new pack, the move from Tekkit to Yogcraft was necessary and signalled an end to the old ‘cheaty’ ways of Equivalent Exchange which was famously exploited to provide unlimited resources and thereby impacting the enjoyment of the game for both players and viewers. The new pack introduced brand new tech and magic mods which have become mainstays of modded Minecraft such as Thermal Expansion, Forestry, Twilight Forest and Thaumcraft.
After watching Sjin’s new YogCraft series, ‘Feed The World’, which heavily focused on Forestry, I became eager to try YogCraft myself and until starting FTB Unleashed, Yogcraft quickly became my favourite modpack.
I dedicated many hours to building, exploring and crafting. I discovered the joy and intricacies of tree and bee breeding, as well as the amazing secrets of thaumaturgy. A hard drive crash on my Acer laptop meant I lost my treasured ‘Jaffa Cakes & Tina Barrett’ seed Yogcraft world, although I would go on to rebuild in the same pack and later on, Unleashed.
You can find YogCraft on the Feed The Beast launcher.
Tekkit/Tekkit Classic
Minecraft version: 1.2.5
Notable mods: Buildcraft, IndustrialCraft, Red Power, Equivalent Exchange, Computercraft
My introduction to the world of modded Minecraft! I started playing Tekkit after watching the Yogscast’s ‘Jaffa Factory’ series where Lewis, Simon and Duncan attempt to build an automated Jaffa Cake factory using Buildcraft, IndustrialCraft, Equivalent Exchange and numerous other mods in the pack.
I have fond memories of my first modded world in Tekkit, I had an ore processing building, a workshed and a geothermal facility/power station powering my remote quarry, everything was made from black and white marble and co-ordinated really well, I really miss my old world, sadly lost in the great crash of 2013.
Tekkit Classic is available on the Technic launcher.
FTB Infinity Evolved
Minecraft version: 1.7.10
Notable mods: Thermal Expansion, Applied Energistics, Forestry, Extra Utilities, Thaumcraft, Blood Magic, Botania, Big Reactors
My current ‘all-round’ FTB pack, Infinity Evolved is packed with numerous tech and magic mods such as Blood Magic, Thaumcraft, Thermal Expansion, Applied Energistics, Big Reactors, Railcraft, Botania, Buildcraft and IndustrialCraft 2. Infinity was my much-needed upgrade from FTB Unleashed and provided an opportunity to learn much newer versions of mods in an up-to-date version of Minecraft.
FTB Infinity Evolved is available on the Feed The Beast launcher.
Crash Landing
Minecraft version: 1.6.4
Notable mods: HQM, Enviromine, Ex Nihilo, Thermal Expansion, Pneumaticraft, Applied Energistics, Big Reactors
Crash Landing is a relatively short, but punishing modpack, definitely not suited to newbies! Your space ship has crashed on a seemingly-barren, alien world and as the sole survivor, must make use of what you have to survive the night, although as you find out, the local alien life is the least of your worries!
Essentially Crash Landing could be classed as a skyblock modpack, as even though it’s set on a vast desert world, everything you need to survive is within the confines of the spaceship. In addition to worrying about dying to mobs and hunger (it is a hardcore modpack!), this modpack also has Enviromine, which means thirst and temperature becomes a problem, too! Infinite water sources are disabled and water placed on the surface becomes salt water, further increasing thirst if drunk! The challenge is getting a reliable source of clean water going as soon as possible.
The HQM (Hardcore Questing) questbook guides you through the core mods, enabling you to get a reliable source of power and water up and running, as this is a very hard modpack, several crafting recipes have been removed or greatly increased in difficulty, such as the Big Reactors reactor controller, or the aqueous accumulator.
From the very moment of starting Crash Landing every second counts, surviving the first night is a challenge in itself, even for experienced Minecraft players. While short on quests, it is highly rewarding, testing your knowledge of vanilla and modded Minecraft.
Crash Landing is available from the Third Party modpacks list on the FTB Launcher.
Voltz
Minecraft version: 1.5.2
Notable mods: Atomic Science, Mekanism, ICBM
Voltz is a tech-centric mod built around the ICBM, Mekanism and Atomic Science mods. In the Yogscast’s Voltz series they take over an old ex-soviet bunker, build a nuclear reactor, a particle accelerator and various chemical, biological and nuclear missiles!
The Yogscast’s Voltz series also saw the iconic ‘Red Matter Bomb’ incident, a hilarious mess caused by Sips and Sjin after detonating a red matter explosive, which in Ridgedog’s (the Yogscast’s Minecraft server admin) words “could eat the world”.
The Voltz modpack, I think was better suited to multiplayer servers, and as someone who plays alone, I could only get so much fun out of this relatively small, but legendary pack.
Voltz is available on the Technic Launcher.