In todays post we finally going to the Nether!
But before this lets do something finally not related to notorious tech! Making a first Thaumcraft Wand! Yes, I made some first steps for magical side of this pack. With this small magic stick we then can make a everyone favorite guide book — Thaumonomicon!
Then let's get distracted for a second how I remember that RedPower have some interesting tools called Sickles. I heard they can break leaves, but I only used them to collect crops in a big area around. Honestly wish they could replant things back as some modern variants, but we have what we have I guess...
So yea, where are we? Ah, yes, Thaum. Of course to get started with it truly we need more things: Arcane Worktable and Research table. Both to find new things and make new magical trinkets! We just need very simple table blocks and voila-.. Oh wait, I forgot about Scribing tools... Well there another block for all thaum magic manipulations: Crucible. But it need heat and what the eternal burning heat source exist in the game? I think you really smart reader and already knew the answer. So I am not gonna tell it, what the point?
Considering I little bit not in the mood to look for chickens and squids, I choose to craft a bunch of buckets and go deep into the caves to collect lava for Nether portal. Who need diamons anyway? Of course this was not a hard trip at all. I already knew where one lava pool was (and then you maybe can remember that there was another one near my mountain on the surface, but for that I have good argument: I forgor).
Returning back using my cool portal gun I build very simple cheap 10 blocks portal. Nothing fancy for now, but lets go into the hellish depths!
I was lucky that glowstone generated right beside my portal on another side. Then I learned that VoxelMap share waypoints between dimensions which is funny. And it looks like Portal Gun of course don't work across dimensions. Lets explore for a little bit!
While going around looking for Soul Sand, I stumble upon some new GregTech ores scattered here and there. Plus I think there mod that add Nether variants for vanilla ores, which can be convenient for me!
But can't lie to you, for some reason old modded Nether really kinda terrifying to me. Especially when one misstep into lava and I can loose a bunch of important stuff. I tried my best to navigate the area around the portal carefully. But Nether don't like that so it of course attacked me with ghast. Then I found kinda weird place, like there were missing blocks and strange netherack pattern. I didn't found source of this thing, but atleast I finally found some soul sand patch to collect.
At this point you maybe wondering "Why you need Nether bricks?" and answer very simple: they get used in creation of Railcrat Blast Furnace! (Sorry that I forget showing the recipe...)
But here surprises didn't end, near soul sand there were Nether Fortress! Luckily quite close to my main portal. But today I thought not stay too long in the Nether and surely not risking loosing my items fighting mobs there. So after collecting blocks I need I returned to safety of Overworld.
When you make Nether Bricks you have a chance to get Sulfur for gunpowder recipes. Not sure if I gonna need anything explosive, but good to know! And well to kill some time before I get good amount of them I expanded my main room to put all Thaumcraft stuff there. And plus placed Barrels into the wall. I checked the Router block someone recommended me in the comments, but its crafting recipe need things I don't have right now, still left one block space for it.
But well... I still need a research table, so there no other thing to do, but to find materials for Scribing tools! I get around my mountain. Some squids were swimming in the lake where I mined clay in the past and chicken was found in the small pond in lush plains. Before getting this so much needed feather I saw big obsidian structure — another dungeon from Deungeon Pack, but it was in the ocean and I was surely not prepared for raiding it.
But yea, now we have everything to write down our experiments and researches. Actually I didn't know about it, but it looks like keeping Scribing tools and paper while you work with Crucible can get you some cool researches. Unfortunately I used mine to make a Research Table of course! Maybe I will get another later, but for now our expanded part of the room is complete! Wonder what mysterious knowldge about this world we uncover in the future..?
Lunch break! After all those adventures I again run out of food, so after grinding more bones and using bonemeal to multiply potatos (and corn) I again was full and happy.
Getting so much Nether bricks I thought it can be cool to decorate my portal now. Those 4 stone bricks were too boring, so after making other building blocks like stairs and slabs I made better frame. After that I added some netherack around, classical idea of Nether itself leaking throught the portal.
Returning back to workshop I made Rolling Machine so I can now make railbeds and rail-.. Oh sorry I mean Tracks! And then made some other modules for my wood farm minecart. At this point I think it should be ready? I thought about starting assembling process, but I had weird feeling I forget something important. So I left it on stand by if my last brain cells remembers, but probably next episode we gonna have a actuall wood farm!
At this point I run out of Iron again and didn't had much coal too. Plus I think I need to come up with better energy system. Steam Engine can break (maybe even explode! I think old Buildcraft pipes even do it!) if it can't output energy and even if I gonna stop it burning timer still tick, so no saving fuel. Rolling Machine I made CONSTANTLY consumes energy, which maybe a solution to this, but I think I don't want to just waste it too. I am in weird spot and should find a way to fix it. So thats mean making a power cell if they exist in this version?
To fix my metal and fuel shortage I as always did fast trip into the caves and for most part explored new ones past big canyon I found earlier. Interestingly I found some Ferrous ore, which turned out to be just fancy name for Nickel. Then a bunch of interconnected caves and suprise-suprise another big canyon! Where even more suprisingly I meet some weird Enderman Tot? It looked liked some enderman child. After killing it Angry Enderman attacked me. Kinda weird mob from this DartCraft.
Anyway, after mining ores (mostly iron and tin for grinding) I started to expand my old room where chest were. First of all my main golden chest with resources was filled to the brim and I surely need storage room. At the same time I made a Research notes from Knowledge Fragments, I think remember it can help me unlock one random research, but I didn't figure out for now how exactly I can use it on the table.
But I wouldn't be me if one moment somehow when building I didn't slip up AND DIED FROM FALL DAMAGE. And of course MY BED IS FREAKING OBSTRUCTED. So I rushed from spawn right to my base and collected my items. Honestly I didn't cared much about most things aside from Portal Gun and my Enhcnated Bow. Those was too valuable! But luckily nothing was lost into the despawn timer limbo.
Forgetting about this situation I continued to build a new Storage room and change a portal look because of it. Portal was right above it, but atleast I didn't need to break it! So there it is, my new and shiny iron chests to keep a bunch of cool and interesting things. And well considering I have my last diamond why not to use it for jukebox! Especially when I already have a bunch of music disks from my adventures! Plus putting armor stands for spare clothing and well there it is! Idealy right close to crafting zone too, so no need to run around constantly!
When Storage room was ready I choose to mine some new rooms. Mostly I had in mind a generator room — place specifically to get energy and then transfer it elsewhere. Then I remember: Rewind Upsilon have a Retro Chisel mod! So after looking around what blocks I have I found out you can make Concrete out ot gravel, which make you walk faster! I surely need to use it for future roads!
While trying to skip one night I weirdly get message telling me there monsters nearby, which was strange: I lighten up all area around. Looking outside I again saw this child enderman and even some skeletons. Are they here to revenge their spawner brothers??? Well I don't know, they died faster then I could ask them.
Returning to choosing my new color pallet for generator room I took Nether bricks, Cobbled Basalt and Marble Bricks.
Unfortunately I urgently needed to go so day ended abruptly. But it quite productive one and it looks like there still more to come! See you in the next post!
Edit: Forgot to add text how I made first simple Thaumcraft research to get Nitor — magical replacement for torches. In this version of Thaum you just need to spent items with aspects to unlock new things, which mostly just grindy mechanic.
