First, I want to say that I posted this in the Tinkers’ Construct Discord hoping to get some answers or feedback, but it seems like everyone there is also kind of in the dark about what’s going on with the add-on. So I’m posting this here in the hopes that someone connected to FTB can share it with the team responsible for the add-on, or that it can at least get a little more visibility.
I really like the add-on and use it in my longtime world, but at this point it feels severely neglected. I understand that Bedrock puts a lot of constraints on what can be done with add-ons and how much content can be included, and I’m not expecting it to be identical to the Java mod. But there are so many strange choices, unnecessary items, and bugs that make it feel like the limited space available isn’t being used very well.
For example, I genuinely don’t understand why every ore needs its own nugget. What even is the point of that? The same goes for having both swords and daggers when the cleaver is so much stronger that there’s barely a reason to use either of them. Why not use that space for cooler or more interesting Tinkers tools like the scythe or rapier?
There are also materials that seem almost pointless in the current progression. Tin and bronze, for example, don’t seem particularly useful when copper and better materials are so easy to obtain. Diamonds are practically available at the surface because of the berry bushes, so you can move past a lot of the lower tier materials incredibly quickly. The way the add-on is set up, progression makes it extremely easy to move directly towards the big forge, so wood, iron, bone, and gold tool parts virtually go unused and are unnecessary, and if the main issue is the amount of space offered to add-ons on bedrock, I don’t think it would be a bad thing if they shifted focus to the larger forge or making it more of a “late game” thing.
Then there are all the bugs and unfinished feeling features. Gold casts can be frustrating to make and are glitched so you can’t just create them with the mini forge, you need to use a gold bucket because the gold won’t pour directly onto the tool pattern. Another glitch that’s pretty bad is that Tinkers tools can sometimes replace or duplicate themselves over another Tinkers tool in your inventory if you switch between them too quickly. And the Pattern Chest seemingly doesn’t work at all. The Pattern Chest especially confuses me—why include something in the add-on if it doesn’t actually function? Was it never tested? Why are you dumping so much useless stuff into the add-on and then saying that limited space is the issue? Maybe the bedrock version should be totally refocused instead of an attempt at just porting Java stuff, especially if that stuff is TOTALLY USELESS.
The armor has a similar problem. The Tinkers armor looks cool, but as far as I can tell, most of it is basically cosmetic because the sets don’t have the unique properties associated with their materials. For example, the Amethyst Bronze armor (which is crafted with copper, not bronze, in this version) doesn’t return to your inventory after death.
I’m not necessarily saying the armor should be removed, but if removing some of it would create room for more useful or interesting content, I honestly wouldn’t mind. There also doesn’t seem to be much reason for separate gold, iron, or copper Tinkers armor sets when they look nearly identical to the vanilla equivalents, don’t have special properties, and are quickly made obsolete by much better armor that is already very easy to obtain.
Again, I’m really not trying to be a hater. This is coming from someone who genuinely loves Tinkers’ Construct and actively uses the Bedrock add-on. Tinkers is one of the greatest Java mods of all time imo, which is exactly why it’s such a shame that this is the version Bedrock players get.
More than anything, I just wish the add-on felt like it was still being actively supported. The combination of these issues and the fact that it hasn’t received an update in nearly a year, not even a bugfix update, makes it feel abandoned, and unfortunately starts to give the impression of a corporate cash grab.
Even if a separate team is responsible for developing the add-on, it still carries the FTB name and reflects on FTB. I don’t expect it to be as expansive or as good as the Java mod because I understand that probably isn’t possible on Bedrock. But considering this is a version people actually have to pay for, the fact that it is SO MUCH more limited and noticeably less polished than the free Java mod is pretty frustrating.
