In need of inner peace after my disastrous obsidian hunting expedition, I decide to build an aquarium.
Renewed, I also build an anvil for using my stock of enchanted books.
A quiet and somewhat uneventful episode, but I was pleased to finally have some enchanted tools. Since recording I’ve continued my grand staircase downwards and have just broken into a cave network. I’ll save looking in there for the next episode.
Anvil enchanting is vanilla Minecraft, of course, but new to me. This is my first proper game since Alpha, and even unmodded Minecraft still has plenty of new things for me to learn.
Mods Encountered
Mo Creatures by Dr Zhark and Bloodshot 42 : I’m not sure how many different sorts of fish there are to collect. I do have some piranha eggs, but I thought that might be tempting fate.
Wild Caves was responsible for the spider webs I collected down in the caves.
Farlanders adds rubies to worldgen for trading with the friendly Farlanders. Not to be confused with the identical looking Ruby planted by Biomes O’ Plenty, who made the deliberate and annoying decision to be incompatible.
After a joyous beginning where I introduce my newly bred horse while fighting off an army of monsters, it all goes a bit wrong.
I demonstrate how to make steel from Manganese and Iron, and then bravely set off to use my steel pick to carve some obsidian.
Mods Encountered
Metallurgy by Rebel Keithy and Shadowclaimer : Steel is another step up from Damascus Steel, but I am not currently in possession of enough Manganese to dream of putting it into general usage.
Grimoire of Gaia by Silentine : Dullahan!! That’s what those pesky little blue folks were called. I shall have forgotten again by the next time I encounter one.
Enhanced Portals gets its first mention rather sooner than I expected. It would appear that, in addition to improving how portals work, it also has something to say about the properties of obsidian, the main material for portals. If you don’t have Enhanced Portals installed, steel will handle obsidian very nicely indeed. For me, I shall have to accelerate my descent to depths where diamonds can be found.
The reasons for my pumpkin and wheat farming become clear, as I go in search of a trusty steed or three to help me get around a little faster.
Mods Encountered
Mo Creatures by Dr Zhark and Bloodshot42 : The horses, donkeys, saddles, sugarlumps and medallions are all Mo Creatures. Through selective breeding, and a little magic, it is possible to attain pegasi, unicorns, and other exotic mounts. I’ll settle for a sturdy and loyal companion for now.
I’ll be making the means to get horses to stay still in the next episode. That should allow me to take Pablo the pack-donkey on adventures *relatively* safely. I just hope he does better than the luggage in that regard.
Rancraft Penguins : Today was the triumphant first appearance of a Rancraft Penguin. That’s one, getting devoured when I go over to the ocean, just as I clumsily cut to the next scene. Most of the penguin species appear in icier biomes than I’ve found yet, but a few appear on beach sub-biomes, which I guess I’m encountering for the first time in that area.
In the last episode I claimed there was an unstable Thaumcraft vis node south of my base. Today, I show how I could have known that without goggles, and go to check it out a bit more closely.
I also do a bit of vegetable farming.
Mods Encountered
Thaumcraft by Azanor : The obsidian altar will continue to pump out aggressive-aspected wisps until I deal with the spawner. As it’s embedded inside obsidian, I couldn’t do that today. Even if I could destroy it, I’m somewhat reluctant to, as wisps can drop some useful ingredients.
Mo Creatures by Dr Zhark and Bloodshot42 : I’ll probably need to put fences around my farms eventually, as Mo Creatures is filled with critters who like messing with your crops.
Natura by mDiyo : Natura adds cotton and barley seeds to grass drops, as well as the pants themselves growing in the wild.
Forestry by SirSengir : I now have some visible cross-bred leaf blocks on the trees near my hives. Most exciting, but I’m leaving them where they are until I can analyse their genetic structure and pick the best saplings for the next generation.
Today I put my wizard hat back on, and begin to dabble in the weird ways of Thaumcraft research.
Realising that magic is not the only path to success, I also show how to create a batch of Damascus Steel with Metallurgy. Damascus Steel is made by mixing bronze dust and iron dust. It is a little better than iron for most purposes, and is significantly more durable, meaning that gear will last far longer. All tools and armour made with Metallurgy metals have a unique appearance too.
Mods Encountered
Metallurgy by Rebel Keithy and Shadowclaimer : There are a great many ores and alloys in Metallurgy beyond the ones I’ve used so far. Most of them are rarer, or in the Nether or End. Damascus Steel is a good working material for me where I am, still in the very early game.
Grimoire of Gaia by Silentine just updated to 1.4. As well as taking pity on me in my Extreme Hills home (Silentine watches the series!) by pushing Griffons and Valkyrie up from sea level, the new version also adds 5 new monsters whom I’m sure shall be delighted to see me.
Thaumcraft by Azanor : At last I’m back on track to becoming a mighty Thaumaturge! I did mispeak though, as I have done a little with Thaumcraft in a previous episode. You can catch me creating my first wand, and the fabled Thaumonomicon back in episode 11.
The crucible is a tricky beast, from what my studies tell me, so is going to require a room of its own. I’m extending the ground floor of the wizard tower to accommodate it.
We begin as we left off, with your humble chronicler trapped down a well by the cruellest and most devious of traps. Oh woe! Shall I ever see my dear beehives again?
Spoiler Alert: Yes.
Mods mentioned
Ruins by AtomicStryker : Most of Ruin’s structures don’t try to kill you. That well had a pretty good try though.
Grimoire of Gaia by Silentine : A new creature encountered today! The Creep is the juvenile form of the creeper, only encountered underground. Their more compact form makes then even more dangerous.
Buildcraft : Once I get my hands on that elusive Buildcraft energy, I’ll be able to pump liquids via pipes between tanks and other machines. For now, they’re just a convenient way to store liquids.