Ark’s Magical Modded Minecraft Misadventure 44 : Thaumcraft Infusion Altars

Back to Thaumcraft for a bit. I’ve finally unlocked the Goggles of Revealing research, but there’s a few things I need to make first.

While a Crucible is excellent for making basic Thaumcraft items, for most things you also need an infusion altar, which draws the aspects in from any nearby crucible or storage device.

Mods Encountered

Thaumcraft by Azanor: I am excited at being so close to getting my Goggles of Revealing. It will reveal a world of shimmering wonders. Vis nodes are a valuable resource that I shall have to take good care of. I’ve held off on tapping their potential until now, as without the Goggles it is impossible to keep a close eye on their health.

Ars Magica by Mithion: Ahh, my trusty firebolt spell got the job done, setting only half the room on fire. Don’t try this if you built your magic chamber out of wood.

Magic Bees 2.0.2 by MysteriousAges: The magic wax made by the basic bee species from Magic Bees is perfect for magical crafting. A pure source of Praecantatio can save you a lot of flux problems.

Ark’s Magical Modded Minecraft Misadventure 43 : Liquid Assets.

A bit of a jumbled mix of things I needed to get done today. I have certain rules about how I do this Let’s Play. One is that I don’t use any cheats, or give myself free stuff. I don’t feel you really come to understand a mod if you just magic all the parts or ingredients into existence.

But the rule that sometimes causes episodes like this is that I can’t do something when I’m not recording, unless I’ve already covered it in the show. And so it is that we have two pipe and liquid episodes in a row, as I really needed to get working on my full tank of oil, and I’d accidentally gone and discovered seed oil without you.

Mods Encountered

Buildcraft maintained by CovertJaguar: The refinery (and indeed the oil wells added to worldgen) is a rather high-end bit of Buildcraft kit. It is a monster of a machine that can devour far more power than I’m capable of producing right now, so it is operating rather slowly. It nevertheless is making fuel far faster than I could possibly use it. Fuel is just that energy-dense.

Using the same pipe for two different liquids is generally a terrible idea, and had I realised that cherries squeeze into seed oil rather than fruit juice I certainly would not have done it! Still, given that seed oil is something I am going to need in abundance, the discovery was well worth a few plumbing problems.

Forestry by Sir Sengir: Discovering that some trees require time for their fruit to ripen was a huge relief. I’m not really ready to be toying with Forestry automated farms just yet, so being able to get the fruit through mere patience and a spot of axing made me quite pleased.

Extra Bees and Extra Trees by Binnie: The Orchard Apple and Common Beech trees are from Extra Trees. It’s all quite seamless, so I had to nip over to his website to check the tree list. I’m not sure if anyone would want spoilers on the necessary tree crosses to get them, but as the in-game tree database that should update when I discover a new tree is not working right now, I don’t actually know. I have found that simply planting a bunch of different trees together has worked pretty well for me so far as getting all-new species is concerned. I shall certainly need to do a little more planning later on.

The Silver Lime – Apple Oak cross was more deliberate, and I picked the best one from a number of different hybrids. Twice the biomass of an apple oak, with at least as many apples, they’re my current biomass fermenting workhorses.

Railcraft by CovertJaguar : Railcraft deserves another mention, seeing as I built an even bigger tank in between episodes. 1600 buckets of fuel should be sufficient storage. If it turns out not to be, you can extend the tank upwards without losing its contents.

Ark’s Magical Modded Minecraft Misadventure 42 : Railcraft Iron Tanks

My oil drilling has been a splendid success, but it has left me with the problem of where to store it all. Buildcraft tanks are excellent for moderate amounts of liquids, but for massive storage, the best way is to go with some variety of multiblock tank, and I’m going to be using Railcraft’s Iron Tanks for that purpose

Mods Encountered

Railcraft by CovertJaguar : The first appearance for Railcraft! There are quite a lot of other mods which also offer some sort of multitank, but Railcraft’s are relatively simple to make and work beautifully. I had a few little problems during the video, but we worked through them in the end.

Buildcraft maintained by CovertJaguar: The pipes and redstone engines that form the basis of my technological exploits are all from Buildcraft. I have quite a web of piping all over the place now. I’ll be glad to be able to dismantle my oil pipeline. As it was always going to be temporary, it didn’t seem worth burying, but it is rather an eyesore.

Forestry by Sir Sengir: Butterflys are a new addition to Forestry, and do not yet serve much of a purpose. I’m sure that’s going to change, so I scoop them up whenever I see them.

Ark’s Magical Modded Minecraft Misadventure 41 : Mystcraft Linking Books

If it is true, as the villager claimed, that each point of light in the night sky is home to another world, I must one day visit them!

Not today though. Today, I put together the linking books that would allow me to get home again.

Mods Encountered

Mystcraft 0.10.5 by XCompWiz: I’m quite excited to finally be making a start with Mystcraft. It is the gateway through which I’ll be seeing many modded biomes for the first time.

I added the intra-linking ability to the linking panel, as it seemed the most useful to me, but there are several other options that can be applied by using other ingredients.

Mo Creatures 5.2.3 by Dr Zhark and Bloodshot42: Pablo, a wizard’s best friend, is a Mo Creatures donkey, though if you’re over in 1.6.2 you can get your very own Pablo without needing any mods at all!

A Short Break

My father is visiting for a few days, so I probably won’t get the chance to put out anything new til Sunday, unless I manage to grab an hour here and an hour there. (They take a lot longer to make than you might imagine!). We shall see. At any rate, normal rates of production should return next week!

If you usually only watch the videos through this site, you might enjoy a rummage through my YouTube channel, where you can find my (horrible audio quality) original Minecraft series from Alpha/Beta, and a few other gaming videos.

Ark’s Magical Modded Minecraft Misadventure 40 : Lost in the Labyrinth

I’d set out into the Great Desert to gather sand, and have a look inside the Pyramid, but as I set about digging, I noticed the entrance to an underground labyrinth from Project Zulu. I couldn’t resist taking the chance of encountering some of CrudeDragos’ monsters!

Mods Encountered

Project Zulu 1.0.3.9 by CrudeDragos: This episode was almost pure Project Zulu, with it providing both the scenery and the opposition. I suspect that the pyramid might also be Project Zulu, but so many mods add pyramids that it is hard to be sure until I dare to enter!

By default, I think Project Zulu minotaur, mimics, and haunted armour will only spawn in the labyrinths, so it was nice to find one so close to home. I’ll be returning to grab the rest of the goodies.

It’s a mod that deserves far more recognition than it receives. A fine addition to any adventuring mod build.

Ark’s Magical Modded Minecraft Misadventure 39 : A Forestry Biogas System.

My tree-breeding programme has been progressing slowly behind the scenes, and I’ve amassed rather a lot of saplings that I really don’t need. Fortunately, there is a way to turn them into Buildcraft energy in a way that is far more efficient than just slinging them in the furnace.

Mods Encountered

Buildcraft 3.7.1 maintained by CovertJaguar: Buildcraft provides all the various pipes which now riddle my base behind the walls.

Forestry 2.2.8.3 by Sir Sengir: The Squeezer, Fermenter, and Biogas Engine are from Forestry. It will, I hope, also provide me with far more sappy saplings with which to fuel my renewable energy empire.