The Minecraft Topic

[efaardvark]

 

and an F3 shot for those interested in the gory details.

System summary:

• game: MC1.21.4
• mods: Distant Horizons 2.3.0-b-dev (nightly build), Sodium 0.6.6, Iris 1.8.5
• shader: Complementary Unbound 5.4
• resource pack: Faithful 64x
• CPU AMD Ryzen 7 2700X 8/16 core
• 32GB RAM (6G allocated to java/minecraft)
• 8GB Radeon RX 6600XT GPU

 

 

 

[efaardvark]

Looks like next week v2.3 of the Distant Horizons mod gets released.  This is the first (released) version that has server support.  I've been running nightlys in single-player and it's been working great.  Looks awesome with Sodium/Iris, the Complementary shader, and a 64x resource pack.  Pretty good performance too.  I can drop the built-in render distance down to 12 to free up some processing cycles, then use them to bump DH's render distance up to 256 to get some really nice vistas going even on my 8G RX 6600 gpu.

This last pic has F3 enabled for those that want the gory details.  I've put the cursor on the boundary where Minecraft's built-in renderer leaves off and DH's takes over.  For this pic I have DH's render distance set to 256 but I've taken it up to 1024 and still been able to get a playable frame rate.   

Edited March 10 by efaardvark

[efaardvark]

I like that they are finally doing something useful with copper.

Now I just need to find some time to play.  :(

 

 

[efaardvark]

I just had a conversation with Grok and apparently it is now possible to get:

• Distant Horizons
• Lithosphere
• Still Life
• Sodium
• Iris
• Lithium
• Dynamic Trees
• Conquest Reforged (refabricated)

.. all running together on the same server using the Fabric loader.  This would be amazing if it actually works.  If you've ever seen the ArdaCraft server, Reforged is the mod that enables such detailed builds.  Even if you've seen ArdaCraft, modern mods like Distant Horizons and shaders like Bliss take it to a whole new level.

Everything in Arda is hand-crafted.  Lithosphere and Still Life provide the same sorts of sweeping vistas and 'realistic' terrain in computer generated worlds.  This sure isn't vanilla minecraft anymore!  With Dynamic Trees trees even fall over when you chop them down, making floating canopies impossible! 

 

[efaardvark]

Well, I haven't been able to get both dynamic trees and Conquest Reforged running in the same game yet.  Gonna keep trying.

I have managed to get most everything else running however.  Below is a pic from my current test world.  I like the tree generation, courtesy of Still Life:

 

Spoiler

This world is running:

• BetterF3
• Cloth Config v19 API
• Collective
• Distant Horizons
• GlitchCore
• Iris
• Lithium
• Lithosphere
• Serene Seasons
• Sodium
• Still Life
• Tough As Nails
• Tree Harvester

Also the "complementary unbound" shader and the "faithful x32" resource pack.

[efaardvark]

This is awesome.  How do people find the time to do things like this?
 

 

[efaardvark]

Trying out the "photon" shader.  Again actually.  I'd tried it before and it had performance issues.  Looks like those have been dealt with and I like what it does with water and the different weather / cloud types.

 

I also found a useful trick with the "patrix" resource pack.  This is a great pack and I like how it makes trees and shrubs bushier.  Not so keen on the way it makes mobs look (especially skeletons), but that's not a deal breaker given the lush flora.  It required Optifine for connected textures however, and if it doesn't get it it literally spams your world with "enable connected texture" printed everywhere.  That IS a bit too much.   

Unfortunately I'm running Sodium / Iris for the performance benefits so I can't use Patrix.  Or at least I thought I couldn't.  Turns out that if I run BOTH Faithful and Patrix I get bushy trees and no spam.  All you have to do is make sure "Faithful" is above "Patrix"  in your resource pack list.  This makes Faithful get used for almost everything, including mobs, but still allows Patrix for the trees and sky.  Perfect!
 

Spoiler

Using Photon 1.2 shader and both Faithful 32x and Patrix 32x resource packs...

 

=====

And finally a survival tip for Hard as Nails with Serene Seasons.  Harvest snowballs in winter.  Fill a double chest with them.  They can be used in the summer to make ice cream to cool you off and avoid heat stroke.  They can also be used in an air conditioning unit to cool your house.  

In winter you will need charcoal, but that's easy to make any time of the year.  If you don't have a nearby mountain to farm for snow (or a high level climatologist villager to trade with) then it will be difficult to stay cool in the summer.

[Kritodraco]

On 10/25/2025 at 3:20 AM, efaardvark said:

This is awesome.  How do people find the time to do things like this?
 

To be honest, I prefer playing at casino site with fast payouts.

It's simply a titanic task. I wonder how long it took to build this masterpiece.

Edited December 3 by Kritodraco

[efaardvark]

1.21.11 is out.

Spears are now a thing in mainline.

There are now husk camels as well, an undead version of camels.  And husk camels with husk riders.  And husk camels with husk riders carrying spears.  And Parched skeletons.  And parched skeletons riding husk camels.  And since camels can carry 2 riders, husk camels with both husk riders carrying spears and parched skeletons firing arrows of slowness are a possibility.

Deserts at night might be a bit dangerous.

I like the idea of the Nautilus, though not so much the idea of armored zombie Nautilus with Drowned riders carrying tridents.  I'd almost rather deal with laser fish, at least one-on-one.

I'm definitely going to try for the new  "Mob Kabob" advancement for spearing 5 enemies with a Charge attack.   

[efaardvark]

So today's the day pre-ordering for Hytale goes live.  I don't advocate pre-ordering games.  How many times has the gaming industry burned customers with that scam?  I'm also a bit concerned about the original devs' plans for the future of the game.  I mean, the reason Hypixel got into trouble was the micro-transactions ran afoul of Mojang's EULA after all.  I'm totally not interested if they go down the path of pay-to-win and micro-transactions.

All that said, I am very interested in the game itself.  Maybe they've learned a lesson from that?  The devs have said no pay-to-win or MT.  (yet?)  I will likely be checking it out when it gets to the early access phase if they deliver on the linux version, and definitely when it comes to Steam.  From what I've seen of demos this game has a chance to be very popular with the Minecraft crowd.  At the least it will be good to give Minecraft some competition, especially given MSFT's ownership and the direction they've taken some of their other software.  (Slant-eye at Windows 11.)

Anyone else have any interest in this title?

('tubie w/more about the pre-order and EA here)

Edited yesterday at 07:31 PM by efaardvark
'tubie link

[efaardvark]

The "still life" mod can generate some pretty massive trees.  This one is 5 blocks wide at the base and easily twice as tall as the vanilla 2x2 "christmas tree" spruce towards the right edge of the pic.