Tag Archives: modpacks

Personal, Gaming and Technology

Finding My Focus: Why the Medieval European Mindset Changed My Modpacks

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I enjoy creating new modpacks for Minecraft. I originally played packs made by others, but I often found myself changing them just so I could play in peaceful mode. Eventually, I got fed up of always having to customize someone else’s pack. The very first modpack I actually finished and kept focused on one simple idea: What is the absolute fewest number of mods you need to complete the game while playing peacefully? This was back in the days of version 1.16.5, so it wasn’t perfect, but I did manage to get a video series out of it.

The next few modpacks I put together followed a similar pattern. I played them mainly on Twitch but chose to do short video updates for YouTube instead of a proper series for each one, which is something I definitely regret now. Each pack had its own unique focus—from one using Botania’s Garden of Glass mechanic as a base, to one centered around Mekanism, and another focused on Minecolonies. Despite these distinct themes, they all lacked a cohesive whole: I realized they didn’t have a united build style when I played them.

Now, with my Creative Engineering series, I’ve finally settled on my permanent build style: Medieval European inspired. However, it comes with a twist: the aesthetic is old, but the function is modern. In other words, my structures look like they belong in a historical setting, but they operate with today’s efficiency. This fusion of old-world looks and new-world utility is the foundation I will be basing all my world-building on going forward.

Continuing the Focus
Despite this new unified approach, I will still often base my packs around a central anchor mod going forward. And when I replay my older packs for YouTube—yes, that will be a thing—I will now enforce a consistent build style for the towns and bases I construct inside those worlds.

For example, once I finish my current modpack and Creative Engineering series, I want to take a step back and go simpler. To do this, I’m considering designing a new pack built around the combination of Farmer’s Delight and Pedestals.

Why Peaceful Mode is Essential

My packs will, of course, remain playable mainly in Peaceful mode. This isn’t because I’m afraid of the undead mobs of Minecraft, but because constantly having to defend myself from attack really limits my build options and dictates what I must prioritize. I simply don’t enjoy those limitations. By removing the constant need for combat, I free up all my time and resources to focus entirely on Creative Engineering and realizing my vision for the Medieval European-inspired structures and systems.

Final Thoughts
My overall process for creating and releasing modpacks isn’t changing. I’ll stick to the private Alpha stage, followed by the members-only Beta, and then the public release on the blog. The packs will still be peaceful-oriented and mainly focus around an anchor mod or set of mods, like Mekanism, working toward a central goal.

I will be transparent: not all mods work well in Peaceful mode, and I likely won’t create packs focused on combat or those where essential items can only be gained by fighting. I am not a Crusader. I am, at my core, a peaceful builder and explorer of worlds. This new commitment to the Medieval European style is about aesthetics and function, not conflict.

Thank you for reading about my evolving approach to modpack design! My loyalty in real life is to my Monarch and country, and I serve a real God in game and in real life. If you want to learn more about Him, feel free to leave a message—I’d be happy to share more about my faith with you.

Become a Swagnilla Ice Citizen

Did this post spark your interest in my upcoming projects? The best way to support the development of these new, focused modpacks and help grow the Creative Engineering series is by becoming a Citizen.

Citizens enjoy benefits like full access to the blog and getting an early look at new modpacks during the members-only Beta stage. Check out the tiers, starting with Squire at $1/month, to join our community today!

Gaming and Technology

Download The Land of Peace Modpack for Minecraft 1.20.1 Today!

Exciting news, everyone—The Land of Peace is now officially available to the public! After months of dedication, fine-tuning, and passionate creativity, I’m thrilled to share this experience with all of you.

But there’s one change I want to highlight: Instead of hosting this project on CurseForge, I’ve decided to offer The Land of Peace through Google Drive. This decision comes after reevaluating CurseForge’s policies, which no longer align with my approach to modpack distribution and community engagement. As a result, I’m also considering moving my other packs from CurseForge to my new Public Modpacks folder on Google Drive.

This transition is meant to offer a smoother, more flexible experience for everyone interested in my projects, ensuring accessibility without restrictions I no longer agree with. Just download the pack and import the zip file to the launcher of your choice and you’ll be able to start your adventure after that!

Download this pack now for Minecraft 1.20.1 (with NeoForge) and get started today on your own town-building adventure!

Thank you for your continued support, and I can’t wait for you all to explore The Land of Peace! Let me know your thoughts, and stay tuned for updates on my other packs.

Gaming and Technology

Goodbye Pyramid, Hello Display Sign

Dear readers,

It is time to say goodbye to the Pyramid of Support. It was cumbersome at best and took a while to get started on any new world. I am also never in the mood to do sandstone block square pyramid math to figure out if the pyramid has the right number of blocks on it, due to people unfollowing and un-subscribing to my channels making it more complex than it needed to be.

Fear not, my faithful supporters – your support is not in vain and you will still be rewarded for milestones. Instead, say hello to the much more efficient Supporters Sign powered by Create’s Display Board! With simple name tags that can updated in any anvil, updating the numbers is easy, and the math is simple – just addition of the two channels separate totals to get my total supporters number!

Milestones will still be celebrated by the posting of signs – so please help me get to 500 Twitch followers and 75 YouTube subscribers – they are the next two big milestones I want to achieve – and it would be awesome if we did so sooner rather than later!

Another bonus of switching to the Display Board for visually showing the totals is that next season, I will be automating it with the ComputerCraft:Tweaked mod and it’s Create addon. Yes, I will have to learn Lua between seasons (sorry, but I’m not gonna learn it on-stream), but it will reduce the work I have to do once I get it setup correctly.

I’ll be able to do more automation next season with this computer mod in the pack as well as the changes I’ve got planned for season two of Creative Engineering on both YouTube and Twitch! I will not give you any hints as which mods are staying and which mods are going and getting replaced as I want to keep that close to my chest until I am ready to start putting together the season two modpack.

Overall the Creative Engineering modpack for season one was designed for a classic flat Minecraft world, where you would need to treat every resource you could get your hands on as precious. Season two will be returning to regular world generation, and so you can guess how this might effect my choice of mods for it. I will say that Villager life and happiness will be one of the focuses of season two, but how that will affect the modpack is still in the air.

In conclusion, the move from the Pyramid of Support to the Supporters Sign represents a step toward simplicity and efficiency, both for now and as we head into the future with new tools and plans. I’m excited about what’s to come with season two of Creative Engineering—new challenges, creative opportunities, and the chance to grow this community even further.

Thank you for your continued support—it truly means the world to me. Let’s hit those next milestones together and keep building something amazing!

Gaming and Technology

My Modpacks: Updates, Insights, and Future Steps

In this week’s blog post, I’m diving into my modpacks: what they are, their current status, and when you can expect to download and play them yourself. Just to clarify, all of my modpacks are currently designed for Minecraft 1.20.1.

Before I explain my modpacks, let me explain the three statuses of modpacks and what each one is:

  • Alpha: Active development of the modpack – no private or public releases
  • Beta: Released for private testing on my Discord server (must be a Ko-fi Full Member or Twitch Subscriber to access the files and reports area), with bug fixes after they are reported. Lasts for six months.
  • Public: Released to CurseForge for anyone to download and play. Updates if game-breaking bugs are found.

My first modpack is called Peaceful Mekanism, and it is designed to help the player learn the Mekanism mod in Peaceful mode. There are no mods which do things that the Mekanism mod can do itself, even if they are late-game. It is currently in Alpha. It will be released for Beta-testing after I do a full YouTube series on it, probably after my Factorio series ends, as it will likely be completed before my Banished series is done. If you’re interested in joining the beta testing or following the development journey, make sure to check out my Discord and YouTube channels for updates!

The next modpack is called The Land of Peace and it is focused around the Minecolonies mod with ProjectE assisting (maining to provide resources that have no limit). The task of the player is to build a settlement into a thriving town in Peaceful mode. With its emphasis on creating a peaceful, thriving town, this modpack offers a unique and relaxing gameplay experience for those who enjoy building and strategizing without the pressure of hostile mobs. It is currently in Beta, although the files on the Discord don’t match what I’m currently testing as I reverted to the Beta 1.0 release with some small changes. It will be released to the public in about three months time.

My final modpack is called Creative Engineering and it’s in Alpha. This modpack is for the first season of the YouTube series of the same name, and will be changing between seasons. It will be entered into Beta after the end of the current season. Season one’s modpack is focused around surviving on a classic flat world with the assistance of mods in Peaceful mode. As the world is just four blocks deep, mining is out of the question in this modpack, and thus you will have to follow a similar process to a skyblock world, except without the fear of falling into the void to your death. Stay tuned for updates as the season unfolds and this modpack evolves in preparation for Beta!

As you can tell, I have three very different modpacks currently under development. I have not listed here the two modpacks that are already available to the public on CurseForge as they were for an earlier version of the game. I enjoy coming with new concepts for modpacks and if you have an idea, I’d love to read your idea in the comments! There are a few limitations to what I add to my modpacks like an emphasis on avoiding magic and preferring technology, and that they must be playable in Peaceful mode, so please keep that in mind when suggesting an idea. I’m looking forward to reading your ideas and exploring new possibilities together!