It is the best game! The mobs are meaningfully challenging and the progression is rewarding. There are interesting settings to find and explore.
However, I don't see a tutorial or a user manual or documentation, so there are some things you should know before you start:
Thirst. You will become thirsty in this game. You can refill your hydration by standing still in water. Craft a canteen as soon as possible!
Pine trees. You can't make charcoal with pine trees, so if you start in a pine forest, look for another biome ASAP.
Torches burn out. You can re-light them by using flint and steel on them. This incentivizes making jack-o-lanterns early, but it's a big change to not be able to use torches to make permanent markers or make a cave permanently safe. Be aware!
When I figure out why my crops aren't growing, I'll update this review with that helpful hint as well. I'm sure it's something simple I'm doing wrong, but the soil is watered and there is sufficient light... EDIT: The crops aren't growing because the Mesecons conf file sets the farming stage time to 1 hr 40 min (6000 seconds) for some reason. The forum says that this works well on a server, but I'm playing single player so the crops just never grow. Recommendation: If you are playing single player, decrease the farming_stage_length variable in games/mesecraft/minetest.conf.
This may be a spoiler if there's an in-game explanation, but I haven't found one yet: Nether portals are ignited with Mese crystals, not flint and steel.
This allows you to have a whitelist of people who can access a server, and everyone else is blocked. That's an essential capability! It is frankly required to have a fun little server for your friends. The alternative is vulnerability to any old griefer.
It adds the ability to craft and place signs that display text in-game. This is a great capability; it opens up so many doors such as labeling storage rooms, naming houses and towns, communicating with your fellow players, and even consecrating memorials to your own bones. Just a fantastic mod.
Also, you can edit the text of a sign after it has been placed! You can't do that in another well-known voxel video game.
I can't say enough good things about this mod. It is wonderful! It adds so many kinds of ground cover and shrubs. The beauty of a landscape after installing this mod is much higher than before. I especially like the rushes and reeds that grow by ponds.
If you're looking for a mod that adds a great deal of beauty to the game, install this one.
This mod adds a large amount of different kinds of trees and wood blocks. It really livens up the landscape. It's truly a LARGE number of trees. Each tree has a different growth pattern, so that each is a unique challenge to completely cut down and harvest. That can add a lot of challenge and depth to the game. Really a great mod, both aesthetically and in terms of balance.
However, the new wood blocks added by the mod can not be used to craft fences. A small annoyance, as you can still find stands of stock trees to harvest for your fences.
Be aware that these trees spawn in places that would otherwise be plains! Plains will become much more rare after installing this mod. If you require plains, perhaps this mod is not for you.
It adds monsters that will attack you! It makes cave-delving so much more challenging and interesting.
Most of the interesting and challenging monsters spawn very deep down. The surface monsters are not very dangerous. They don't impede surface construction or exploration. That might be a good or bad thing, depending on the kind of experience that you want.
It adds animals that you can farm! What's not to like about that? It's a very deep mechanic, allowing you to make all sorts of farms!
Personally I've farmed cows, bunnies, and chickens. It can be very fun.
A small but important note: You can hold a bunny in your inventory! Scoop up a trained bunny and now you are holding a bunny! This is objectively wonderful.
However you should be aware that the animals move slowly, and they will start spawning all over your map at a moderate rate. These animals are not rare, so expect to see a cow, sheep, kitten, bunny, and chicken in every plain that you cross. Maybe you'd want to decrement the spawn rate if you wanted better balance.
Also, please be aware that stock fences don't actually block the animals. You need the special "mob fences" added by mobs redo for that.
It adds horses that you can ride! Truly a wonderful reward for finding and taming a horse. It makes exploration and transportation so much better. It really opens up the map, especially if you don't want to go the teleportation route.
Make sure you use horse shoes though. Horse shoes make the horses go faster! If you don't know that, you'll be stuck with a slow horse.
Also, I found that the horses were still a bit slow. If you are the same way, I recommend upping the "speed" rating of the horseshoes by 1.5 times, so (steel,mese,diamond) = (7,9,10) becomes (10.5,13.5,15)
Does what it says on the tin: Hold down aux to start sprinting. When you run out of stamina, you stop sprinting. It's a great capability to have, especially if you are frustrated by how long it takes to walk everywhere.
I recommend increasing the default sprint speed, however. Default speed is 1.3 times faster; this doesn't seem to be quite enough. I use 2.5 times and that feels more right.
If you don't have any stamina or status bar mods, you can't see how much stamina you have left. You can't tell when you're about to stop sprinting or when to start again.
This adds a very fun mechanic to the game, but don't expect a detailed flight model. You fall at an approximately constant rate. If you press forward, you go forward at a constant speed. You don't pick up velocity from diving or stall by climbing.
That being said, it adds a great treat at the end of a long trek up a tall mountain.
Adds just SO MANY kinds of crops to the game. It's a lot of fun to create large farms of such diverse crops. It adds a lot of depth to the game! As someone who really enjoyed the farming aspect of another block game, this is a very welcome addition.
Some of them are very pretty! Onions, garlic, and tomatoes are prettier flowers than the flowers are!
That being said, there are A LOT of crops, and A LOT of recipes for foods that can be created with the crops. At times it can seem overwhelming, especially if you just wanted to add a little depth to the stock farming.
It seems that most crops spawn in most biomes, so it's not hard to get the full set. No long voyages of exploration to bring back a novel crop to farm.
Arrow has to be to the left of the bow in inventory
I figured it out! In the inventory, the arrow needs to be in the spot to the LEFT of the bow in order for the bow to load it! Otherwise the bow does nothing
One left click: Arrow loads. Another left click: Arrow fires.
This mod enables a very important capability, to advance the growth state of many kinds of plants. However bonemeal (and mulch, which it also adds) are somewhat expensive, so there is good balance. I, for example, ended up farming corn so that I could mulch it and grow saplings. It adds a great deal of depth to the farming mechanics. I use the farming redo mod, and these two mods work well together.
I agree with the description!
It is the best game! The mobs are meaningfully challenging and the progression is rewarding. There are interesting settings to find and explore.
However, I don't see a tutorial or a user manual or documentation, so there are some things you should know before you start:
Thirst. You will become thirsty in this game. You can refill your hydration by standing still in water. Craft a canteen as soon as possible!
Pine trees. You can't make charcoal with pine trees, so if you start in a pine forest, look for another biome ASAP.
Torches burn out. You can re-light them by using flint and steel on them. This incentivizes making jack-o-lanterns early, but it's a big change to not be able to use torches to make permanent markers or make a cave permanently safe. Be aware!
When I figure out why my crops aren't growing, I'll update this review with that helpful hint as well. I'm sure it's something simple I'm doing wrong, but the soil is watered and there is sufficient light... EDIT: The crops aren't growing because the Mesecons conf file sets the farming stage time to 1 hr 40 min (6000 seconds) for some reason. The forum says that this works well on a server, but I'm playing single player so the crops just never grow. Recommendation: If you are playing single player, decrease the farming_stage_length variable in games/mesecraft/minetest.conf.
This may be a spoiler if there's an in-game explanation, but I haven't found one yet: Nether portals are ignited with Mese crystals, not flint and steel.
Adds some ocean assets
Adds some ocean assets such as fish and coral. Sometimes the fish beach themselves; I don't know why.
Dolphins are included! Dolphins! Sadly they also beach themselves sometimes.
It works. It's essential to any server!
This allows you to have a whitelist of people who can access a server, and everyone else is blocked. That's an essential capability! It is frankly required to have a fun little server for your friends. The alternative is vulnerability to any old griefer.
Adds signs that are viewable in-game
It adds the ability to craft and place signs that display text in-game. This is a great capability; it opens up so many doors such as labeling storage rooms, naming houses and towns, communicating with your fellow players, and even consecrating memorials to your own bones. Just a fantastic mod.
Also, you can edit the text of a sign after it has been placed! You can't do that in another well-known voxel video game.
Really beautiful mod
I can't say enough good things about this mod. It is wonderful! It adds so many kinds of ground cover and shrubs. The beauty of a landscape after installing this mod is much higher than before. I especially like the rushes and reeds that grow by ponds.
If you're looking for a mod that adds a great deal of beauty to the game, install this one.
Adds beautiful and diverse trees
This mod adds a large amount of different kinds of trees and wood blocks. It really livens up the landscape. It's truly a LARGE number of trees. Each tree has a different growth pattern, so that each is a unique challenge to completely cut down and harvest. That can add a lot of challenge and depth to the game. Really a great mod, both aesthetically and in terms of balance.
However, the new wood blocks added by the mod can not be used to craft fences. A small annoyance, as you can still find stands of stock trees to harvest for your fences.
Be aware that these trees spawn in places that would otherwise be plains! Plains will become much more rare after installing this mod. If you require plains, perhaps this mod is not for you.
Adds monsters, needed for the thrill of danger
It adds monsters that will attack you! It makes cave-delving so much more challenging and interesting.
Most of the interesting and challenging monsters spawn very deep down. The surface monsters are not very dangerous. They don't impede surface construction or exploration. That might be a good or bad thing, depending on the kind of experience that you want.
It adds farm animals to the game!
It adds animals that you can farm! What's not to like about that? It's a very deep mechanic, allowing you to make all sorts of farms!
Personally I've farmed cows, bunnies, and chickens. It can be very fun.
A small but important note: You can hold a bunny in your inventory! Scoop up a trained bunny and now you are holding a bunny! This is objectively wonderful.
However you should be aware that the animals move slowly, and they will start spawning all over your map at a moderate rate. These animals are not rare, so expect to see a cow, sheep, kitten, bunny, and chicken in every plain that you cross. Maybe you'd want to decrement the spawn rate if you wanted better balance.
Also, please be aware that stock fences don't actually block the animals. You need the special "mob fences" added by mobs redo for that.
Required for some good mods
I use mob_horse, mobs_animals, and mobs_monster. I like these mods, and these mods require this API, so I like this API.
Be aware that it is not compatible with mobkit. Check your mod list before adding this one.
Amazing mod! Transforms exploration
It adds horses that you can ride! Truly a wonderful reward for finding and taming a horse. It makes exploration and transportation so much better. It really opens up the map, especially if you don't want to go the teleportation route.
Make sure you use horse shoes though. Horse shoes make the horses go faster! If you don't know that, you'll be stuck with a slow horse.
Also, I found that the horses were still a bit slow. If you are the same way, I recommend upping the "speed" rating of the horseshoes by 1.5 times, so (steel,mese,diamond) = (7,9,10) becomes (10.5,13.5,15)
Very convenient capability
Does what it says on the tin: Hold down aux to start sprinting. When you run out of stamina, you stop sprinting. It's a great capability to have, especially if you are frustrated by how long it takes to walk everywhere.
I recommend increasing the default sprint speed, however. Default speed is 1.3 times faster; this doesn't seem to be quite enough. I use 2.5 times and that feels more right.
If you don't have any stamina or status bar mods, you can't see how much stamina you have left. You can't tell when you're about to stop sprinting or when to start again.
Fun, but no inertia
This adds a very fun mechanic to the game, but don't expect a detailed flight model. You fall at an approximately constant rate. If you press forward, you go forward at a constant speed. You don't pick up velocity from diving or stall by climbing.
That being said, it adds a great treat at the end of a long trek up a tall mountain.
Very good mod. Almost spoiled for choice.
Adds just SO MANY kinds of crops to the game. It's a lot of fun to create large farms of such diverse crops. It adds a lot of depth to the game! As someone who really enjoyed the farming aspect of another block game, this is a very welcome addition.
Some of them are very pretty! Onions, garlic, and tomatoes are prettier flowers than the flowers are!
That being said, there are A LOT of crops, and A LOT of recipes for foods that can be created with the crops. At times it can seem overwhelming, especially if you just wanted to add a little depth to the stock farming.
It seems that most crops spawn in most biomes, so it's not hard to get the full set. No long voyages of exploration to bring back a novel crop to farm.
Arrow has to be to the left of the bow in inventory
I figured it out! In the inventory, the arrow needs to be in the spot to the LEFT of the bow in order for the bow to load it! Otherwise the bow does nothing
One left click: Arrow loads. Another left click: Arrow fires.
Minor point: arrows are very expensive.
Balanced and enables an important capability
This mod enables a very important capability, to advance the growth state of many kinds of plants. However bonemeal (and mulch, which it also adds) are somewhat expensive, so there is good balance. I, for example, ended up farming corn so that I could mulch it and grow saplings. It adds a great deal of depth to the farming mechanics. I use the farming redo mod, and these two mods work well together.
Enables good mods
I use "more trees" and "plant life," both of which require this lib. I like those mods, so I like this lib.
Excellent mod. Does what it says.
This mod does what it says. You can craft armor that protects you from damage. It works very well.