There are so many Minecraft mods out there that players are spoiled for choice. We can’t go a week without posting about a mod, new or old, updated or back in fashion, that we think you should try. For many of us, there’s plenty of variety in this game already, but if you’re one of those players who still hungers for more, then the Technic mod, and it’s multiplayer counterpart Tekkit, should be more than you will ever, ever need.
Y’see, Technic isn’t really one mod, it’s more like a collection of some of
the most unusual, most innovative and most useful mods out there, all of
them compatible with one another. You could think of it as Minecraft:
Greatest Hits, or as a modding pic’n’mix that’ll give you the ultimate
sugar rush. It introduces new terrain types, new crafting options, new
tools, new creatures, new resources, new… new everything,
expanding the game in every direction at once. I could write a dozen
different features about all that’s in Technic and still have barely
brushed the surface, but that doesn’t mean I can’t give you a taste of
what this megamod includes. Let’s start with the…
Wildlife
It
doesn’t take long for the new player to come across the changes that
Technic has made to their game and the first things you’re likely to
spot are some of the new wildlife. Wild horses run free over the plains
and can be tamed if you feed them enough wheat or sugar, while those
stood by the sea might spot dolphins or even manta rays somewhere
beneath the surface. There are foxes to be found, bears in the brush and
even ostriches to ogle. All of these new creatures have something
special about them, whether it’s the dolphins that you can tame and
ride, or the bears that drop fur when they’re killed.
Mind
you, these are just some of the mobs that’ll be running around, not all
of whom are cute and fluffy. There are some very nasty, very dangerous
creatures to be found in Technic and some are not of this world. You’d
better start crafting that fur into armour and make sure you have
somewhere safe to sleep. It’s a good idea to start looking at the…
Natural resources
The
first time you go mining it’s not unlikely that you’ll come across
veins of copper ore, which you can mine with a stone pickaxe, the same
as you would iron ore. There’s also silver, tin, more varieties of gems
and even marble to be found, rubber trees waiting to be cut down and,
should you go digging in a desert biome, you may well come across oil,
which can come bursting out the ground just like this:
Now,
that’s not all the new resources introduced by Technic, but I’m sure
you have one of two questions right now. You’re either wondering what
all these new substances do, or you’re asking me if that really is a
volcano you can see dribbling away in the background. Why yes, it is.
So, shall we put some of these new resources to work? Let’s first move on to the…
Tools (and weapons)
While
some Minecraft fans may find it an act of sacrilege, you can now slice
blocks up into smaller sections using the new handsaw. Blocks can be cut
vertically or horizontally and, should you make a mistake, it’s no
trouble at all to simply reassemble the block you cut up from the
constituent parts. As this shot from the mod’s official wiki shows, you
can slice blocks pretty fine:
You
might also find the new sickle useful, as it harvests crops much faster
than using your bare hands, and a wool card will help you turn wool
blocks into string. Sure, there’s also new weapons to try out, like the
warhammer and the musket, but we’re all in this to be constructive,
right? Sooner or later, you’ll be wanting a screwdriver so that you can
start tinkering with the…
Technology
This
is where Technic takes off, and quite literally if you end up building a
jetpack, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves yet. Bundled in with
Technic are the RedPower, IndustrialCraft, BuildCraft and ComputerCraft mods, each of which is more than enough new content by itself.
RedPower is something of an electrician’s dream, introducing cabling,
circuitry and all sorts of machines to the game. Why would you want to
build solar panels and battery boxes? To power your block breakers and
electric furnaces, of course. It’s time to get industrial.
IndustrialCraft
is as much about the industrial as it is about plain old science
fiction. It’s in this mod you’ll find your jetpack, alongside your
nanoboots and your Tesla coils. The more mundane elements include
scaffolds, which make construction much easier, uranium and even coffee
(ah, heaven). BuildCraft, meanwhile, features an awful lot of pipes,
which are used as a transport system, helping you shunt resources around
the map much faster. The real power of Technic’s technology is found
when you start to combine all these elements, from these many different
mods, to create elaborate machines, processes and systems. This is a mod
all about science, after all, so… wait. Why have they also included the…
Magic
Squeezed
in between the screwdrivers and the solar panels is a mod called
ThaumCraft, which introduces eldritch monoliths, magical seals, objects
of wonder and the chance for you to gain thaumaturgical power.
ThaumCraft features dozens of magical items and tools that can be made
and if you’ve ever needed a portable hole, a wand of fire or a crystal
ball, this is definitely the mod for you.
Unfortunately,
ThaumCraft is a single-player mod, at least for now, so it’s part of
Technic, but not part of Tekkit. For the time being, wizarding will have
to be a solitary profession.
There is so, so much more to this mod collection than I’ve mentioned here and, if I wanted to, I could probably write about Technic and Tekkit for a week. It’s
my hope that I’ve give you just a taste of how much new stuff there is
to be found. Before I wrap up, I should add
that this collection isn’t just about adding grand concepts, new inventions and new systems. There’s also
the addition of the modest but nevertheless useful…
Helpful utilities
When
I say utilities, I mean things like the minimap and a more efficient
inventory management system. A tweaked inventory can help you sort
through your backpack and your chests much quicker, while the minimap
allows you to place waypoints and it can even remember where you died.
Technic also includes Somnia, a single-player mod that simulates changes
in the game world while your character sleeps. So…
Here’s where to go to get started
You can download Technic here and Tekkit here.
Both Technic and Tekkit
have their own wikis which contain details of all their mods and
features, as well as illustrative screenshots (some of which I’ve reproduced here) and some helpful tutorials, something that YouTube has plenty more of too. Yogscast have also been playing Tekkit since March of this
year and have documented their experiences in what’s become a lengthy series of videos which highlight many of the mod’s special features. If you fancy a peek, here’s the first of many: