So I bought the game for my son. . .

Patriot

Patriot

Active Member
I bought Minecraft for my son's 6 birthday. He is pretty into it (only allowing offline play) though he doesn't want to go deep into the earth. The game is surprisingly complicated so I found a clean set of tutorials on Youtube. Unfortunately. . .

As I was watching the tutorials (before him to ensure they were clean and then again with him) I became intrigued. I hate to admit it but I think I'm hooked. I had always avoided the game due to the look of voxels, but for some reason when I am playing I don't see chunky blocks. I see mountains, rivers, valleys, and caverns. I've been playing survival mode to add a bit of danger to my explorations since floating around a generated world would only be interesting for me for a time. We've barely scratched the surface (based upon a quick glance at the wiki) but I could see this lasting quite a while.

Any tips for a couple of beginners? Not necessarily gameplay stuff (I can find that on the wiki) but mods, textures, etc?
 
Patriot said:
I bought Minecraft for my son's 6 birthday. He is pretty into it (only allowing offline play) though he doesn't want to go deep into the earth. The game is surprisingly complicated so I found a clean set of tutorials on Youtube. Unfortunately. . .

As I was watching the tutorials (before him to ensure they were clean and then again with him) I became intrigued. I hate to admit it but I think I'm hooked. I had always avoided the game due to the look of voxels, but for some reason when I am playing I don't see chunky blocks. I see mountains, rivers, valleys, and caverns. I've been playing survival mode to add a bit of danger to my explorations since floating around a generated world would only be interesting for me for a time. We've barely scratched the surface (based upon a quick glance at the wiki) but I could see this lasting quite a while.

Any tips for a couple of beginners? Not necessarily gameplay stuff (I can find that on the wiki) but mods, textures, etc?
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Planet Minecraft has a lot of stuff for you to use. Like texture packs, mods adventure maps, etc. I personaly only use Optifine for a mod. It helps with fps and such.
 
A good texture pack I like is Sphax pack. It's close to default but is quite different as well.

Honestly, just playing with him on a single player or LAN server could be fun. Build a house or a castle together perhaps. It is indeed a fun game. :)
 
\o/ another believer!!!!!! (in Minecraft)


I also recommend upgrading the texture pack, I use my own edited version of "Faithful 64x"(which I cant seem to find a link, but i could always sent you mine). The 64x looks way better than original while keeping the original look w/o over burdening your PC.
Optifine is another great, easy to install, helper mod.
 
I'll check out that texture pack and the helper mod.

Unfortunately, we are a one computer (though numerous smaller devices) family. We take turns because I can't justify the expense of upgrading my current computer much less adding another. So no LAN games for now.
 
Found the link for the texture pack I use. HERE!!! I did mod it a little to add the new type stone, a fancy spruce door, and some other small tweeks.(More to change as I get bored)
 
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Optifine, as others have mentioned, is a nice mod to have. One of the perks is you can hold down CTRL (or whatever key you bind the command to) to zoom your view - as if you were looking through binoculars. Great for seeing if that thing in the distance is a cow or a zombie.

FastCraft has also been reported to provide significant improvements to speed. It might have a greater effect if you have a bunch of mods loaded, though - not really sure.

Sphax and Faithful are both great texture packs. I've used both of them at one time or another, but I tend to stick with the basic texture pack. More complex textures typically causes more lag, and I play with so many mods, I do what I can to limit lag.

I know you're just getting started, so you shouldn't worry too much about game-changing mods too much at this point. I would recommend you looking at a couple of the minecraft launchers that are available: ATLauncher (atlauncher.com) and FTB (feed-the-beast.com). These launchers provide quick and easy access to modpacks (sets of mods that work well together, and are pre-packaged for ease of use). The ATLauncher contains a modpack called "Vanilla" which is just that - vanilla minecraft, without any additional mods added; however, the Vanilla pack does have an option to enable Optifine very easily, which might be easier than figuring out how to do it manually. There are a number of other modpacks available through ATLauncher that add significant game-changing things (magic, industry, harder monsters, etc) - all of the mods in a pack are clickable to take you to a website that explains what each mod does, so it's a good way to become familiar with them.

There are a bunch of other mods that make minor changes to enhance game play. None of these are required, but depending on how you like to play, may make things more "interesting"...

- Iron Chests: provides a way to make larger storage chests out of iron, gold, and even diamonds.
- Bibliocraft: adds craftable furniture, like tables, chairs, and bookshelves.
- Pam's Harvestcraft: adds a BUNCH of new plant types and recipes to make everything from apple pie to PB&J.
- Inventory Tweaks: a nice client-side mod that will replace broken tools in your hotbar with a spare from your inventory automatically, and various ways to sort your inventory and chests
- NEI (Not Enough Items): when you open your inventory, the right-hand side will show a list of all items in the game. You can click "R" on any of them see the recipe for how to make it. The list is also searchable. Highly recommended!
- Tinker's Construct: make tool parts and assemble them to craft custom tools, like an iron pick with a wooden handle, laced with redstone to provide a speed buff. Somewhat complex, but can be fun.
- Voxel Map / Journeymap: provides a radar in the corner to show your surroundings, and a full-screen map to see a bit further. You can also add waypoints to mark where to find home (or other landmarks).

One of the other mods to look out for is called HQM (Hardcore Quest Mode). This mod adds a "quest book" that provides a bunch of short-term goals that often help guide you through the game or one of the featured mods in the pack.

I know that's a lot to take in, so I'd focus first on Optifine to make things run faster, get your texturepack, and then consider a couple of mods like NEI, Inventory Tweaks, and maybe something for mapping. That's what I'd personally consider the "bare minimum" when it comes to mods.

If you want to play with something significantly more robust, check out the Direwolf20 pack in the FTB launcher, and check out the Direwolf20 Let's Play series on youtube - he does a great job of producing tutorials on different mods and walking through how to use them (his "Let's Play" series is much more focused on "tutorial" than his Forgecraft or "server play" series).
 
I installed the new textures and am liking the change. I haven't fiddled with Optifine yet. Perhaps later this week.
 
Yay, welcome to the addiction! :)

Everyone has given great advice, so I really dont have anything else to add.

If you ever want to venture into Multiplayer, let us know, and we will get you added to the whitelist on our server. :)
 
Its Survival, but you can make "your home" "safe" from mobs. There is a thread that talks about the mod that was added to do that in here somewhere. Maybe someone will link it.
 
Ah, but in my (limited) opinion that takes away half the fun of playing in survival mode. Almost had a creeper blow a hole in the bottom of my lighthouse last night. Thankfully, he just cratered in the dirt 1 block away.

Torches and fences. . .need more torches and fences.

What do I need to do to get white-listed?
 
You could also surround your building with a "moat" about 2-3 blocks wide, and erect a fence on your side of the moat. Creepers that blow up in water do not destroy any terrain (the water absorbs the blast), so even if they were to jump up next to the fence, you could knock them back into the water, where they would explode and your land would be safe.

To get whitelisted, you need but ask. If you're not already added, reply to the first sticky thread in this forum (ToJ Server Whitelist) and one of the admins will take care of that for you.
 
Patriot said:
Ah, but in my (limited) opinion that takes away half the fun of playing in survival mode. Almost had a creeper blow a hole in the bottom of my lighthouse last night. Thankfully, he just cratered in the dirt 1 block away.

Torches and fences. . .need more torches and fences.

What do I need to do to get white-listed?
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You'll change your mind about creepers once you get your fantastic castle built, lol


White list thread: Read the First Page, Post in the Last.
 
I wasn't a member of toj either..

And I can't remember if I ever did the toj app
 
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Patriot said:
Ah, but in my (limited) opinion that takes away half the fun of playing in survival mode. Almost had a creeper blow a hole in the bottom of my lighthouse last night. Thankfully, he just cratered in the dirt 1 block away.

Torches and fences. . .need more torches and fences.
Click to expand...

I feel the same way. Torches every 5th block and you never have to worry about mobs. Spider proof fence is two fence posts high with a half slab on top. Skeletons can still shoot thru but spiders can't climb over.
 
Alas, still haven't heard back about my application to TOJ. . .

Meanwhile, tried enchanting for the first time and traveled to the Nether for the first time, then I finished the roof of my primary residence and moved my bed from my cave to the "castle/tower". I live in the attic room because it has the best view.
 
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