The BTW Utopia Challenge

[DocLazy]

I'm sure I'm not alone here, but I need a goal when playing Minecraft. Most of the time I'll start a game and either build a workshop or mess around building a random contraption, with the hope of building something cool. The problem is I never really get past the contraption building/workshop phase. I'll end up hitting an idea brickwall for what to build and just quit. Not from lack of imagination or design ideas, just no end goal to guide my building.

This is where the The Better than Wolves Utopia challenge comes in. Essentially it is a friendly building contest where participants are to build a utopia/dystopia based on a set of building requirements. It will based on the original Utopia Contest by RightLegRed. Since the time limit caused problems last time, this challenge will have no time limit. That way people can start when they like and will be able to finish, even if real life gets in the way. Also you don't need to stick to the building requirements too rigidly, they are open to interpretation and are more of guide than a hard requirement. For example, these buildings could be part of a massive tower or some kind of underground dwarf complex.


Proposed rules:
-no editing of world once building has started
-no creative mode/inventory cheats
-you should post updates to the appropriate thread and upload your world for other people to view when it is finished

Proposed allowed mods:
Required:
BTW V2.94+

Optional:
Redpower V1.7.1+ - hidden wiring is a godsend.
Zombe's modpack - needed for the water source block change, so that large areas can be flooded with out too much hassle.
Buildcraft 2.1.1 - If you install this mod you'll need to change a couple of block ids to this oilMoving.id=199 oilStill.id=200
EE 3.55

Use these config files for above mods, including water fix in zombe's modpack.

Install order and links:

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Required:
Minecraft 1.7.3 - downgrade from 1.8.1 using MCNostalgia
Modloader 1.7.3
ModloaderMP 1.7.3
Minecraft Forge Client 1.0.6
better than wolves

Optional:
Zombe's Modpack 4.33
Zombe's modpack compatibility patch for forge 1.0.6
Redpower 1.7.1
Buildcraft Client 2.1.1(beta) for minecraft 1.7.3
Equivalent Exchange 3.55 for 1.7.3(forge version)

Important: The above mods must use the standard ids. If you wish to use other mods, you can. But, it will be up to you to make them compatible with all of the above mods. This means only change the ids of the extra mods you installed, the mods above ids must not be changed.

Proposed building requirements:
-20+ houses, size is up to you. Could be manors or shanties, or a mix of sizes. Houses should have a working block drainage system.
--For an extra challenge automate house plumbing and lighting.
-Man made lake or dam system
-sluice/plumbing system from dam/lake to all your projects requiring water.
--For an extra challenge, the dam should be your only source of water, don't place source blocks using buckets, instead pipe it in from your dam/lake.
-Automated lighthouse(s) or display tower. Do something interesting with light blocks.
-Warehouse.
-Town hall or fort with an elevator system.
-Mine(s).
-A mine cart system.
-Farm(s) for wheat,reeds and hemp.
-Roads where necessary.
-An appropriate building for each of BTW's industries sawmill, blacksmith, pottery kiln, smelter etc.
-A religious building dedicated to whichever flying spaghetti monster you think the people in your utopia should believe in, or dread.

So who's interested in participating? also feel free to suggest any changes to the rules or ideas for the required buildings.

[Brethern]

I just have one question, which mod in the zombie mod pack changes how the water works? I can't seem to find it,

Other than that one question I have no others and I'm up for a challenge.

[DocLazy]

Item mod, it's at the bottom of the config.

[Battosay]

Nice idea, seems interesting, but you lost me with Redpower and EE. Sorry ;)

[DocLazy]

You don't have to use any of the mods except BTW and you'll need zombe's modpack if you want to make a dam deeper than one block.

I just want to put a limit on what mods are allowed, as it makes it much easier to share maps later on. I'm a little iffy on buildcraft and EE, but a few people here use them. The mods mentioned don't have any id conflicts and are fairly easy to install.

This challenge is more about providing a guiding hand to make something interesting than dictating a strict play style.

[Kwilt]

You don't have to use any of the mods except BTW and you'll need zombe's modpack if you want to make a dam deeper than one block.

Not necessarily.

- Find hole you want to make lake/pond
- Cover hole one block down, so you have one layer of water
- Fill with water
- Break layer below water
- ???
- Profit!

Granted, a hell of a lot harder, but still possible. I once turned a dry lake bed near my mountain home into a small pond for fishing. T'was a fun learning experience.

[Battosay]

This challenge is more about providing a guiding hand to make something interesting than dictating a strict play style.

It's not only about play style. For EE yes, granted, it is. I'm not really found of it, and with a few cobble gen you can have tons of other things too easily.
But RP is a huge source of lag for me, besides the fact that I don't need it to hide wiring.

[gftweek]

You don't have to use any of the mods except BTW and you'll need zombe's modpack if you want to make a dam deeper than one block.

Not necessarily.

- Find hole you want to make lake/pond
- Cover hole one block down, so you have one layer of water
- Fill with water
- Break layer below water
- ???
- Profit!

Granted, a hell of a lot harder, but still possible. I once turned a dry lake bed near my mountain home into a small pond for fishing. T'was a fun learning experience.

Just don't go swimming in it, every block below the surface will be water flowing downwards, so very hard to swim out of!

[DocLazy]

This challenge is more about providing a guiding hand to make something interesting than dictating a strict play style.

It's not only about play style. For EE yes, granted, it is. I'm not really found of it, and with a few cobble gen you can have tons of other things too easily.
But RP is a huge source of lag for me, besides the fact that I don't need it to hide wiring.

I changed the Op to make it a little clearer. RP is optional if you don't want to use it don't install it :).

[Deepsniper]

By the sounds of it I would love this challenge :) never really finished any of my BTW worlds before but ive got plenty of free time this week so I could do most of it... :P

[Andellmere]

I've got a quick question: When you say no editing after building has begun, does that mean that we could flatten an area via our preferred method(e.g. Dark Matter Shovel from EE)? Or that we aren't allowed to edit period?

I take it that Millenaire's is against the rules? I ask because my survival early on is pretty dependent on them right now and I need to know if I should remove that from my folder as I prepare.

[DaveYanakov]

I'm not sure what you mean by 'working block drainage system'

I used 1.8 to generate a full map around the mountain biome I'm building a city into before reverting to my 1.7 jar. Is this map usable?

[DocLazy]

I've got a quick question: When you say no editing after building has begun, does that mean that we could flatten an area via our preferred method(e.g. Dark Matter Shovel from EE)? Or that we aren't allowed to edit period?

I take it that Millenaire's is against the rules? I ask because my survival early on is pretty dependent on them right now and I need to know if I should remove that from my folder as I prepare.

By editing I mean using an external map editor, or a creative mode.

I think Millenaire should be fine as long as it doesn't have any id conflicts with BTW or the other listed mods.
Edit: It conflicts with red power. I think you could still use it. But, it's probably not a good idea to use Millenaire blocks for building your utopia, as the blocks will disappear if other people don't want to install Millenaire.

I'm not sure what you mean by 'working block drainage system'

I used 1.8 to generate a full map around the mountain biome I'm building a city into before reverting to my 1.7 jar. Is this map usable?

The block drainage system is a sewer system, basically. In the original contest it was just a way to dispose of excess blocks.

Yes. But there is a problem with animals spawning when converting to 1.7. Opening the map in MCedit and deleting all the entities should fix it.

[DocLazy]

Might as well start the ball rolling.

Utopia name: Perditus

Found this nice little valley in a 1.8.1 map. It's going to need some serious terraforming, that pillar in the middle under the ledge needs to go and I think something should be built on that ledge which will need to be flattened:

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An over view, from the other side:

[Beerkeg]

hey there your challenge looks really interesting, my only question is what zombe modpack contains the water mod?
Been lurking for more then 30 minutes in the readme file and can`t seem to find it. I don`t wanna install all the classes to lessen the chances of having confilicts.. Thanks

Or should i just install the whole modpack ?? cheats included? this seems a bit OP

[Beerkeg]

gonna have to explain how you can get all those mods to work together.. without having black screen of fail.. : (

Allright after fuckin around with the installation of all those mods together i decided to give up.

This looked like an awesome project but it`s just a cluster fuck to get this to all work together..

[AmishGoat]

The only required mod is BTW, the others are optional, or thats the way it seems from the OP

[DocLazy]

hey there your challenge looks really interesting, my only question is what zombe modpack contains the water mod?
Been lurking for more then 30 minutes in the readme file and can`t seem to find it. I don`t wanna install all the classes to lessen the chances of having confilicts.. Thanks

Or should i just install the whole modpack ?? cheats included? this seems a bit OP

I usually install all the class files. You enable which mods you want in the config file, the water mod is at the bottom under item mod.

gonna have to explain how you can get all those mods to work together.. without having black screen of fail.. : (

Allright after fuckin around with the installation of all those mods together i decided to give up.

This looked like an awesome project but it`s just a cluster fuck to get this to all work together..

The mods, with the exception of BTW, are entirely optional. As long as you have installed everything correctly and changed the ids for buildcraft(as shown in the OP) it should all work.

I'll add an install list to the op with the config files.

[OneTripleZero]

On vacation for the next week, I'm totally going to give this a shot. Minecraft without BTW is such a soulless place, this is a perfect make-work (fun?) project until 1.8 (1.9...1.10...) stabilizes.

[Beerkeg]

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Okay after struggling for hours i finally got this thing running just fine.. with all the permitted mods.
The only issue i have atm wich is quite funny, is instead of having oil sources.. im getting Dark matter furnaces sources.. lol
So i have a crap ton of DM furnaces but not a drop of oil :P

[jorgebonafe]

I believe this texture replacement problem has to do with the order of instalation of forge and other mods, and with MC Patcher and HD textures... I don't remember how I fixed it, though, sorry :P

[Stormweaver]

Might give this a go when I next play MC, as I've been sufferring from MC burnout lately - seems like a good excuse to try out buildcraft and EE at least.

[DocLazy]

Okay after struggling for hours i finally got this thing running just fine.. with all the permitted mods.
The only issue i have atm wich is quite funny, is instead of having oil sources.. im getting Dark matter furnaces sources.. lol
So i have a crap ton of DM furnaces but not a drop of oil :P

Heh, are they actual blocks or just a texture? Also download the config files I linked in the OP if you haven't already.

Unfortunately I Can't really help with that one as I use the standard textures :(

[Beerkeg]

man thanks for putting the install list and order.. its really appreciated

[Deepsniper]

I've started this playing map on 1.8 and im going to keep it there till BTW is up to 1.8 seeing as FC is planning on going that route. Am I allowed to do that?