BTW Memories, 9th anniversary edition

[gaga654]

Since it's almost that time of year again, I thought it'd be fun to share some of our favorite BTW memories like we have in years past.

My first experience with BTW was back in MC beta 1.6, a couple months after BTW's initial release, and I'm pretty sure I tried to add it to my very first Minecraft world... along with just about every other mod on the Minecraft forums. What can I say, I'd only just discovered the joy of mods and wanted to try them all at once! I remember having some compatibility issues and posting to the MC forum thread asking for help, only for FC to tell me to figure it out myself. Sorry about that one FC, 9 years later. :) In the end I'm not even sure I ever got it working, heh.

My first real attempt at BTW was a couple years later, sometime around late version 3.xx or early 4.xx of BTW and well before any of the hardcore changes (except HC buckets). That was when I really fell in love with the mod, even back then the tech progression felt good and the mechanical systems were fun to work with. The world I started then is still the one I'd call my main world, and the only one where I've made it to the end of the BTW tech tree. Although these days I don't play on it much except to test out new features. It doesn't feel very legitimate in light of all the ways the early-mid game have been overhauled since I started.

After things started to get a little more hardcore, the farthest I ever got from scratch was in a world I made shortly after the update that gated steel behind end access. This world had my most memorable BTW death in it, as well. After a couple failed hardcore spawns, I finally got to a spawn where things were going well. I got iron tools, started a hemp farm, had a room full of chickens, even started to breed some pigs using chocolate. Eventually I found some diamonds, got to the nether, and finally managed to set up a crucible!
I also had a pet zombie. Trapped in an underground lake from which he couldn't escape, there was a zombie that didn't despawn because he was holding a ball of wool. I referred to him affectionately as the Wool Zombie, and every time I went into or out of the mines I'd walk by him. Just a day or two after making my crucible, as I was exiting the mine during a thunderstorm, and was ambushed by another zombie - who knocked me right down into the Wool Zombie's lake. And before I could react, my dear beloved friend murdered me in cold blood and ate my remains. And that's where that world came to an end. I don't think I ever even hit respawn after I died there, and the file for that world has since been lost to some computer move or another.

Finally, just recently I've been trying the early game again, in earnest - and I have to say, it's a lot of fun. The difference is that this time when I started a new world, I told myself I wouldn't have a goal of getting to crucible tech, or any other lofty goal like that. Forget about trying to reach a certain point in the tech tree - heck, pretending I don't know anything about what's to come - and just trying to survive one day at a time isn't something that I've ever really done before in BTW, but it makes it much more enjoyable to me. Maybe I'll make it farther this time than ever before :)

[FlowerChild]

Thanks for all the kind words gaga. They're much appreciated.

Sorry about that one FC, 9 years later. :)

I'll get over it... eventually :)

[EtherealWrath]

I've played this mod on and off since the early days (b1.6? 1.7?), and its always stuck with me as an old favourite to come back to again and again.

Discovering Harder-core Darkness was the moment for me; seeing the once vibrant world plunged into abyssal darkness was both eerily beautiful and deeply humbling. I stayed out the entire night with a new appreciation of my place as a speck of dust in this massive and uncaring universe.

[EpicAaron]

Hard to believe we are close to a decade of BTW. Is that normal, do online communities based around mods usually persist like this?

I tried to look through my laptop backups for old worlds, but no luck. Regardless, I must admit that my best memories are probably from the latest version. I actually have to limit my playtime these days because it sucks me in so easily. Old BTW is nostalgic, but it really isn't the same game. I have grown fond of watching the sunrises from my burrow, anticipating the excitement of the day to come.

[dawnraider]

BTW is definitely a pretty unique thing. Very few mods develop such a close following, but I think that largely comes down to the very niche design philosophy of BTW, and the fact that it aims for such a specific type of play that really isn't found anywhere else.

I first started playing BTW way back in 2.81, right after bellows were added (and back when they worked on basic netherrack :P), which was before the mod even had a proper tech tree. It's been a wild ride sticking with the mod for this long and seeing how it has developed.

[destineternel]

I stumbled onto BTW back in beta 1.8 shortly after purchasing minecraft. BEST thing ever! All I can say the memories that stuck with me the most was update days when the regulars of the community gathered in IRC and the Renevo livestreams and then Icy after that. <3 FC and Thanks

[jackatthekilns]

There are so many, but the one that stands out the most right now was the newness after the major changes to the early game. ( I think 4.AHHHHHHHH) Watching so many streamers figuring out all of the new mechanics and items. I'll never forget Whuppee's 24+ hour stream. Or unintentionally frustrating Mesh because I couldn't stop giving more info than he wanted. Still sorry about that Mesh.

[LannyRipple]

Started summer of 2013. Figured I'd try MineCraft but after the first day and the whats-the-point realization looked around for some mods. Recently got a gamer friend to give it a try and she's hooked. She's got a couple of friends she thinks will like it too so here's hoping.

Favorite (most terrifying) memory: Climbing into a tree in a swamp to spend the night and experiencing the first new moon with gloom.