Intro to Mods and the First Night

Fortunately, the process of installing Forge and all the necessary components to install shaders were easy to learn and their internet connection was stable as well so it only took an hour or so for Kilnareth to teach them how to install shaderpacks. Of course, they had to exit the game for this to work since Forge was separate from the normal version of Minecraft.

"Alright, so you guys already have OptiFine installed right?"

"Yeah." The three said in unison.

It was fortunate that at least one of then didn't drop the game and kept on playing with it, even learning more of the game. Joro and the others dropped the game right after they defeated the Ender Dragon, an end-game boss that was so difficult that it took Kil and company a whole month to beat the dragon. The version at that was 1.7.10 and the current version was 1.14.4. A lot has been added in the game after years of development they considered it as a brand new game.

"What's the difference with Forge and regular Minecraft?" Joro asked since he was confused why they needed to download and play on the Forge version instead of the regular one.

"Well, the main difference between the two is that Forge lets you add mods and make personal customizations to the base game where as the regular Minecraft doesn't. Most people call regular Minecraft as Vanilla since its plain, un-modified, and serves as the base for Forge."

The three newbies sat there listening with interest. They never knew this side of the game, and if they did, they might have not given up in the first place.

"So you're telling us we can add or change anything to Minecraft?"

Kil just chuckled at this question.

"If you have the programming knowledge, yeah."

How can modding Minecraft be that easy? That meant you have to carefully study the base code that makes up the core of Minecraft while either modifying part of it or adding something to it and making sure that the game runs smoothly with it.

Kil tried making a mod but had quit in the middle because of how many failed attempts to make it work for him.

"A good example of a mod is OptiFine. Though it doesn't add any major thing to the base game, it does enhance the gaming experience. Connected textures, FPS optimization, dynamic lights, and so on are the things this mod adds to the game." (Kil)

"That sounds awesome!" (Joro)

"Can we download more mods?" (Hex)

"Well, yeah, but you have to be careful which mod you're adding." Kil warned the three, just in case they might go crazy with adding mods to their game.

"There are different kinds of mods: client-side and server-wide. Client-side mods such as OptiFine are okay to just add it to your client's mod folder since it doesn't add much to the game in terms of content, but for core mods like mods that add more tools, animals, magic, and other dimensions, they have to be added to your client's folder as well as the server's folder.

But that's just in terms of multiplayer and servers. If we're talking about singleplayer, you can add as many mods as you want. Just as long as your computer can handle it."

The three were amazed by how complex modding can be. It was as if a world beyond the current world they were in was about to unfold.

"Then why don't we add mods to the server?" (Hex)

"I mean, we could, but you guys are practically newbloods to the current version and rusty in terms of game mechanics. Adding in mods might overwhelm you." (Kil)

"Fair enough." (Hex)

"You guys are fucking pussies! To hell with learning, I wanna add a mod that adds more monsters to the game!" (Uni)

"I want a mod that adds more animals like sloths!" (Joro)

"What?" (Hex)

"What do you mean 'what'? I like sloths." (Joro)

Kil was currently facepalming at his friend's eagerness to play modded. After all, there's a limit to what you can do in a Vanilla world without running out of stuff to do. That's why most people resort to modding their world in order to keep playing the game.

"Okay, okay, you guys stop. I do have plans of adding mods to the server but there should be a limit! In terms of client-side mods, I'll list them in Discord so you can download them. Might as well add the shader pack I'm using. But for core mods, we'll each pick one mod and we'll add them weekly. That will start next week so you have ample of time to pick a mod you want and just DM it to me so that I can add it to the server."

Even though Joro was the one who invited them, Kil was the one hosting the server which he had a separate system for it which could take a total of 150 mods without lagging the server.

150 mods might sound like a lot, but when compared to the mod list in Curse, it pales in comparison.

Everyone agreed to this setup while Uni sulked and grumbled with dissatisfaction. They went on ahead and downloaded more client-side mods and the shader pack Kil was using.

Again, adding the mods was as simple as dragging a file to the game's folder so it didn't take long or everyone to be sorted out.

"Alright, is everyone set?" (Kil)

"Yeah." (Joro, Hex, Uni)

"Okay, let's hop into the server and enter the other voice chat."

...

[Kilnareth joined the game]

"Woah! Everything looks beautiful" (Joro)

"Woah! I can hear you in-game!" (Uni)

"I guess that's the proximity voice mod we added." (Hex)

"No shit, Sherlock." (Uni)

Immediately, he heard the voices of amazement coming from his friends as they experienced Minecraft in a whole new light.

They weren't in Discord's voice chat anymore, but an in-game one that was implemented by a mod that adds proximity voice chat. Meaning, the player's voice volume is dependent on how far they are from you. There were also other unique features this mod has and the group will encounter them in the future.

Other than that, they also added Dynamic Surroundings which enhances and adds more ambience to the game, JustEnoughItems which is an enhanced version of the recipe book from Vanilla, and more.

"Oh, by the way. A unique feature from OptiFine lets you zoom in if you press 'C'."

Right after he said, he heard another round of 'woah's from Uni and Joro.

"Gotta admit; this modded thing is pretty cool." Hex said as he looked at the Campfire that was in the middle. It was night time when they logged off so when Hex saw the Campfire burning, he saw the dymanic light effect working, coupled with the crackling sound and cricket noises coming from Dynamic Surroundings, he saw how it greatly improved the immersive experience.

"Yeah." Kil could only agree as he looked at the enhanced sky which had an actual round moon and stars that were twinkling, with real clouds rolling in and not the square versions.

"Uh... guys." A few blocks away from him, he heard Joro's distressed voice.

Hex and Kil looked back and their eyes widened.

Before them was a horde of mobs of all different types: zombies, skeletons, and creepers.

Hex and Kil stood there for a minute while Uni was already running away while screaming.

"Get in the houses!" (Kil)

"You don't have to tell me twice." (Hex)

"AAAAH!" (Joro)

Quickly, the four people went in to their houses that they picked in panic.

[Unicorn666: WHY THE HELL ARE THERE FIFTY ZOMBIES!?]

[Joro: yeah, i dont remember that many zombies spawning ]

Kil saw Uni and Joro's messages in the chat. He thought Uni might have overexaggerated but there was indeed a change in the spawning mechanics for zombies in the latest version.

[Kilnareth: Yeah, I think that's a thing in the latest version. In the simplest of terms, if there's at least one zombie that spawns in the dark, that's basically a walking zombie spawner. One zombie appears, and a horde will come shortly after.]

[Unicorn666: WTF?! Are people from Mojang sadists?!]

[Kilnareth: Hey, just be thankful that this only applies to zombies, and not to other hostile mobs.]

[Hex: Is there a mod that adds that feature to other monsters then?]

[Unicorn666: Shut the fuck up you fat American faggot!]

[Hex: Make me, you Russian cunt.]

Once again, the Chaos Twins are at each other's throats. Even from the past, these two were always trying to kill each other.

Scratch that; everybody in this group was out to kill each other but the 'relationship' between Hex and Uni was way more intense.

Kil could only imagine what these walking disasters could do once mods are added in.

[Joro: what do we do then? we cant sleep since monsters are nearby.]

[Kilnareth: Well, the safest option is to just wait out the night.]

[Hex: And how long is that?]

[Kilnareth: I did some tweaking to the day/night cycle in the server config and night time lasts for 20 minutes and day with 30 so... 17 more minutes of night time, I guess]

[Unicorn666: Fuck that!]

[Kilnareth: I knew you were gonna say that.]

Just then, he heard the sounds of banging from the door.

[Kilnareth: Oh yeah... zombies can break down doors.]

[Joro: wHAT!?]

[Hex: Welp, we're fucked.]

[Unicorn666: I found a sword.]

That's right! Kil made a set of stone tools and stored them in a chest inside each house for his friends.

Kil opened the chest nearby and found a Stone Sword.

[Kilnareth: I guess it's time to kill for a living then.]

[Unicorn666: Hahahaha! Now ya'll are fucked!]

[Hex: Hey Uni. Wanna see who gets to kill more zombies?]

[Unicorn666: Oh you're on!]

...

[Hex was slain by a zombie.]

[Unicorn666 was slain by a zombie.]

[Kilnareth was shot in the head by a skeleton.]

[Joro was slain by a zombie.]

Kil forgot to mention that there was a huge rework on the combat system.