[self-reiew]

This pack is best experienced in multiplayer.

Originally starting out as a spiritual successor to Blightfall, I’ve been working on this on and off for the better part of 4 years now, and it kinda spiraled from there. Starting out, i didn’t think i could make thaumcraft 6 work for this purpose, and in a way, i was right. instead of emulating thaumcraft 4’s taint, i’m taking the new infection mechanics and creating something completely novel with them: with Flux now behaving like the pollution from Factorio, spreading out from your base and feeding initially small, non-expanding hives of taint that then grow to become the main threat to your continued existence. Among the other things listed here, the taint will also receive numerous buffs with an “evolution factor”, custom mobs and behaviors, etc, forcing you to always be on edge about the status of your perimeter and helping the taint stay a relevant threat at all stages of the game

The other unique gimmick, with the two opposing teams of players, is still heavily in development, mostly due to balancing. Only one side can “beat” the pack, so i want it to at least be close. Due to the playtesting this requires, this will likely be completed last.

the progression and core gameplay loop build on the interplay between the base and the environment: explore to unlock new technology and resources, then integrate them in your setups back home and create better equipment to venture into more dangerous locations, mess with the other team, or defend the base from the taint and enemy faction.

The factory building itself also differs from most packs, featuring a fleshed-out steam age and lots of “involved automation” with many machines needing redstone logic and in-world interaction (breaking, placing, clicking, item dropping, etc.) to function properly

The final crafting chain to produce the fabled D-T fuel will involve machines that take this philosophy to the extreme, making use of TFC blast furnaces, Embers machinery, arcane infusion, IC2 reactors, you name it!

Logistics will also be non-trivial, with quantum bridges and dimensional transceivers being gated to hell and back. Combine this with the custom dimension restrictions for some devices and suddenly you’re driving trains through portals and launching cargo rockets. This also forces you to see dimensions that aren’t the overworld as an actual place to live and build instead of just another oversized dungeon where you only go if you need something.

Fun fact: this entire feature was born out of an anti-cheese measure so you can’t place polluting machinery in a dimension with no taint. Later on, i intend to give the other dims their own sets of exclusive machinery.

The threat of taint aswell as the competition through other players ensure that you are locked in a two-way arms race at all times: progress too slowly, and you’ll get out-gunned, but progress too quickly and the “Purple People Eaters” will claim all you hold dear