Untalented Amateur's Tuned Fabric Mod Pack for Minecraft
This pack is separated into several modules, with distinct purposes. You may install one or multiple module packs, with the idea that subsequent modules build on the earlier modules and are thus lighter (with dependencies already installed, etc). The intent behind the pack is a tuned pack that provides a set of vanilla and fabric mods that have been tested to work with each other beginning with Minecraft 1.18.2 and Fabric loader 0.14.
With the issues surrounding third party access to the Curseforge CDN that were experienced in May 2022, every effort has been made to ensure mods are available from both Modrinth and Curseforge wherever possible, with a preference towards Modrinth. Mods that are only available from Curseforge will be in their own Curseforge specific modpack sections so that they can be downloaded directly from the website via their modpack section. While Curseforge is limiting access to its own CDN, it seems open to continuing the practice with non-Curseforge mods. This particular access mode can not be guaranteed in the future, and it is neater and more efficient to create the mod pack(s) around the primary hosting location.
Modules are separated into Client and Server groups, as there are some mods that only provide functionality on one or the other side of the Client / Server set up, and there are some server configs that will override client configs if the same mod is present on both the client and the server. Unnecessary server mods on the client will just make the game boot slowly and bloat memory requirements as it loads modules into memory that it will never use.
If you're only wanting to play locally using the locally started virtual server that Minecraft uses, then installing both the client and server packs are good (which is the "Combined" modpack).
In order to make sure the system isn't doing unnecessary work, the first step recommended is to set up specific instances (alternate launchers like PolyMC, MultiMC, ATLauncher), or installations (vanilla Mojang launcher). Then, with dedicated instances / installations available, the necessary Client mods can be quickly installed and it allows for play across multiple servers where the same mods are present but are configured differently (Charm is a mod where this config pairing is critical to be aware of or else it will refuse to connect the client to the server, and leave no trace in the logs as to why).
Examples of how to install and configure the modules using the separate Curseforge and Modrinth files are available from my Youtube Channel.
For optimal enjoyment, it is recommended that all connecting clients to a server have the full set of appropriate client modules (e.g. System, Baseline, SMP). Mods that can be individually activated or disabled will be identified.
Because Fabric doesn't really support Optifine (let's just go with no, but at least recognise the work done by Chocohead (Curseforge, Github) extending the work of modmuss50 with Optifabric (Curseforge, Github), a lot of where things began was with the work done by LambdAurora, and the list of Optifine Alternatives, and comp500's list of server side Fabric (at the time, Quilt now) mods
Some mods are recommended only for admins, such as TabTPS, and others like SimpleHUD have a lot of their functionality captured in other mods (e.g. via Xaero and in the basic config).
Links to resource packs and shaders that UA really likes to run the game with are provided, and fully tuned config files and setup guides are being developed (i.e. Mojang Launcher Setup Guide; PolyMC / MultiMC Setup Guide; ATLauncher Setup Guide).
Installation and Integration of the modpack in PolyMC / MultiMC
Installation and Integration of the modpack in ATLauncher
Installation and Integration of the modpack in Mojang's Launcher
In terms of what has been used to help collate and manage the development of the packs on UA's system, the primary tools (other than the PolyMC launcher) are Ferium and Packwiz in their CLI variants, with manual hand adjustment of the resultant pack files.
Mini-FAQ
- Why is the modpack split like it is?
The vertical splits (i.e. System, Baseline, etc) are based around a concept of gradual complexity and building on an established base that allows users and server admins to choose a more tailored solution that meets their needs rather than a one-size-fits-all outcome. The horizontal splits (Modrinth and Curseforge components) are because some mod developers have their mods hosted only on Modrinth, others only on Curseforge, and others in other places altogether. There is a fairly hard split between the Modrinth and Curseforge ecosystems (for various reasons) and the workable solution to develop a viable overall pack is to have separated components that focus on the mods hosted in different locations. It's not ideal, but it seems to work for now. Hopefully in the future we'll be able to return to a single pack style.
- I downloaded my Modrinth and Curseforge bits and there's duplication of mods?
This is purely a result of how the Curseforge ecosystem works. It has issues with modpacks being uploaded if key dependencies are misssing. For example, FabricAPI is linked to the Modrinth version in FabPack, but Curseforge requires it to be present in their modpack component or else the modpack files won't be accepted. In general terms, this makes sense, given how the clear majority of modpacks are developed and distributed. The issue is that FabPack breaks that model in order to deliver a viable solution in the face of the current distribution environment.
When you consolidate the Curseforge and Modrinth components in your Minecraft launcher, you can choose to overwrite or discard the other copy of the mod that is duplicated.
Performance Impact?
While UA developed the packs initially for his own edification on his local system, the consolidation and use of the packs by a wider audience began when he started admining a SMP and a Hardcore server (initially 1.18, PaperMC, but moving to 1.18.2, Fabric in due course) for a small group (2-5 SMP, 2 Hardcore) of remote players. All players were about 450 km / 300 mi from the server location and are connecting through a variety of ISP methods. One player is right on the limit of a 4G ISP connection, while some others play on an internal Wi-Fi network that connects to a wired domestic connection that has varied from 30mbps to 100mbps over time (and is shared with other users that stream video and other services at the same time as the SMP games are ongoing).
The individual systems that connect to the games are also variable, with a sampling including:
- 2010 iMac 21.5" 3.6 GHz Core i5 (Dual Core), 16 GB DDR3, Radeon HD5670 512MB
- 2018 Mac Mini 3.6 GHz Quad-Core i3, 16 GB DDR4, Intel UHD 630 1536 MB
- 2019 iMac 21.5" Retina 4K 3.6GHZ Quad-Core i3, 32GB DDR4, Radeon Pro 555X 2 GB
All systems are able to run the full mod packs at full screen, though individual players run different resource and shader packs. Due to the age of at least one of the systems (the 2010 iMac), one of the supported mods has had to be rebuilt with an older linked library as it was unable to run the latest distributed version. This is identified and provided in the appropriate location. Even then, the oldest system was still running comfortably at 50-60+ FPS with multiple players online.
Server
On the server-side, running the System and Baseline modules saw a load of just under 1GB of RAM while a player was active in the server in Survival mode. Adding the SMP Server module, and the server runs at anywhere from 2-3GB of RAM with 5 concurrent players actively in Survival. There are occasional lag spikes, but TabTPS shows reasonable figures that can be readily improved by ongoing tuning and improvement of mod settings (for example Geyser was installed for quite a while, but has since been removed from the packs).
The Hardcore server, with approximately the same distance, is played on a 3GB server, but doesn't really go beyond 2GB of normal load. When the server load was being assessed, the loaded mod packs were a tuned SMP set, but numerous unused modules were still being loaded into memory by both server and client.
Client
On the client side, it is recommended to set 4GB of RAM for a smoother experience. The default Minecraft setting is okay, but there will be occasional client-side lag spikes and stuttering in very complicated regions and areas of high entity density. Monitoring through BetterF3's memory module, the game doesn't seem to fully use the 4GB of allocated memory once it has loaded into the world and is running, but it does provide a nice headroom of added capacity and the game tends to hang at load if the General SMP modules (and pre-reqs) are loaded and the RAM allocation hasn't been increased.
But What About?
What about mod XYZ? Or Loader ABC? Or Launcher DEF? To begin with, UA hasn't had the opportunity to evaluate each and every mod that's out there and it's entirely possible that he will be adding mods to the pack over time as he finds and evaluates new mods and how they work with the existing pack elements. There are modpacks that exist which do target the broad availability of mods, such as "All of Fabric", or "All of Forge", but UA's FabPack isn't setting out to replicate these packs. Some mods which offer equivalent functionality to others already in the pack might have been evaluated but rejected for various reasons. This might be due to lack of support for 1.18.2 as a starting point, lack of Fabric versions, excessively buggy behaviour, poor performance, or (in at least one case) the intentional inclusion of secret functionality that monitors game behaviour and intercepts and blocks player actions.
As to the available modloaders, UA originally started playing without any, but found that a Spigot / Paper server configuration had the plugins and addons that were really needed to deliver the gameplay that the players on that server were expecting. From there, UA moved towards Fabric as the modloader of choice. There is plenty that Forge has to offer, but Fabric was chosen as it closest met the requirements in terms of current and future support, functionality, and performance. Sure, it might have fewer mods available for it overall, but it's the loader UA is going with for now. With the recent arrival of Quilt as a fork of Fabric, expect that 1.19 and later versions of the modpack will also be tested against and work with Quilt.
With the launcher choice, UA began with the vanilla Mojang launcher and made the move to MultiMC and then PolyMC, with a side diversion into ATLauncher, as the different launchers had strengths in different areas that needed ready access during the development and evaluation phases of the modpack creation. Launcher choice is pretty much whatever you find convenient, but UA plays with PolyMC as his daily Minecraft launcher.