So I just started playing around with mods this weekend. I don't have WinRAR or 7z installed but I happened to know that you can just rename minecraft.jar to minecraft.jar.zip. So you cnan use the Windows GUI to delete the META-INF folder and copy all the mod's data into the right place. I wrote toggle.cmd which lets me toggle the minecraft.jar with a single click. I figured I'd post it here for anyone who wants to try it out:
@echo off
if exist minecraft.jar goto there
rename minecraft.jar.zip minecraft.jar
goto exit
:there
rename minecraft.jar minecraft.jar.zip
:exit
REM pause
I created a folder in ".minecraft" called "mods" and another folder in there called "beta 1.4" with the mod zip files. I've got the IndustrialCraft mod along with a couple of mods from the mod loader guy: ModLoader, Floodgate and LightSensor. I also tried to get the Pistons mod but it kept black screening and the Floodgate mod looked more promising so I just skipped it.
IndustrialCraft really does add a whole new level to the game. Energy use in Minecraft was using sticks, planks and coal in furnaces and this mod seems to be about making and using energy sources. I'm really excited with all the possibilities!
I think the EC Manipulator is almost required to really understand what is going on but its advertised components carry an insane price which includes redstone, glowstone and lapus lazuli! I stumbled a really
really cheap version of the EC Manipulator:
1 redstone yiekds 1 EC Manipulator
While I think the mod is good on the whole, I wanted to offer a suggestion that I think would make it even better: the entire nuclear industry isn't even remotely believable. I understand that realism isn't going happen in Minecraft or its mods but I think even kids are expecting you to use nuclear fuel in a nuclear reactor which will give you power. The recent accident in Japan has also served to futher educate the masses (myself included) on how nuclear power works. I'll skip the technical details and just make a suggestion: use uran ore in the Maceratron to get uran powder, use the powder in the compressor to get a fuel rod, and finally put fuel rods in the Chernobyl Two Nuclear Reactor (tm). I'd like to see the rods last forever. I also feel like I have to say that uran shouldn't be that color.