For some reason, I can't seem to kick the Minecraft bug lately in my limited gaming time recently. The recent competition has been Path of Exile with its new Delve gameplay, but that is a better game when I have a decent chunk of time to play, which hasn't happened much lately.
I currently enjoy large modpacks for my Minecraft experience, usually the more complex the better. Historically, I've played quite a few open, kitchen sink style packs. Recently I've been trying more expert level packs including a long playthrough with Sevtech: Ages. Recently I've been playing my first Skyblock, Enigmatic Expert 2, with some friends which has got me in the skyblock state of mind. I've been enjoying just building/designing without having to worry about resource gathering. I've done enough far-flung resource gathering with SevTech.
My new modpack of choice is Stoneblock created by Kaspar, FTB_Lag and koxhack. It is a variation of a skyblock, but you are trapped in a world of stone. The pack uses the Ex Nihlio as it's resource generation solution via sifting gravel, dirt, sand and dust. The pack has a lightweight quest book that helps one get started and gives one long-term goals to work toward, but doesn't hold your hand. This pack leans much farther toward kitchen sink, rather than expert style pack. I like that it doesn't force your development in one direction so you can use whatever tools you'd like to achieve the grand quests of the modpack. The quest rewards are quite generous so one actually looks forward to completing quests and these rewards can radically change beginning gameplay, which varies the experience.
I haven't gotten too far past basic power generation and manual sifting, but I have big plans. I did foolishly play with some chance cubes and now I have a giant cavern beside my base filled with mobs. Didn't turn out too well... I'm just happy that the massive amount of TNT generated didn't quite get to my base. I'm working on getting enough gear to head in and clear out the mobs. Chance cubes can be fun in a crazy sort of way.
To conclude, if you want a skyblockish stoneblock experience with fairly relaxed progression, then certainly check out the new Stoneblock modpack for Minecraft. I hope you enjoy it as much as I am enjoying it right now.
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