Welcome to Introduction to Modded 2

People always say Mojang's developers are lazy, but that's not fair. These are the same people who created some of the most successful game updates of all time (the Nether Update and Caves & Cliffs are two that come to mind). The real problem is Microsoft's acquisition turned updating Minecraft into a corporate balancing act. Every update to the game has to work flawlessly across Java, Bedrock, Xbox, PlayStation, Switch, mobile—you name it—and also has to pass through countless corporate approval processes. In my opinion, this process causes creativity to become constrained, leaving players to deal with updates that just feel lackluster.

So I decided to build my own version of Minecraft that I actually wanted to play, free from those constraints, with the goal of breaking the "two-week Minecraft phase."

My Approach

16 bosses with 16 unique Eyes of Ender that drop from each boss. I know many modpacks out there use EndRemastered, but I'm hoping you'll give this one a try since I've linked each eye to what I consider to be the best boss fights in modded Minecraft—L_Ender's Cataclysm, Bosses of Mass Destruction, Mowzie's Mobs, and many more. You need 12 eyes to reach the End, so you can skip the bosses you don't enjoy. 8 are found in the Overworld, 4 in the Nether, and 4 in The Aether.

My Creative Process

This modpack uses many big and popular mods. However, these mods are more often than not heavily modified, with lots of content being cut out when I didn't feel it aligned with my vision for what Minecraft could be. Usually this means cutting out random ores that mods add, since I wanted to maintain a simple gear progression based on the dimensions (Netherite → Aetherite → Enderite) while mostly keeping everything else the same.

A great example of this is The Aether mod. It's one of the most influential mods of all time. However, it adds lots of random ores and pieces of gear, and in my opinion, has very outdated boss fights in terms of gameplay and mechanics. So I kept the dimension with its floating islands and the magical atmosphere it creates, but replaced their bosses with ones that fit my vision better. I cherry-picked the parts that felt like they belonged in Minecraft and left the rest behind. For veterans of The Aether mod, you may not like the changes I made, but I hope you'll give it a try regardless and have an open mind.

Player Freedom

Minecraft was always meant to be whatever you wanted it to be, and that's still true here. Yeah, there are 16 bosses scattered across dimensions for you to defeat if you're into combat, but you can completely ignore them and spend 200 hours building castles with Vertical Slabs and other new decorative blocks. Just want to start a farm and live peacefully? There are new crops and new cooking mechanics from Farmer's Delight you can use. Love exploring? Beta-inspired terrain mixed with Caves & Cliffs from the Cascades datapack gives that perfect blend of nostalgia without compromising gameplay. But here's the thing—you don't have to do any of this. Build a dirt hut, make pixel art, create massive redstone contraptions, whatever. The bosses will keep existing whether you care about reaching the End or not, because this modpack doesn't force you down any path—there's enough new content to appeal to every type of player.

Current Reality

This is still beta, and I need your help to get it right. There are performance issues I haven't caught, balance problems between bosses and gear, and probably some stuff I thought was a good idea but doesn't work in practice. Your feedback helps me get closer to my final vision.

What I Need From You:

Do you like the bosses currently in the game? Are any of them too overpowered/underpowered? Do you know any boss mods that could fit in better than what I currently have?
How do you feel about the Programmer Art textures? What textures could be improved? (I added some custom textures but I am not an artist—all textures are WIP and could always be improved)
What mods feel out of place to you? Are there any mods you think need to be added?
What new gameplay mechanics in the modpack do you like? What do you dislike? And what needs to be tweaked/rebalanced?
To any modpack developers out there... How can I optimize this modpack more? My goal is to have this modpack be playable on even the most potato of laptops.

Essentially... What can I do better? Any answers to any of these questions can be left in the comments and are greatly appreciated.

Final Thoughts

This is my vision of what Minecraft could have been if it wasn't held back by corporate constraints—passionate, focused, and built around what actually makes the game fun. If that sounds like something you'd want to play, download it and tell me how I can make it even better. Please understand that I work on this in my spare time and updates will not be on a regular schedule.

ITM2