NOTICE! Using the correct memory AND Java arguments is important for any 1.12+ pack, especially big ones like this. If you don't follow the Installation section and your game stutters and starts hanging after playing for a while, that's why!

Curseforge's search engine is bad. To find it in the launcher, just search "late".... or every more popular pack with "the" or "pack" will show up first.

INTRODUCTION:

The Late Pack doesn't do anything unique that you haven't seen before, but you won't see many packs try to do this much at once while still focusing on polish and balance... and that's why it's so late. All the OP mods you love in a kitchen sink pack are still there, but you'll have to earn it first. At the start you'll have only limited tools and resources available to help you survive the menagerie of mobs that just get stronger over time.

To be clear, this isn't a Russian roulette danger or grindy "expert" pack. As long as you're careful, most encounters are technically survivable. Also, as few recipes as possible have been changed, none of which involve more time or effort overall. Work your way up through the tech and the mining levels and you'll get everything... just a bit later.

ADVENTURE AND MAGIC:

Lycanites Mobs (HEAVILY editted for less rage), Ice and Fire dragons, Rats, Special Mobs, and mighty Trumpet Skeletons!
Roguelike Dungeons, Ruins, and Biomes o Plenty
Fully customized chest loot for less junk and more treasure
Mobs that are smarter and chonkier, but slightly less base destructive
Astral Sorcery, Botania, and Thaumcraft

TECH:

Processing with Thermal Expansion, EnderIO with Endergy, Mekanism, Immersive Engineering, etc.
Automating with Applied Energistics, Industrial Foregoing, Mob Grinding Utils, Dynamic Integration, and Open Computers
Powering with Extreme Reactors, NuclearCraft, and Flux Networks
Heavily unified resources and loads of scripts to force all machines to work together smoothly

PROGRESSION:

A large fully tutorialized quest book divided into a main quest line, optional side quests, and an end game (386 quests, 915 tasks total)
Very practical and exciting quest rewards
Custom ore and tool mining levels
Start with Tinker Tools and gradually work through Immersive Engineering, then Thermal Expansion etc.
Short cuts, easter eggs, and speed run tactics are viable
An infinitely rewarding post-Draconic Evolution end game

CONFIGURATION NOTES:

Keep inventory is enabled by default. If you would like to UNDO this, the host/admin/OP can type /gamerule keepInventory false into chat (case matters). In singleplayer you'll have to enable cheats in world options before you generate it. The pack somewhat self adjusts the nutrition death punishments depending on whether it's on or off and TombManyGraves is in the pack, so do as you like.

Sleeping is DISABLED! This is a hugely controversial part of this pack. It gives mobs a chance to spawn and be dangerous until endgame when players can control the weather and time of day. Beds can still set your spawn point at any time of day though. If you don't like it, re-enable it in "IguanaTweaksReborn.cfg". Afterwards you'll still be able to set your spawn, nearby mobs won't prevent you from sleeping, and the "majority sleep vote" will function.

Making a safe World Spawn for new players on a server isn't required, but if it's a good idea to help prevent new players from getting caught out at night when they first join. Dying repeatedly at spawn isn't fun. As such I've converted a gazebo ruin into a protected spawn house that blocks out mobs and heals and feeds players. As OP simply pick a good location for it, type //schem load spawnhouse then //paste. You can //undo and re-paste as needed until it's right. Then you can note the coords inside and change spawn with /setworldspawn x y z. Players will spawn at that exact location, even though it's indoors. "Safe spawn" is enabled for a 2 chunk radius around spawn to hopefully prevent mob griefing and attacking, but I didn't add any player protection, so you should claim it with FTB Utilities and ban explosions and block breaking/placing. It's best to create a "fake" team rather than using your own... /team create_server_team spawn creates a team named "spawn". /team settings_for spawn opens that teams settings menu. /chunks claim_as spawn 3 claims a radius of chunks around you. These can be unclaimed through the normal claim map menu for fine tuning/redoing. Good luck.

DISCORD

https://discor*d.gg/YPHQKeJ

Copy/Paste the link and delete the * to get in. Sorry for the inconvenience, it's to reduce web crawling spam bots. Please don't send me a random friend request. Just join my discord or one I'm in and @ or DM me.

ABOUT:

Hi, I'm Freedbot. I made this pack entirely selfishly. This pack is designed after my idea of fun, so if you wonder why certain mods or features are included or excluded, it's entirely on my personal bias. I put my name on it not because of vanity, but so you understand that and know who to blame :P. Why did I make a public pack then? I like playing with other people or even just watching people stream. I wrote a super detailed quest book so I don't have to explain mods constantly to newer players. I put in roughly 680 hours over 5 months to make this, just for that reason. Pretty late huh? I'm not a fast worker.

As for the pack itself, I was actually inspired by Stoneblock and Blood n Bones. Two very different packs, but with really good ideas. Blood n Bones was a bit too brutal and tedious, but the idea of stretching out mining levels and forcing you to really work hard for each step to unlock magic or tech while having to actually run and hide from mobs made you appreciate it more. Stoneblock is a super short and goofy pack that emphasizes simple fun and snowballing progression and ridiculous rewards. I made the Late Pack with the idea of trying to marry those two ideologies. You should have to suffer and fear every now and then in a game, while striving to improve, but over time you should be gradually rewarded and eventually snowball to creative mode. For every design option and mechanic I asked "Is this fun, or tedious?". "Is this challenging, or frustrating?" Anyway, I'll leave that up to you all to decide. I know it still needs tweaking. Let me know what you think.

INSTALLATION:

JAVA SETUP:

An incorrect Java setup is the cause of almost all issues. I'm starting with that. This is important information even if you don't need help with the rest of installing a launcher and the pack.

Firstly, make sure you have 64 bit Java version 8 installed. If you're not 100% certain, just go ahead and download it for your OS here. For Minecraft versions before 1.17 (like this pack), Java 8 is required. For 1.18+, Java 17 is required. Be aware that CurseForge's official launcher doesn't seem to support specifying different java versions per mod pack. GD Launcher and Prism do.

This pack requires at minimum 5120 MB (that's 5 GB). I recommend 7168 MB IF you have MORE than 8 GB of RAM. You must have at least 2 GB more RAM total than what you feed to Java. If you have a lot of memory, still don't give minecraft more than 9216 MB. More than that may actually make the game run slightly worse.

Java arguments. They're a voodoo magic set of text options you paste into your settings to "fix the game". An outdated or bad one will only make things worse, and without it the game stutters BADLY even on high-end systems. This set by cpw will help any pack including vanilla run much better.

-XX:+UseG1GC -Dsun.rmi.dgc.server.gcInterval=2147483646 -XX:+UnlockExperimentalVMOptions -XX:G1NewSizePercent=20 -XX:G1ReservePercent=20 -XX:MaxGCPauseMillis=50 -XX:G1HeapRegionSize=32M

THE LAUNCHER:

If you don't already have it you'll want to get a launcher to run the pack, typically Prism, GDLauncher, or Curseforge.

Prism:

https://prismlauncher.org

Download the appropriate installer for your OS, and install the C++ prerequisite if needed. If you download the portable version, be aware that you'd have to move the files and create a shortcut yourself.
Install Prism and go through your settings.
Start with the Java tab. Use the Java instructions from above to fill out Maximum memory allocation and JVM arguments.
Click Auto-detect. A menu will pop up with the different Java versions on your computer. Click the correct 64 bit version from above.
Accounts tab. Add your Microsoft login account and set it to default or Prism will fail to install any packs until you do.
Change any other settings you need to while you're here.
Click the Add Instance button on the top left of the main window, then click CurseForge.
Type ONLY the word "late" and scroll down to find The Late Pack. The search engine is terrible and can't handle multiple word searches properly.
Click OK. You'll then get a Popup for missing "Blocked" mods. This is a Curseforge restriction. Read this popup window carefully.
Click "Open Missing". Browser tabs will open for every missing mod and attempt to download them. If the "Watched Folders" section of the popup is correct, then the bottom left will switch to "All mods found" with a green check. If not, drag and drop the downloaded mods onto the popup.
Click OK.
Play the game, and have fun.

Note: You can specify a different java version for each mod pack by right clicking the pack itself and opening Edit, then Settings and setting the Java Installation differently from the default.

GDLauncher:

https://gdlauncher.com

Install GDLauncher's setup file, let it automatically download and setup Java for you, and log into your Minecraft account.
Spam click the down arrow in the lower right to get past the intro and then close the "What's new" popup.
Add an instance with the + button in the lower left as instructed and click "Browse Modpacks".
Type ONLY the word "late" and scroll down to find The Late Pack. The search engine is terrible and can't handle multiple word searches properly.
Click "Download Latest".
Rename the instance if desired and click ->.
Once the instance is added the main screen, take this time to edit your settings while it downloads files by clicking the gear icon on the right side of the title bar.
After adjusting "General" settings if desired, click the "Java" tab.
Adjust the Java Memory and paste the Java Custom Arguments from the Java instructions above. Delete the default Java Arguments before pasting the new ones in.
Play the game, and have fun.

CurseForge:

https://www.curseforge.com/download/app

Install CurseForge's setup file and follow the steps until you're on the main screen.
Click Minecraft Java Edition and add it.
Click the gear icon on the bottom left. Click Minecraft. Scroll to the bottom.
Check your Java Version and adjust the Allocated Memory and paste the Additional Arguments from the Java instructions above.
Change any other settings you need to while you're at it.
At the top main menu click Minecraft, and type ONLY the word "late" in the search box.
Scroll down to and install the Late Pack. The search engine is terrible and can't handle multiple word searches properly.
Play the game, and have fun.

OPTIFINE, TEXTURE PACKS, AND SHADER PACKS:

Optifine:

If Minecraft is playable, but you need just a bit more FPS you may consider getting Optifine. Sadly, they still insist that no one else is allowed to redistribute the mod, as such, many of the optimization features are handled by other (included) mods. That said, it still helps, and is still the only way to install shaders. I HAVE included default optifine settings. I don't recommend changing them.

https://optifine.net/downloads

Download the .jar file for the correct Minecraft version, 1.12.2.
Right-click the mod pack in either launcher and click open folder.
Move the optifine jar into the mods folder with all the other mods.
Play the game. Have optimal fun.

Texture and Shader Packs:

If you have a good enough computer with dedicated graphics, consider installing a shader pack or hi-res texture pack for some eye candy.

Texture packs can be added in the twitch launcher by clicking the pack's icon, then Get More Content. Alternatively you can...

Download the texture pack zip file.
Run Minecraft and opening the resource packs menu.
Open the resource pack folder and move the zip file into it.
Click the resource pack and wait forever for it to load while praying it doesn't crash.

I suggest this specific version of Soartex https://www.curseforge.com/minecraft/texture-packs/soartex-fanver-modded/files/3124831

Note: Soartex has a bug with Thaumcraft... Somehow leaves aren't transparent unless looking East... No idea. The fix is to replace the leaf textures in the 1.12.2 texture pack "assets\minecraft\textures\block" with ones from the 1.16 version. They have to be renamed. The word "leaves_" moves in front and "dark_oak" changes to "big_oak". Also, the newer 2023 release has a changed folder structure causing missing textures.

As for Shader packs, they require you have Optifine installed. Once you have that installed and running the instructions are the same as adding a texture pack, except you start in the Video Settings Menu/ Shaders...

I suggest Sildur's Vibrant Shaders "High" or "Extreme" http://shadersmods.com/sildurs-shaders-mod/

Optifine, the shader pack, and literally anything with fancy rendering can and may cause visual bugs. It's worth it. Magic mods in particular such as Astral Sorcery, Botania, and Thaumcraft have to have certain shader options disabled to function properly.

LOW PERFORMANCE TWEAKS:

Firstly, again, if your computer has less than 8 GB of memory. I simply can't help you.

If your game is twitchy or sluggish, I do recommend installing Optifine.

You can check your frame speed by checking the "F3" debug screen or enabling the FPS counter from "Video Settings"/"Other" with Optifine installed. If things are a little laggy (for instance after enabling shaders and a texture pack) consider lowering the render distance from 16 to 12 or 8 chunks. If that isn't enough then definitely don't use shaders or hi-res textures.

If your game is freezing every so often, either you need to adjust your Java allocated memory, or something in the game is panicking and lagging you out. If it's the latter... Lag Goggles is installed. Hit the "insert" key and find out for yourself what's causing your TPS or FPS to tank.

If your game is "playable" but super stuttery and has random entity lag even in singleplayer, then maybe you didn't get the Java arguments applied properly. Try again. With that said, Lycanites and sometimes Ice and Fire are serious burdens, stuttering TPS can and will happen regardless.

If you have any issues with flickering textures turn off Opengl in graphics settings. If whole chunks are flickering or you crash with tessellation errors in your log change Optifine's chunk loading back to default.

CONTRIBUTION:

While I am not exactly against receiving donations, I would like to make three points.

I didn't do this for money, I did it for me.
As such I make no promises, and will not fulfill your expectations. If you want to donate, just tip based on appreciation for what you've enjoyed in it's current state.
Honestly dudes, rather than money I'd seriously rather get some help. I've done almost everything in this pack by myself.

Help how? You don't know how to code or make a mod pack? That's fine too. When you're playing the Late Pack and you think "Why doesn't this work" or "Why did he do this instead of that"... COMMENT! REPORT IT! Let me know what you're thinking so I can use your ideas and quality checking to continue making the game better.

LICENSE:

This shouldn't need clarification, but the Revised BSD license is fairly open. Roughly simplifying the clauses...

If you redistribute all/parts of this pack, the part that you used doesn't magically become closed source that you can withhold from others or claim copyright against anyone else who uses it.
If you do something stupid/amazing/malicious that involves using this code don't try to pin it on me.
I warranty nothing. If you running this pack kills John Wick's puppy-dog, it's not my fault and I had nothing to do with it.

Beyond that you are welcome to learn from, copy/paste or even blatantly steal any of my work from this pack in it's entirety as long as you're not in violation of copyright of the mod authors or Mojang.

On a personal note, while I respect licenses and people's work, I feel that for modders and especially pack makers like myself, claiming exclusive copyright is hypocritical and ONLY hurts the community. We build our work on the backs of the modders who build theirs on the Forge team who build theirs on the back of Mojang. Without each other there are no mods or packs. If any of my configs, scripts, or quest lines can help you make a better pack faster than you could by yourself then I'm just happy I could help.

To be clear, I've personally experienced nothing but courtesy and good nature from the Minecraft community so far, but I've seen it around in the past and other projects.

CREDITS:

Ash Elizabeth for graciously making the title and icon art, all while putting up with my pickiness. Go hit up her site and commission some some art for yourself.
All the modders whose work is showcased in my pack of course.
Everyone who commented on Reddit and everyone's Githubs. All the questions, the reported issues, and the recommended solutions. Every time (and sometimes before) I found a bug or got stuck, I was able to google enough to dig myself out of a pit. I didn't even have to resort to begging for help from anyone directly... yet.
The Forge team certainly
Mojang for making a good "tech demo" that the modding community was able to turn into so many different and fun games.