Admin Abusecraft Guide to Better than Adventure

Install guide

1. Download Prism Launcher or MultiMC (if you don't already use it, and you should)
2. Download BTA (the Download Update Utility option) from this link and drag the Updater .zip file into the Prism Launcher window to install.
3. (alternatively) Drag this link directly into the Prism window and it will prompt you to install the BTA Updater Utility.
4. Launch the BTA Updater instance from Prism to grab the latest version of the mod. You can relaunch this instance any time the mod or server updates.
5. Launch the newly created "Better Than Adventure (Managed)" instance to play the modpack.
6. A bed is crafted with 2 zombie cloth, 1 wool, and 3 planks. Don't forget the old-school sleeping conditions!

Prism should look like this when everything is complete:

Side note: if you're playing on Linux, use Java 8 in Prism. If you're on MacOS (Apple Silicon), use a Temurin build of Java 17 for ARM.

FAQ

This is more for myself who keeps forgetting how old Minecraft worked and how this mod interacts with these legacy mechanics, so it may prove helpful to you too.

How do I view coordinates?

• The mod has changed this so that you must have a compass in your inventory to have it show. Similarly, with a clock and rotary calendar you can view the in-game time, weather, and season on your HUD. This also affects F3 for all mentioned items.

Crops get trampled when I walk on them

• This is just how pre-Release 1.1 crops used to work. The mod adjusts this with its armor overhaul - if you wear leather boots, you will not trample crops. The fence trick got patched out by the mod developers.

My nether portal isn't working

• The mod allows different portal sizes (down to 2x1 open portal size), and also disables corner cutting in the portal frame. You gotta build a full portal. Thankfully the mod also makes obsidian very fast to mine with diamond tools.

What do the slime particles mean when I am caving?

• That is a mod addition hinting that you are in a slime chunk. Those motherfuckers spawn very often.

Can I breed farm animals?

• No. Animal breeding was not added until Beta 1.9.
• Sheep, however, got the ability to regrow wool in this mod. If you label them, they will not despawn (following nametag rules in modern Minecraft).
• Food instantly heals, and is less of a necessity to just play the game outside of combat. I suggest growing cherries, or killing pigs. Zombie pigmen also drop cooked porkchop as they used to in the old game.

How do I craft... [item]?

• Press 'R' to view the guidebook. It will teach you all that you need to know for crafting and smelting recipes. There is more cool shit in this mod that I have not mentioned.

About

Minecraft: Better Than Adventure is a mod for (or "unofficial fork" of) Minecraft Beta 1.7.3. Made by oldheads, and intended for basically anyone who picked up the game in late 2010-early 2011. Or oldheads who don't like hunger bars, attack cooldowns, realistic screenshot bait worldgen, and feature creep.

I'm hosting this as a side server because I've been enjoying the mod in singleplayer and figured it might be a fun and novel alternative to the main vanilla server while also not being overtly modded. If you enjoy wearing nostalgia goggles and finding a new appreciation for Minecraft pre-Adventure Update with some thoughtful additions, give this a try.

From their homepage:

BTA brings new additions to classic Minecraft in the form of timely updates. So far BTA has introduced features such as:

• Seasons! Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter.
• Labyrinths! Scary, sprawling dungeons with rare loot to discover.
• Steel! A new end-game tool tier that's sturdier than diamond, but not as fast.
• A completely revised armor system! Different sets offer different benefits. Mix and match!
• A plethora of new decorative blocks! Painted wooden planks, new types of stone, bricks and more!
• Many, many small improvements and fixes on top of Beta 1.7.3.