In the previous "Mods That Shaped Minecraft's Modding Today" article, we explored multiple mods that have, in one way or another, changed the modding community of the game forever and provided unforgettable content for anyone to enjoy.
Today, we are diving even deeper on the topic and discovering more phenomenal creations developed over the years or that still have great impact on the game!
1. The Aether
The Aether has always been a very influential mod, released very early in Minecraft's modding history back in 2011. A pillar of many projects known today, the mod introduces a new dimension, mobs, structures, and more.
The floating islands that populate Minecraft's skies are the hostile paradise known as The Aether. It is a brand new dimension, accessible by making a nether portal shape using glowstone blocks and starting the adventure by using a bucket of water on the frame.
There are many things to discover and explore: new mobs, creatures, items that will blow your mind, and multiple dungeons containing at their core fierce bosses you must defeat.
You will come across new blocks, ores, weapons, and even powerful stations: the Altar will let you upgrade your gear, the Incubator will allow you to recreate the entities found in these mysterious territories, and use them to your needs.
The Aether isn't just a mod; it's a storyline where you are the protagonist. Embark on the journey across the floating lands and gain the power of the gods hidden in the dimension. When you're done conquering, try the mod's sequel, The Aether II!
2. Tinkers' Construct
With this mod, the vanilla limits of tools and weapons are no longer there; you have full control and customization power over your items: create components for your utensils with different materials and upgrade them to the stars.
Tinkers' adds several new blocks with unique features. The essential item in the entire mod is the Pattern, a craftable ingredient required to fabricate parts that will be the components for your new tools. You can mix different materials, each with diverse properties, and use the Tinker Station to unite them all into a single, powerful weapon, tool, or armor.
It doesn't end there! Your newly forged weaponry can be made stronger with Upgrades, Abilities, and more! The various books present in the game teach you how to progress in the mod and master these mechanics, making use of the various tables like the Tinker's Anvil and the Modifier Worktable.
The types of tools are more vast than vanilla's, whether you want a hammer or a scythe, or just a classic hand axe, Tinker's Construct is the mod for you.
Bring your experience to the next level and craft the weapon of your dreams.
3. Create
The Create Mod is a modern masterpiece about piecing together mechanical contraptions to make the player's life easier. What Create offers isn't a preset of builds: they give the tools, you bring imagination to life.
Create machines can be used for various tasks ranging from smelting or crafting materials, to making automated farms, and even more modded features. Size can vary based on your needs; a simple smelter or press can fit in a small space, but some require more complex mechanisms.
Everything starts with a couple of mechanical belts and a source of energy. From there, design trains, massive drills, infinite sources of material, or anything you want.
Check out this Iron Farm built using Create's building blocks!
There are no words to describe the power of the Create mod and its endless possibilities. The community has also contributed to the fun by creating hundreds of addons for the base mod! There are plenty of famous ones, like Create Steam ‘n’ Rails, Create: Big Cannons, Create: Design n Decor, and more.
A very influential one at the moment is the newly released Create Aeronautics, adding physics and the possibility to build more vehicles.
Become a Minecraft engineer and harvest the power of Create machines.
4. Botania
Botania is a tech mod, but with a twist. Instead of only revolving around machines, it is concentrated around magic and nature. Magical flowers guide your way through the world of automation, put together using the natural power of Mana.
In Botania, you will find Mystical Flowers all over the world in 16 different colors. These flowers are the material for some important features that allow you to interact with Mana.
Mana is the magical element serving the purpose of powering almost all devices in the mod. There are multiple ways to acquire more of it, like the previously mentioned flowers, but also armor sets, tools, and other accessories.
Despite being a tech mod at its core, Botania also introduces an endgame boss, the Gaia Guardian. It wears the player's skin, but at a much darker tone, and has multiple phases, making it a dangerous foe. However, its drops, called Gaia Spirits, are essential for creating powerful items.
If you like tech mods, but want to check out a unique take on the theme, Botania could definitely be for you!
5. Mo' Creatures
Mo' Creatures is one of the first mods that added new entities to the game.
Originally created in November 2010, its massive additions of over 40 mobs, passive or hostile, were very influential, even to the point of inspiring Mojang themselves to add horses to the game.
The mod introduces wildlife for every type of biome, ranging from the ocean with dolphins, jellyfishes, rays, sharks and more to grounded mobs like bears, deer, elephants, birds, but even mythical creatures like werewolves, ogres and dragon-like creatures such as wyverns.
This immersive experience makes Minecraft feel more exciting and even offers the possibility to tame some of these creatures to take them with you always.
The original mod supports only up to 1.12.2, there have been unofficial ports to newer versions of the game, such as 1.20.1, like this one!
As mentioned previously, the author of Mo' Creatures collaborated with Mojang itself to bring the horse to Minecraft. The mod's models were so great that they became the official ones,
If you like animal mods, this is a must-have for classic playthroughs and has definitely inspired many mods created after it.
6. Witchery
A witchcraft and necromancy mod created back in 2013 to make you control the power of magic.
Witchery allows you to perform rituals, brew special potions, and harness magic.
The mod isn't about flashy spells; however, there are many elements that, if learned to use correctly, can make you very powerful, like being able to summon at will withers, witches, and even demons.
A particular addition of this mod is voodoo, in the form of Poppets, which allow you to affect other mobs to your liking.
More outstanding features are the two new dimensions added: the Spirit World, which is based around the player's dream world, and the Torment Dimension, which, as the name suggests, is a place to be banished to.
The mod offers more fun additions such as becoming a werewolf or a vampire, dream weaving, mutations, and more!
To get started, you'll need to gather resources and create a Witches Oven, to then expand to a Witch's Cauldron used to make many components and tools to later progress in the witchcraft adventure in one of the paths the mod offers like brewery, voodoo, conjurations, dream weavers, infusions, vampirism, and lycanthropy.
These were even more mods that truly shaped Minecraft's modding history. Predecessors to popular mods, memorable projects that gave the start to a series of addons and undying successes. The community is forever grateful to the authors of these amazing masterpieces!
Discover more amazing mods on the CurseForge website.