Add backstory / principles

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Andrew Miner
2025-10-21 10:40:53 -06:00
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October 20th, 1897
It's been a long voyage, but a pleasant one. Having left Sydney on an east-bound steamer two weeks
ago, I expect we shall arrive in Chile in about another week's time. The book Mr. Phelps lent me on
hydraulic engineering is fascinating, and helps pass the time as we cross the South Pacific. Just
open ocean in all directions for days now.
October 22nd, 1897
We've had high seas these past four-and-twenty hours, which has been extremely disruptive to
everyone on board. I was hoping to adapt my plans for an industrial-scale excavator to include what
I've been learning on hydraulics, but it's impossible to keep the ink-pots from overturning. Alas,
the same has to be said for the contents of my stomach. This is the first time the ship has been
steady enough to even update my journal. It brings my grandmother's herb-lore to mind... if only
there were a source of fresh *Athelas* in the depths of the Pacific!
October 23rd, 1897
I got to tour the engine-room today! It was fascinating to see such a large engine at work. The
designs I've been creating for steam locomotives are far smaller. The amount of coal those
behemoths consume is beyond belief!
October 26th?, 1897
I don't know who might ever read this journal now, but I want to keep track of my own impressions
for as long as I last. Things were going exceedingly well when I last wrote, but calamity has
overtaken us since then. So far as I can tell, I'm the sole survivor of the H.M.S. Britannia, and
I've been marooned on an island (continent?) after our steamer was caught in a monstrous typhoon.
If I survive, I may record that tale, but I must conserve my ink and notebook as they are virtually
the only things I have left in my possession—not even shoes!
I am profoundly blessed by the Creator to have lived outside Sherwood for most of my life with a
grandmother steeped in botanical knowledge. Little did I realize those pleasant walks at her side
might now mean the difference between life and death. My first priorities must be water, food, and
then shelter. I don't recall how long ago that bubble-and-squeak on the Promenade Deck was, but the
hollow feeling gnawing at me indicates that it's been longer than I like.
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# Summary
Mysterious Island is a modpack for Minecraft v1.20.1 built around the premiss of a Victorian-era
enigneer finding himself marooned in the South Pacific. His mechanical skills, and a bit of botany
learned at his grandmother's knee is all that stands between him and his own mortality.
As he explores the countryside, he discovers the odd trace of long-abandoned industrial civilization
but no signs of any current inhabitants. Formerly domesticated flora and fauna have been left
feral long enough to have started to migrate back toward their ancestral forms and habitats. The
only dangers appear to be natural ones: starvation, predatory animals, exposure, and the odd
shipwreck containing dangerous pirates!
# Alterations from Vanilla Minecraft
There are many game systems which are tuned to be more challenging survival game. In particular:
* Natural healing is greatly diminished (~ 2 hearts healed per in-game day with adequate food).
* Hunger reduces even when the player is standing still. This effect isenough to deplete a full
hunger bar during the course of a single in-game day.
* Stack sizes for items are greatly reduced, and are mostly proportionate to the density of the
objects being carried,.
* Some surfaces are much more difficult to traverse (e.g., sand), causing a slow-down effect similar
to soul sand in vanilla.
* The player has a thirst meter which functions much like the hunger meter.
* Water found in the world contains contaminants and pathogens which need to be removed by boiling
* Only water from rivers and oceans automatically recreates water source blocks
* The player is vulnerable to both hot and cold weather, and it will be necessary to prepare
yourself with gear suitable to such environments.
There are also a few things which have gotten a bit easier:
* No undead mobs, Pillagers, etc.
* Grass pathways give the player a little speed boost, and paved roads an even bigger one.
* It's possible to make pathways on most soft surfaces (dirt, sand, gravel, etc.).
* All crops spawn naturally in the wild, but only in biomes where that plant naturally grows.
* Lots of additional food items and recipes are available.
# Finding Resources
This modpack has a strong focus on exploration, and, to that end, you'll find that resources only
spawn in areas where they naturally would in the real world, and in ways you'd normally find them.
So, coal is found both as anthricite deep underground, and as peat in boggy areas. Deposits are
also spread out across the various biomes of the world, requiring that you explore extensively to
find everything you might want.
Similarly, plants and animals only appear in biomes where they appear in nature. Potatoes are a
boreal, highland crop, while corn is an arid, subtropical one. You'll find the same is true for all
the other plants and animals in the modpack.
# Technology
The modpack is set in the real world in the year 1897, so you can expect to find Victorian-era
technology available. No magic, potions, etc. from fantasy settings.