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Saturday, March 15, 2014

Getting Started and Troubleshooting

Getting Started
Please come visit us on IRC if you have questions. There is usually someone there who can help you. Check the troubleshooting steps below first.

Click screenshots to see a larger image. 
1. Download the pack:

See the sidebar for links. Save it to your desktop, or somewhere easy to find. Unzip it. Inside the mods zip will be a folder called mods. Inside the config zip will be a folder called config. Inside the client-side mods will be a collection of mod files. Instructions on what to do with these are below as you continue with this process.

2. Download and install MultiMC 5:
MultiMC5
This is a launcher that allows you to load the mods with Minecraft. After installing it, open the program and update it if necessary.

3. Create an instance in MultiMC:

Once you've opened and updated MMC, you'll see the following screen:

In the top right, click the Accounts button. Select Manage Accounts. Another window will open. 

Click the Add button on the right, and enter your Minecraft username or email, and your password. Then click OK. Then click Close to close the settings window.

Create a new instance by clicking the paper icon with the star in the top left. A new window will open.

Give the instance a name that you can recognize. At the time of this writing, we are currently on ScumPack 4.0 so I've used that as an example. Then, click the the little ... button and scroll to find the current version of Minecraft that we are using (see sidebar). Select it and click OK. The last option is if you want to put the instance in a grouping. I have several instances for different things, and I put all the ScumPacks in a single group. You do not have to do this. You can leave it blank. When finished, click OK.

An icon will appear in the window called SP4 (or whatever you named it). If this is your first time using MultiMC, double click the icon to open it. This will allow MMC to download necessary files. After a few minutes, the game will start and you will see the game menu screen. Quit the game and continue with these steps. You're now ready to begin adding the mods to the instance.

4. Install Forge and update instance settings.
Right click on the instance icon and choose Edit Instance. A new window will open.


Click the Install Forge button on the right. It will take a second to load available versions of Forge. Select the version listed in the sidebar (should be the one at the top). Forge is what allows mods to access and edit the Minecraft game code, making it possible to play mods the way we do. Without this, the mods will not even load into the game. 

Click OK.

Select the Settings icon on the left to go to that section. Check the Java installation checkbox to gain access to these settings. Then click the Autodetect button. A new window will open.

It will take a second to determine which java options you have. They will then show up in the little window like the above screen shot. You should have at least two options here. Select the one that has 64 in the arch column. *If you do not have a 64 option, you will need to download it. See further below for java troubleshooting. Once you have selected the 64 option, click OK.

Next, check the Memory checkbox to open up those options.

Minimum memory allocation : 512 MB
Maximum memory allocation: 2048 MB
PermGen: 256 MB

These are the optimal settings to run a modded instance of Minecraft. This assumes that you have at least 3 GB of RAM available in your computer. If you only have 2 GB, set the max to 1024 MB.

Next, choose the Game windows tab at the top to go to those options.
Check the Console Settings checkbox to open the options, and then uncheck the box for "Automatically close console when game quits?". You can change this later, but if the game crashes without a crash report, we will need to know what happened. This allows the console window to remain open after the game quits so we can see the information. Plus you can upload screenshots directly from this window while in-game.

5. Add the mod files to the instance.
On the left, select the Loader mods icon to go to that section. Click the Add button in the top right. It will open a directory browser for you to select the files you want. This where you will navigate to where you saved the unzipped files. Open the mods folder that you unzipped and select all the files inside it. CTRL + A will do this for you. Then click Open at the bottom. It may take a moment to do this, as it is copying all the files into the instance folder. Allow it to do so. When the files show up in the window, move on to the next step.

ALTERNATE METHOD: Some people have reported a strange issue with some mods not being loaded using the Add button. Another way to add the mods is to copy and paste the files from the download directly to the mods folder. This folder can be found by right clicking on the instance icon, and selecting "Instance folder". 

6. Add client-side mods.
This is optional for those who are familiar with client-side mods. If you are new to modded Minecraft, it is highly recommended that you just use the mods provided. Client-side mods are mods that do not need to be installed on the server, and are therefore optional. They are "personalized" mods. Things like the minimap, item indicators, mouse utilities, etc. that make the game easier to handle or run. 

Follow the instructions from step 5 to add these mod files, but this time, select the files provided in the client-side mods folder that you downloaded and unzipped. When finished, click Close.

7. Add the config files to the instance. 
You should be back on the main MultiMC screen now. Go to the unzipped config files folder that you downloaded and open it. Select and copy all the files inside it. CTRL + A will select them all for you and CTRL + C will copy them. In MMC, right click on the instance icon and select Config folder. It will open the config folder for the instance. Click inside it and paste the files you copied. CTRL + V will do this.

8. Start it up and join the server!
You are now ready to load up the instance. Double click the instance icon to start it up. If it crashes or something bad happens, come to the IRC channel for help.

When the game loads, select Multiplayer from the main menu. Click Add Server. Put in a name that you can recognize for the server, and the IP address from the sidebar on the right of this page. Click join when you are ready to play. :)



Troubleshooting
The following troubleshooting steps are for when Minecraft crashes before ever getting to the Minecraft game menu ONLY! If you are reaching the game menu, but unable to connect to the server, then you are having mod issues and need to get specific help from IRC. After each of the following steps, you should be trying to load the instance. Don't do multiple things and then load because one thing could fix it and another could break it again.

1) Double check all steps first! Make sure permgen is set to 256.

2) You could be having java issues.
    - Check the version you currently have and make sure it is the most recent, recommended version. Click here to do that. If it is out of date, it will prompt you to update it. Follow the instructions to do so and then try starting up the instance again. *NOTE! MultiMC and Minecraft has issues with JRE 8 (Java 8). You must downgrade to Java 7. 

    - You might have an older version of Java installed. Sometimes, an older version of Java will not cause any problems until an update. You should still uninstall any old version as they can conflict and cause weird issues. Do that here.

    - Windows 7/8 specific issue! These two OS's run BOTH 32 bit and 64 bit Java. You need to have both! Get them here. Make sure your computer is 64-bit by clicking My Computer and selecting Properties. If you have 32-bit Windows, you may not be able to run this modpack, unfortunately. 

    - Now that you have checked your versions and made sure you have the right one(s) installed, check which Java your MultiMc instance is using. To do this, right click the icon and choose Settings. Go to the Java tab, and click the check box for Java Settings. Then, click the Auto-detect button, and choose the 64-bit Java (for Win7/8!) If you don't know which one that is, choose one and start up the instance. Try each until something changes.

3) You might be having RAM issues. Ideal running RAM for Minecraft is between 1 GB (1024 MB) and 2.5 GB (2560 MB). There is a setting in the Java tab (under settings in MultiMC) that allows you to adjust this setting. The max should NOT BE MORE than HALF your available RAM, and then min should not be less than 512 MB. (If you don't know how much RAM you have, Google "how much RAM do I have" and there are websites that can read your specs.)

4) If you have exhausted these steps and STILL cannot get on the server, there is no hope. (JK, come see us in IRC.)

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