onion-mc/analysis/archive/2026-09-candidate-review/MODLIST-REVIEW.md

# Onion MC — Candidate Modlist Review

**Pack:** Onion MC 0.1.0 — Minecraft 1.21.1 / NeoForge 21.1.251 (packwiz)
**Candidates reviewed:** 189 minetest/mod links (mods, plugins, datapacks) supplied by the operator
**Existing pack:** 142 tracked entries (133 Modrinth + 9 CurseForge)
**Date:** 2026-09-29 (post-review update: see Section 0)

---

## 0. Post-review update — new commits and the `mod-pack-additions` branch

After the first pass of this review, the remote was fetched and two things changed the premises:

**A. New commits on `origin/main`** (local `main` was 2 commits behind):
- `be07001` — **Clumps** added (XP-orb merging, `side = both`): cuts XP-orb entity count, entity packets
  and server tick cost. Low-risk, standard server-perf mod; no conflict with anything reviewed here.
- `25b3f78` — C2ME runtime `cache/` untracked from the pack index (housekeeping).

**B. Branch `mod-pack-additions`** (2 commits ahead of the local `main`; **not merged**, and checked
out in a separate worktree at `~/.herdr/worktrees/onion-mc/mod-pack-additions`). It adds:

| Added | Detail |
| --- | --- |
| **Iris Shaders** | `iris-neoforge-1.8.14-beta.1+mc1.21.1`, `side = client` |
| **Iris Veil Compat** | `irisveil-0.3.0.jar` — bridges Veil (embedded in Sable) through Iris so Create Aeronautics visuals render correctly under shaders |
| **Aeronautics Iris Fix** | CurseForge `aero-shadow-fix-2.1.0.jar` — third-party fix for Create Aeronautics balloon envelopes rendering as ghost artifacts under Iris |
| **Shaderpacks** | Complementary Reimagined r5.9.3, MakeUp Ultra Fast 9.5f |
| **Resourcepacks** | Motschen's Better Leaves 9.6, Fresh Animations: Extensions v1.8.1 |

**What this changes in this report:**
- The **"no shaders" premise is retired**. Onion MC is moving to Iris + a curated shader list, with two
  purpose-built compat patches for the exact Aeronautics/Iris problems `FINDINGS.md` flagged.
- **`iris` and `iris-veil-compat` move from SKIP to `ADDED`** — they are now pack content.
- **`createbetterfps` moves from SKIP to MAYBE.** Its blocker was *"1.21.1 needs Sodium and Iris"*;
  with Iris now present it is technically unblocked, but it patches Create's code directly and benefits
  only shader scenes, so it must be tested against the Aeronautics/Sable stack before shipping.
- **Shader-adjacent candidates get a second look**: `shine`, `grassier-grass`, `fog`, and
  `ATMOSPHERICS` now sit next to a real shader pipeline. `shine`/`grassier-grass` (Sodium terrain
  shaders) become more relevant; `fog`/`ATMOSPHERICS` (sky/fog rewrites) now conflict with the
  shaderpacks' own fog/sky, so their SKIP/MAYBE verdicts stand for a stronger reason.
- **Residual risk is not zero.** The fix chain is `iris` + `iris-veil-compat` + `aeronautics-iris-fix`,
  and `aeronautics-iris-fix` is a small third-party CurseForge patch (~2.6K downloads, present in ~11
  modpacks). Known Aeronautics/Iris issues beyond balloon shadows exist (e.g. heat-particle rendering
  has a separate fix mod). Treat the Aeronaautics-under-shaders combination as **verified-in-progress**,
  and keep the `phase0/` measurement plan for shader on/off before/after.
- Sections below are otherwise unchanged, except where marked **(updated)**.

---

## 1. Executive summary

**Every one of the 189 candidates has a 1.21.1 NeoForge-compatible build.** Nothing on the list is
blocked by version availability. The real filters are **dependency cost**, **overlap**, and a small
number of **hard conflicts**.

Headline result:

| Verdict | Count |
| --- | --- |
| **ADD** — clear, low-risk win | **18** |
| **ADD-OPTIONAL** — good, but a taste/librarary decision | **88** |
| **MAYBE** — needs an in-pack test or a design decision first | **36** |
| **SKIP** — conflict, dead dependency, duplication, or wrong stack | **36** |
| **ALREADY-IN-PACK** — duplicate of an installed mod | **9** |
| **ADDED** — already on `mod-pack-additions` | **2** |

The single most useful finding is that **the candidate list is dominated by "more of what the pack
already has"**. Onion MC already runs five Farmer's Delight addons, a full Create stack, ~20 structure
mods, a large mob roster, and a saturated client-performance stack. Most candidates are another Delight
addon, another decoration mod, another HUD mod, or another culling/perf mod. Adding all the safe ones
would bloat the pack and its library surface without changing the shape of the game.

**Recommended core: 20 mods + 2 libraries** (Section 4). Everything else is either a deliberate
expansion choice, a test-first item, or a skip.

The second finding is **dependency economics**. The candidates would collectively drag in **~25 new
NeoForge library mods** (`Puzzles Lib`, `Moonlight Lib`, `Blueprint`, `Fragmentum`, `Collective`,
`Almanac`, `Delight Lib`, `Lodestone`, `SmartBrainLib`, `Coralib`, `Faewulf's Lib`, `Teal Lib`, etc.).
Several are shared by multiple candidates, so the sane strategy is to **pick one or two content
families and pay for the libraries those need** — not to adopt candidates piecemeal.

The third finding is that a **few candidates are actively dangerous** in this specific pack: anything
that needs **Iris/shaders** (the pack deliberately has none; Create Aeronautics and SSRD both
document Iris rendering issues), anything **Fabric-only via Sinytra Connector**, a **second dynamic
lights engine** next to LambDynamicLights, and a **second claim/party system** next to FTB.
See the risk register in Section 8.

---

## 2. How this review was produced (and how much to trust it)

- **Deterministic data (high confidence).** All 189 links were resolved through the **Modrinth API v2**
  — project metadata, loader/side support, every 1.21.1 build, and the **required-dependency graph**
  of the selected 1.21.1 NeoForge build. The existing pack was read directly from its 142 `.pw.toml`
  files. Counts, loader support, version availability and required dependencies in this report are
  machine-derived, not guessed.
- **README/feature analysis (medium-high confidence).** Each candidate's Modrinth README was used as
  the primary source for what it adds and for author-declared compatibility notes. Where the README
  was silent, the assessment says so.
- **Compatibility claims (medium confidence).** Named conflict claims come from mod READMEs, official
  issue trackers, or the pack's own `FINDINGS.md`. They are cited in the detailed appendix and should
  be re-tested in a dev instance before shipping — a closed issue or a fixed version can invalidate any
  of them.
- **Where this report is uncertain** it says `unknown`, `unverified`, or lists a test gate. Treat the
  verdict as a prior, not a guarantee.

### Corrections applied after validation

The bulk research pass was independently checked on the highest-impact claims. Three corrections were
made; the full per-mod appendix retains the corrected view:

1. **`veil` — the "no consumer mod" rationale was wrong.** Veil is **embedded inside Sable**
   (`embedded` dependency in Sable's own metadata), which is why `iris-veil-compat` exists. The verdict
   is still **SKIP**, but the correct reason is *"Veil is already jar-in-jar inside Sable; adding it
   standalone is a duplicate/conflict on the fragile render stack"* — not "nothing uses it".
2. **`autohud` — the Fabric-API "red flag" was a metadata artifact.** The README explicitly scopes the
   Fabric API requirement to the Fabric build; the NeoForge build is native. Verdict raised from MAYBE
   to ADD-OPTIONAL.
3. **`supplementaries` — the Create conflict is stale.** All three cited issues (Create #7405,
   Create #9755, Supplementaries #1436) are **closed**, and both mods are now ~18 months newer. Verdict
   raised from MAYBE to ADD-OPTIONAL, with a Create smoke test still recommended.

---

## 3. Baseline: what the pack is, and what that implies

From `FINDINGS.md`, `pack.toml`, `index.toml` and the `phase0/` tuning docs, the decision-relevant
facts are:

| Fact | Consequence for candidate screening |
| --- | --- |
| **Shaders: now being added via `mod-pack-additions`** — Iris + shaderpacks + two compat patches (see Section 0); previously none by design. | Iris, `iris-veil-compat` and the shaderpacks are now pack content. Shader-adjacent candidates are re-evaluated in Section 0; sky/fog rewrites now also conflict with the shaderpacks themselves. |
| **Fragile render core:** Sodium `0.8.13` + Distant Horizons + SSRD + Sable's intrusive mixins. Sodium is version-pinned by Sable (≥ 0.8.12-alpha.2). | Any mod that hooks the sky/fog/weather/terrain render path or couples to a Sodium version is test-first at best. |
| **Create + Sable + Aeronautics is the highest-risk component.** Five Sable compat patches already exist. | Create addons and anything touching player/block physics (gradient, ragdolls, tree physics, ships) need a dev-server test. |
| **Client-perf stack is saturated:** Sodium, Lithium, ModernFix, FerriteCore, EntityCulling, ImmediatelyFast, Dynamic FPS, AllTheLeaks, C2ME, Noisium. | Additional generic perf/culling mods have small marginal gains and add mixin surface. |
| **No configs shipped.** `.packwizignore` excludes `config/*` except one FTB Chunks file. | Candidates that require config curation (Burnt, More Music Discs, Lunar, Celestia, Sleep Tight, Worldgen structure tuning) carry a maintenance cost the pack does not currently pay. |
| **Worldgen is curated and already dense:** Terralith + Tectonic + Incendium + Nullscape + Towns and Towers + When Dungeons Arise + 9 YUNG's mods + Explorify + Sparse Structures. | Biome-adding and structure-adding candidates meet a stack that is already at the "loading" end and already uses Sparse Structures to tame it. |
| **Content pillars:** Farmer's Delight (+5 addons), Create, Aquaculture 2, Apotheosis, Sophisticated Storage/Backpacks, Waystones/Gravestone/Lootr, Alex's Mobs/Caves, Ars Nouveau, Twilight Forest. | The best candidates are those that *plug into* a pillar with the same dependencies, not those that start a new one. |
| **~10-player dedicated server matters as much as the client.** | Server-side candidates (`lmd`, PetProtect, claim mods, structure mods, BlueMap) are judged on TPS/ops cost, not just fun. |
| **A dedicated Create Aeronautics compatibility mod is installed** and explicitly patches `Sleep Tight` and `Etched` among others. | Those two candidates have a positive, author-provided compatibility signal for the Sable stack. |

---

## 4. Recommended core — add these

Chosen for **value ÷ risk**: high player-facing value, no hard conflicts, and either zero new
libraries or one small, widely-used library. This is the set I would ship as a first cohort.

| # | Mod | What it adds | Anchor / relationship | Gameplay impact | New libs | Compat notes |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **Supplementaries** (`supplementaries`) | Large Vanilla+ block set: jars, signposts, faucets, spring launchers, sconces, planters, rope, lights, decoration + light automation | Decoration family (Chipped/Handcrafted/Rechiseled); NeoForge-first project | **Moderate** | **Moonlight Lib** | Old Create 1.21.1 conflicts all closed; smoke-test with Create. Also unlocks Sleep Tight/Haunted Harvest. |
| 2 | **Let Me Despawn** (`lmd`) | Mobs that picked up gear despawn naturally (dropping the gear first) | Server perf next to Lithium/ModernFix; does **not** replace the chunk engine | Minor (server **perf gain**) | **Almanac** | Directly helps a mob-dense Apotheosis/Alex's Mobs server. Check affixed-mob drops. |
| 3 | **Comforts** (`comforts`) | Sleeping bags (no spawn-set) + hammocks (skip day); dyeable | Expedition QoL next to Waystones/Gravestone | Minor | none | 22.9M downloads, current 1.21.1 NeoForge build. |
| 4 | **Traveler's Titles** (`travelers-titles`) | RPG biome/dimension entry titles; Waystones region titles; Twilight Forest built in | Exploration family | Client-cosmetic | none (YUNG's API in pack) | Makes the curated Terralith/Tectonic world legible. |
| 5 | **Zume** (`zume`) | Hold-to-zoom keybind with adjustable zoom levels | Client utility; no zoom mod in pack | Client-cosmetic | none | Zero server footprint. |
| 6 | **FindMe** (`findme`) | Hover an item in JEI, press Y to locate it in nearby inventories | JEI + Sophisticated Storage loop | Minor | none (Architectury in pack) | High-frequency QoL for a storage-heavy pack. |
| 7 | **Sophisticated Item Actions** (`sophisticated-item-actions`) | Keybind-highlight nearby storages holding an item; deposit/restock without opening GUIs | Sophisticated Core/Backpacks/Storage + JEI | Minor | none | Fills a real gap; JEI-aware. |
| 8 | **Chalk** (`chalk-mod`) | Dyeable chalk marks on block faces (glow variants) + chalk box | Navigation next to Waystones/compasses/Ping Wheel | Minor | none | Fills the cave-marking niche nothing else covers. |
| 9 | **PetProtect** (`petprotect`) | Server toggle: tamed mobs can't be hurt/killed by players in PvP | Pet family | Minor (server policy) | none | Cheap grief insurance on a friends server. |
| 10 | **Waystones Teleport Pets** (`waystones-teleport-pets`) | Pets follow you through Waystones without a lead | Direct **Waystones** addon | Minor | none | Server-side. |
| 11 | **Extreme Sound Muffler** (`extreme_sound_muffler`) | Per-sound volume/mute GUI + ranged "anchor" muffling | Client audio control over AmbientSounds + Sound Physics + Create noise | Client-cosmetic | none | Client-only; complements (doesn't replace) Sound Physics Remastered. |
| 12 | **Simple Music Control** (`simple-music-control`) | Halved music delay, next-track key, now-playing widget | Client audio QoL | Client-cosmetic | none (Fzzy Config in pack) | Zero risk. |
| 13 | **Held Item Tooltips** (`held-item-tooltips`) | Info plate on item switch: enchants, durability, effects, shulker previews | Complements Enchantment Descriptions + Legendary Tooltips (different surface) | Client-cosmetic | **Puzzles Lib** | Puzzles Lib also unlocks Visual Workbench / Distinct Potions / Mob Lassos. |
| 14 | **Display Delight** (`display-delight`) | Placeable 3D models of every Delight food (no block entities — lag-friendly), food plates | **All five** installed Delight addons | Minor | none | README lists explicit compat with Ocean's/End's/Aquaculture Delight. |
| 15 | **Fruits Delight** (`fruits-delight`) | 17 fruits, 90 fruit foods, jam/jello cauldrons, 18 plants/14 fruit trees | Farmer's Delight; author-claimed **Create + Terralith** compat | **Moderate** | none | 2.2M downloads; plugs into two existing pillars. |
| 16 | **Rustic Delight** (`rustic-delight`) | Bell peppers, coffee (Speed/Haste), cotton, pancakes, fried foods | Farmer's Delight | Minor | none | Textbook same-dependency addon. |
| 17 | **Cat Jam** (`cat_jam`) | Cats bob to music discs, with per-disc routines | Client charm; **Alex's Mobs** discs explicitly supported | Client-cosmetic | none | Client-only, oldest-but-stable build. |
| 18 | **Death Knell** (`death-knell`) | 35+ situational death messages | Flavor | Client-cosmetic | none (Prickle + Bookshelf in pack) | Zero risk, deps already installed. |
| 19 | **Portfolio** (`portfolio`) | 100+ paintings in 10 themed catalogues | Decoration family | Client-cosmetic | none | Ships as mod or datapack; zero deps. |
| 20 | **FishingOverhaul** (`fishingoverhaul`) | Reel-in fishing minigame with crit regions and per-fish tuning | **Aquaculture 2** (README states compat) | Minor | none | Changes the fishing interaction, not progression. |

**Bundle cost:** 20 mods, 2 new libraries (`Moonlight Lib`, `Almanac`), one of which (`Moonlight Lib`)
unlocks further candidates later. No config maintenance. No server-render risk. Nothing here touches
Sodium, DH, Sable, Create physics, or worldgen.

**Runner-up core picks** (equally safe, pick if the theme appeals): **Sounds** (`sound`, +MRU) for
170+ upgraded SFX; **Particle Effects** and **Perception** for client ambience; **Distinct Potions**
(+Puzzles Lib, already paid for by Held Item Tooltips); **GUI Effect Timer** (+Collective);
**Neat** for mob health bars; **Advancement Plaques** (Iceberg already in pack); **Visual Workbench**
(+Puzzles Lib).

---

## 5. Strong optional additions, by content family

These are all defensible `ADD-OPTIONAL`s. Use them to steer the pack deliberately, not to accumulate.

### 5.1 Farmer's Delight expansion (the pack's most crowded lane)
Farmer's Delight already has 5 addons. Adding more is cumulative, not gap-filling.

| Mod | What it adds | New libs | Notes |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| **Expanded Delight** | More crops/workstations; best-covered by Display Delight (37 foods) | none | Author-declared **beta**. |
| **ExtraDelight** | 7 kitchen workstations (oven, chiller, melting pot…), cookware | none | Block-entity heavy; confirm server load. |
| **Miner's Delight** | Cave-food addon (cave carrots, copper pot/cup) | **Lodestone** | Author-declared **beta**. |
| **More Delight** | Sandwiches, toast, stone/wood knives; Create-compatible | **Delight Lib** | Safe, low marginal value. |
| **Dungeon's Delight** | Monster Pot, inverted "monster effects", Rotbulb crop | none | Check effect stacking with Apotheosis. |
| **Barbeque's Delight** | Grill/skewer loop + seasonings | none | Frictionless. |
| **Fright's Delight** | 56 horror foods from mob drops, cursed berries | none | Horror theme is a taste call. |
| **Veggies Delight** | 7 vegetables, temperature-based wild spawns, village Depot Houses | none | Low-risk; village structures are additive. |
| **Hearth and Harvest** | Crops, corn mazes, salt caverns, ranching utilities | none | Corn overlaps Haunted Harvest — pick one. |
| **Haunted Harvest** | Trick-or-treating villagers, pumpkin carving, corn | **Moonlight Lib** | Shares Moonlight with Supplementaries. |
| **Cultural Delights** | Avocado/eggplant/cucumber/corn/beans/cinnamon, world cuisine | **Cook's Collection** | Extra lib for one addon. |
| **Delightful Creators** | Second FD↔Create automation bridge (fluids/soups) | none | **Overlaps the installed Slice & Dice** — deliberate "both routes" decision. |

### 5.2 Create expansion (test every one against Aeronautics/Sable)
| Mod | What it adds | New libs | Notes |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| **Create: Bells & Whistles** | 36 deco/utility blocks (platforms, headlights, train grab bars) | none | Decorative; smoke-test on contraptions. |
| **Create: Design n' Decor** | Create-styled deco/variant blocks | none | Active maintenance; low risk. |
| **Create: Teleporters** | TP links, entity/item teleporters, pocket-dimension portal | none | Adds a dimension; independent of worldgen. |
| **Create: Waystones Recipes** | Replaces Waystones recipes with Create machine recipes | none | Progression design decision. |
| **Create: Factory** | Create-themed foods | none | Crowded food lane; low value. |
| **Create: Structures Arise** | 28 Create-themed worldgen structures | none | Thickens an already structure-saturated worldgen stack. |
| **Create: Sophisticated Backpacks Compat** | Third-party recipe pack for SB components | none | Likely partial **recipe overlap** with the installed official integration — check JEI. |

### 5.3 Decoration & building
**Items Displayed**, **Beautiful Campfires**, **Sooty Chimneys**, **Too Many Paintings**, **Spooky Doors**,
**Boatload** (+Blueprint), **Display Case** / **Fetzi's Displays** / **Gallery** (+Blueprint, *pick one
display system*), **Etched** (music discs from URLs — note: **Create Aeronautics Compat explicitly
patches Etched**, a positive signal; content-policy caveat), **Accents** (+Fragmentum).

### 5.4 HUD, client polish & ambience
**Neat** (prefer over **JeremySeq's Damage Indicator** — pick one mob-info mod), **Armor HUD** or
**Immersive Armor HUD** (+TxniLib), **Advancement Plaques**, **AutoHUD**, **GUI Effect Timer** (+Collective),
**Keybind Atlas**, **Blur+** (+MidnightLib), **Distinct Potions** (+Puzzles Lib), **Emojiful**,
**Quick Skin** (prefer over SkinChanger), **Sounds Be Gone**, **Now Playing** (+Deimos for discs),
**Loot Journal** (+Fragmentum), **Particle Effects**, **Perception**, **Smart Particles**,
**Better Animations Collection** (+Puzzles Lib), **Visuality: Reforged**, **Better Third Person**,
**Camera Overhaul**, **Cinematic Respawn**, **Mermod**, **Piggyback** (+Faewulf's Lib),
**Cosy Critters**, **Fancy World Animations** (blacklist safety valve exists).

### 5.5 Mobs, combat & gear
**Fowl Play** (+SmartBrainLib), **Animal Garden – Porcupine** (zero deps), **Hybrid Aquatic**
(+Hybrid API + Biolith; big ocean overhaul — gate on a worldgen/Aquaculture test), **Realm RPG: Fallen
Adventurers** (explicit Twilight Forest support), **Reliquary Reincarnations** (needs a balance pass vs
Apotheosis/Artifacts), **Too Many Bows** (explicitly recommends Better Combat + Curios, both in pack),
**Skillcloaks** (Curios), **TarotCards: Remastered** (team-aware via FTB Teams), **Mob Lassos**
(+Puzzles Lib; check boss exclusion), **Friends&Foes – Flowery Mooblooms** (same author as installed F&F),
**Pet Cemetery** (+Blueprint; verify modded-pet support), **Animal Garden**, **Dream Relics** (balance overlap with Artifacts).

### 5.6 Social & minigames
**Immersive Melodies**, **Charta**, **Mino++**, **Watut** (+CoroUtil), **PlayerRevive** (Gravestone
interplay test), **Incapacitated** (changes core death rules — owner sign-off).

### 5.7 Sleep
**Sleep Tight** (+Moonlight Lib; **explicitly patched by the installed Create Aeronautics Compat**, a
positive signal; adds bedbugs/nightmares), **Room For Two** (beta; pick **one** of these two).

### 5.8 Server / admin
**BlueMap** (web map — ops overhead: port, web server, bStats opt-out; async to the server thread),
**Followers Teleport Too** (+Collective; overlaps Waystones Teleport Pets — pick one),
**Better Compatibility Checker** (only if the pack pipeline will update `bcc-common.toml` each release).

### 5.9 Fishing & food extras
**Fishing Real** (fish spawn as live entities; defaults cover vanilla only — needs datapack JSONs for
Aquaculture species), **Overweight Farming**, **AlcoCraft+**, **Create: Factory**.

---

## 6. Full master table (all 189 candidates)

Verdicts and one-line rationale per candidate. `MAYBE` = test-first or a design decision. The detailed
**Adds / Relationship / Missing deps / Compatibility / Perf** breakdown for every mod is in the
appendix (`analysis/assess/chunk*.md`, consolidated in `analysis/CANDIDATE-APPENDIX.md`). The same
candidates grouped by purpose with a **“what it brings”** column are in **`MODLIST-GROUPS.md`**.

> **(updated)** `iris` and `iris-veil-compat` are now `ADDED` (branch), and `createbetterfps` is now
> `MAYBE` — see Section 0.


### ADD (18)

| Mod | Impact | Rationale |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **cat_jam** (`cat_jam`) | Client-cosmetic | tiny, client-only, documented compat with a mod already in the pack. |
| **Chalk** (`chalk-mod`) | Minor | cheap, self-contained, fills a real gap for cave exploration. |
| **Comforts** (`comforts`) | Minor–Moderate | staple adventure QoL, well-maintained, no dependency cost. |
| **Death Knell** (`death-knell`) | Client-cosmetic | zero-risk flavor whose deps are already installed. |
| **Display Delight** (`display-delight`) | Minor | direct, low-risk upgrade to the pack's food-and-decor identity. |
| **Extreme sound muffler** (`extreme_sound_muffler`) | Client-cosmetic | zero-risk, zero-server-cost QoL that is actively maintained (3.56, 2026-09-22). |
| **FindMe** (`findme`) | Minor | zero-dep, low-risk, high-frequency QoL. |
| **FishingOverhaul** (`fishingoverhaul`) | Minor | declared Aquaculture 2 compat makes this a natural pack fit. |
| **Fruits Delight** (`fruits-delight`) | Moderate | big, popular (2.2M downloads) FD expansion that plugs into two pack pillars (Create, Terralith). |
| **Held Item Tooltips** (`held-item-tooltips`) | Client-cosmetic (informational). | low-risk, high-frequency QoL; library cost shared with other Puzzles-Lib picks. |
| **Let Me Despawn** (`lmd`) | Minor | clear server-side perf win for a 10-player mob-dense pack; add Almanac with it. |
| **PetProtect** (`petprotect`) | Minor | tiny, dependency-free, and directly prevents grief/accident on a 10-player PvP-capable server full of tamed mods' pets. |
| **Portfolio** (`portfolio`) | Client-cosmetic | zero-dependency pure content that fills an empty decorative niche. |
| **Rustic Delight** (`rustic-delight`) | Minor | textbook fit: same-dependency addon for an existing content pillar. |
| **Simple Music Control** (`simple-music-control`) | Client-cosmetic. | zero-risk client QoL whose only dependency is already present. |
| **Traveler's Titles** (`travelers-titles`) | Client-cosmetic. | cheap, polished, and it makes the pack's giant curated worldgen legible to players. |
| **Waystones Teleport Pets** (`waystones-teleport-pets`) | Minor QoL for pet owners. | tiny, targeted, and fixes a real annoyance for a 10-player server full of tamed pets. |
| **Zume** (`zume`) | None (view convenience; no gameplay ch | zero-dep, zero-server, fills an obvious gap next to Sodium+DH distance viewing. |

### ADD-OPTIONAL (88)

| Mod | Impact | Rationale |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **Fisherman's Haven** (`fishermans-haven`) | Moderate | no deps, distinct fishing mechanics that complement Aquaculture 2; accept the niche overlap deliberately. |
| **Accents** (`accents`) | Minor | low-risk cosmetic+minor-stat layer; costs one new library dep. |
| **Advancement Plaques** (`advancement-plaques`) | Client-cosmetic. | safe client polish on a dep already in pack; one test-instance check on the sound caveat. |
| **Akashic Tome** (`akashic-tome`) | None | cheap, low-risk QoL that scales well with a 142-mod pack. |
| **AlcoCraft+** (`alcocraft`) | Minor | small, self-contained fun; no flags. |
| **Animal Garden - Porcupine** (`animal-garden-porcupine`) | Minor | tiny, dependency-free, fits the existing tameable-mob theme. |
| **Armor Hud** (`armor-hud`) | Client-cosmetic. | tiny, dependency-free HUD addition. |
| **Ars Elixirum** (`ars-elixirum`) | Moderate | deep alchemy content with one new library dep; confirm in testing that it doesn't hard-require anything beyond Fragmentum. |
| **Auto HUD** (`autohud`) | Client-cosmetic. | Metadata Fabric-API dep is Fabric-build-only; native NeoForge build. |
| **Barbeque's Delight [Forge/NeoForge]** (`barbeques-delight-forge`) | Minor | frictionless fit with the existing Delight stack. |
| **Beautiful Campfires** (`beautiful-campfires`) | Minor | cheap cosmetic polish; document the oak-only recipe change in pack notes. |
| **Better Animations Collection** (`better-animations-collection`) | Client-cosmetic. | pure atmosphere polish for one new library dep. |
| **Better Third Person** (`better-third-person`) | Client-cosmetic. | safe, popular camera QoL with no deps; just smoke-test it while piloting Aeronautics contraptions. |
| **BlueMap** (`bluemap`) | None | genuinely useful for a small dedicated server, but it's ops overhead (webserver, ports, configs) rather than content. |
| **Blur+** (`blur-plus`) | Client-cosmetic | safe cosmetic; only bother if the pack wants GUI polish. |
| **Boatload** (`boatload`) | Minor | pleasant water QoL, but chest-boat overlap with vanilla makes it low-value; needs Blueprint. |
| **Burnt** (`burnt-basic`) | Moderate | distinctive survival flavor with controls, but server-grief/tick cost means it's a taste call, not a default. |
| **Camera Overhaul** (`cameraoverhaul`) | Client-cosmetic | cheap and configurable, entirely a taste/accessibility call. |
| **Certain Questing Additions** (`certain-questing-additions`) | None | nice polish for a quested pack; harmless if dropped. |
| **Charta** (`charta`) | Minor | charming multiplayer flavor, zero risk if unused. |
| **Cinematic Respawn** (`cinematic-respawn`) | Client-cosmetic | pleasant, zero-risk client polish; taste call on auto-respawn. |
| **Cosy Critters & Creepy Crawlies** (`cosy-critters`) | Client-cosmetic | cheap atmosphere for explorers; skip if the ambience budget is full. |
| **Create Waystones Recipes** (`create-waystones-recipes`) | Minor | safe; a deliberate progression/taste decision for the questbook rather than a technical one. |
| **Create: Bells & Whistles** (`bellsandwhistles`) | Minor | strong deco value for a Create pack; verify blocks behave on Aeronautics contraptions first. |
| **Create: Design n' Decor** (`create-design-n-decor`) | Minor | safe factory decoration; nice with the pack's Chipped/Rechiseled angle. |
| **Create: Factory** (`create-factory`) | Minor | harmless, but the food family is already the pack's most crowded content lane; low marginal value. |
| **Create: Structures Arise** (`create-structures-arise`) | Moderate | strong fit for a Create + exploration pack, but it thickens an already structure-saturated worldgen stack with no config knobs shipped. |
| **Create: Teleporters** (`create-teleporters`) | Moderate | clean fit for Create logistics with no flagged conflicts; decide whether the pack wants dimensional play. |
| **Cultural Delights** (`cultural-delights`) | Moderate | on-theme food content, but it requires adopting Cook's Collection and the Delight shelf is already crowded. |
| **Death Count** (`death-count`) | Minor | harmless novelty for a 10-player server, though equally achievable with a one-line vanilla scoreboard datapack. |
| **Distinct Potions** (`distinct-potions`) | Client-cosmetic | cheap visual QoL; only worth it if the pack accepts pulling in Puzzles Lib for a single client mod. |
| **Dungeon's Delight** (`dungeons_delight`) | Moderate | thematically perfect next to the pack's existing Delight collection; sanity-check the new effect types against Apotheosis stacking. |
| **Dynamic Crosshair** (`dynamiccrosshair`) | Client-cosmetic | pure client polish, but must be tested against ImmediatelyFast and dropped if HUD glitches appear. |
| **Emojiful** (`emojiful`) | Client-cosmetic | fun for a 10-player social server with zero gameplay footprint. |
| **Etched** (`etched`) | Minor | great social toy for a small server; settle the URL-content policy first. |
| **Expanded Delight** (`expanded-delight`) | Moderate | strongly on-theme and the best-covered addon for Display Delight, but accept the author-declared beta instability or wait for stable. |
| **ExtraDelight** (`extradelight`) | Moderate | the meatiest Delight addon in the batch and a natural kitchen-tier progression; confirm the block-entity load on the dedicated server before committing. |
| **Fancy World Animations [FWA]** (`fwa`) | Client-cosmetic | strong client polish with a blacklist safety valve; verify against Sable/ImmediatelyFast rendering before shipping. |
| **Farmer's Knives** (`farmers-knives`) | Minor | cheap thematic glue whose payoff is real but limited to Twilight Forest materials since the other supported tool mods aren't in the pack. |
| **Field Guide** (`field-guide`) | Minor | excellent fit for a 10-player exploration pack; price of admission is two extra NeoForge libs. |
| **Fishing Real** (`fishing-real`) | Minor | cheap, fun, low-risk; worth a small datapack pass to include Aquaculture species. |
| **Followers Teleport Too** (`followers-teleport-too`) | Minor | clear QoL win with Waystones for ~10 players; costs one shared lib. |
| **Fowl Play** (`fowlplay`) | Minor | strong ambience fit for the pack's mob roster; costs one AI lib. |
| **Friends&Foes - Flowery Mooblooms (Forge/NeoForge)** (`friends-and-foes-flowery-mooblooms-forge`) | Minor | cheap flavor that slots into an installed mod; skip only if moobloom density is unwanted. |
| **Fright's Delight** (`frights-delight`) | Minor | fits the pack's Delight collection; horror theme is a taste call. |
| **GUI Effect Timer** (`gui-effect-timer`) | Client-cosmetic (informational). | tiny, safe, useful; effectively free once Collective is pinned for Followers Teleport Too. |
| **Hearth and Harvest** (`hearth-and-harvest`) | Moderate | solid FD-family expansion; coordinate corn overlap with Haunted Harvest before adding both. |
| **Hybrid Aquatic** (`hybrid-aquatic`) | Major | biggest content win in this batch; gate on a worldgen + Aquaculture overlap test because of the two new library pins. |
| **Immersive Armor HUD** (`immersive-armor-hud`) | Client-cosmetic. | cheap vanilla-style HUD upgrade; minor recency caveat. |
| **Immersive Melodies** (`immersive-melodies`) | Minor | fun multiplayer toy at essentially zero mechanical risk. |
| **Items Displayed [NeoForge]** (`items-displayed-forge`) | Minor | safe builder content that fits the pack's decoration mods. |
| **Keybind Atlas** (`keybind-atlas`) | None | genuinely useful in a pack this size, zero risk. |
| **Loot Journal: Pickup Notifier** (`loot-journal`) | Client-cosmetic | nice HUD polish; in-game config means no shipped-config maintenance. |
| **Mermod** (`mermod`) | Minor | small, cheap, fits the pack's exploration theme; low information confidence due to thin README. |
| **Miner's Delight** (`miners-delight`) | Minor | strong thematic fit with the Delight family, but the author's own beta warning plus a new library dep argue for wait-and-see. |
| **Mino++** (`minopp`) | Minor | charming social content with no risk surface; pure taste call. |
| **Mob Lassos** (`mob-lassos`) | Minor-Moderate | useful QoL; check boss exclusion config before shipping to a pack with Apotheosis. |
| **More Delight (for Farmer's Delight)** (`more-delight`) | Minor | safe, on-theme content; the Delight family is already large, so it's cumulative rather than filling a gap. |
| **More Music Discs** (`more-music-discs`) | None-Minor | cheap flavor; verify default disc-in-every-loot-pool density is wanted. |
| **Mystical Oak Tree** (`mystical-oak-tree`) | Minor | harmless flavor for a friends pack; nothing about it strains the stack. |
| **Neat** (`neat`) | Client-cosmetic | mature, zero-risk combat readability; prefer over the Damage Indicator if choosing one. |
| **Now Playing** (`now-playing`) | None | trivial, safe; most valuable if music-content mods are added. |
| **Overweight Farming** (`overweight-farming`) | Minor | small, self-contained farming charm. |
| **Particle Effects** (`particle-effects`) | Client-cosmetic | pure client polish, zero server footprint. |
| **Perception** (`perception`) | Client-cosmetic | safe client ambience; optional enough that individual players could skip it. |
| **Pet Cemetery** (`pet-cemetery`) | Minor | emotionally valuable on a friends server; verify modded-pet support first. |
| **Piggyback** (`piggyback`) | Minor | harmless co-op fun, but requires adding Faewulf's Lib to the pack. |
| **PlayerRevive** (`playerrevive`) | Moderate | strong social fit, but it rebalances death and needs a Gravestone interplay check. |
| **Quick Skin** (`quick-skin`) | Client-cosmetic | client nicety; preferred over SkinChanger (newer, GUI, more features). |
| **Realm RPG: Fallen Adventurers** (`realm-rpg-fallen-adventurers`) | Minor | easy exploration flavor; note the 1.21.1 build dates to 2025-01 (aging but stable, 2.3M downloads). |
| **Reliquary Reincarnations** (`reliquary-reincarnations`) | Moderate | content-rich and maintained, but demands a balance pass against Apotheosis/Artifacts. |
| **Room For Two** (`room-for-two`) | Minor | harmless fun at BETA maturity; pick it OR Sleep Tight's ecosystem, and test if both. |
| **Skillcloaks** (`skillcloaks`) | Minor | solid Curios content on an existing dependency; consider adding Lucent for the full feature set. |
| **Sleep Tight** (`sleep-tight`) | Moderate | popular, well-scoped sleep rework; requires adding Moonlight Lib and choosing between it and Room For Two rather than stacking blindly. |
| **Smart Particles** (`smart-particles`) | Client-cosmetic | targeted client-side stabilizer with no server footprint; watch mixin overlap with ImmediatelyFast. |
| **Sooty Chimneys** (`sooty-chimneys`) | Minor | safe, charming builder content with negligible cost. |
| **Sophisticated Item Actions** (`sophisticated-item-actions`) | Minor (inventory-flow QoL, Terraria-st | genuinely new capability that plays well with the Sophisticated + JEI stack already in the pack. |
| **Sounds** (`sound`) | Client-cosmetic. | high polish, zero server footprint; costs one new small library. |
| **Sounds Be Gone!** (`soundsbegone`) | Client-cosmetic (no gameplay change; p | tiny, safe, real accessibility value for a 10-player group. |
| **Spooky Doors** (`spooky-doors`) | Minor | small, charming, Balm-based and low-risk. |
| **Supplementaries** (`supplementaries`) | Moderate | Create conflict issues all closed; NeoForge-first. Needs Moonlight Lib; smoke-test. |
| **TarotCards: Remastered** (`tarotcards-remastered`) | Minor | clean fit for an exploration/loot pack; explicitly team-aware. |
| **Too Many Bows** (`too-many-bows`) | Moderate | strong synergy with Better Combat and Curios already in the pack. |
| **Too Many Paintings!** (`too-many-paintings`) | Client-cosmetic (placed paintings are  | zero-dep cosmetic content, safe on both sides. |
| **Veggies Delight** (`veggies-delight`) | Minor | low-risk content that deepens the pack's largest content family. |
| **Visual Workbench** (`visual-workbench`) | Minor | popular, polished Fuzs mod; costs one small library. |
| **Visuality: Reforged** (`visuality-forge`) | Client-cosmetic. | safe client-only polish; consider whether Subtle Effects already covers the need. |
| **What Are They Up To (Watut)** (`what-are-they-up-to`) | Minor | genuinely fun on a small friend group; costs one small library. |

### MAYBE (36)

| Mod | Impact | Rationale |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **Better Compatibility Checker** (`better-compatibility-checker`) | None. | only earns its slot if the build pipeline commits to updating its config each release. |
| **Burnt + Additions** (`burnt`) | Moderate | the fuller variant is attractive but heavier; if fire flavor is wanted, choose this over basic deliberately (and still treat as optional). |
| **Celestria** (`celestria`) | Minor | nice ambience, but stale build + WorldRenderer mixin on the Sodium/DH/Sable stack needs an in-pack smoke test first. |
| **Companions!** (`companions-mod`) | Moderate | decent content but redundant with the existing mob roster and it drags in a new library; only if the pack wants more combat-pet content. |
| **Create: Estrogen** (`create-estrogen`) | Moderate | can't be evaluated in isolation (dep is a batch candidate), self-declared in-development, and tone may not fit the pack; decide together with the Estrogen entry. |
| **Create: Sophisticated Backpacks Compat** (`create-sophisticated-backpacks-compat`) | Minor | plausible value, but check for recipe collisions with the official Create Integration already in the pack before committing. |
| **CreateBetterFps** (`createbetterfps`) | None | Iris + Sodium now in pack, so unblocked in principle, but it patches Create's code on the Aeronautics/Sable stack - test first. |
| **Delightful Creators** (`delightful-creators`) | Moderate | pick one FD↔Create bridge; Slice & Dice is already installed and proven, so this needs a deliberate "both approaches" decision. |
| **Display Case** (`displaycase`) | Client-cosmetic | fine in isolation, but choose between this and Fetzi's Displays (same batch) rather than shipping both display systems. |
| **Dream Relics** (`dream-relics`) | Moderate | duplicate niche vs Artifacts with Apotheosis balance implications; needs a curation pass before adding. |
| **Effectual** (`effectual`) | Client-cosmetic | duplicates Subtle Effects' niche and drags in a new lib; only add after an overlap audit, which the config-less pack model makes costly. |
| **Environmental** (`environmental`) | Moderate | its content substantially duplicates what Terralith + Alex's Mobs already deliver, and it requires pulling in Blueprint for a single mod. |
| **Fetzi's Displays** (`fetzis-displays`) | Client-cosmetic | good feature set but redundant with Display Case (batch) + Handcrafted; pick one display system for the pack. |
| **Fog** (`fog`) | Client-cosmetic. | attractive but unproven next to DH/SSRD; only add after an in-game fog + DH visual test. |
| **Gallery** (`gallery`) | Client-cosmetic (decorator QoL). | nice decorator QoL but drags in the Blueprint library for a niche feature. |
| **Grassier Grass** (`grassier-grass`) | Client-cosmetic. | best-looking pick in the batch, but Sodium 0.8-alpha compatibility is unproven; gate on a crash/visual test. |
| **GUI Compass** (`gui-compass`) | Client-cosmetic. | harmless, but marginal over F3 and redundant if Field Guide (with Immersive Overlays) is added. |
| **Haunted Harvest** (`haunted-harvest`) | Minor | charming, but adds a lib, modifies villager AI, and double-buys corn with Hearth and Harvest. |
| **Health Bars** (`new-health-bars`) | Client-cosmetic (informational). | redundant with Jade unless the group wants damage numbers; if added, de-overlap with Jade deliberately. |
| **Incapacitated** (`incapacitated`) | Major | great co-op mechanic but changes core death rules; needs owner sign-off plus a Gravestone interaction test. |
| **Inventory Particles** (`inventory-particles`) | Client-cosmetic. | pretty and unusually modded-item-friendly; fine as a client-side optional, but pure cosmetics. |
| **JeremySeq's Damage Indicator** (`jeremyseqs-damage-indicator`) | Client-cosmetic | harmless, but functionally redundant with Neat if both are added; pick one combat-info mod. |
| **Lunar** (`lunar`) | Moderate | fun server-wide content, but gravity/spawn events touching Aeronautics physics is an unquantified risk in this pack. |
| **More Culling** (`moreculling`) | None | plausible FPS gain, but redundant-adjacent to Entity Culling and unvetted against the pack's fragile rendering core; test in isolation or skip. |
| **Obscure Tooltips** (`obscure-tooltips`) | None | attractive but redundant with Legendary Tooltips; only add after confirming they don't fight over tooltip rendering, or as a replacement. |
| **Primal** (`mod-primal`) | unknown | sparse documentation; inspect the wiki and jar contents before committing. |
| **Punchy! x Tiny Takeover** (`tiny-takeover-x-punchy`) | Minor | verify whether Punchy/Tiny Takeover base mods are actually required and that the NeoForge build is real before adding. |
| **Ragdoll Reactions** (`ragdoll-reactions`) | Minor | only alongside Sable: Ragdolls, and only after crash-testing with Aeronautics. |
| **Sable Beyond** (`sable_beyond`) | Moderate | the most functionally attractive Aeronautics enhancement in the batch, but alpha software on the pack's most fragile stack; isolated testing and backups are mandatory. |
| **Sable: Ragdolls** (`sable-ragdolls`) | Minor | fun, Sable-native, and unlocks two other candidates; test with Aeronautics before adopting. |
| **Shine** (`shine`) | Client-cosmetic. | confirmed Sodium 0.8.12 compatibility, but partial feature loss on that version, overlap with Subtle Effects, and a privileged position on the fragile rendering stack. |
| **Small Ships** (`small-ships`) | Moderate | appealing content, but a beta build with old updates parked next to Aeronautics/Sable physics; needs a dedicated compat test or should pass. |
| **Sophisticated Inventory Interactions** (`sophisticated-inventory-interactions`) | Minor (pure inventory-management QoL). | good mod, but it replaces rather than stacks with Client Sort; pick one container-sorting solution. |
| **Spawn** (`spawn-mod`) | Major | substantial content but collides with the pack's curated worldgen and mob roster; needs Teal Lib and dedicated testing before inclusion. |
| **Spawn Animations** (`spawn-animations`) | None | mild flourish; if wanted, use the datapack form to dodge the Fabric dep chain rather than the mod. |
| **Tree Physics** (`tree-physics`) | Moderate | the most on-theme Sable use possible, but per-tree physics sub-levels on the Aeronautics stack demand a dev-server soak test before shipping. |

### SKIP (36)

| Mod | Impact | Rationale |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **AAA Particles** (`aaa-particles`) | Client-cosmetic. | a library with no in-pack consumer; standalone value is only a lightning visual swap. |
| **AAA Particles: World** (`aaa-particles-world`) | Client-cosmetic. | purely cosmetic addon whose required base (AAA Particles) is itself a skip. |
| **Abnormals Delight** (`abnormals-delight`) | Minor (and in this pack, near-zero). | required Blueprint dep plus an ecosystem (Team Abnormals) the pack doesn't run; mostly dead content. |
| **Alex's Mobs Continued** (`alexs-mobs-continued`) | Overhaul (if it *replaced* the existin | direct duplicate of an existing pack mod; would only ever be a 1:1 swap project. |
| **Ars Ocultas** (`ars-ocultas`) | Moderate if Occultism were present; in | required dependency Occultism is absent from both the pack and this batch. |
| **AsyncParticles** (`asyncparticles`) | None (pure client optimization). | a named crash interaction with in-pack C2ME that the pack cannot pre-configure, plus beta render-layer mixins against the fragile Sable/Create stack; revisit only if particle load measurably hurts cli |
| **ATMOSPHERICS** (`atmospherics`) | Client-cosmetic. | visual upside not worth the risk on the Sodium+DH+SSRD stack; no shader-adjacent additions should ride on that axis per pack rules. |
| **BadOptimizations** (`badoptimizations`) | None. | marginal, hard-to-measure gains on a stack that already covers these areas (constraint 6); not worth extra mixin surface for a ~4% synthetic-FPS delta per the author's own screenshots. |
| **Berry Good** (`berry-good`) | Minor. | an entire additional library dependency (Blueprint) for one minor placement QoL; revisit only if the pack adopts Team Abnormals mods wholesale. |
| **Carry On + Create Aeronautics Compat** (`carryon-aeronautics-compat`) | Moderate (when it applied); effectivel | self-declared obsolete (fix upstreamed to Carry On 2.2.6+), base mod absent, documented server-hang known issue. |
| **Carry On Extend** (`carry-on-extend`) | Minor | dead on arrival without Carry On; revisit only if the pack adopts Carry On itself. |
| **Chef's Delight - Farmer's Delight Villagers** (`chefs-delight`) | Minor (if it worked) | 1.21.1 build is bound to FD Refabricated, which conflicts with the pack's existing Farmer's Delight. |
| **Create Sable Dynamic Lights** (`create-sable-dynamic-lights`) | Client-cosmetic | requires a second dynamic-lights engine that duplicates LambDynamicLights and couples to the fragile Sodium/Sable version pin. |
| **Create: Dynamic Lights** (`create-dynamic-lights`) | Client-cosmetic | redundant with LambDynamicLights, wrong rendering stack assumptions (Embeddium/Rubidium), and its niche is better covered (or deliberately declined) elsewhere. |
| **Dynamic Trees** (`dynamictrees`) | Major | a transformative tree overhaul whose coverage against the pack's 10+ worldgen mods is unverified and which demands config curation the pack explicitly does not ship. |
| **Early Bedtime** (`early-bedtime`) | Minor | solves a shader-specific problem this shaderless pack doesn't have, at the cost of adopting TxniLib. |
| **Estrogen** (`estrogen`) | Moderate | meme-toned content whose headline feature alters player movement near a fragile physics stack, and which costs two extra pieces (Cynosure + separate Create module) for weak fit. |
| **Even More Instruments!** (`evenmoreinstruments`) | Minor | abandoned per its own README and requires Genshin Instruments, which the pack does not have. |
| **Horror messages** (`horror-messages`) | None | chat-spam gimmick; only defensible if the pack deliberately becomes a horror pack. |
| **Immersive UI** (`immersive-ui`) | Client-cosmetic. | two extra libraries for cosmetic overlap with Inventory Particles; poor value per pin. |
| **Immersive Winds** (`immersive-winds`) | Client-cosmetic. | Sinytra-only NeoForge support is a red flag by pack policy, and Grassier Grass already covers sway if that's added. |
| **More Relics** (`more-relics`) | Moderate | needs a missing base mod + two libraries, carries self-documented version-pin fragility, and duplicates the Artifacts niche the pack already covers. |
| **Net Music: Better Experience** (`net-music-play-list`) | None-Minor | dependent on an absent streaming-music base mod with service/licensing baggage; poor fit. |
| **Open Parties and Claims** (`open-parties-and-claims`) | Overhaul of base-protection/social sys | direct duplicate of FTB Chunks + FTB Teams; would only make sense as a wholesale replacement, which contradicts the installed FTB Quests/Chunks/Teams chain. |
| **Pixelmon** (`pixelmon`) | Overhaul | total-conversion-scale content that steamrolls the pack's identity, worldgen, and mob budget. |
| **Puddles & Floods** (`puddles-floods`) | Client-cosmetic | Fabric-API-derived dependency (red flag) for a cosmetic payoff with real server tick cost; revisit only if the pack accepts Forgified Fabric API. |
| **Refined Storage - JEI Integration** (`refined-storage-jei-integration`) | None in this pack | dead weight without Refined Storage. |
| **Relics: Arcane Abilities** (`arcane-abilities`) | Moderate | its own README requires Relics + Hammer Lib (missing); would need both plus a balance review to reconsider. |
| **Sable: Ragdoll Corpse** (`sable-ragdoll-corpse`) | Minor | Gravestone already owns this job; stacking two death-item systems on the Sable physics stack adds fragility for no new capability. |
| **SkinChanger** (`skinchanger`) | Client-cosmetic. | redundant with Quick Skin (GUI, HD skins, animated capes) and stale: last updated 2024-10-26 vs. Quick Skin's 2026-09-28. |
| **Sophisticated Sorter** (`sophisticated-sorter`) | Minor. | redundant with Client Sort in-pack and with Sophisticated Inventory Interactions in this same batch; side metadata is also "unknown" for both sides. |
| **Spawn Animations Compats** (`spawn-animations-compats`) | None. | only meaningful if Spawn Animations is added, and its supported mob list barely overlaps this pack. |
| **Tooltip Overhaul** (`tooltip-overhaul`) | Client-cosmetic. | collides with Legendary Tooltips; the pack should carry one tooltip restyler, and it already does. |
| **Veil** (`veil`) | None by itself | rendering-engine tooling with no dependent mod in the pack, on the most fragile part of the stack. |
| **VinURL** (`vinurl`) | Minor (custom music per player). | Connector red flag, runtime binary downloads, and licensing minefield; not worth it for jukebox music. |
| **Welcome Screen** (`welcome-screen`) | None. | 2-3 new dependencies for a screen a server MOTD/pin note can replace. |

### ALREADY-IN-PACK (9)

| Mod | Impact | Rationale |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **Apothic Combat** (`apothic-combat`) | Major (as installed) | duplicates the pack's existing Apothic Combat entry. |
| **Aquaculture 2** (`aquaculture`) | Moderate (as installed). | exact duplicate of the existing Aquaculture 2 entry. |
| **Aquaculture Delight** (`aquaculture-delight`) | Minor (as installed). | exact duplicate of the existing Aquaculture Delight entry. |
| **Ars Creo** (`ars-creo`) | Moderate (as installed). | duplicate of the existing Ars Creo entry; the "missing dep" line is a dead-ID artifact, not a real gap. |
| **Create Aeronautics: Compatibility** (`create-aeronautics-compatability`) | Moderate | duplicates the existing "Create Aeronautics: Compatibility" entry in the pack list; do not add a second copy. |
| **Nature's Compass** (`natures-compass`) | N/A | byte-for-byte duplicate of the existing Nature's Compass entry; drop from the candidate list. |
| **Separate Sable Render Distance** (`ssrd`) | None | duplicate of the pack's existing SSRD entry; exclude from the candidate list. |
| **Sophisticated Backpacks Create Integration** (`sophisticated-backpacks-create-integration`) | Minor (already shipped; storage automa | exact duplicate of the pack's own Sophisticated Backpacks Create Integration entry. |
| **Sophisticated Storage Create Integration** (`sophisticated-storage-create-integration`) | Minor (already shipped). | exact duplicate of the pack's own Sophisticated Storage Create Integration entry. |

### ADDED (2)

| Mod | Impact | Rationale |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **Iris Shaders** (`iris`) | Overhaul | Already added on branch mod-pack-additions (see Post-review update). |
| **Iris Veil Compat** (`iris-veil-compat`) | None | Already added on branch mod-pack-additions (see Post-review update). |

## 7. Skip list — the 36 I would not add, by reason

### 7.1 Render-stack violations (updated)

**`Iris Shaders` and `Iris Veil Compat` are no longer skips — they are now `ADDED` on the
`mod-pack-additions` branch (Section 0).** The entries below remain rejected.

| Mod | Reason |
| --- | --- |
| **ATMOSPHERICS** | Rewrites sky/fog/cloud rendering. It already clashed with the Sodium + DH + SSRD axis and warned about Sodium *"Improved Transparency"*; now it also fights the shaderpacks' own sky/fog. |
| **Veil** | Already **embedded inside Sable**; adding it standalone duplicates the render engine. |
| **Fog** | Fog/sky coverage the newly added shaderpacks already provide; Distant Horizons compatibility is an open upstream question. |

**(updated)** The previously listed `Iris Shaders`, `Iris Veil Compat` and `CreateBetterFps` moved:
`iris`/`iris-veil-compat` to **ADDED**; `CreateBetterFps` to **MAYBE** (its blocker was *"1.21.1 needs
Sodium and Iris"*, and Iris is now present, but it patches Create's code on the Aeronautics/Sable stack).
`Shine` and `Grassier Grass` stay **MAYBE**; both are Sodium-coupled and now also sit next to a real
shader pipeline.

### 7.2 Fabric-only / Sinytra Connector dependency (hard)
| Mod | Reason |
| --- | --- |
| **Immersive Winds** | README: *"NEOFORGE REQUIRES SINYTRA TO RUN, ALL MOD FILES ARE FABRIC."* |
| **VinURL** | Sinytra + Forgified Fabric API + owo-lib, **and** it auto-downloads and executes `yt-dlp`/`deno`/`FFmpeg` at runtime — supply-chain and licensing exposure on the server. |
| **Puddles & Floods** | Requires Forgified Fabric API for a cosmetic puddle effect with real rain-driven tick cost. |

### 7.3 Dead dependency / missing base mod (hard)
| Mod | Reason |
| --- | --- |
| **Ars Ocultas** | Requires **Occultism**, absent from pack and list. |
| **Carry On Extend** | Requires **Carry On**, absent. |
| **Carry On + Create Aeronautics Compat** | Author-declared **obsolete** (fix upstreamed to Carry On 2.2.6+); base absent; documented server-hang on picking up players onto contraptions. |
| **Net Music: Better Experience** | Requires **Net Music**, an external NetEase streaming service with login/licensing baggage. |
| **Refined Storage – JEI Integration** | Requires **Refined Storage**, absent — the pack uses Sophisticated Storage. |
| **Relics: Arcane Abilities** | README requires **Relics + Hammer Lib** (contradicting its metadata); both absent. |
| **Even More Instruments!** | Author has **retired** the project; requires **Genshin Instruments**, absent. |
| **AAA Particles / AAA Particles: World** | A library with no consumer mod in this pack; the addon depends on the skipped base. |
| **Spawn Animations Compats** | Only meaningful with Spawn Animations, and its supported mob list barely overlaps this pack (Alex's Mobs is not on it). |

### 7.4 Duplication — the pack already owns this (hard)
| Mod | Duplicates |
| --- | --- |
| **Alex's Mobs Continued** | The installed **Alex's Mobs (Unofficial Port)** — same mod/ID namespace; only a 1:1 swap is possible. |
| **Open Parties and Claims** | **FTB Chunks + FTB Teams** (and FTB Quests assumes that ecosystem). Two claim systems = split protection logic. |
| **Sable: Ragdoll Corpse** | **Gravestone** (which already ships Sable + Curios compat) — two death-item systems on the physics stack. |
| **SkinChanger** | **Quick Skin** (newer, GUI, HD skins); SkinChanger is stale (2024-10). |
| **Sophisticated Sorter** | **Client Sort** (installed). Three-way overlap with Sophisticated Inventory Interactions. |
| **Tooltip Overhaul** | **Legendary Tooltips** — the pack should carry one tooltip restyler. |
| **Create: Dynamic Lights** / **Create Sable Dynamic Lights** | **LambDynamicLights** (installed) — a second dynamic-lights engine; both also assume Embeddium/Rubidium or Sodium Dynamic Lights and recommend the banned shader stack. |
| **Chef's Delight** | Its 1.21.1 builds target **Farmer's Delight Refabricated**, a colliding reimplementation of the installed Farmer's Delight. |

### 7.5 Wrong shape for this pack — scale, worldgen, or marginal value
| Mod | Reason |
| --- | --- |
| **Pixelmon** | Total-conversion scale (1000+ entities, its own structures/economy); its README recommends a dedicated Pixelmon pack. Would steamroll the pack identity, worldgen and mob budget. |
| **Dynamic Trees** | Transformative tree overhaul with unverified coverage across 10+ worldgen mods and no config shipped. |
| **Estrogen / Create: Estrogen** | Meme content; movement-dash mechanic near the Sable physics stack; needs Cynosure + the Create module. |
| **More Relics** | Needs the absent Relics base + two libs; self-documented version-pin fragility; duplicates the Artifacts niche. |
| **AsyncParticles** | Documents a C2ME crash (in-pack) that needs a config edit; beta render-layer mixins against the Sable/Create axis. A candidate for a later test, not now. |
| **BadOptimizations** | Marginal gains on an already-saturated client perf stack; author's own screenshots show ~4%. |
| **Welcome Screen** | Three new libraries (FancyMenu + Necronomicon + Better Compatibility Checker) for a cosmetic first-join screen. |
| **Horror messages** | Chat-spam gimmick; tone mismatch with the pack. |
| **Immersive UI** | Two libraries for cosmetic overlap with Inventory Particles. |
| **Early Bedtime** | Solves a shader-only darkness problem this pack does not have; costs TxniLib. |
| **Abnormals Delight / Berry Good** | Require **Blueprint** for content that is inert (no Team Abnormals mods) or tiny. |
| **Sophisticated Sorter / SkinChanger** | (See duplication above.) |

---

## 8. Swap candidates — is replacing an installed mod justified?

Yes, for a small number of pairs — but the bar is higher than "the new one is shinier". A swap is only
worth it when the candidate is **(a) strictly more capable or better maintained, (b) no worse against
the fragile stack** (Sodium/DH/SSRD/Sable/Create), and **(c) safe for existing worlds** (entity/item
IDs, already-generated chunks, claims, quest data). Otherwise the incumbent wins by default.

The newly fetched branch is itself an example of a justified swap: the pack's "no shaders" stance was
replaced only because purpose-built compatibility patches (`iris-veil-compat`, `aeronautics-iris-fix`)
neutralised the specific blocker.

| Installed mod | Candidate replacement | Case for swapping | Case against | Recommendation |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| **Alex's Mobs (Unofficial Port)** | **Alex's Mobs Continued** | Actively-maintained continuation, same content, deliberately Citadel-free (bundles what it needs); removes reliance on an unofficial port. | Two forks of one mod: entity/item IDs and NBT may differ, so an in-place swap can orphan tamed mobs/items. Citadel still needed by Alex's Caves. | **Evaluate on a world copy.** Best maintenance swap on the list, not urgent. |
| **Client Sort** | **Sophisticated Inventory Interactions** | Built on Sophisticated Core (installed); adds GUI search, container↔player transfer, remembered searches; deepens an existing pillar. | Newer/less proven; keybind and sort-button overlap; sorts containers, not the whole UI. | **Plausible upgrade — test UI collisions.** Do not also add Sophisticated Sorter. |
| **Legendary Tooltips** | **Obscure Tooltips** | Animated styling plus in-tooltip 3D gear previews — a real capability gain. | Adds Fragmentum; per-frame cost; coexistence unverified, so it must be a *swap*, never a stack. | **Swap-or-keep, never both.** |
| **LambDynamicLights** | **Sodium Dynamic Lights + Create Sable Dynamic Lights** | Would light moving Create contraptions and Aeronautics sub-levels, which LambDynamicLights does not. | SDL is coupled to the exact Sodium alpha Sable pins, and the Create mods assume Embeddium/Rubidium or the shader ecosystem. Trades a stable engine-agnostic mod for a version-fragile one. | **Do not swap now.** Revisit if contraption lighting becomes a pain point. |
| **Gravestone (+ Sable/Curios compat)** | **Sable: Ragdoll Corpse** | Novel physics-corpse recovery, Sable-native. | Gravestone is proven and already Sable/Curios-patched; two death-item systems risk item-loss precedence bugs on the physics stack. | **Keep Gravestone.** |
| **FTB Chunks + FTB Teams** | **Open Parties and Claims** | More granular party/claim permissions; LuckPerms/FTB Ranks hooks. | Wholesale replacement breaks FTB Quests/Teams and FTB's permission model; two claim systems cannot coexist. | **Keep FTB.** |
| **Client Sort** | **Sophisticated Sorter** | Sophisticated styling. | Less proven, unknown side metadata, duplicates Client Sort *and* Sophisticated Inventory Interactions. | **No** — if replacing, choose Sophisticated Inventory Interactions. |
| **Slice & Dice** | **Delightful Creators** | Different FD↔Create automation flavor (fluids/soups vs sequenced assembly). | Slice & Dice is installed and proven; running both duplicates recipes and clutters JEI. | **Only as a deliberate flavor swap**, never alongside. |
| **EntityCulling** | **More Culling** | — | Different scope (entities vs block/other culling); complementary, not alternatives. | **Not a swap.** |
| *(no skin mod installed)* | **SkinChanger vs Quick Skin** | — | — | If adding one, **Quick Skin** (newer, GUI, HD skins, animated capes). |

**Swap mechanics note:** packwiz makes the file change trivial, but the risk lives in the world. For any
swap that touches registered content (Alex's Mobs, dynamic lights, death handling), test on a **copy of
the live world** and diff entity/item IDs. Structural swaps (claim system, sorting UI, tooltip layer)
mostly affect client UI and are lower risk, but still change player muscle memory.

---

## 9. Dependency economics and the collision map

### 9.1 New libraries the candidates would introduce
Ordered by how many candidates each unlocks. **Bold** = recommended if you adopt that family.

| Library | Unlocks | Recommendation |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **Puzzles Lib** | Held Item Tooltips, Visual Workbench, Distinct Potions, Health Bars, Mob Lassos, Better Animations Collection | Buy once — high value |
| **Moonlight Lib** | Supplementaries, Sleep Tight, Haunted Harvest | Buy once — high value; also a Supplementaries prerequisite |
| Blueprint | Environmental, Pet Cemetery, Gallery, Boatload, Berry Good, Abnormals Delight | Only if you adopt several |
| Fragmentum | Accents, Ars Elixirum, Obscure Tooltips, Loot Journal | Only if you adopt several |
| Collective | Followers Teleport Too, GUI Compass, GUI Effect Timer | Cheap; bundle or skip |
| **Almanac** | Let Me Despawn | Buy (core pick) |
| MRU | Sounds, Fog | Cheap; pairs well |
| TxniLib | Early Bedtime, Immersive Armor HUD | Only if adopting |
| Delight Lib / Lodestone / Cook's Collection / Deimos / SmartBrainLib / CoroUtil / Faewulf's Lib / Teal Lib / MidnightLib / TLib / MossyLib / Knight Lib | one Delight/utility candidate each | Weigh individually |
| Item Descriptions + Immersive Overlays | Field Guide | Two libs for one mod |
| Hybrid API + Biolith | Hybrid Aquatic | Gate on a worldgen test |
| Sable: Ragdolls | Ragdoll Reactions (and the skipped corpse mod) | Only with Aeronautics crash-testing |
| Sinytra Connector + Forgified Fabric API | VinURL, Immersive Winds, Puddles & Floods | **Avoid** |

### 9.2 Candidate-vs-candidate collisions (pick one)
- **Mob health UI:** Neat vs JeremySeq's Damage Indicator
- **Tooltip restyler:** Obscure Tooltips vs existing Legendary Tooltips (prefer existing)
- **Display furniture:** Display Case vs Fetzi's Displays (+ existing Handcrafted)
- **Corn crop:** Hearth and Harvest vs Haunted Harvest
- **Grass sway:** Grassier Grass vs Immersive Winds (Immersive Winds is Fabric-only — Grassier Grass wins)
- **Carried-item particles:** Immersive UI (skipped) vs Inventory Particles
- **HUD coordinates:** GUI Compass vs Field Guide's Immersive Overlays dependency
- **Pet teleport:** Waystones Teleport Pets vs Followers Teleport Too
- **Container sorting:** Client Sort (installed) vs Sophisticated Inventory Interactions / Sophisticated Sorter
- **Sleep overhaul:** Room For Two vs Sleep Tight
- **Fire flavor:** Burnt vs Burnt + Additions (never both)
- **FD↔Create bridge:** Slice & Dice (installed) vs Delightful Creators

### 9.3 Test-first items (not rejections — gates)
| Candidate | Gate |
| --- | --- |
| Supplementaries | Create 6.0.10 smoke test (old conflicts are closed) |
| CreateBetterFps | Iris now present, but it patches Create directly — test on the Aeronautics/Sable stack |
| Grassier Grass | Sodium 0.8.12/0.8.13-alpha compatibility; custom terrain shader; interaction with shaderpacks |
| Fog | Distant Horizons/SSRD visual test (upstream DH issue history); shaderpack fog already covers this |
| Shine | Sodium 0.8.12+ confirmed, but partial feature loss on the pinned alpha |
| More Culling | Rendering-core test next to EntityCulling/Sable/DH |
| Tree Physics | Dev-server soak test; per-tree Sable physics sub-levels |
| Sable Beyond | Alpha software; backup + crash-test with Aeronautics |
| Ragdoll Reactions / Sable: Ragdolls | Crash-test with Aeronautics before adopting the cluster |
| Lunar | Gravity/spawn events vs Create Aeronautics physics + Apothic Spawners |
| AutoHUD | Confirm the NeoForge jar's real dependency list (metadata artifact) |
| Spawn Animations | Confirm NeoForge jar deps; prefer the datapack form |
| Hybrid Aquatic | Terralith/Tectonic/Lithostitched worldgen + Aquaculture loot overlap |
| Dream Relics / Reliquary / Too Many Bows | Balance pass vs Apotheosis + Artifacts |
| PlayerRevive / Incapacitated | Gravestone interplay; owner sign-off on death-rule changes |

---

## 10. Adoption plan

**Phase A — Core cohort (this is the recommendation).** Add the 20 mods in Section 4 plus
`Moonlight Lib` and `Almanac`. Expected result: a noticeably richer QoL/exploration/decor layer,
one clear server-perf gain (`lmd`), zero new render/physics risk, no config maintenance.

**Phase B — Pick one expansion family.** Choose **one** of: (a) Farmer's Delight expansion, (b) Create
decoration, (c) client ambience, (d) mobs/combat gear. Adopt its shared library and 3–6 mods. Run a
`/spark health` baseline before and after.

**Phase C — Test-first candidates on a dev server.** Take the Section 9.3 gates one at a time, one
variable per run, with backups. Promote only what survives.

**Phase D — Server infrastructure.** Decide on BlueMap (ops cost) and the FTB Chunks tuning already
recommended in `FINDINGS.md`; neither is urgent game content.

**Never / not without a rewrite:** Sinytra-Connector dependency chains, a second dynamic-lights engine,
and a second claim system. (Shaders are no longer on this list — the pack has adopted them with purpose-
built compat patches; see Section 0.)

---

## 11. Appendix — detailed per-mod assessments

The full per-candidate breakdown (Adds / Relationship / Missing deps / Gameplay impact /
Compatibility / Perf cost / Verdict, with citations where web sources were used) is retained:

- Raw per-chunk assessments: `analysis/assess/chunk01.md` … `chunk07.md`
  (27 mods each, 189 total). `analysis/CANDIDATE-APPENDIX.md` consolidates these and carries a
  corrections note (Section 2).
- **Grouped decision table (start here for “which should I add?”): `MODLIST-GROUPS.md`** — every
  candidate by purpose, with what it brings, new deps, gameplay impact, verdict and the watch-out.
- Machine-readable candidate data: `analysis/summary.json` (title, side, loaders, 1.21.1 build,
  required deps, in-pack flag) and `analysis/verdicts.json`.
- Research digest used for the assessments: `analysis/chunks/chunk*.md`,
  `analysis/raw/projects.json`, `analysis/raw/versions.json`.
- Pack context given to the reviewers: `analysis/PACK-CONTEXT.md`.

### Confidence legend used throughout
- **High** — read from Modrinth/loader metadata, the mod's own README, or the pack's own files.
- **Medium** — inferred from the README, or a compatibility claim from a third-party source.
- **Unknown/unverified** — evidence absent; the report says so rather than guessing.