onion-mc/analysis/archive/2026-09-candidate-review/PACK-CONTEXT.md

# Onion MC — pack context for candidate-mod assessment

## Target platform
- Minecraft **1.21.1**, **NeoForge 21.1.251** (packwiz). Loader = NeoForge. Forge-only mods
  generally work; Fabric-only mods do **not** work without Sinytra Connector (a red flag).
- Mixed **client + dedicated server** pack (~10 players). Server performance matters as much
  as client FPS.
- Existing pack: ~142 mod entries (133 Modrinth + 9 CurseForge).

## Existing mods (titles, for compatibility reasoning)
3D Skin Layers, Adorable Hamster Pets, Alex's Caves (Unofficial Port), Alex's Mobs (Unofficial
Port), AllTheLeaks, AmbientSounds, Apotheosis (+ Apothic Attributes, Apothic Category Compat,
Apothic Combat, Apothic Enchanting, Apothic Spawners), AppleSkin, Aquaculture 2, Aquaculture
Delight, Architectury API, Ars Creo, Ars Nouveau, Ars Nouveau's Flavors & Delight, Artifacts,
Athena, BaguetteLib, Balm, Better Combat, Bookshelf, Chipped, Chunky, Citadel (unofficial port),
Client Sort, Cloth Config, Collapsible Groups, Controlify, Create, Create Aeronautics, Create
Aeronautics: Compatibility, Create: Dragons Plus, Create: Enchantment Industry, Create Slice &
Dice, CreativeCore, Cristel Lib, Critters and Companions, Curios API, Distant Horizons, Duper's
Auto Walk, Dynamic FPS, EMF (Entity Model Features), Emotecraft, Enchantment Descriptions, End's
Delight, Entity Culling, ETF (Entity Texture Features), Explorer's Compass, Explorify, Exposure,
Farmer's Cutting: Twilight Forest, Farmer's Delight, FerriteCore, Friends&Foes, FTB Backups 3,
FTB Chunks, FTB Library, FTB Quests, FTB Teams, FTB XMod Compat, Fusion, Fzzy Config, Geckolib,
Gravestone (+ Sable & Curios compat), Handcrafted, Iceberg, ImmediatelyFast, Incendium, Jade,
Jade Sable Compat, JEI, Kotlin for Forge, LambDynamicLights, Legendary Tooltips, Lithium,
Lithostitched, Lootr, Macaw's (Bridges/Doors/Lights/Roofs/Windows), MezzConfig, ModernFix,
Mouse Tweaks, Mowzie's Mobs, Nature's Compass, Noisium, Nullscape, Ocean's Delight, Patchouli,
Ping Wheel, Placebo, playerAnimator, Prickle, Prism, Rechiseled (+ Chipped), Resourceful Lib,
Sable, Sable Physics Compat, SSRD, Sodium, Sophisticated Backpacks (+ Create Integration),
Sophisticated Core, Sophisticated Storage (+ Create Integration), Sound Physics Remastered,
spark, Sparse Structures, Subtle Effects, SuperMartijn642's Config/Core Lib, Tectonic, Terralith,
The Twilight Forest, Tiny Dragons, Towns and Towers, Twilight's Flavor & Delight, Waystones
(+ Sable), When Dungeons Arise, Wings Of Fire, YACL, YUNG's API + 9 YUNG's structure mods,
C2ME, Noisium.

## Hard constraints / known landmines (do not contradict these)
1. **No shaders.** `Create Aeronautics` README says it has visual issues with **Iris**; SSRD also
   warns certain Iris packs cause rendering issues. The pack deliberately has no Iris/Oculus.
2. **Sodium must stay >= 0.8.12-alpha.2.** `sable` declares older Sodium incompatible.
3. **Create declares `radium` and `palladium` incompatible.** Never add them. Avoid server-perf
   mods that wholesale replace the chunk/lighting engine in ways Lithium/ModernFix already cover.
4. **SSRD requires Sodium + Distant Horizons**, and DH must be >= 1.8.7 for SSRD (already).
5. **Sable is self-described as "incredibly intrusive", mixin-heavy, prone to compat issues.**
   Treat any mod that touches Create/Sable rendering or physics as high-risk.
6. Client perf stack already includes: Sodium, Lithium, ModernFix, FerriteCore, EntityCulling,
   ImmediatelyFast, Dynamic FPS, AllTheLeaks, C2ME, Noisium, EMF/ETF, Distant Horizons. Assume
   overlap when a candidate is another perf/culling/memory mod.
7. Pack ships **no configs** except one FTB Chunks client file (`.packwizignore` excludes
   `config/*`), so any candidate that needs config editing is a maintenance cost.
8. `sky/weather/render`-engine replacements (Veil, Iris, shaders) sit on the most fragile part of
   the stack (Sodium + DH + Sable).

## Existing content families a candidate may enhance or duplicate
- **Farming/food:** Farmer's Delight + Ars Delight, Aquaculture Delight, End's Delight, Ocean's
  Delight, Twilight's Flavor & Delight, Farmer's Cutting: Twilight Forest.
- **Create:** base Create + Aeronautics + Dragons Plus + Enchantment Industry + Slice & Dice, plus
  Sophisticated Backpacks/Storage Create integrations.
- **Aquaculture 2** already present.
- **Exploration:** Terralith, Tectonic, Incendium, Nullscape, Towns and Towers, When Dungeons
  Arise, 9 YUNG's mods, Explorify, Sparse Structures.
- **Mobs:** Alex's Mobs/Caves, Mowzie's Mobs, Friends&Foes, Critters and Companions, Tiny Dragons,
  Wings of Fire, Adorable Hamster Pets.
- **QoL/HUD:** AppleSkin, Jade, JEI, Client Sort, Mouse Tweaks, Ping Wheel, Nature's Compass,
  Explorer's Compass, Waystones, Gravestone, Lootr, Controlify, Emotecraft, 3D Skin Layers,
  Enchantment Descriptions, Legendary Tooltips, Subtle Effects, Rechiseled/Chipped/Handcrafted.
- **Apotheosis** governs affixes, spawners, enchanting, bosses, world tiers.
- **Better Combat x Apotheosis Compat** (apothic-combat) is already installed — it disables the
  attack-range attribute and makes the attack-range affix inert.

## Deliverable requested from the subagent
A per-mod structured assessment. Be evidence-based: use the supplied Modrinth README excerpt as
the primary source; use `web_search`/`read_url` only to resolve genuine uncertainty (notable
incompatibilities, hard dependencies, whether a mod is abandoned, whether it conflicts with
anything in the existing list). Never invent compatibility claims. Mark confidence.