i kind-of want to make a minecraft modpack. here are some of my goals (some in opposition to each other, for which i will have to determine a suitable synthesis):

• i want an emphasis on cross-mod interaction and creating one cohesive tech tree rather than many little silos. like, say, GT: NH, or FTB Interactions.
  • but i would like to avoid "building around the quest book" contrivances and would like to keep your path through the tech tree feeling natural and freeform. i don't want e.g. recipes with details that make no logical sense except as a hodgepodge of progression gate items included purely for the reason that they act as a lock.
• i would like to invoke classic tech packs like Technic SSP, just a little bit. not with strict adherence to certain inclusions, but certain staple mods or analogues to them would be great
• i would like to deemphasize any involuntary combat in the course of normal gameplay, perhaps even more than vanilla does. minecraft combat is awful. GT:NH comes across like it believes it can get away with the worst mob balancing ever conceived purely because GregTech is seen as "hardcore". this is a failure. i am interested in detailed and longwinded process diagrams, not shallow distractions by annoying hitsponges.

some specific things i'd like:

• GregTech, for its nature as a deeper IC2-like, its interesting gamey oregen, and as a tech tree baseline for all my ridiculous subcomponent microcrafting needs.
• Equivalent Exchange, to cement the pack's design as fundamentally not that serious. sure, all base resources can be fungible, why not. GT turns ores into mainly just a process of discovery anyway. be careful, though, to not invalidate too many processes.
• OpenComputers, as well as Computronics. i think having a computer mod is a cute side-game, and OC fits much better than CC amongst tech mods because it has more to play with wrt recipes, power requirements, …
• Applied Energistics 2, the key to facilitating my chaotic approach to storage and inventory management without making me go crazy
  • but get rid of the godawful meteors and uncraftable alien patterns
  • it's difficult to justify putting it as early in the tech tree as i'd like it to be. AE and Equivalent Exchange both share a theme in reducing material object to energy; maybe i could justify it as "MV electronics attached to Literal Magic"? Annihilation/formation as a sister concept to transmutation seems like it could be interesting.

i'm playing through FTB: Interactions right now to give me some insight. here's a list of things that bug me:

• one of the first impressions you get from the pack is the fact that you start in a skyblock world, for the reason that playtesters would die repeatedly while attempting the onboarding quests in the overworld (by the quest book's admission). this is not a good thing to admit about your game design. why did you trick me into playing a skyblock pack before i get to play the actual game?
• the alchemic condenser requires dyed terracotta. not regular terracotta. not a specific color of terracotta. any dyed terracotta. this is intended, and it's because you're supposed to harvest the dyed terracotta that decorates your skyblock platforms. this reason isn't acceptable. why are you asking me to make something i can't produce all the ingredients for yet? why are you asking me to scavenge decorative blocks? what is the justification for this machine not working with regular terracotta? it's a small thing, but it's awful. game design jail.

here are the mod choices which most strongly constrain the minecraft version i use: