Azukaar's Fair Difficulty Overhaul

This mod is safe to include in your modpack/server as it leaves the vanilla difficulties untouched!

About

The goal of AFDO is to introduce a new depth to Minecraft's difficulty system. The philosophy of the mod is to not be intrusive, be flexible, and of course, fair. It adds a few new features, such as the per-player difficulty mechanics which allows each players on the same server to play on different difficulties, and additional mobs / AI systems to the game, which scale with the difficulty you play.

• The vanilla difficulty are left untouched, in order not to be intrusive
• Introduces per-player difficulties
• The mod adds new difficulty levels (Expert, Nightmare, Apocalyptic) which allows new mobs and mechanics
• The difficulties are a lot more balanced than your usual difficulty mod! (more details in the description)
• New mobs with new behaviours and lore. Some new mobs can mine or place blocks for example, but only spawn in Expert and above difficulties
• Configurations to adapt the difficulty to your taste or integrate other mods

Per player difficulty

When joining a server where this feature is enabled (it is disabled by default), each player can set their own difficulty with the command /my-difficulty, completely independantly of the server's actually difficulty. If enabled (by default the minimum difficulty allowed is easy), it even allows some players to play in peaceful mode on a hard server ! The mod does not JUST scale the damage to the right values but also tries to simulate all aspect of the difficulty (for example hard players will starve to death while easy player will starve until 10HP are left). You can set a minimum and a maximum difficulty allowed, as well as change the default player difficulty.

New Content

The mod adds a few mobs with interesting mechanics. While stuff like "zombies can break or place blocks, and creeper explode more" are nowhere near new, what makes them interesting here is how they were implemented. I love the concept of smarter mobs, but I hate that it usually makes the game unplayable (if you have tried Epic Siege Mod you know what I mean). In AFDO, the implementation is very different. Zombies, creeper and so on are left untouched. Instead, there are new mobs, that implement those mechanics. Those mobs are rarer (depending on difficulty) and have a lot of limitations that make their appearance fair. For example, the Raised Zombie can place block to reach high places, but it only can do it if it HOLDS blocks in the first place. Once its blocks are exhausted, it cannot place anything anymore. Same goes for other mechanics too! It also does NOT add insane X-RAY visions to mobs, making the mod a lot more performance friendly.

Raised Zombies (Expert Difficulty and above)

Raised zombies are not mere victims of a mindless plague, but the twisted creations of dark necromancy. These unfortunate souls, torn from death's embrace, are infused with a cruel semblance of their former intellect. Their eyes, once dull with decay, now gleam with an unnatural hunger - not just for flesh, but for the very essence of humanity they've lost.

Unlike their shambling brethren, Raised Zombies possess a sinister cunning. Their heightened senses allow them to perceive the living in ways that defy mortal understanding. Should they chance upon the tools of the living, their decaying hands remember ancient skills, wielding weapons and manipulating the world around them with terrifying purpose.

Each Raised Zombie is a tragedy given form - a being trapped between worlds, driven by jealousy for the life they can no longer claim. Their very existence is an affront to nature, a reminder of the terrible price of tampering with the boundaries between life and death. In their relentless pursuit of the living, they seek not just sustenance, but perhaps, in some twisted way, a return to the humanity that was so cruelly stolen from them.

Ancient Creeper (Expert Difficulty and above)

Ancient Creepers are living legends, their very existence a testament to the passage of untold years. These elder beings have endured far beyond their kin, their forms twisted by the immense power they've contained for so long. Their skin, once smooth, now bears the scars of time - deep fissures etched by centuries of restraint.

Unlike the younger ones, Ancient Creepers are not mere living explosives, but vessels of barely contained cataclysm. Their eyes, sunken yet blazing with an otherworldly will, betray a frightening intelligence born of containing such power for such an extended amount of time. The immense pain of their elongated existence has honed their instincts to a razor's edge, making them hypersensitive to the slightest provocation.

To encounter an Ancient Creeper is to stand at the precipice of annihilation. But to face a charged Ancient Creeper is to gaze into the heart of destruction itself.

Whispered tales speak of entire settlements vanishing in an instant, leaving naught but smoldering craters where a flock of Ancient Creepers chose to end their agony. They are nature's time bombs, their detonation not a matter of if, but when - and woe betide any who are nearby when an Ancient Creeper finally decides to embrace its explosive destiny.

Difficulty and mechanics

• The mod introduces 3 difficulties: Expert, Nightmare, Apocalyptic
• All new contents and mechanics only start at Expert mode. The other 2 make them increasingly more frequent
• I would recommend to stick to Expert or Nightmare for your first try on the mod
• An alternative way of playing is to bump the version as you go, if you feel the game is getting too easy!
• From expert, hunger is reduced when respawning (can't suicide feed yourself anymore!)
• The mod introduces a night purge, to improve mob population control. It prevents cave mobs from hoarding the mob slots, preventing the surface mobs from spawning (togglable)
• The new mobs have different behaviour from the vanilla ones

- Some of them can smell you through wall on short distance

- Some of them will destroy chest and torches on sight (aka. the one they can actually SEE) so don't leave stuff unintended outside, build a base!

- Some of them can pick up items and use them

Obviously this is an early version of the mod, I have tons of ideas for more content, but I am very keen on getting some feedback first!

How to use

After installation, use the appropriate settings in the config file, or use the command /difficulty-setup to set them. You can set the server's difficulty with /difficulty, and each player (if per-player is enabled) can set their own with /my-difficulty

The details (mobs)

Raised Zombies

 - Only spawn in > expert

 - Stronger than regular zombie

 - If equiped with a tool, they can break block, if equiped with blocks, they'll build stairs/bridges

 - Can smell the player at 6 blocks distance

 - Will target  unintended chests and torches, if they can see them (so don't leave them outside in easy to reach places)

 Ancient Creeper

 - Only spawn in > expert

 - Stronger than regular creeper

 - Will target unintended chests if they can see them

 - Charged creeper gets the ability to sense things that are close to them. Once they are angered, they will explode within the next 10sec whether or not they have reach their objectives

The details (difficulties)

Expert

 - Mobs deal 20% more damage than in hard

 - Mobs have a 20% chance to evolve to new mobs

 - Mobs have a 10% chance to be promoted (charged creepers, zombies with tools, wither zombies)

 - Player will respawn with 10 hunger

Nightmare

 - Mobs deal x2 damage compared to hard

 - Mobs have a 35% chance to evolve to new mobs

 - Mobs have a 15% chance to be promoted (charged creepers, zombies with tools, wither zombies)

 - Player will respawn with 5 hunger

Apocalyptic

 - Mobs deal x4 damage compared to hard

 - Mobs have a 60% chance to evolve to new mobs

 - Mobs have a 25% chance to be promoted (charged creepers, zombies with tools, wither zombies)

 - Player will respawn with 1 hunger