Request Context

Not fun.

I like the concept, but when you're gated by time and need to stand around at the beginning with nothing to do but watch a tree 'maybe' grow that tick. It's just not a fun game.

Config/Script Details (if desired)

No response

Normal starting for almost any skyblock type modpack: waiting for the first tree(s) to grow.

Tree should normally grow within just a minute or so if you have clear sky above it: no leaf blocks/etc, proper light level: daytime and use the provided lantern during night, and use the paintbrush(watering can) to accelerate its growth.

Should only need 1-2 trees grown before you have your crafting table and start on crafting other things. If you waited 40 minutes out of 60 for a single tree to grow then check your setup, as that is not normal.

Yeah I get it, I have about 10k hours in Modded over the last 10 years or so.

I was more making a comment that perhaps either the watering can needs a buff or the growth tick needs a little bit of a tune up.

If progress is gated by time, hey; so be it.

But you gotta have something else to do while it's happening. e.g. punching dirt for rocks used to be the way with GoG. But now there's really nothing to do in this pack while waiting.

I think it may turn some impatient folks off; and hurt adoption of the pack.

Just some candid feedback.

I think there's a misunderstanding with pack mechanics in this request. Growing your first, or any, tree with the Watering item in the beginning of the modpack does not take 40 minutes. For most people, it takes 15-30 seconds. The modpack has no intention of you waiting 40 minutes for a tree to grow. It hasn't been and never will be a time gated modpack.

For context: https://youtu.be/zlJNLGUrTDg

I also did this multiple times before recording the video and my trees grew under 20 seconds each time.

10 minutes is still an excessive outlier, either you have really bad luck with growth ticks, or something else. 10 minutes roughly coincides with the night cycle, and without proper light level, using a placed lantern, the tree wouldn't grow. It could be due to the shaders being black and white at this stage may make it harder to differentiate between day/night if not paying attention.

The growth of the tree is basically the same as any vanilla tree for other skyblock style packs. Just instead of twerking like in SF4, there is a provided watering can to use instead to speed up growth.

But on tests of a fresh 5.0.7 install + world on Prism Launcher I got these times for growing the tree, using same setup as Darkosto has in his video posted above. Times are starting from planting sapling and starting to use the watering can to growth.

Daytime:

1. 10s
2. 7s
3. 15s
4. 9s
5. 12s

Nighttime using lantern placed on planks right next to dirt block:

1. 12s
2. 11s
3. 16s
4. 14s
5. 9s

It's not just the OP on this one; I just came here to see if this was reported by anybody else. Didn't take me 40 minutes, but it did take me 10. Minutes, not seconds. Not sure what setup you're suggesting we take a look at, because like OP, this is far from my first foray into modded Minecraft, both Skyblock and normal styles. There definitely seems to be something hinky going on at the beginning of the pack. Hopefully now that I've got a second tree grown things will go smoother, but after having played a decent amount of SF4 when I first got into modded, I was not expecting anything like this.

The 10 minutes was my estimate based on the fact that it was well into the first night cycle before the tree finally grew. When I first started, I assumed that the watering can was there specifically to help get the saplings to grow, but after sitting there watering it for 30 - 45s I gave up and guessed that it only worked on crops. I popped down one of the lanterns on the ground diagonal from the dirt block so that it wasn't directly next to the sapling, because I have no idea which vanilla tree growth mechanic (if any) that the colorless sapling is using. When it still hadn't grown after another 3 or 4 minutes naturally, I broke the lantern and placed another one a block away to ensure the 3x3 around the sapling was completely clear. When the sapling still hadn't grown after night had fallen, that's when I came to check the github to see if anybody else had experienced this issue or if there was a trick to getting the saplings to grow. When I found this thread, and it was implied that the watering can was intended to work on the sapling, I went back to the game, and sat down to try it again. After actively watering it for another 30-ish seconds, it finally grew. Where your numbers are ranging from 7s - 15s, mine are more like 15s - 60s. The primary difference between our setups is that I'm using the Curseforge launcher instead of Prism. So yes, it could be a matter of extremely bad luck with growth ticks, but from the outside looking in, it looks and feels like buggy behavior.

I played for another hour or so once I got the first sapling to grow, and the rainbow mechanic certainly seems interesting, I ultimately just put it on the virtual shelf and I'll revisit it at a later date.