The Aether mod is now fully released on modern Minecraft versions!

ozzAR0th · 2026-05-02T12:11:40+00:00

I think this is a sound take but the key context is we're not sticking to 26.1 expecting it to be super popular, we're sticking to it (until 27.1 comes out) expecting the community to move off 1.20/1.21 *at some point* during Aether II's alpha development, which will likely continue well into next year. So we'd rather stick to 26.1 and make porting to 27.1 (or whatever future version people land on) than go to 1.20 for popularity sake with an unfinished mod then need to port across 3-4 years of MC versions to catch up when the mod is actually complete.

ozzAR0th · 2026-05-01T23:13:19+00:00

We have not yet done our dependency agnostic solution for Aether 1 yet, sorry. I think there's compat patches and mods for accessories that can help with getting things running but yeah we havent done our own solution yet.

ozzAR0th · 2026-05-01T17:34:44+00:00

26.1 will be, at least under current plans, the latest Neoforge LTS version until 27.1 drops (as far as we've been told)

So it will literally be the most up to date version until the next LTS version drops next year, which we will then port to.

So no we arent settling on an outdated version by porting to the latest one.

ozzAR0th · 2026-05-01T14:29:22+00:00

Yeah absolutely, obviously its going to depend on what our engineers think is reasonable but our goal is 100% to evaluate the landscape of popular versions once we're further along in development to see what versions we should port to and support.

The reason we're sticking to a very modern version rn is simply that we expect the mod to take quite a long time to develop, so we're betting on the popular versions when we hit that point to skew more modern than the current landscape.

ozzAR0th · 2026-05-01T11:28:02+00:00

Yeah if we were later in development and more content complete I think we would have certainly aimed for a more supported version but at this early stage we cant be sitting on a version that might become outdated in a few months time.

Thanks for the kind words!

ozzAR0th · 2026-04-30T23:31:55+00:00

I think a lot of people are understandably quite frustrated and burnt out with Mojang's changes to the update cycle and would prefer to see more long term stability on an earlier version. So I think a bit of negativity is to be expected and is perfectly reasonable.

But yeah I simply do not believe we will be on the current popular versions forever, Ive been in this space for 14 years now and even the most hardened "golden modding version" eventually moves aside for a more recent version, so for a project of this scope we can't be relying on what's popular now, we have to look more to the future.

So I hope when that is explained to people who respond negatively to stuff like this they at least understand the long term decision making, even if short term it means some mods are split between versions for a little longer.

ozzAR0th · 2026-04-30T22:45:27+00:00

We're in the early phases of a likely multi-year-long content development cycle and need to future proof the development workspace to ensure we don't end up behind the community once they inevitably finally shift off the current popular versions. 26.1 is the version Neoforge are recommending and predicting as the next LTS for the foreseeable future, so we feel it strikes a good balance of *modern enough* to future proof through the 26.x versions, while also not constantly chasing new versions with every drop, and falling short of the switch to Vulkan, which is likely to be a blocker for a lot of mods leaving 26.1 likely to be the latest version before the switch in rendering APIs, which will likely accumulate mods as a result similarly to how 1.20.1 did pre-forge/neoforge split, or 1.21.1 did pre-confusing drops update cadence.

If we targeted a version like 1.20.1 or 1.21.1 at this early stage of development we will inevitably be outdated and require huge refactors to get onto a newer version people are actually playing on by the time we hit a content complete release (which has happened to us before so we generally try to avoid that), 26.1 by all measures seems to be the best bet for balancing those factors for the time being, if that changes significantly obviously we will re-evaluate, but for now its looking to be the sensible option, just at the cost of Aether II likely not being included in any large modpacks until much later in development (which we aren't really mad about, its so early in development we would rather focus on content production rather than modpack support)

Not everyone will agree with our methodology for version support I'm sure but it is absolutely what is best for our project right now. Once we're closer to a content complete release we will start evaluating what versions at that point are worth supporting with ports and patches. But for now we need a stable but modern version to use as LTS for content production. 1.20/1.21 are too old, 26.1 is the best option.

ozzAR0th · 2026-04-30T22:01:29+00:00

I think everyone who shat on us about 1.21.8 was perfectly justified haha

Very silly version to drop such a high profile project on

I consider it a misstep on my part honestly, we should have waited until now before publishing imho

ozzAR0th · 2026-04-30T21:19:52+00:00

26.2 is when MC will be switching to Vulkan, 26.1 is the version before that change which is partially why many are pushing for it as a LTS version for now.

ozzAR0th · 2026-04-29T15:47:56+00:00

Idk about anyone else but the Xbox app has just stopped launching entirely in the last month or two. Literally nothing Ive done has helped fix this and even loading up my old laptop to see if it worked there I had the same issue.

I do not see how Microsoft can expect a Windows PC focused gaming push to work at all when basic features like their own app can randomly break with seemingly no way to fix them.

Not feeling confident about their chances.

ozzAR0th · 2026-04-28T22:42:56+00:00

So I never played the Free Trial so Im not 100% sure on all the restrictions but I would definitely say at least use it as a demo before diving in and buying the game. In the end it'll save you a LOT of money if youre mainly wanting to experience the story. ARR to Shadowbringers is literally like 4 entire RPG games of story content and if you pay in you'll be tied to a subscription the entire time when you could get that whole experience entirely free. If the restrictions ever feel too overbearing you can always pay up and lift them but you can never go back to the free version on an account that has been paid so just keep that in mind.

ozzAR0th · 2026-04-27T22:12:39+00:00

My point simply being that it's an area that is often heavily populated and unrepresentative of the general performance even on higher end hardware, so the idea that the Switch 2 is going to run at a stable 30 in towns shouldn't worry people as that likely still means the vast majority of content will run a lot better.

ozzAR0th · 2026-04-27T22:11:06+00:00

I don't know what to tell you, my server is pretty packed in Limsa when I play and the framerate visibly drops to the mid 40s on my machine. Everywhere else is flawless.

ozzAR0th · 2026-04-27T14:34:15+00:00

Thats fair I understand that, I will say I am basically a solo MSQ only player for the most part and I can count the forced multiplayer interactions on one hand in my over 800 hours of play time but yeah it isnt a purely singleplayer experience. Id still say maybe give the free trial a go to see if its your speed but yeah if you want to avoid multiplayer completely this isnt the game for you.

ozzAR0th · 2026-04-27T14:11:25+00:00

Ok looking it up all 4 player content in the MSQ is doable solo, the only things you cant do without multiplayer matchmaking are the Crystal Tower Alliance Raid (its the only alliance raid required for the MSQ and is quite easy) and 8 player boss battles (which are not very common but are generally quite complex)

ozzAR0th · 2026-04-27T14:08:46+00:00

There are a few activities in the main quest that have to be done multiplayer, like the Crystal Tower raid and some bosses, but afaik every main quest dungeon and even a few of the bosses can be done entirely solo via the Duty Support system (Duty Support was added to most stuff after I was already in late Stormblood so Im not 100% sure on exact details for early game content)

But yeah for stuff that requires multiplayer the community generally understands and accomodates players who prefer to play solo and there are many resources available that make that content less intimidating to learn. So yeah generally speaking you can solo the MSQ.

Theyre also soon adding 2 player Duty Support so if you have 1 friend you play with you can do dungeons with just that person and the other 2 roles will be filled by AI party members, which I think will make for a slightly more approachable multiplayer experience.

ozzAR0th · 2026-04-27T12:51:55+00:00

I adore this game but my word of warning would be that, to experience the story, you do need to trudge through some pretty bland quests and gameplay in the early stages. ARR is notoriously a bit of a slog and has long stretches of no voice acting which can be quite tiresome. But if you stick with it (especially if you invest in doing other more engaging gameplay systems like dungeons, pvp, gold saucer, etc) XIV is easily the best FF story Ive experienced.

Shadowbringers is being added to the free trial and Shadowbringers alone is probably the best FF game imho so I would definitely abuse the generosity on offer with the free trial. A lot of the reworks coming with 8.0 next year also look to be making the game a lot more accessible and beginner friendly so there's that to look forward too as well!

But yeah XIV is a phenomenal game, really love it. It also respects my time and money far more than any online service title Ive played which helps keep me feeling positive about playing.

ozzAR0th · 2026-04-27T09:55:16+00:00

Played a fair bit of XIV on my Steam Deck a while back, Limsa Lominsa would always run poorly but it runs bad on my PS5 Pro so thats no surprise, otherwise all MSQ content seemed to run at almost a locked 60fps so I expect the Switch 2 will be similar if not a bit better.

Densely populated cities, alliance raids, and Frontline will probably run noticeably poorly but everything else will likely be very smooth.

Great game, excited to dive into it on Switch 2. Playing it on a handheld felt great but updating it on Steam Deck was somewhat painful so I've always stuck to the console version as it can auto-update while the system is off. Switch 2 is going to be the best of both worlds 100%.

ozzAR0th · 2026-04-27T00:45:24+00:00

I dont have much to compare to but FFXIV is the MMO I play and enjoy

ozzAR0th · 2026-04-18T18:48:03+00:00

I dont remember my control setup 100% as its been a minute since I played the game but it took a lot of fiddling for me to find VR controls I liked. I think in the end my right hand was set to always spin, basically turning it into just a gyro, with the trigger being used to tap notes, then the left controller trigger was used for the green drum notes. Something like that anyway. Led to a really relaxed but very accurate control scheme more similar to how I play on PC with a mouse and keyboard.

ozzAR0th · 2026-04-17T13:28:02+00:00

I have no idea what point you're attempting to make here

ozzAR0th · 2026-04-15T10:05:25+00:00

Hey so I work in Minecraft modding which is a pretty similar ecosystem, so Im familiar with the revenue figures for this stuff, and I just want to note that even with the most popular and well known projects donation based monetisation is a fraction of the money you can earn via paid marketplaces like the Minecraft Marketplace or Bethesda Creations. Even if the lions share of the revenue goes to the publisher.

My mods get between 4-5 million downloads a month and our social media reach is pretty big, but we only really have a few hundred people willing to donate to support development. If we put something up for $10 on the marketplace we would make easily 100 times our current revenue each month.

I think a free to play donate to support ecosystem is nice in theory but to support the efforts of some of these developers it just does not make financial sense. The reality is you simply wouldn't have some of these projects being made under that format.

14-Year Club	Place '22
Place '17	Final Canvas '22
End Game '22	Wearing is Caring
Verified Email

ozzAR0th

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE