Create: Harder & Better

Harder recipes. Better progression. More Create.

Create: Harder & Better is a Minecraft datapack that reworks a large number of crafting recipes from Create, Minecraft, and Simulated to make progression more demanding, meaningful, and interconnected.

The goal isn't simply to make everything more expensive. Instead, recipes are redesigned to encourage actual progression through Create's technology, making machines, components, and resources feel like parts of an industrial chain rather than items you can obtain almost immediately.

✦ Features

• 300+ recipe changes
• Reworked Create crafting recipes
• More demanding component requirements
• Greater use of Create's processing mechanics
• Reworked vanilla recipes
• Changes to early-, mid-, and late-game progression
• Additional requirements for powerful items
• Compatibility with the Simulated mod where applicable
• Designed around Create's technological progression rather than arbitrary resource inflation

⚙️ What Changes?

Create

A large portion of Create's recipes have been redesigned.

Many machines and components now require materials that better represent their technological complexity. Simple wooden or iron recipes are replaced with recipes involving components such as:

• Andesite Alloys
• Andesite Casings
• Brass
• Zinc
• Copper
• Shafts
• Cogwheels
• Large Cogwheels
• Iron and Brass Plates
• Create processing components

This makes the Create progression more interconnected: obtaining one machine often requires you to already have access to another part of the production chain.

Processing

The datapack also changes numerous processing recipes.

Create's mechanical systems become more important as the game progresses, with recipes using:

• Crushing
• Milling
• Mixing
• Splashing
• Haunting
• Compacting
• Filling
• Cutting
• Deploying
• Item Application
• Sequenced Assembly

This means that automation is not just an optional way to produce resources faster — it becomes an important part of progression.

Vanilla Minecraft

Several vanilla recipes have also been modified to fit the new progression.

Examples include:

• Furnace
• Blast Furnace
• Barrel
• Beacon
• Ender Eye
• Netherite Ingot
• Ore processing recipes

Some powerful vanilla items now require Create components or additional resources.

For example, the Beacon is no longer crafted through the standard vanilla crafting table recipe and instead uses Create's Mechanical Crafting.

The Netherite Ingot also receives an additional requirement, incorporating Brass into its recipe.

The Ender Eye requires an additional Wind Charge, making access to the End dimension slightly more involved.

🏭 Recipe Philosophy

The main idea behind this datapack is:

Make progression deeper, not simply slower.

Recipes are changed with three principles in mind:

1. Technology should require technology.

Advanced Create machines shouldn't be obtainable with little more than iron, wood, and a few basic resources.

2. Create's mechanics should matter.

Mechanical crafting and processing are used wherever they make sense instead of leaving Create's machinery as an optional alternative to ordinary crafting.

3. Powerful items should feel powerful.

Important or late-game items receive additional requirements so that reaching them represents actual progression.

The intention is to create a progression where each new technological step gives you access to the next one.

📦 Recipe Changes

The datapack currently contains recipe overrides across several areas of Create.

Create — Kinetics

A large number of kinetic components and machines have redesigned recipes, including:

• Cogwheels
• Shafts
• Gearboxes
• Mechanical Presses
• Mechanical Mixers
• Mechanical Drills
• Mechanical Saws
• Mechanical Arms
• Mechanical Pistons
• Mechanical Harvesters
• Mechanical Ploughs
• Mechanical Rollers
• Deployer
• Windmill Bearing
• Steam Engine
• Rotation Speed Controller
• Wrenches
• And many more

Create — Logistics

Logistics components have also been reworked, including:

• Funnels
• Tunnels
• Packagers
• Factory Gauges
• Pulse Extenders
• Table Cloths
• And other logistics components

Create — Appliances

Several Create appliances have modified recipes, including:

• Copper Backtank
• Copper Diving Helmet
• Copper Diving Boots
• Tree Fertilizer

Create — Processing

A significant number of processing recipes have been modified through Create's:

• Crushing
• Milling
• Splashing
• Mixing
• Blasting
• Cutting
• Mechanical Crafting
• Sequenced Assembly
• Deploying
• Item Application
• And other processing systems

🔩 Examples

Mechanical Press

The Mechanical Press now requires an Andesite Casing, a large iron component, Zinc, and a Cogwheel.

This makes the machine feel like an actual progression step instead of an early-game craft.

Cogwheel

The basic Cogwheel now requires a Shaft surrounded by wooden planks, making the shaft an actual component of the gear rather than something that appears alongside it.

Wrench

The Wrench has also been made more involved, requiring Brass Plates, a Large Cogwheel, and a wooden rod.

Copper Backtank

The Copper Backtank now incorporates:

• Andesite Alloy
• Copper
• Copper Plates
• A Shaft

This ties the diving equipment more closely to Create's technological progression.

🧱 Vanilla Changes

The datapack also modifies several vanilla recipes.

Notable changes include:

Item	Change
Beacon	Requires Create Mechanical Crafting
Netherite Ingot	Requires Brass in addition to Netherite Scrap and Gold
Ender Eye	Requires a Wind Charge
Blast Furnace	Reworked crafting recipe
Furnace	Reworked crafting recipe
Barrel	Reworked crafting recipe
Ore Smelting/Blasting	Several recipes adjusted

These changes help prevent vanilla progression from completely bypassing the new Create progression.

🔧 Simulated Compatibility

The datapack also includes recipe changes for the Simulated mod.

Currently affected items include:

• Physics Assembler
• Red Portable Engine

The recipes are designed to fit the same progression philosophy as the Create changes.

📊 Scope

The current version contains approximately:

• 319 recipe files
• 281 Create recipes
• 17 Minecraft recipes
• 2 Simulated recipes

Recipe types include:

• Shaped Crafting
• Shapeless Crafting
• Mechanical Crafting
• Crushing
• Milling
• Splashing
• Mixing
• Blasting
• Item Application
• Deploying
• Sequenced Assembly
• Cutting
• Compacting
• Filling
• Haunting

📥 Installation

1. Download the datapack.
2. Open your Minecraft world folder.
3. Navigate to:

saves/<Your World>/datapacks/

1. Place the datapack .zip file inside the datapacks folder.
2. Start or reload the world.
3. Use:

/reload

1. Check the modified recipes in your recipe book or through your preferred recipe-viewing mod.

⚠️ Compatibility

This datapack is designed to modify existing recipes rather than add a completely separate progression system.

Because it replaces recipes from Create and other mods, compatibility with other datapacks that modify the same recipe IDs may be limited.

If another datapack changes the same recipe, the result may depend on datapack load order.

For the best experience, use Create: Harder & Better as the primary recipe-overhaul datapack.

🎯 Recommended Experience

This datapack is especially suited for:

• Create-focused survival worlds
• Technical Minecraft modpacks
• Long-term survival playthroughs
• Servers looking for deeper progression
• Players who feel Create's default recipes are too easy
• Modpacks where automation should be an important part of progression

It is not intended to turn Minecraft into an extremely grindy experience.

The goal is to make the technological journey more satisfying — not to make every item require a mountain of resources.

💡 Design Goal

Create is at its best when you look at an item and think:

"Okay. What do I need to build before I can build this?"

Create: Harder & Better is built around that idea.

Instead of simply increasing material costs, the datapack tries to create a progression where machines depend on components, components depend on processing, and processing gradually unlocks more advanced technology.

Build the factory. Then build the thing that builds the thing.

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Credits

Created by Wis__ for players who want a more involved Create progression.

Made with ❤️ and probably an unreasonable amount of recipe JSON.