mc-lan-party/modpack.md

LAN Party Modpack — "Create & Delight" (MC 1.20.1, Forge)

Target: Minecraft 1.20.1, Forge. This version/loader combo has the widest, most stable support across every mod below — don't mix in NeoForge/Fabric builds.

Core

Mod	Why it's in
Create	The automation/contraptions backbone. Gives the roadmap something to build toward (farms, kitchens, conveyor lines) before the food payoff.
Flywheel	Required rendering engine dependency for Create (Forge build).
Just Enough Items (JEI)	Not food itself, but mandatory — with this many food-adding mods stacked, nobody will find recipes without it.

Cooking base

Mod	Adds
Farmer's Delight	The core cooking/farming mod everything else builds on: cutting board, cooking pot, skillet, stews, pies, feasts.

Farmer's Delight addons (the "roadmap fuel")

Mod	Adds
Nether's Delight	Nether-themed cooking: Hoglin loin/ham/hide, nether salad, stuffed Hoglin, nether skewers.
End's Delight	End-dimension culinary content (shulker/chorus-themed dishes). Item list is thin on public docs — verify in-game with JEI before committing recipes to the IRL roadmap.
Delightful	Big grab-bag of immersive new foods independent of any dimension: marshmallows/s'mores, cheeseburgers, nut butter & jelly sandwiches, goat/venison, berry pies, matcha.
Delightful Creators	Bridges Create ↔ Farmer's Delight: soups/stews as Create fluids, sequenced-assembly "incomplete foods," cookie/pie recipes usable in Create contraptions.
FarmersCreate	Lets Create's Mixer/Deployer automate Farmer's Delight cooking-pot and cutting-board recipes (auto-cook the feast, don't stand there clicking).

Performance utility

Mod	Side	Why it's in
Distant Horizons	Client only	Renders a simplified level-of-detail view of terrain beyond the server's view-distance, so players see far-off scenery without the server having to actually load/send those chunks. Does the same job you were picturing from "Bobby" — Bobby itself is Fabric-only (no Forge build exists), so Distant Horizons is the Forge equivalent. Caches the LOD data locally per-world, same idea as Bobby's chunk cache.
Chunky	Server only	Pre-generates a fixed radius of chunks around a chosen center (e.g. spawn/build area) once, before the party, via console/RCON commands (/chunky radius, /chunky start) — eliminates on-the-fly world-gen lag while people explore. Not a per-player dynamic follower on Forge — that variant ("Chunky Pregenerator") is Fabric-only, same restriction as Bobby. See HOSTING.md for the exact commands.

Important: install Distant Horizons in the client instance's mods/ folder only — do not put it in the server's mods/ folder. It tags itself as client-side in its mod metadata, so Forge won't reject the mismatched mod list between client and server. Keep the server's server.properties view-distance modest (6–8, see HOSTING.md sizing section) and let Distant Horizons fill in the rest visually on each client. Chunky, conversely, only needs to go in the server's mods/ folder — it has no client-side purpose here.

Optional / stretch (only if the group wants more scope)

Mod	Adds	Caveat
Aether's Delight	Aether-themed dishes (Holystone/Zanite knives, berry bowls, buffed meals)	Requires installing The Aether too — a full extra dimension mod. Only add if someone really wants to make the trip.

Why this shape

• Create gives you progression (you have to build the farm/kitchen contraption before you "unlock" a dish) — good quest-line material.
• Farmer's Delight + addons give you the actual food variety across three dimensions (Overworld/Nether/End) plus a flavor-pack (Delightful) that isn't dimension-gated, so you can pace the 3-day roadmap: early-game Overworld dishes → mid-game Nether run → late-game End dish as the "final boss" meal.