mini reviews:
thaumcraft 5 is a great mod thatβs closer to a total conversion than a simple addition. it centers largely around βaspectsβ which it assigns like elemental properties to nearly every item, block, and mob. it also leans heavily on an βauraβ mechanic where chunks have aspected energy that flows around from place to place and powers a lot of your magic and mechanisms.
because itβs so involved, with an in depth research game to unlock more magical theory, 3 new kinds of crafting, not to mention the essentia management, it has a tendency to be an end in and of itself which still necessitates some vanilla actions to get started but later replaces them entirely with mod-specific tasks and objectives
botania, in sharp contrast to this, is a flexible and minimalist tech mod masquerading as a magic mod. it revolves around generating βmanaβ (power resource) and crafting using naturally spawning flowers and materials converted from wood and stone. it eschews pipes and wires in favor of directly linking machines together with a wand to fire mana βburstsβ through the air
even though it has 2 new crafting methods (runic altars and the petal apothecary), and unlike Thaumcraft, all botania-specific actions are conducted in world rather than through guis, which is a nice immersive touch
furthermore, if botania gets to a point where it replaces vanilla actions, i havent hit it yet. it seeks to add a bunch of cool toys to your toy box rather than replacing them. a lot of the fun is had through using botania items to augment automation you could already do with redstone, but really kick it up a notch
it also adds quite a lot of really nice looking decorative blocks
as such, players looking for a more directed experience would probably enjoy thaumcraft, whereas redstone wizards and those looking to build beautiful buildings will probably prefer botania
itβs worth noting that both mods are riddled with typos and grammatical errors. botania also loves anime references. itβs really put of place
