"Reimagining Minecraft, one line of code at a time."

Great Big World is a collection of mods packaged together with the goal of reimagining Minecraft under new design philosophies. It's a modern take on the "alternate timeline" genre most notably seen in Better Than Adventure and Not So Secret Saturday.

Check out the showcase videos on YouTube for a better look!

To check out project progress, where it's headed, & known bugs, see the Project Roadmap!

This mod is currently in BETA! Server-side issues have been resolved to a reasonable extent. Once the core gameplay features of the first phase are complete, the mod will enter Release.

Mod Structure

Great Big World will never require another mod to install (aside from Fabric API, of course). It is organized into multiple sub-mods, which are all packaged together into a single jar:

Core

Core utilities & mechanics for all other sub-mods:

• Knowledge system
• Mystical elements system
• Structure trigger system
• Mappings system (like tags)
• Entity-block collision interactions
• New feature placement modifiers & other worlden utilities
• FastNoise implementation
• General commands
• General tags

Adventures

Focusing on the world & travel:

• Additional Create World Options
• Item Information HUD
• Dynamic moonlight
• Deeper world height, deeper oceans, & deep caves
• Bonus House from Indev
• Skyblock world type

Architect's Assembly

Focusing on building, inventory & crafting:

• Missing blocks
• Decorative blocks
• Vertical slabs
• Hotbar cycling
• Glass shards & glass rework
• Armor stand arms
• Variant item tooltips
• Improved equipment item tooltips

Flora & Fauna

Focusing on environments, animals, and seasons:

• River variants
• Modified biome colors & features
• Noise-based feature placement
• Season system
• Improved animal behaviors
• Stackable small plants
• Fluidlogging & snowlogging
• Snowier snow
• Hollow logs & improved fallen trees
• Hibiscuses

Relics & Ruins

Focusing on temples, relics, archaeology, and loot tables:

• Swamp Temples
• Ice Temples
• Unique decorative blocks
• Improved loot tables

Swords & Shields

Focusing on combat, enchanting, & equipment upgrades/customization:

• Enchanting overhaul
• Equipment tier overhaul
• Loom overhaul
• Anvil overhaul
• Smithing table overhaul
• Armor trim overhaul
• Armor decoration

The Alterworld

Focusing on feature density, playstyle, & progression:

• The Alterworld dimension
• Ancient Portals
• Fractured Ancient Portals
• Migration of some Overworld features to the Alterworld

Standalone Sub-Mods

From version 0.15.0 onwards, Great Big World contains its own embedded standalone mods. The current list of standalone mods includes:

• Lightning Flash
• Rotatable Sculk

FAQ:

Can you make Great Big World compatible with X mod? GBW is not designed for compatibility with most other content mods. Rather, it is designed as an entirely standalone experience. There are exceptions though: optimization mods such as Sodium should be compatible. If you find an issue with them, please open an issue on the issue tracker! Can I use Great Big World in modpacks?

Probably not, but I'll consider it on a case-by-case basis. Please note that Great Big World has an ARR license, which does not allow redistribution (which includes using it in modpacks) without permission from its author (me).

The issue with using GBW in modpacks relates to FAQ #1: there is no guarantee that GBW will be compatible with other content mods. If it were free to use in modpacks, I would be flooded with bug reports on compatibility issues that I've explicitly stated will not be fixed. If you wish to use GBW in a modpack, please contact me directly and I will make a decision. As a general guideline, if your pack otherwise consists of non-gameplay mods, GBW will be allowed. If it contains a large number of other content mods, it will not. The pack must be focused around GBW, because that is the mods intent. It's a standalone experience.

From version 0.15.0 onwards, GBW now embeds separated standalone mods in its jar file. These mods are designed to be utilized outside of GBW and are free to be used in modpacks. Please see these mods' pages to play with them separately & to use them in modpacks.

Why is Great Big World closed source? I am choosing to keep Great Big World closed-source until the first full release version, after which the GitHub repositories will become open-source. When will documentation for Great Big World be complete? I'm working on the wiki on and off, with the goal to complete most necessary pages by the first full release version. Will Great Big World be made for other versions of Minecraft?

Not anytime soon, & more than likely never. The mod is massive & will only continue growing. It does & will rely on capabilities provided by modern Minecraft versions. Any backport will require a huge time cost, when I could use that time to continue developing towards the overarching goal.

Another increasingly common ask is whether a mod will be made available for the Bedrock Edition of the game. This will never happen, as the development tools available for that version are not enough to recreate GBW.