Technic News

Launcher v4.265 has just been pushed live, and it's time for Technic Tuesday!  Here's the changelogs for this week's Launcher update and all the latest Technic news!

Trending Recalculation is Fixed!

I made a newspost about this earlier in the week, but the Trending Modpacks list is updating once again, and now it's doing it without hurting the platform!  Last week, I posted that we had turned off the Trending recalculation because while it ran each night, it was damaging your ability to use the Platform and the API.  This was creating about 15-20 minutes of downtime each night and is now fixed.  We also fixed the last remaining stability issue with the Launcher API.    So how is the new and improved Platform working?  Here are the stats we have for the past week, Wednesday January 28 through Tuesday, February 3:

• Platform Uptime: 99.97%
• Launcher API Uptime: 99.54%
• Launcher API Estimated Satisfaction (T=0.2 seconds): 93%
• Launcher API Usage: Over 47 Million Requests

We're really proud of these numbers!!  There's still lots of room for improvement, though.  If you spend a lot of time on the platform, you'll know that there's occasionally random error pages that pop up and go away just as quickly.  We've got a plan for taking care of those this week, we'll see how it goes!  In the meantime, we hope you enjoy the new speed and stability on the weekends.

A Platform Facelift (Important Info for Pack Authors!)

In case you haven't noticed, the Platform received a minor facelift this week.  A few visual improvements to pages, including awesome artwork in the header of each page, some improvements to the way the pages handle the navbar, long titles and usernames, and better-looking page titles.  One important fact: page titles no longer have a drop shadow! 

If you're a pack author whose pack has a bright background, you may notice that your pack's title is now harder to read!  The good news is that we've added an option to your "Edit Modpack" menu that allows you to make the pack title dark-colored instead, to allow users to read your title against a whiter background.  Please check to see whether your pack title needs to be color-inverted in order to be seen.  A good-looking pack page attracts more users!

Get Help On Our New Support Page!

Another thing we've been quiet about is a gradual rollout of our new support site: support.technicpack.net!  A link to the new support site is now available from your Dashboard page, and a search bar for our help system is available at the bottom right of each page.  If you need assistance getting your launcher or the platform to work, feel free to visit and open a ticket.  Please don't open a ticket about a modpack- the place to get help for a modpack is still from the pack author.  If we're the pack author, you can get help on the forums tracker.

Changelog: Launcher 4.265

• The available RAM settings in the launcher's Java Options is now based on the selected Java version instead of the launcher's Java version.
• A warning will now show in Java Options if the RAM settings have been restricted due to 32-bit java being selected.  The warning will point out if a 64-bit version of java is available to be used.
• The launcher now correctly handles non-Roman characters in modpack titles, descriptions, and other data.
• The language selection dropdown box in the Login & Install menus will now use the same custom scrollbar as other UI elements.
• If a file fails to unzip during pack installation, the resulting error message will now contain the file name.
• The launcher now supports Hungarian.
• The launcher's Czech translation has been updated.
• Minecraft will now use the incremental garbage collector by default.

This week, we will be adding improved Maven support for version.json libraries and looking at what improvements we can make to the pack installation process to assist users.

Thanks for playing, and feel free to come join us in IRC or on /r/technicplatform.  We look forward to seeing you there!

Hello, I've just pushed Launcher version 4.256 live.  4.255 was pushed live this weekend as part of a hotfix to reduce load on Solder.  New in this version is Java version selection and some bug fixes to the update process.  We also have a little bit of news.

Platform Changes

We're currently chasing down an issue that causes the Trending Pack recalculation to hurt the site as it's recalculated.  This has been the primary source of outages during the week since January 1.  We've temporarily turned off the nightly recalculation for a couple days while we fix this issue, but it should be back up in a day or two!

This Weekend

This weekend, we had some rolling outages.  There were a few issues that combined together to give you guys a bad time, but the main one was a Real Deal Serious Time DDoS that caused our host to temporarily null-route the Platform site's IP.  We were accidentally leaking some information about our site via our DNS records, and that was giving the attackers ammunition.  Once we found the leak and plugged it, things went back to normal pretty quickly.  We also had some unrelated trouble with the official pack Solder which has now been fixed.  The good news is that we operated for over a day with the DDoS shield up without any real damage to the launcher experience, and we're now very confident in our ability to fend off DDoS attacks, so we don't expect similar problems in the future!  We're looking into ways that we can keep the Discover page active during an attack so that in the future, you guys won't even notice the difference.

During the attack, we put together a launcher hotfix to alleviate pressure and that caused us to push Launcher version 4.255 early.  Tonight we've pushed version 4.256.  We apologize for the double update, but it was important for getting the site running as well as possible.

Changelog: Launcher 4.256

• There is now the capability to select the java version which Minecraft will run with in the Java tab of Launcher Options. By default, Minecraft will run with the same version of java which is running the launcher, but you may configure it to select an individual version of java installed on your system, or to use the highest-versioned 64-bit version of java known to the launcher.
• Modpack installs on the Platform are now being properly incremented again.
• In situations where the local environment prevents the Launcher from setting java properties the way it wants, the Launcher will no longer restart itself endlessly in attempts to fix the java properties.
• The launcher will now be usable after launching minecraft if the launch action "Stay Open" is chosen in Launcher Options.
• The launcher will no longer fail to update when placed in a directory whose path includes + symbols.
• Made some improvements to launcher behavior when overwriting the existing launcher during an update, in order to allow us to better diagnose problems that users encounter.
• Improved some logging when the launcher fails to pull version info from a pack's linked solder.

This week, we'll be working to improve our Java selection by tying the available RAM options to the selected Java version instead of the launcher's Java version.  We'll also be improving our Maven support for pack authors who choose to include custom libraries in the version.json file.

Thanks for playing, and feel free to come join us in IRC or on /r/technicplatform.  We look forward to seeing you there!

Hey guys

We created a subreddit called /r/technicplatform for all of you redditors out there! Share screenshots and builds from your favorite modpacks!

Here are some quick rules to remeber:

• Be kind to everyone and try to help out as best you can

• Do not spam. That means you ggggggggggggggg.

• Only post content relating to Technic or content on the Technic Platform

• Keep "Drama" posts at a MAXIMUM.

• NO SERVER OR MODPACK ADS! Feel free to share your favorite mods.

• Any other rule we didn't think of

• We reserve the right to ban users and remove posts on a case by case basis depending on if they break any of these rules

/r/technicplatform

Spread the word and join us!

Hello!

We hope that you're enjoying the new launcher and platform, but some users have been a bit confused about how to install packs now.  There's no big "Add A Pack" button in the launcher, and that's causing some confusion.  Over the next couple days, we'll be improving the way the launcher directs you to install new packs, but in the meantime, here are the three ways that you can install a modpack on the Technic Launcher.

Search For It

The search bar on the left side of the launcher can be used to find the packs your heart desires.  Just put a single term and the best packs of the platform that match will be brought to your launcher.  Don't see what you want?  Click the "Find more" link at the bottom to see more results, and use the second installation method.

Install From the Platform

Are you already at the Platform page for the pack you want?  With your launcher open, click "Install This Modpack".  It will be added to your Launcher!  It's magic.

Or, If All Else Fails

Just about anything can be put into the search bar, and the launcher will do its absolute best to turn that into an installed pack.  Got a Platform API link?  That'll work.  Almost anything will work, and we hope you'll use this advice to try out lots of packs you haven't seen before.  Have you seen Trending Modpacks?  You can see it by selecting Browse Modpacks from the Discover menu at the top of the Platform, and it's a great way to discover cool packs you haven't heard of before.  It changes all the time!

So enjoy the new Platform and give the new launcher a spin.