IndustrialCraft 2: Still Alive and Kicking

Users who are not keen with working with machines, power, electricity, and creating automating systems in Minecraft have either shunned the idea completely or may not even know of such mods existing. For those in that latter group or those who have played IC2 in the past, this would be for you.

Industrialcraft 2 (IC2), at its core, adds power and machines to Minecraft for creating simple but effective production systems. Usually it's also paired with another machine themed mod to help boost the production level even more. The most common of these being Buildcraft, which adds pipes to the game, allowing materials to flow easily from one machine to another or into an adjacent chest.

Like many, I didn't know too much about IC2 until I started playing it in the large modpack called Tekkit (now known as Tekkit Classic). When Duncan from the Yogscast started his own Tekkit series, showcasing IC2 in all it's wonderful glory (alongside other mods,) I believe it kickstarted Tekkit's mass popularity in general, as the normal response for newbies going into Tekkit was, "Where the hell do I start?". Almost in response to this, Duncan ran through his long series explaining the best way of going around with the pack and getting started.

After seeing Duncan’s series, IC2 became an essential staple of my everyday mod life in Minecraft and a core element for most Tekkit users during this time period. However, many may not know that IC2 hasn't had an update since 1.4.5. I'm not fully aware of the reason behind this, but whatever the case, updates ceased on both their wiki and their official forums for IC2. This hasn't stopped the community from attempting to keep it alive however.

Since the last official update back in January, IC2 has been in sort of a dormant state. As mentioned before, it's users then took it upon themselves to keep it up-to-date with the latest versions of Minecraft. Because the mod is being kept alive unofficially, major changes have not been possible without permission or involvement from the original mod author.

These unofficial versions can be found on Jenkins, are relatively stable with minimal bugs, and don’t conflict with most other mods. IC2 requires Forge to function, but I think most of you already know that ;). Also be sure to check out the add-ons subforum/Pending Addons, for a good handful of add-ons like GregTech for complexity, or Gravitation Suite for more advanced equipment.