Sophisticated Core guide for FTB Skies 2 1.9.0 to 1.22.0

Same as in the All the Mods 10 2.12 guide

Sophisticated Core is included in this pack at version 1.0.5, shipped as the Minecraft 1.21.1 build sophisticatedcore-1.21.1-1.0.5.813.jar. It has been in the pack since version 0.32 or earlier, so it's a long-standing part of the mod list rather than a recent addition.^[1]

Unverified The sources I have don't describe what Sophisticated Core does in gameplay, who it is aimed at, or where it fits in the pack's progression. They also don't show it on the ATM Star path or tied to any quests, so I'm not making claims about those. Check back once more detail is available.

Here's the honest starting point for Sophisticated Core in this pack: there is no crafting order to follow. No quests in this pack involve the mod, and no recipes in this pack produce its items, so I can't point you at a first item to craft. What I can do is show you the screen features the mod provides, so you know what to use once you have a backpack or storage from another mod.^[2]

Tidy up your inventory

The shared backpack and storage screen has a Sort Inventory button. You can sort by count, by mod, by name or by tags, so pick whichever suits how you like your chests.^[2]

There are also buttons to transfer items to your inventory or to the storage. The Matching versions only move items that match what's already on the other side, and the tooltip says to hold Shift to transfer all.^[2]

Settings worth checking early

• Player level settings apply to all your backpacks and storages unless a specific one overrides them, so set your preferences once.^[2]
• Keep Search Phrase decides whether the screen clears your search when you close it or prefills and filters by it next time you open it.^[2]
• Keep Tab Open remembers which upgrade tab you last had open and reopens it next time. When it's off, all tabs start closed.^[2]
• You can save settings to a slot and load them back later. Exporting creates a data pack with an snbt file.^[2]

Upgrade rules to know before you buy

The mod's error messages show a few limits on upgrades. Some upgrades need all upgrade slots empty, only one Battery Upgrade is allowed, and a storage can't hold more than two Tank Upgrades. Battery and tank upgrades can also be refused if the backpack's capacity is too low, and a stack multiplier can help with that.^[2]

Unverified The pack's config file for this mod, sophisticatedcore-common.toml, could not be read in detail here, so I can't say which values the pack changed from the mod's defaults.

Sophisticated Core is not a machine mod, and the sources for this pack don't describe any multiblocks, power networks or fluid pipes for it. What they do show is the screen and settings system that backpack and storage GUIs use. Here is how that works in this pack.^[2]

Sorting and searching

The GUI has a Sort Inventory button, and you can sort By Count, By Mod, By Name or By Tags. The search box says "Click to search", and a hint explains that an @ prefix searches by mod name. If nothing matches, you see "No items match the search".^[2]

There is also a Keep Search Phrase toggle. When it is OFF, the GUI clears your search when you close it and shows everything unfiltered next time. When it is ON, it keeps the phrase and filters by it when you reopen.^[2]

Moving items around

The buttons are Transfer to Inventory and Transfer to Storage. Each has a filtered version, Transfer Matching to Inventory or Transfer Matching to Storage, and those show a hint to hold Shift to transfer all.^[2]

Shift clicking has its own setting. With "Shift Click Into Inventory First", a stack goes to the inventory or storage first and only then into an open upgrade tab. With "Shift Click Into Open Tab First", it tries an open tab first.^[2]

Upgrade tabs and switches

Upgrades get their own tabs with a settings panel each. The language file shows Adv. Alchemy, Adv. Compacting, Adv. Feeding, Adv. Filter, Jukebox, Adv. Magnet, Adv. Pickup and Adv. Pump, though the list I was given is cut off, so there may be more. Each upgrade can show ON, OFF or INACTIVE.^[2]

Keep Tab Open decides whether the GUI remembers which upgrade tab was last open. When it is OFF, all tabs are closed the next time you open the GUI.^[2]

Slot settings

• Memory: lets you select slots that remember their contents and only accept matching stacks.^[2]
• No Sort: lets you select slots that sorting ignores.^[2]
• Item Display: lets you pick a slot whose item is shown on top of the storage. Display can be set to the front, left or right side, and there are Rotate, Depth and color buttons too.^[2]
• Select slots with left click or drag, unselect with right click or drag, and use the Select All Slots and Unselect All Slots buttons.^[2]

There is a Player context for settings that apply to all backpacks and storages unless a specific one overrides them.^[2]

Saving settings as templates

You can save your settings to a numbered slot and load them back later, scrolling to change the slot. You can also export settings to a data pack, which creates an snbt file. File names can't be empty or contain invalid characters. If a saved layout has too many setting slots, you get "Settings don't fit in this storage".^[2]

Upgrade rules to watch for

The error messages show what the GUI will refuse when you add or remove upgrades:^[2]

• Only one Battery Upgrade can be in a backpack, and it needs enough max energy. If the backpack can't support it, you need to upgrade the backpack or add a stack multiplier.^[2]
• At most two Tank Upgrades can be present, and tank capacity has the same kind of requirement.^[2]
• Some upgrades need all upgrade slots empty, or need the last few inventory slots to be free of items.^[2]
• Some upgrades are limited to a single copy, or to a fixed number of copies.^[2]
• Only admins can remove the Infinity Upgrade.^[2]
• You can't remove an upgrade while a slot or another upgrade still needs a higher stack limit, or while a banned item is still inside.^[2]

The pack's own settings for this mod are in the file sophisticatedcore-common.toml. I couldn't see its contents, so I can't tell you which values the pack changed.^[3]

Sophisticated Core only ships a client-side config in this pack, so everything here is about how the storage screens look and feel for you. Nothing in it changes gameplay for other players.^[4]

Client options

• client.sortButtonsPosition is set to "TITLE_LINE_RIGHT" in this pack. The other allowed values are BELOW_UPGRADES, BELOW_UPGRADE_TABS and HIDDEN. The option exists to help with conflicts with controls from other mods, so if the sort buttons overlap something else on your screen, this is the one to change.^[4]
• client.mouseTweaksScrollEnabled is set to true. When Mouse Tweaks is in the pack, it handles scrolling in inventories instead of the default handling.^[4]
• client.playButtonSound is set to true. This means a click sound plays when you press the custom buttons in the GUI. Set it to false if you want those buttons silent.^[4]

Unverified The pack's file does not say which of these values differ from the mod's own defaults, so it is unconfirmed whether the pack changed any of them.