This page is a collection of guides to run "challenge" versions of GTNH - artificially imposed limits that make the game harder, or allow you to bypass mechanics you don't like (eg. IC2 crop breeding).

No IC2 Crop Breeding

IC2 crop breeding can be boring, slow, and highly RNG based. So why not completely avoid it? Here is a list of breed-less methods of obtaining resources crops are usually used for:

Resource Usual IC2 Crop Source Alternative Sources
Sticky Resin Stickreed 1) GT++ Fish Catchers (Slimeballs work for everything that sticky resin works for, minus RC water tanks. Later after steel you can use congealed green slime anyway. You can use the byproducts for fish oil for methane/biodiesel, and works as a passive source of diamonds and other useful stuff.)

2) Slime Sapling from slime islands (Gives congealed green slime and blue slimeballs, you need an extractor for the congealed green slime. On modern versions of GTNH, axes instamine the congealed green slime.)

Wood Bonsais Simply use the saplings to make 1/1/1 versions, and just make a bigger field. You're unlikely to take down the server with the TPS cost before the Tree Growth Simulator in IV, especially if you use a crop manager.
Gold Glowflower/

Glowing Coral

1) Glieonia (Thaumcraft crop - directly drops glowstone dust and CAN BE WORLD ACCELERATED WITHOUT TILE ENTITY MODE! Fast and convenient, and research is early in Thaumic Bases tab. Farming it is a bit tricky - you will have to make EIO farmer (HV) or forestry multifarm (LV, but high effort))

2) Mercury chem bathing magnetite (If you really hate plants for some reason, you can turn magnetite ores directly into gold by chem bathing with mercury. Although you might need to automate redstone for the mercury upkeep, so maybe use Redlon Thaumcraft crop?) 3) Thaumcraft nugget dupe (For the true Thaumcraft or bee fan. The tricky part here is getting enough lucrum and permutatio. Permutatio can come from honey drops from bees or natura barley seeds, and the lucrum can be sneakily obtained with Etched Sandy Stone - you may need the auto chisel. To fix the thaum vs. GT nugget problem, try using a chest buffer to convert between them.)

Terrawart Terrawart This actually requires zero breeding. Just pop some nether wart onto a cropstick and put snow under the dirt. It will eventually convert to terrawart.
Chlorine Saltyroot

Tearstalks

Pre-Moon:

1) Mining Salt Veins (This is the simplest and easiest way, but is of course not renewable.) 2) Lazullia (Thaumcraft crop - drops lapis gem and can be world accelerated as needed. Research is early in Thaumic Bases tab. Farming it is a bit tricky - you will have to make EIO farmer (HV) or forestry multifarm (LV, but high effort. You only want the sodalite byproduct.)

Post-Moon:

1) Multiblock Pump for Salt Water

Fluorine Black Stonelily This is one of the trickiest fluids to obtain before late game, when you can just pump HF.

1) Electrolyzing Cryolite Veins

2) Chem Plant Fluorite Ore Synthesis (IV) (This creates fluorite from sandstone using mostly cheap inputs, except you need some Ir/Ru catalyst from platline. Very late game the catalysts become lossless, of course.)

No Rocket

Skyblock