When I first started, I played on a private server, an had no idea what to do. I would have played exactly like Vanilla unless they had taught me, which they did. A good way to start out, turns out to be exactly what I had done, play it like vanilla, with one difference. When you are looking for a place to live, look for Rubber Trees. Once you get some redstone (preferably atleast 20) start by making a generator, a macerator, an electric furnace, and extractor and a compressor. The order I listed them is the order I find they need to be made in, in case you can't make them all at once. If you haven't found diamonds (at least two), then follow the steps on the following link to make a diamond. Construct a nether portal and get some glowstone. Make a Philosopher's Stone, then a transmutation tablet, then a Klein Star. The Klein Star is not of utmost importance, also, you will get the Philosopher's Stone back when you craft the tablet. Place the tablet somewhere, and you can transmute. Handy referance guide, Tungsten ore (looks fairly similar to coal)=2 diamonds, uranium (looks like a green ore, but not emeralds)=5 diamonds, but requires a Klein Star to transmute uranium to diamonds. Also, 4 gold/gold dust=1 diamond. It is important to make the tablet so you can afford the next two expensive, but nessessary steps. Make and power a quarry, and build an energy collector. Some useful ways to afford these are using nova cataclysms. Macerate all of these ores, because they will double your profit. For instance, 1 nether gold will give you 4 gold dust (double that of macerating gold ore) which is equivilant to 1 diamond. Take precautions before mining these though. Bring plenty of food, a full set of armor (iron or better), and bring a pickaxe and a sword. Run when you hear a fuse sound while mining. Also, collect all ghast tears you can, as they have the EMC of half a diamond. Fully upgrade your collector, then use that, and all your other resources that you are willing to spare (including nether ores) to get a second fully upgraded collector. Upgrade to geothermal generators, and have one collector permanantly attatched to an energy condenser, which should constantly create lava cells. You will have plenty of excess, which you can turn back into EMC using your Tablet. You've now reached the point where you can be frivolous, do just about whatever you want, and branch off in whatever end-game direction you want to. Feel free to go in different directions from this guide, it is simply what I find to work best.