i personally dont think its likely that hytale will beat minecraft. at best itll prove to be worthy competition and give minecraft the kick in the pants they require to do some real good stuff
i mostly do 2x2 but it also depends on the kind of expression im going for. do i want them to seem more friendly? if so i use 2x2. i could also use 2x1 for older characters.
some stuff thatd more specialized. im not sure what more i need to say aside from just like..side grade tools and weapons that are on par with diamond and netherite but have much more specialized uses. maybe a set thats specific to underwater work or maybe a n end set thats basically just netherite but more
no need for any external programs or anything. its actually something that can be done fully vanilla and even in this website. if you need any further help id be happy to offer
the problem with your argument is that Forge is just the only option we had for modding for all this time. if fabric had existed then it would likely have just as many amazing mods