[solved]Help! Read the EAQ but how to run version manually?

[Lilbunnygirl]

My son is desperate to get into mods, but he's 7 and I'm the clueless mom.

 

I read about Forge and how that makes the process easier, so I downloaded it for Minecraft 1.8.1 which is what he's playing.

 

I get the "You need to run the version 1.8.1 manually once." message when I try to install it. I read that it means I "have to run VANILLA minecraft (no mods) for the version listed" but we have no mods. He has freshly downloaded Minecraft 1.8.1, he's played it but he's not added any mods whatsoever. So how do we run it manually?

 

I appreciate any help you can offer, he's frustrated with my inability to actually get this set up 

 

Also, in case I get this verification question again, what IS "Lex's full nick name"?

 

TIA

 

Lb

[LexManos]

There is no version of Forge for 1.8.1, just 1.8.

So you need to run Minecraft vanilla 1.8.

[Lilbunnygirl]

Okay, I understand. How do I go backwards, in terms of the version he has? If we have 1.8.1 can we get back to 1.8 somehow?

 

Sorry, I realize this is really annoying newbie stuff, I just want to help out my kid and I am really having a hard time figuring it out myself.

[Lilbunnygirl]

Thank you so much for the clear directions, you've totally enabled us to solve the problem. We found a lot of mods that didn't have an 8.1 version yet, so we went back and installed Forge 1.7.10 and many mods for that version, and he's as happy as can be. Really appreciate the help.