Procrastination Report №8

This was definitely one of those weeks where I feel like I absolutely did something, but it was all of so little consequence that I didn’t even make the file for this report until Thursday. With that in mind, I feel like this one’s just going to be more of a blog about my thoughts throughout the week.

I’ve still been playing Minecraft and doing some server admin stuff. I don’t think I mentioned this previously, but for a while there was an issue where the server’s memory would be mostly full by the time it finished startup and any remaining memory would be pretty quickly filled thereafter. Finding the source of this issue, given that it wasn’t logging any errors, was a bit of a trial-and-error process, but I eventually found that removing WorldEdit fixed it. Which meant I have to live without WorldEdit. Hypothetically, much of what I wanted to use WorldEdit for could be covered by Building Gadgets 2, but this has issues both in that it cannot copy Framed Blocks with their camouflage and it insists on animating the placement and removal of blocks which causes significant strain on the renderer when trying to terraform a few hundred chunks as I have been doing. The former issue, and the latter in the case of pasting operations, can be circumvented by using Create’s schematics, as it turns out. In creative mode, Create schematics can actually just be placed without the use of the “schematic cannon” and an inventory filled with the necessary materials, which definitely made this whole process easier. In fact, in the case of placing roads, I’ve found the placement UI to be significantly more helpful in ensuring it’s all done as desired over the command-based operation of WorldEdit. I’m still left without a number of conveniences provided by WorldEdit (like block gradients and complex shapes), but at least the more major issues have solutions.

I did find something of a solution to the iron fence server crashing issue, which was to simply remove the Beyond the Horizon custom structures from the structure set they were included in, which does seem to keep them from generating further. Perhaps I should follow one of the agonizingly few examples provided by KubeJS to also block players from placing the damn things as well.

I have been thinking, since I did download an IDE for patching that one mod, that perhaps I could simply make my own mod? There’s been quite a few instances where mods just fall short of what I want them to do, and approximating my desired outcome is always just a bit off, so why not fill that gap myself? Here’s the thing about a lot of mods, unlike vanilla Minecraft they aim for specific usage rather than generalization. Consider furniture for instance, in vanilla a stair block is a chair and a pressure plate atop a fence post is a table, but with mods there’s chair and table blocks! You’re no longer approximating the furniture, the model is right there, but the model is still an approximation of the specific furniture you want! Consider roof design, with mods you often end up with angled roof blocks that are either the height of a full or half block, but what about shallower or steeper angles? In vanilla you can use blocks, stairs, and slabs in whatever arrangement to approximate whatever angle and curvature you want, it isn’t aesthetically obvious to be roof shingles but it is the aesthetic of Minecraft. Even if you do have shingle textures, have you considered all the types of shingles the player wants? They could be approximated with tiles or bricks in vanilla, but you now have decided that all shingles are actually from shitty post-war American suburban houses. Point is that there’s inevitable gaps, and I want to fill some in. Here’s a categorized (by Java Edition creative inventory tabs) list of ideas I’ve had, we’ll see how doable they each are eventually, but I’m just thinking of things based off of what I know is possible.

• Building Blocks
  • Ceiling Lights. Directionally enclosed pair of End Rods which connect to each other.
  • Ceiling Tiles. Based on modern acoustical ceiling tiles for drop ceilings. Should be available as both 1x1 and 1x2 tiles, each an eighth of a block tall. For versatility in design, the tiles should be able to be placed on the top or bottom of a block. Crafted from Rock Wool.
  • Charred Log. A dark wood variant. Less flammable than regular logs. Crafted via smelting with stripped logs, which overwrites the charcoal recipe only for stripped logs. My initial idea was just to have the player light the stripped log on fire then put it out before the block burns away, but after discussing with Hermea and considering automatability, I believe this would be an easier route.
  • Charred Planks. Crafter from Charred Logs. This is mostly just to complete the set and for compatibility with whatever mods use the wood textures.
  • Charred Wood. Crafted with Charred Logs or via smelting Stripped Wood.
  • Curb. Quarter by quarter block rectangle at the bottom edge of a block, connects for corners, cf. Stairs. Texture connects between two adjacent blocks. Crafted via stonecutting stone types. Possible mod compat.
  • Glass Ceiling Tiles. Accompanying the Ceiling Tiles, intended for use in embedding lights in the drop ceiling.
  • Gravel Layer. Like a snow layer but gravel. Look, I’ve been using Framed Blocks and Copycats+ for ballast and that’s such a pain. Should also add compat for other gravel-like blocks from mods, especially Immersive Engineering’s Slag Gravel.
  • Gutter. Block that slopes down an eighth of its height on one side, alters shape when connected on sides, cf. Stairs. Crafted via stonecutting Polished Andesite or other polished stone types. Possible compat with modded stone types.
  • Painted Paper Wall. Paper Wall with a painted texture on it. Crafted by using a Painting on connected Paper Walls in world.
  • Paper Wall. Connected paper wall with wooden supports. I don’t like how other mods do this, I want the connectivity to allow for larger panels. Can rotate which adjacent block it connects to with a Wrench if one is available. Crafted with Paper and Planks.
  • Paper Wall Panes. Paper Wall as a pane model, always full block width. Crafted with Paper Walls.
  • Rock Wool. Pale yellow texture so I finally have something the right color for making old Enoden trains. Crafted from Stone and Wool, because it’s funny.
  • Support Lattice. This one I’m sort of iffy about, I want an easy way to make the support structure you see on larger Chinese and generally Buddhist structures, but I’m not sure I can actually work it into a usable block.
• Colored Blocks
  • Backed Cushion. Cushion with a wooden backing. Crafted from Cushion and any Planks.
  • Cushion. Eighth or quarter block tall seat. Possible modified sitting pose for kneeling, might be a bit much given the player models. Crafted from wool, can be dyed.
  • Futon. Trapdoor height bed. Crafted from wool.
  • Raised Futon. Possibly redundant with vanilla Beds. Futon with bamboo supports beneath it. Crafted from Futon and Scaffolding.
  • Transit Seat. Connecting chair-like seats for use on trains and busses.
  • Patterned Transit Seat. Like the Transit Seat but with the texture of the associated Glazed Terracotta color on it as well.
• Natural Blocks
  • Spider Lily. Look, I don’t really want to modify world generation in this mod but I need this. How will the player get it? Fucking, uhh.
• Functional Blocks
  • Air Conditioner. Cosmetic model of an air conditioner. Possibly have some varieties for window units, wall units, &c. Possibly compat for Cold Sweat.
  • Cubicle Desk. A directionally connecting desk block which renders cubicle walls extending outside its hitbox to allow blocks to still be placed alongside or atop it.
  • Ducts. Metal ducts for HVAC systems. The player should be able to crawl through them. Each duct should connect to adjacent ducts to create a continuous path.
  • Hanging Mailbox. Requires Mighty Mail or MrCrayfish’s Furniture Mod: Refurbished. Mailbox attached to block faces. Crafted from Ingots. Possible mod compat for ingot types.
  • Low Table. Half block tall table, connecting model. Texture based on Stripped Log. Crafted from any Plank type.
  • Red Postbox. Requires Mighty Mail or MrCrayfish’s Furniture Mod: Refurbished. Postbox based on Japan Post Service mailboxes.
  • Vents. Openings connected to Ducts, should be able to be places on any side. Punching the side connected to a duct should turn it into a falling block entity to knock it away.
• Redstone Electricity Blocks
  • Guy Wires. Like wires but connecting directly to the ground with a yellow sleeve.
  • Insulators. Connections points for Wires on Utility Poles. Various varieties for varying voltages.
  • Streetlight. Powered light, can be attached to sides of blocks or Utility Poles.
  • Transformer. Converts between voltages. Can be placed on Utility Poles.
  • Utility Pole. Pillar (like when you place a wall without connections) block serving as the basis for overhead utility lines. Can be placed at an angle, cf. Create: Pantographs and Wires, but rather than 22.5º, it should be more like 26.57º to line up with the angle created across a 1x2 block area. Should come in a small variety of materials: wood, steel and treated wood from Immersive Engineering, and concrete. Perhaps also provide a number of variations on shapes, like the Create: Pantographs and Wires posts.
  • Utility Pole Bulletin Board. Not entirely sure how I want this to work, but you should be able to place posters, signs, &c. on the poles somewhere.
  • Utility Pole Crossbeam. Attaches to the Utility Pole to support Insulators.
  • Utility Pole Stripes. A section of Utility Pole with yellow and black stripes.
  • Utility Pole Foothold. Acts as ladders when attached to Utility Poles, cf. Applied Energistics 2’s Cable Anchors.
  • Wires. Carry electricity between points, cf. Immersive Engineering, Create: Crafts & Additions, Create: Pantographs & Wires. Wires should not interact with each other, but should be blocked by the hitboxes of other blocks. Honestly, I don’t want to require adding unique crafting recipes for wires, but I do want a bit more of a complicated wiring system so it might not be possible to just allow other mods’ wires to be used. Ideally these would work as a series of blocks, each with only two points to manage the curve (this is more about a stylistic congruity with Minecraft as a whole rather than just pure efficiency). Wires could potentially be adorned in the future, cf. Supplementaries’ Rope,
• Tools & Utilities
  • Carabiner. Requires Curios API, placed in the Belt slot. Acts as an endpoint for Safety Ropes on the player.
  • Cat Ears. Requires Curios API, placed in the Head slot. I just don’t think any other mod’s cat ears are good, okay? Also, would like to add animations to this: 1) lower when crouching, 2) twitch randomly while idling, and 3) point towards mob noises.
  • Cat Tail. Requires Curios API, placed in the Belt, Back, or possibly a new Tail slot (depending on if I expand on this in the future). Would like to add animations: 1) swaying while idle and 2) raised after damaged. Unsure if possible to add compat to check for Sophisticated Backpack worn to alter raised tail animation.
  • Kei Truck Frame. Requires Automobility. You know, I’ve never actually seen anyone make an addon for Automobility, but it should be possible to register a custom frame.
  • Paint Line. Quarter block wide line at the center of the block. Connects to adjacent Paint Lines of the same color. Placing on top of an existing Paint Line will start a connected line to whatever endpoint placed thereafter, can be curved, cf. Create’s Rails.
  • Road Paint Bucket. Covers a 4x4 px area on the top of a block when used. Able to be used multiple times on a single block. Projects the texture down onto the block, cf. Create Deco Facades. Weathers over time; can wax to avoid weathering or deliberately weather with a water bottle or bucket. Crafted with Dye, Water Bucket, and Seeds (meant to represent oils used in paints). Each bucket has 64 uses before turning into an empty bucket.
  • Rope Anchor. Acts as an endpoint for Safety Ropes in the world. Able to be placed on any side of a block. Able to be attached to Utility Poles, cf. AE2 Cable subparts.
  • Safety Ropes. Item that can be right-clicked onto a Rope Anchor to attach the player via Lead-like mechanics to avoid falling. Requires the player wearing a Carabiner.
  • Tactile Paved Stairs. Crafted with Tactile Paving and any Stairs block. This might be an interesting experiment in adding compatibility for modded Stairs, trying to add what would essentially be a texture mask on the top face and register unique items.
  • Tactile Paving. Full block facade. Base texture projected onto block below with some dotted details hovering above, similar to Pink Petals. Crafted via stonecutter with Yellow Terracotta. I’d say crafting out of plastic would be an option for compatibility with mods that add it, but I’ll leave recipe modifications up to modpack developers.
  • Tactile Paving Line. Half block wide at the center of the block. Connected the same way as the Paint Line. Also crafted via stonecutter.
• Combat
  • Geta. Placed in Feet slot. Elevated sandals crafted out of any type of Planks. Unsure if possible, but would be nice to be able to raise the player model with these. Do not provide armor.
  • Hakama. Placed in Legs slot. Would like to experiment with modeling a skirt such that it does not clip through legs, I have some idea how to do this, with essentially two overlapping models offset to avoid texture glitching. Crafted with String. Can be dyed, similar ideas to the Kosode.
  • Hobnailed Tabi. Tabi with extra durability for use as boots. Crafted with Iron Nuggets and Tabi.
  • Kosode. Placed in Body slot. White by default, can be dyed. Possibly include patterns for the dyed varieties. Crafted from String.
  • Striped Socks. Requires Curios API, placed in the Sock slot. Crafted out of Thigh-high Socks and White Wool. Adds white stripes to the underlying Thigh-high Socks.
  • Tabi. Requires Curios API, placed in the Sock slot. Can be dyed. Can also be placed in Feet slot. Crafted with leather. Act like leather boots.
  • Thigh-high Socks. Requires Curios API, placed in the Sock slot. Crafted with Wool. Can be any of the 16 colors of wool.
  • Waraji. Compat with Farmer’s Delight. Placed in the Feet slot. Crafter with Straw. Do not provide armor.
  • Wool Socks. Requires Curios API, placed in the Sock slot. Crafted out of Wool. Can be any of the 16 colors of Wool.

I believe that’s everything I want to add initially, sort of a v1.0 feature list. I’ll write other ideas down for sure, but with the exception of possibly adding ingredients for crafting, I don’t want to add any more features to the list before finishing these.

As far as Minecraft modding and such goes, I do also have this brilliant idea of forking and porting Thaumcraft to be compatible with Minecraft 1.20.1+ for Forge and Fabric (I’ve heard a while ago that Team COFH is working on this, but it’s been years without much news). Also, I really want to update the Isabella 2 texture/resource pack, the original creator, Bonemouse, maintained it up through 1.5, Srugs maintained a continuation up to 1.8, then yurisuika maintained a continuation up to 1.19. Mod support was previously done via the FTB Edition thread or Gnomeo’s Modded Isabella repository. Basically, there should be a decent amount to work with here to get it to support everything we’re currently playing with. I just really like Thaumcraft and Isabella, they were core parts of my Minecraft experience for years, but now even playing with resource packs at all is treated rather oddly… well, anyway.

I haven’t read and written nothing all week, just nothing to really talk about in those regards. It’s been a weird week, I’m even thrown off enough to not publish this on Saturday as intended. Okay, not sticking to schedule is admittedly fairly normal for me, but I was doing pretty well. See you next week when I’ve, maybe, at least started on this mod idea.