If possible I have an idea to add to this. One of the districts could be a series of repeating rooms which connect to each other possibly in each cardinal direction, however some rooms have 1 connection, some have 2, 3 etc. It's one of the areas in my adventure challenge map, and each of the rooms looks very ornamental. Possibly have them made with chiseled sandstone/Quartz. The idea is that the entire place looks the same in terms of visuals making it very easy to get lost if you lose your bearings. Maybe put random loot chests one per 2x2 chunks or so. the lower levels of this repeating room system could be infinite 2x1 tunnels with random ladders up to the centre of some of the rooms. maybe even a sandwich system, so
Tunnels
Rooms
Tunnels
Rooms
Tunnels
and so on right down the y-axis.
Either way the idea is that it looks very ornate and regal. Inspiration came from Vechs' Legion Halls section of 'waking up'
I think that should be fairly easily doable. Would the rooms all be the same size, or would they be different sizes? Maybe this could be merged with the library idea somehow? Concept pics would be nice, either way.
Cool Mod! The aspect of having an infinite maze full of stuff and things to find makes it even more epic. Love to see it when it is done. Any chance on pre-releases or when you think the mod will be done?
Once I have the basic generation working in Minecraft I'll start by releasing alpha versions. As to when that will be... I'm not entirely sure myself. I need to get the room placement coded in (that's what I plan to do in the next couple days), get a tower type or two going, then work on the placement of blocks within the actual chunks. Optimistically, I'd say around the middle of next month for a basic version, as I need to get all the API stuff in order.
Edit: Actually, the towers won't really be needed for a very basic working version... so that's one thing down. Though I should probably point out that the very early alpha versions won't be particularly varied as far as structures go (this should improve with time).
Okay, so little progress update, I now have larger modules adding blocks to the world (one at a time, but I can write other, similar methods). So next up will be:
Adding more functionality to the adding of blocks. This will probably be very similar to the prototype version, but I think I can speed up the commands by transforming the coordinates before doing any operations.
Getting hallways to add themselves, and writing some half-decent looking rooms and modules.
Making a little class to populate the list of modules (these may morph into subthemes eventually)
Porting what I have to an API. If I can manage without Forge and just use a Modloader, I would very much like to do so.
Figuring out how the metadata works for things like stairs, so I can code in special methods for this that take into account rotation. In fact, I haven't coded in metadata yet at all... shouldn't be all that complicated, I think.
The very basic version will probably just have very simplistic modules: staircases and little square rooms. Not really anything impressive, but hopefully enough to get a feel for the generation. I'm not exactly in any hurry to get back to writing code for user submitted structures, as it's very tedious to write out... so I kind of want to get to work on the towers and aqueducts.
Alright, so I took a cursory glance at APIs that support dimensions. Survey says I'm stuck with Forge at the moment. I might, however, be able to work in 1.4.7, so that's a bonus.
From what I can tell you can pass in a whole array of metadata into the chunk while you make it, which should make that much less of a headache. Another nifty feature of this whole thing is, because of the way I coded it, updating should be a breeze. All the generation code is pretty much totally independent of anything Minecraft does, I would only need to convert the output properly.
Edit: So I've been thinking about possible subthemes...
Babylonian architecture looks surprisingly like Echer sketches in places, and, while ornate, scales down to blocks pretty well. In addition, this would fit right into making a sort of Hanging Gardens out of the Venice district...
Obligatory Greek architecture subtheme. We would probably want to use either Nether Quartz or Marble for this.
When I think of architecture, I immediately think Gothic cathedrals. Gothic architecture works out pretty well in Minecraft, and could be used for a more castle-y feel.
The aforementioned Ravnica has quite a few good examples of this as well.
Asian architecture is tricky to scale down properly, but I think it might be doable. Venice districts made to look like Buddhist monasteries would be rather pretty (lots of lily ponds).
Can't forget the wonderful ancient structures in South America, either: Good for garden districts with all the vines, I think.
Forge districts will be rather... interesting to pick sub-themes for. Here's a Steampunk city: The lower bits and city streets have a similar feel to what I think it should be like. Imagine that but more fiery.
A library subtheme. Seems like a good place to put these.
Wat? (Sorry, bad pun). Yeah, that would be kind of cool, though I'm a little concerned that getting to the scale we want it at would leave it very simplistic. Definitely the new marble block, now that you mention it, though if I remember correctly the marble texture we got was blue? For Greek structures we would probably want a white marble, right?
That being said, I very much like the idea of building a portal out of Nether Quartz...
Edit: And it would appear the guy that posted those nice marble textures had removed them for some reason... Hopefully someone had a saved copy.
White marble would probably be best, if we want to nail the look of some Olympian metropolis.
Making the portal out of nether quartz makes a lot of sense, since that builds a nice bit of progression for the player. Should it be shaped the same as the nether portal? And how do you turn it on?
White marble would probably be best, if we want to nail the look of some Olympian metropolis.
Making the portal out of nether quartz makes a lot of sense, since that builds a nice bit of progression for the player. Should it be shaped the same as the nether portal? And how do you turn it on?
That I'm not sure about. I would like to somehow use the pillars for the sides and perhaps the chiseled block either at the top or the corners. Something involving redstone, perhaps?
That I'm not sure about. I would like to somehow use the pillars for the sides and perhaps the chiseled block either at the top or the corners. Something involving redstone, perhaps?
Maybe you'd have to play a specific chord on note blocks nearby?
Whelp, simple block placement is now good to go. I think the next step will be implementing metadata, followed by some simple tower generation and walkways.
Yeah, note blocks would be cool, though I don't know if it's really possible to do in code without massively overhauling the way note blocks work (which we don't want to do).
Yeah, note blocks would be cool, though I don't know if it's really possible to do in code without massively overhauling the way note blocks work (which we don't want to do).
Yeah, that was kind of a pie in the sky idea. It would be nice if there was some twist from the nether portal though, the same way the end has a different portal.
We can probably recruit more people to help make textures. Either here on the forums or through Reddit.
We can also ask for permission from artists to use textures from existing texture packs. I'm sure there's a nice marble texture already out there that a kind artist would let us repurpose, as long as we give them credit. That probably also goes for a lot of other types of textures too.
We can probably recruit more people to help make textures. Either here on the forums or through Reddit.We can also ask for permission from artists to use textures from existing texture packs. I'm sure there's a nice marble texture already out there that a kind artist would let us repurpose, as long as we give them credit. That probably also goes for a lot of other types of textures too.
Should probably start recruiting people to do lots of things. At the very least we need:
A texture artist
A mob artist (skins, models, etc) - Eventually we will need this, IDK about right now
Someone who knows what the heck they're doing with Forge. I can only get so far on whatever tutorials people post on Youtube (they never go into detail on anything beyond the basics). It would be a plus to get someone with this knowledge right away so we don't need to worry about the fiddly bits nearly as much.
A module designer(?). This person would need to have a good sense for building things. Knowing basic Java would mean they could also just write the module classes themselves. I'm not quite done writing methods for putting blocks into the world, so this may need to come a bit later.
Well, I attempted to make a 1.5.1 version. The portals are very buggy (for a while they kept sending me to the Nether), but it's generating at least. Anyone know a good screen capture / microphone recording program? Also, I noticed occasionally pathways aren't lining up across vertical chunks, though I'm not sure if this is the result of a good old fashioned chunk error or not... might want to look into that.
Okay... so everything seems to be working for the random number generation. Pretty sure it's just a chunk error.
I don't know... you figure I should just put a little help wanted thing in the OP?
Should probably start recruiting people to do lots of things. At the very least we need:
A texture artist
A mob artist (skins, models, etc) - Eventually we will need this, IDK about right now
Someone who knows what the heck they're doing with Forge. I can only get so far on whatever tutorials people post on Youtube (they never go into detail on anything beyond the basics). It would be a plus to get someone with this knowledge right away so we don't need to worry about the fiddly bits nearly as much.
A module designer(?). This person would need to have a good sense for building things. Knowing basic Java would mean they could also just write the module classes themselves. I'm not quite done writing methods for putting blocks into the world, so this may need to come a bit later.
Well, I attempted to make a 1.5.1 version. The portals are very buggy (for a while they kept sending me to the Nether), but it's generating at least. Anyone know a good screen capture / microphone recording program? Also, I noticed occasionally pathways aren't lining up across vertical chunks, though I'm not sure if this is the result of a good old fashioned chunk error or not... might want to look into that.
Okay... so everything seems to be working for the random number generation. Pretty sure it's just a chunk error.
I don't know... you figure I should just put a little help wanted thing in the OP?
Well, with all the business with the new launcher and rumors of eliminating block ID's, I wonder how much of the module-level and lower code will have to be rewritten... at any rate I could start playing with towers and aqueducts, I guess.
But... why do yuo call yellow 'orange'?
(terrain/mobs/armor)
I think that should be fairly easily doable. Would the rooms all be the same size, or would they be different sizes? Maybe this could be merged with the library idea somehow? Concept pics would be nice, either way.
Oh, that's Java's default for orange. Now that you mention it, it is awfully yellow.
Once I have the basic generation working in Minecraft I'll start by releasing alpha versions. As to when that will be... I'm not entirely sure myself. I need to get the room placement coded in (that's what I plan to do in the next couple days), get a tower type or two going, then work on the placement of blocks within the actual chunks. Optimistically, I'd say around the middle of next month for a basic version, as I need to get all the API stuff in order.
Edit: Actually, the towers won't really be needed for a very basic working version... so that's one thing down. Though I should probably point out that the very early alpha versions won't be particularly varied as far as structures go (this should improve with time).
From what I can tell you can pass in a whole array of metadata into the chunk while you make it, which should make that much less of a headache. Another nifty feature of this whole thing is, because of the way I coded it, updating should be a breeze. All the generation code is pretty much totally independent of anything Minecraft does, I would only need to convert the output properly.
Edit: So I've been thinking about possible subthemes...
(terrain/mobs/armor)
What about a biome for dravidian architecture? That's stuff like this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Angkor_Wat.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Somanathapura_Keshava_temple.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Pattadakal_Virupaksha_Temple.jpg
That being said, I very much like the idea of building a portal out of Nether Quartz...
Edit: And it would appear the guy that posted those nice marble textures had removed them for some reason... Hopefully someone had a saved copy.
Making the portal out of nether quartz makes a lot of sense, since that builds a nice bit of progression for the player. Should it be shaped the same as the nether portal? And how do you turn it on?
That I'm not sure about. I would like to somehow use the pillars for the sides and perhaps the chiseled block either at the top or the corners. Something involving redstone, perhaps?
Maybe you'd have to play a specific chord on note blocks nearby?
Whelp, simple block placement is now good to go. I think the next step will be implementing metadata, followed by some simple tower generation and walkways.
Yeah, note blocks would be cool, though I don't know if it's really possible to do in code without massively overhauling the way note blocks work (which we don't want to do).
Yeah, that was kind of a pie in the sky idea. It would be nice if there was some twist from the nether portal though, the same way the end has a different portal.
(terrain/mobs/armor)
We can also ask for permission from artists to use textures from existing texture packs. I'm sure there's a nice marble texture already out there that a kind artist would let us repurpose, as long as we give them credit. That probably also goes for a lot of other types of textures too.
Should probably start recruiting people to do lots of things. At the very least we need:
Okay... so everything seems to be working for the random number generation. Pretty sure it's just a chunk error.
I don't know... you figure I should just put a little help wanted thing in the OP?
Guess so.
(terrain/mobs/armor)