Minecraft Forums

I've been doing a lot of searching, but haven't found any answers to my questions. So I'm helping someone here can either answer them, or point me in the right direction:


Q1: How does the game relate a square in terrain.png to an in-game block?

I have tried out several texture packs, and always find some things I like, and some I don't. I'd like to be able to build my own custom mixture of things I like, but I don't fully understand how the terrain.png file is linked to the game.

It can't be a simple 1-1 relationship between the grid and block IDs, because terrian.png contains multiple view angles or states (on/off) of some blocks (ie: logs, forges, torches, and pumpkins, to name a few).

I've been looking over the default minecraft.jar file, and I notice that several things which are present in custom packs terrain.png are not present in the default terrain.png (ie: redstone wire). Where is the game finding those textures (I looked, and couldn't find redstone wire anywhere in the default .jar file)? How do people know to put their modified textures in the correct spot in their modded terrain.png?


Q2: Is creating "new" blocks possible?

Somewhat related to Q1:

Suppose that I want to keep the default texture for cobblestone, but I also like the cobblestone from say, Misa's texture pack, and would like to be able to use both simultaneously (putting aside for now any differences in texture resolution). Is there a way I can paste her block texture into an "unused space" in terrain.png and somehow link it to some yet-unassigned block ID? My hope is that this would allow me to spawn either type of "cobblestone" through the use of /give commands. (ie: [/give trefor 4 64] would give a stack of 'default' cobblestone, while perhaps [/give trefor 101 64] would give a stack of 'Misa's' cobblestone, thus allowing me to use both block types in the same structure...)

I have also seen texture packs which introduce new types of plants, etc. (again, I'll use Misa's pack as an example). How is this done? (ie: how does the game know how to use/spawn these additional plants?)


Q3: How exactly does the art (kz.png) file work?

This question is about how you define the dimensions of an image. How does the game know that a 3x2 image in kz.png is actually that size, and not two 3x1 images which are adjacent in the grid space?



I think that's all the questions I have for now. Thanks for any help!

I have no idea what the answer to any of those questions is, but I have been curious as well. So I guess you get a free bump out of me. :biggrin.gif:

Edit- I'm 100% sure the answer to question 2 is no without mods though.

Ya, I thought as much too (regarding Q2). I'm just trying to get a better idea of how the mechanics of the textures work.

Every tutorial / video I find on textures is always focused on simple editing of specific textures (ie: how to use photoshop or the like) or on how to instal a texture pack. While both of those are useful, they don't answer my questions.

The answers have to be out there somewhere, otherwise how did the first people to create texture packs figure out how things work? :smile.gif:

1. Most of the squares in the terrain.png correlate to one block. There are some exceptions to this obviously because some blocks have more than one texture being used on the different sides. The crafting bench, the furnace and dispenser, the stone half-blocks, the TNT, the sandstone, the bookshelf, the logs, the grass, and a couple others use multiple textures for certain sides of their blocks. For figuring out which block textures goes to which blocks, you will have to study the default textures and the blocks that they cover (protip: use the wiki).

2. You would need a mod for that. I do not know how to code in java so i can't help you with that. Sorry. Second part of this question is also solved with a mod.

3. For the kz.png, various sections of the picture are coded to be grouped together when a picture is placed. The only pictures that can show up are the ones that were coded to possibly appear. The wood paneling in the corner goes on the back and on the sides of the painting. You may leave this blank if you do not want a backside or edges on your paintings (useful for things that have transparency which shows the sides of the frame when there is wood paneling in the corner area).
So to make it easy: the sizes you see are coded in so if you make a 1 block by 1 block picture in the 2 block by 1 block area of the png, you will get that picture with an extra piece stuck to it when placed in-game. Just be creative with your pictures and utilize them to your advantage to create something that would look good on a wall.

Texture modders cannot define any of these things. They can only edit the original texture spaces.
If you wish to edit which areas of the image are used, you'll have to look for a mod.

@ above; totally correct.

That all makes sense, thanks for the replies!

One last question: Where are the animation frames for fire stored? (wiki doesn't mention them, and I can't find them).

I tried out the LB photo realism pack the other day, and the only thing about it that I really did not like was the fire (the animation is WAY too slow, and from a distance you can't even tell that there IS an animation). I'd like to be able to paste in different fire frames, but I don't know where to put them...The rest of the texture pack is awesome though, I really like it.