This week I merged a change consisting of over 200 files. It’s probably the largest change I’ve made since the project began, and yet it doesn’t actually introduce anything new. Instead, it fixes a mistake I made when I first created the mod.
Modding
Creating a non-official addon for a released game.
Small Eggs and Better Buckeyes
I’ve talked about how details matter before. So this week I’ve focused on a couple of things that have been bugging me for a while now. These aren’t major features, but they do help to make the mod feel like it’s been crafted by someone who cares.
It’s All About the Little Things
It’s always worth taking some time to focus on the details. Small things can make a huge difference to a mod. I spent some time this week working on small features and little improvements. In the long run, these things will make a huge difference.
Chrysalis: Completing the Cycle
We finally implement the chrysalis and complete the life cycle of the butterfly. Butterflies lay eggs. Eggs hatch into caterpillars. Caterpillars create a chrysalis. Butterflies hatch out of a chrysalis. The circle of life is complete.
Modelling and Animating Caterpillars
Everyone knows that butterflies come from caterpillars. The next stage in the life cycle is for butterfly eggs to hatch into caterpillars. So we will add caterpillars to our mod that will hatch from the eggs we created last time.
Laying Butterfly Eggs in Leaves
Butterflies lay eggs that eventually become caterpillars. Caterpillars then feed on leaves until they are fat enough to become a chrysalis. Finally, they morph into a butterfly before breaking out of the chrysalis. The next step for our mod is to implement butterfly eggs.
Regional Variety in Butterflies
Adding new textures to our implementation of butterflies is an easy way to add variety. However, we can strive to do better. Our ultimate goal is to have achievements for catching all butterfly varieties, but this becomes too easy when butterflies of all varieties can spawn anywhere.
Butterflies Part 2: The Rest of the @!#$ Owl
In Part 1 we coded a butterfly entity. Now we need to put the rest of the pieces together, so we can model, render, register, and ultimately spawn butterflies in our Minecraft world!
Model
Every entity needs a model.
Butterflies Part 1: Entities
I’m developing my own version of a Butterfly mod for Minecraft. Naturally, one of the first features I want to implement are the butterflies themselves.
Modding Minecraft: Getting Started
The Forge website has a quick guide to getting started with modding. I’m just getting back into it, so I thought I’d walk through the steps to get a project set up with Forge.