STRUCTURE GENERATION API

This is an API I created for those of you who don't want to use schematics, for whatever reason, to generate structures in your world. It allows you to design and generate custom structures as well as rotate and offset your custom structures as they are generated in the world. Additionally, there are methods that allow you to set custom tile entity data, spawn entities or whatever else you can imagine.

FEATURES

• Linked Structure Generator let's you generate multiple structures at a time with specified location and rotation
• Add custom structures to the world during world generation
• Generate custom structures in the world with the click of a button
• Auto-rotation of structures ensures it will always face the player, if desired
• Default offset will place the structure so it never spawns on top of the player
• Ability to manually change a structure's rotation or offset before spawning
• Full metadata block rotation compatibility
• Compatibility with custom blocks; just use addCustomBlockRotation to define its rotation type
• Set any block as a 'buffer' so your structure spawns more naturally in the environment
• Custom 'hooks' allow you to easily manipulate tile entity data or perform other tasks
• Place blocks where they can't otherwise be placed, such as trapdoors on glass or torches in air

MOD ONLY:

• Preview mode let's you see where the structure will generate
• Easily add new items capable of generating structures by extending ItemStructureSpawnerBase, working seamlessly with the ready-made key bindings, packet handling and preview highlighting mode

CUSTOM 'HOOKS'

There are a number of pre-written methods to allow easy manipulation of your structure, from adding loot to decorating as you see fit. These methods can be accessed by using an out-of-bounds block id to trigger the 'hook' method 'onCustomBlockAdded'. For the full instructions, see StructureArrays.java.

• Add items to any tile entity inventory with a single method
• Spawn entities without fear of spawning in a wall
• Add hanging entities such as item frames or paintings
• Set items in placed item frames
• Set art for paintings
• Add text to signs, with color example
• Place any kind of mob head

POSSIBLE FUTURE FEATURES

• Reading structures from a file to avoid compile-time size limitations (big maybe)
• Possiblity to require materials needed for structure (currently used in my RedstoneHelper mod)

KNOWN BUGS

• Large entities such as horses have problems spawning in confined spaces

DEMO MOD AVAILABLE

Download the StructureGenMod to help familiarize you with the capabilities and functionality of the Structure Generation API, or just for fun! SMP compatible.

Several structures are included and can be easily toggled between in-game:

• "Hut" - A highly modified village hut. Enter at your own risk.
• "Blacksmith" - Vanilla blacksmith shop. Thanks to Microjunk for this one!
• "Viking Shop" - A cool viking-style shop, but riddled with holes from disuse. Credit again to Microjunk.
• "Redstone Dungeon" - Can you find the treasure and live to tell about it?
• "Watermill" - An awesomely impressive water/windmill, courtesy of Microjunk.
• "Redstone Portcullis" - A design by PearSquirrel, coded by me

These are the default controls:

Sneak to highlight area in which structure will generate

'Arrow Keys' - up: moves structure away from player; down: moves structure towards/behind player; left / right

'O' - changes structure's default orientation by 90 degrees. This will have the effect of changing which side spawns facing the player.

'I' - toggles between increment and decrement y offset

'Y' - increments or decrements y offset (i.e. structure will generate further up / down)

'U' - reset x/y/z offsets to 0

'V' - toggles between generate / remove structure - when removing, be sure to click the EXACT position you clicked when spawning it (easier to do with highlighting enabled)

'[' / ']' - Previous / Next structure in the list

Right click - spawn / remove structure at tile location clicked

Controls can be customized from the config file that is generated the first time you load this mod.

Or use coolAliasStructureWorldGenDemo.zip to try out randomly generated structures dotting your landscape! Initial world loading times will be longer than normal.

INSTALLATION

DEMO MOD

1. Download the pre-compiled and zipped mod file and place it in your minecraft/mods folder. You're good to go!

2. Alternatively, follow the directions below to add the 'StructureGenMod' files to your project, giving you access to a secondary API for easily creating new Items capable of spawning structures with all the pre-made functionality.

API

1. Download the folder 'StructureGenAPI'

2. Place the entire folder either in your project or as a required project on your project's build path

3. Build your own structures / structure arrays by following the guidelines in the Instructions

4. If you are using custom hooks, either edit the included StructureGenerator.java file or create your own class that extends StructureGeneratorBase to handle your custom hooks

5. Use your StructureGenerator class to generate your structures from whatever location you choose, such as a block or item, or create a class that implements IWorldGenerator (such as the included WorldStructureGenerator) to generate structures during world generation

SCREEN SHOTS

Check them out on the forums: http://www.minecraftforum.net/topic/1963371-structure-generation-and-rotation-tool/

LIMITATIONS

World Gen The algorithms I use to place structures are currently not very sophisticated. You will get structures generating on top of or inside of each other at times, especially if you generate lots of them. They may also generate on village rooftops. I just included it to show that the API is not limited to onItemRightClick or onBlockActivated style methods, but is in fact much more flexible.

Array Size Due to the maximum byte limit of static initializers, the structure array size cannot exceed 65535 bytes. What this means for you is that a single horizontal layer of your structure cannot exceed roughly 3400 blocks in area, so about a 68x50 rectangular base, judging by my tests so far.

You would then build your structure by adding layers to the generator list. See StructureArrays.java for complete details on how to go about this.

If your structure is very large (more than 3 or so maxed static arrays), you will probably need to store them in separate files or you will get a compile time error.