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submitted 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) by WillFord27@lemmy.world to c/askmeanything@lemmy.ca

Crossposted from here

I created Wabi-Sabi Structures, Unwrecked Ships, Revamped Shipwrecks, and Pale Formations. I've been developing mods as a hobby since July 2022, and playing Minecraft consistently since 2012. Ask me anything!

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[-] megane_kun@lemm.ee 8 points 3 days ago

What is your favorite Minecraft mod that you didn't make? how about among your creations? Why is it your favorite?

As a follow-up, what (Minecraft) mod would you like to make, but couldn't for some reason?

[-] WillFord27@lemmy.world 11 points 3 days ago

There's so many, it's hard to list! I think I'll break it into categories...

Overall game changing mechanics: Simple Voice Chat
Reason: This mod shook up how I play Minecraft more than any other. It is a totally different multiplayer experience, and I struggle to play on servers that don't use it!

Visuals: Distant Horizons
Reason: Completely changes the scale of the Minecraft world and makes coordinates a thing of the past. It's humbling to be able to see your entire world at once.

Difficulty: True Darkness
Reason: Not being able to see in complete darkness makes caving and nighttime challenging and terrifying! Combined well with a mod that illuminates the area around you when you're holding a torch.

World Generation: Continents
Reason: This may be an unpopular pick, but it makes each world feel so much more unique. Oceans in vanilla are pockets of water surrounded by land. This is the opposite of that!

Structures: Recurrent Complex
Reason: I think this is what got me into designing structures in the first place. Some of the options it gives developers are still superior to the official tools, a decade later!

As for my own mods, they're all too close to my heart to pick a favorite. Right now, I think the one that I'm the most proud of from a technical standpoint is Revamped Shipwrecks.

I would love to make an End dimension mod! Unfortunately, I'm limited by my coding knowledge and just use the tools. provided to me by Mojang, so I'm unable to create something that would fit my standard. One day though! Fingers crossed (:

Great questions!

[-] stinky@redlemmy.com 4 points 3 days ago

Someone of your talent could easily pick up a volunteer java developer

We really just need strong requirements. And time.

Are you willing to show off any designs you have for the end dimension mod? Anything a developer might be able to look at to scope the work

[-] WillFord27@lemmy.world 1 points 3 days ago

For sure! A team would be nice. A lot of my best ideas have come from the process of creation, though, so I don't think my projects would benefit. I'm not necessarily talented! I just put in the time (:

I don't have any solid ideas, it's just always bothered me that I can't do more there. I know that there are also API and library mods that would allow me to, but that's an extra complication to work through, instead of focusing effort on ideas within the limitations of datapacks.

Maybe one day I will explore it more! For the time being, working on my own is working out. We will see what the future brings!

[-] megane_kun@lemm.ee 3 points 3 days ago

Thanks for the reply! If you don't mind another follow up question, you mentioned you were limited by the lack of coding knowledge in that End dimension mod, and thus are not able to make one at the moment. This brings to mind another question: What do you think is the hardest part of the modding process? Or rather, what is your process for making mods, and what is the hardest part in that process?

[-] WillFord27@lemmy.world 3 points 3 days ago

I specifically make mods that add structures, so it's a lot of building and trying to get the style right. I'm not a very artistic person! A lot of the time I get by on making interesting structures rather than pretty ones, lol.

As for the technical half, a lot of concepts generally need hacky solutions to work, and a lot of redesigns to get them to an acceptable place. I push the limits of what structures datapacks are capable of, and a lot of the time, I hit that blockade! There's been many cool ideas left currently out of the bounds, unfortunately.

Another one I struggle with is game balance. So, so much time is spent in the tweaking phase. Loot is especially difficult! For Pale Formations, a structure mod heavily reliant on its loot tables, I spent over 14 hours just tweaking and testing. Some would say it's a waste of time, but I'm a perfectionist, dammit! :p

[-] navi@lemmy.tespia.org 6 points 3 days ago

If you could request one thing from Mojang what would it be?

[-] WillFord27@lemmy.world 5 points 3 days ago

For every vanilla Minecraft structure to be entirely replicable with datapacks. Most of the structures in the game would be impossible for me to make because they use hardcoded methods I don't have access to.

That, or to be hired :p

[-] lukewarm_ozone@lemmy.today 2 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

Most of the structures in the game would be impossible for me to make because they use hardcoded methods I don’t have access to.

You mean "with a datapack", right? I don't think there's any limitations on what you can change with a mod, if you're willing to do some messy reflection.

[-] Feddinat0r@feddit.org 5 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

So i am a dev myself, csharp. My son loves minecraft and we play it almost daily together.

He often has some wishes for mods.

How hard is it to make an "hello world" easy mod? Maybe link to a tutorial which you find useful, for java edition under linux :)

Is it possible to modify mods that you download?

[-] Maalus@lemmy.world 5 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

You write a mod in java, run a gradle build and paste it into minecraft/mods.

Depending on your experience with java, with gamedev and the type of mod you want, it might be incredibly simple or completely impossible. Would benefit from an example of an ask if you have some.

Also remember that more than likely, there is already a mod for whatever he wants.

Edit: on "modifying", if you have source code, not hard at all. If you don't, you need to decompile and swap stuff around, so you are working with gibberish, messing around in code that is most likely incredibly complex. But swap a texture? That should be possible (though I haven't done it myself).

[-] Beryl@jlai.lu 7 points 3 days ago
[-] stinky@redlemmy.com 4 points 3 days ago

If you owned a game development company, what game would you make?

[-] WillFord27@lemmy.world 4 points 3 days ago

An open world, procedurally generated game based on Legos. 1x1 blocks are good, but varying shapes and sizes are better!

[-] neidu3@sh.itjust.works 4 points 3 days ago

What's your favorite dinosaur?

[-] cheese_greater@lemmy.world 3 points 3 days ago

What can people do with those redstone computer things?

[-] WillFord27@lemmy.world 3 points 3 days ago

From what I've seen, most anything lol

this post was submitted on 02 Jan 2025
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