I'm aware that this is quite a silly question and might have been asked before. However, I'm genuinely curious as to why it is difficult for mod creators to update/port their mods to newer versions of minecraft, including 1.13.* and 1.14.*?
It's very uncommon for me to find popular and beloveds mod that are compatible with versions higher than 1.12.2. How is minecraft being changed to make modding increasingly more difficult, and is the publishing of the "game obfuscation maps" helpful at all?
To make a mod, an API is required. The most common MC API is Forge. Until a version of Forge is created, mods cannot be created.
There was a delay in Forge for 1.13 and 1.14 because of the changes in the coding of MC itself. Forge for 1.14 is now available.
An alternate API was created for 1.14 called Fabric during the Forge delay. 1.13 also had an alternate API created called Rift.
Plus, its the author's choice on what version of MC to update to. For example: not a lot of the 1.7.10 mods updated to 1.8. A majority of mod makers waited till 1.12 to update.
Ever since MIcrosoft bought Mojang, MC versions have been releasing a lot quicker now. It takes time to write code.
It can come down to Mojang's changes in updates so Forge (that and MCCoderPack and other requires for Forge) has to adapt, or just Forge changes themselves. There is probably other reasons but those are the two I notice. Forge 1.13 took a while not just because of the ID flattening adapting but legacy code reasons that needed to be removed, updated, changed or whatever the case that the Forge team felt it was necessary to do.
Rift was in-between and made Fabric what it is now (even if Rift was a prototype of sorts) but Fabric is lightweight and updates to snapshots in no time because it's built for that. Forge has everything inside it, Fabric has it's base and everything else can be applied externally to it that devs can use (not just because they are being made from scratch), so it's modular. It might be annoying to work out which libraries but they have (for players this it can be the case I mean), but the Fabric team have done a good job of embedding libraries, APIs and more into their mods so it's less tedious to download requirements all the time as people don't look at the file/changelog they just download a mod and expect it to work.
Many devs have stayed on 1.7.10 due to the time to spend on updating their mods or the 1.8+ changes to Forge that may have mostly likely been due to Mojang's changes annoyed them or they just enjoy 1.7.10 so much more and the 1.7.10 community is still active 5+ years later so it's not a version that won't be played. Silent's Gems might be updated every version no problem but Thermal Expansion took a while for a 1.10.2 version then made it's way to 1.12.2. Mostly due to the RF API I feel besides the dev's time and ideas and so on (even though Ender IO updated fairly well from 1.8.9 to 1.11.2 but then slowed down around 1.12.2 and people screamed for it to be updated and the devs have now updated it but still it can't be ignored and it besides other mods used the RF API for those versions and Forge Energy came later). While Tinkers was restructured and made for 1.8+ and went to 1.12.2 no problem. If you look back on how long it takes mods/modloaders to update just guess based on what is stated in updates like JSON changes, the ID Flattening and so on. While technical things in updates you may see and may not understand as a player (I don't know how much it does myself but as I am looking into modding the proper way I am slowly understanding how long it can take, I have only started with Fabric though not Forge 1.14 yet) yes and don't effect players they do developers of modloaders and mods.
In short:
In short it's the developer's choice which version/modloader they developer for (Forge or Fabric), it depends on Mojang's update decisions, the modloaders either adapt or change things for their own reasons.
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Niche Community Content Finder, Youtuber, Modpack/Map Maker, Duck
Forum Thread Maintainer for APortingCore, Liteloader Download HUB, Asphodel Meadows, Fabric Project, Legacy Fabric/Cursed Fabric, Power API, Rift/Fabric/Forge 1.13 to 1.17.
No problem, what Majestyc2k1 said is very true and relevant, but for me I just stated what I've experienced in the last few years as a player (1.7.1 to 1.14.4 have been the good years of experiencing modding for me). From hearing what devs say in the Rift & Fabric Discords as assisting players with installs (in the last year and still every so often).
To noticing who worked on Forge aspects in the changelogs.
So I don't have accuracy for all things as I'm not a true dev myself (I understand code but I do proper modding/know much about Java coding compared to other code) but while some info is second hand, the rest is guessing based on what seems likely.
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Niche Community Content Finder, Youtuber, Modpack/Map Maker, Duck
Forum Thread Maintainer for APortingCore, Liteloader Download HUB, Asphodel Meadows, Fabric Project, Legacy Fabric/Cursed Fabric, Power API, Rift/Fabric/Forge 1.13 to 1.17.
Hi there
I'm aware that this is quite a silly question and might have been asked before. However, I'm genuinely curious as to why it is difficult for mod creators to update/port their mods to newer versions of minecraft, including 1.13.* and 1.14.*?
It's very uncommon for me to find popular and beloveds mod that are compatible with versions higher than 1.12.2. How is minecraft being changed to make modding increasingly more difficult, and is the publishing of the "game obfuscation maps" helpful at all?
Thanks in advance!
To make a mod, an API is required. The most common MC API is Forge. Until a version of Forge is created, mods cannot be created.
There was a delay in Forge for 1.13 and 1.14 because of the changes in the coding of MC itself. Forge for 1.14 is now available.
An alternate API was created for 1.14 called Fabric during the Forge delay. 1.13 also had an alternate API created called Rift.
Plus, its the author's choice on what version of MC to update to. For example: not a lot of the 1.7.10 mods updated to 1.8. A majority of mod makers waited till 1.12 to update.
Ever since MIcrosoft bought Mojang, MC versions have been releasing a lot quicker now. It takes time to write code.
"We live on a placid island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity, and it was not meant that we should voyage far."
It can come down to Mojang's changes in updates so Forge (that and MCCoderPack and other requires for Forge) has to adapt, or just Forge changes themselves. There is probably other reasons but those are the two I notice. Forge 1.13 took a while not just because of the ID flattening adapting but legacy code reasons that needed to be removed, updated, changed or whatever the case that the Forge team felt it was necessary to do.
Rift was in-between and made Fabric what it is now (even if Rift was a prototype of sorts) but Fabric is lightweight and updates to snapshots in no time because it's built for that. Forge has everything inside it, Fabric has it's base and everything else can be applied externally to it that devs can use (not just because they are being made from scratch), so it's modular. It might be annoying to work out which libraries but they have (for players this it can be the case I mean), but the Fabric team have done a good job of embedding libraries, APIs and more into their mods so it's less tedious to download requirements all the time as people don't look at the file/changelog they just download a mod and expect it to work.
Many devs have stayed on 1.7.10 due to the time to spend on updating their mods or the 1.8+ changes to Forge that may have mostly likely been due to Mojang's changes annoyed them or they just enjoy 1.7.10 so much more and the 1.7.10 community is still active 5+ years later so it's not a version that won't be played. Silent's Gems might be updated every version no problem but Thermal Expansion took a while for a 1.10.2 version then made it's way to 1.12.2. Mostly due to the RF API I feel besides the dev's time and ideas and so on (even though Ender IO updated fairly well from 1.8.9 to 1.11.2 but then slowed down around 1.12.2 and people screamed for it to be updated and the devs have now updated it but still it can't be ignored and it besides other mods used the RF API for those versions and Forge Energy came later). While Tinkers was restructured and made for 1.8+ and went to 1.12.2 no problem. If you look back on how long it takes mods/modloaders to update just guess based on what is stated in updates like JSON changes, the ID Flattening and so on. While technical things in updates you may see and may not understand as a player (I don't know how much it does myself but as I am looking into modding the proper way I am slowly understanding how long it can take, I have only started with Fabric though not Forge 1.14 yet) yes and don't effect players they do developers of modloaders and mods.
In short:
In short it's the developer's choice which version/modloader they developer for (Forge or Fabric), it depends on Mojang's update decisions, the modloaders either adapt or change things for their own reasons.
Niche Community Content Finder, Youtuber, Modpack/Map Maker, Duck
Forum Thread Maintainer for APortingCore, Liteloader Download HUB, Asphodel Meadows, Fabric Project, Legacy Fabric/Cursed Fabric, Power API, Rift/Fabric/Forge 1.13 to 1.17.
Wikis I Maintain: https://modwiki.miraheze.org/wiki/User:SuntannedDuck2
Thanks for taking the time to write thoughtful responses! I know nothing about modding or code, so I appreciate your explanations.
No problem, what Majestyc2k1 said is very true and relevant, but for me I just stated what I've experienced in the last few years as a player (1.7.1 to 1.14.4 have been the good years of experiencing modding for me). From hearing what devs say in the Rift & Fabric Discords as assisting players with installs (in the last year and still every so often).
To noticing who worked on Forge aspects in the changelogs.
To just watching interviews with the devs on GreenPhelm's YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLCnnzO1tiQZzI0yjleCCKsQwIUL9ULbMu,
Not seen many of the ones from this next playlist link as they are more from years ago compared to devs still around that make the major mods and do things with Forge like the first playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLCnnzO1tiQZyq-Lv2sDwhRyxKGOcc_YKj
So I don't have accuracy for all things as I'm not a true dev myself (I understand code but I do proper modding/know much about Java coding compared to other code) but while some info is second hand, the rest is guessing based on what seems likely.
Niche Community Content Finder, Youtuber, Modpack/Map Maker, Duck
Forum Thread Maintainer for APortingCore, Liteloader Download HUB, Asphodel Meadows, Fabric Project, Legacy Fabric/Cursed Fabric, Power API, Rift/Fabric/Forge 1.13 to 1.17.
Wikis I Maintain: https://modwiki.miraheze.org/wiki/User:SuntannedDuck2