Minecraft Forums

Quote from blahthebiste»

Sorry, I mispoke. I meant that there is no way to indirectly create specific spells, for example I cannot add crafting recipes because spells aren't distinct items, and I cannot add them as dungeon loot for a similar reason. Basically, its tough to build AM2 into an adventure map

I myself have run itno this problem. if you dont mind the time you can wrap the adventure map around hardcore questing (its a simple and easy to setup questing book). if you are distributing the mod as a save download from the net then that should also be safe to use mods like bagginses or backpacks as little lewt bags. (or you could directly set the lootbags from hardcore questing to give the explicit reward). if its a modpack that pregenerates the same map I suest just using hardcore questings rewards system. I hope this helps :P.




EDIT: also I believe Custom NPCS can add in custom recipes for use ingame. it also adds a 4 by 4 crafting grid to make larger recipes, great for making them spells. (you might want to disable extra items and blocks from custom npcs, massive id stealer and really there is pretty much a mod for every item it adds and those individual mods make the items better, such as tconstruct, tinkers defense (an addon fo tconstruct that requires the use of battlegear 2, a duel wielding mod, may also want to disable items from this too as it adds in things tconstruct already has) and battlegear 2). there really is a plethora of other mods out there that cant really improve the adventuring experience, such as hit splash damage indicators (aesthetically adding a healthbar for all mobs you look at) walljump (mario style walljumping) inventory tweaks for all those ocd positives. endless possibilities when it comes to modding.

Quote from TheMinecraftKeskas»

(I think this is where I should post this.)

Hi Guys,

I seem to be having a problem with Ars Magica 2. I am playing the 1.6.4 version after not having played it for a while and have had no problems with it before. However, on launching it today, I had an ID conflict with 5 sets of 2 AM2 items. I am using about 22-24 other mods, but upon removal of AM2 from my mods, the game worked fine. Could anyone please help me?

Thanks in advance,

TheMinecraftKeskas

it looks like you had an older version then updated, and now the config is being silly, just try deleting the config and letting it regenerate with the latest version of this mod for whichever version of minecraft your using.

Appy app app:

Name: Morph (Morphicsgr I would prefer, but as this is an rpg semi-realistic, ill keep it as morph)

Age: 14

Gender: Male

Class: (the description should sum it up)

Home region: Unova

Appearance: black hair, green eyes, white and black jacket (you know what, my minecraft skin sums it up pretty well: http://www.minecraft.net/skin/leonidas44441.png )

Background: (this is where it gets deep, so stick around if you want) allright, Morph was found in the forest by the prof. juniper, and was adopted by her. the reason behind this is because of his odd affinity with poke'mon... he is able to communicate with pokemon and understand them, the reason behind THIS is because, Arceus is dying and he needed a successor but he wanted to bridge the gap between man and pokemon, so he gave up his burden which extended his life force by giving his stones of power (the 12 stones of the pokemon types) and fusing them with a human, removing the humans heart and replacing it with the stones. He then sent the boy on a trail which should lead him to the new places popping up with pokemon, new and rare species and mutations have been happening because of arceuses loss over his power. the boy at a young age befriends all pokemon he encounters, but a problem persists with the boy, as he is diagnosed with aspergers syndrome, making him completely shy to all human beings, he is only known to have 5 human friends, the closest known to him as Koby, his rival (I might write a application for Koby too.) his most closest friends are pokemon, the two of his dearest friends whom he treats as brothers are a riolu and a zorua. He has helped the prof. juniper with countless research towards communication with pokemon, but as of now, he is the only known person that can talk to pokemon on the same plane (understanding what they say) as such he has been used countless times a bridge to understand pokemons problems. an extraordinary thing in morphs capabilities is that when he is in grave danger he will call upon one of his own pokemon from his pokemon pool to fuse with and gain his powers, a kind of mutation, if you will. in this state he gains some form of the original pokemon (wings, flippers etc. etc.) and he will gain the capability to fight against or stop the crisis at hand. he has no knowledge of this power, as he goes unconscious whenever this takes place, and arceus then takes full control of the situation, acting as a protective to stop the heir from becoming damaged. infact, all humans do not know of this peculiar state, only a select few pokemon know, as whenever it happens, a blinding light comes flying out from morph (like a flashbang grenade) blinding everyone within the vicinity as so he doesnt get seen. the flash lasts until he returns to his normal human state, at which he is unconscious and collapsed on the ground, the pokemon that fused laying close to his chest. the pokemon generally always refer to him as "gifted" or "having a secret" and Morph always shrugs it off (eg. morph: well, yes, I understand what you're saying, but what if his pikachu isn't really that friendly. Zorua: of course he is, all pokemon understand your secret and are always friendly towards the gifted. Morph: I dont have a secret, for the 5 time!.).

personality: shy, but when you get to know him, quite friendly, always sharing his opinion.

generation 2 pokemon in pokedex question: 251

Pokemon no. in team: 2

Pokemon #: Riolu (may evolve)
Species: Emanation Pokémon
Nickname(if applicable): none
Level: 20
Moveset: Force palm, counter, TM earthquake, feint

Pokemon #: Zorua
Species: Tricky Fox Pokémon
Nickname(if applicable): none
Level: 20
Moveset: feint attack, pursuit, fake tears, TM shadow ball


Side Note: look if you dont like the lroe behind him or he is overly OP then I can totally change it, but he is keeping the pokemon he has if i change him and he also keeps the aspergers syndrome, as that helps me control the character better ( i also am diagnosed with it) (for those that dont know, aspergers syndrome is basically a social barrier, things I've noticed is that I have a hard time making friends, and when a complete stranger sit nexts to me I barely talk)I know its big and again, if you dont like it as it kind of breaks the pokemon lore I can and will change it, I may also not post much as I have a busy life, but I will try to dedicate as much as i can to this as possibleedit: lroe is supposed to be lore, there may also be other problems, so please stick with mealso I havent played the X Y games yet, so please lead me in the right directionZorua also may evolve

Quote from Zeroziouz_Leoz

I finished It! it was the most amazing thing I've eva played! (mainly because I couldn't stop playing! you're the first!) it was beautifal, it really was, even though a few bugs tried to nibble their way through the wiring of the map (I be speaking sarcasticly, what i mean is that i ran into bugs)! overall 8/10! reason for such a dubbed result: well, anything this epic deserves a mark above 7! the reason i chose 8 was because of dem dayum bugs (minor) and i had to cheat alittle to get through some of the quests that took AGES to complete. plus i couldnt really beat the ender dragon (i put the wither in the end as well, probly why) so i went creative to finish him and the wither. one thing i would of loved to see was that you were given the notebook AND a descriptive book, that leads to the supposed overworld you were all zapped from. now then, the really good part. I DEMAND A SEQUEL! I have the storyline all cut out, this can simply use the same mods that the first used (or be built in to the descriptive book you get!) "You have awoken with a sore head, not clearly remembering what happened to you, you get up, and you see a book, you walk over to it and realise its a portal to some place, the title read 'The Sky Den' inside it there appears to be galactic writing, which means it would be hard to decipher, you seem to be pulled towards a village of sorts, (quests to lead you thar!) once there you see something that makes you remember everything! a village of gnolls! one approaches you 'Help Us, Help Us, Our Village Elder has dissapeared!' (this is the cause for the main storyline)..." and that is the sequel intro. the book you find should be a linking book (or appear to look like one *hint hint*) that is part of the main storyline, in time the knowledge seeps bac through you of your past, the past that appears to start on a idle island in the middle of the sky... so by the end of the main quest line, you can travel back to the Sky Den, or, a revamped version of it. there should be a statue of the Steve skin (it was erected in honour of you) and you awake to see the gnoll boss, and a new gnoll, the village chief of the first world. and thats about it, thanks, and PLEASE TAKE THIS INTO CONSIDERATION PLEASE!!!! it would be EPIC to have something like this, but the sequel will be much more epic!

This is incase you missed my post

UPDATE IT!!!!!!

umm,
I just wanted to say good luck boys,
I hope as a former work buddy,
I can get some priviledges to the new mod.

Quote from AngraNayul»

Ya know word filters exist for a reason.

---

Table of Contents:

Overview
Changes in how things work
Frequently Asked Questions
[WIP] The Cubic Chunks Mod!
Gallery
Supporting this suggestion
Special thanks

[spoiler=Tl:dr]Q: Won't this increase lag?
A: Absolutely not. The title of this suggestion and big red letters at the top of this post aren't lying. If you want to know how, then I suggest you actually read this post.

Q: Will this change terrain? Will this break existing worlds?
A: No. Terrain change is not necessary. Existing worlds can be converted fairly easily with a process described later in this post.

Q: How can sunlight or rain work with infinite vertical space?
A: I suggest you read Coping with sunlight, because it's too complex for a tl;dr.

Q: I have a different question but still don't feel like reading this post. What do I do?
A: Too bad, read the FAQ. I put way too much work into this for the entirety of it to be ignored.[/spoiler]

---

Overview:

In Minecraft, the sky is the limit - literally. It doesn't matter how many thousands of blocks a player has traveled, or what dimension they're in, or even if they're playing in creative or survival, the highest they can ever build is up to a height of 256. Why is that? If Minecraft can have a world that's infinite in the north, in the south, in the east, and in the west, why can't that world be infinite up and down too?

In Minecraft's earliest days, in Classic and Indev, the world was not infinite in any direction. This was because the entire world needed to be generated at the same time, and the entire world needed to be simulated at the same time as well. This led to a conundrum - the bigger the world, the more it lagged.
Notch didn't like this. He knew his players liked to explore and build large creations, so he found a way to make the world truly infinite. When the Minecraft '' class='bbc'>Infdev came out, it brought with it truly infinite worlds. Suddenly, players could travel hundreds of thousands of blocks in any direction, and never encounter a barrier, or become too laggy.
The Infdev update brought about a very large change to Minecraft worlds to accomplish this feat. For the first time, instead every world being just a single huge piece, they were broken up into a two-dimensional grid of pieces, called chunks. Through breaking the world up into pieces, this 'chunk system' enabled infinite worlds by letting Minecraft create new pieces and simulate them only when it needs to.

Why does that not apply to the vertical axis? Because the type of 'chunk system' Minecraft uses right now is a linear one, which, by using only a two-dimensional grid to map out chunks, means that it is impossible for chunks to stack on top of one another, and by extension, meaning that a single chunk must cover the entire vertical space. This brings back the problem that the Infdev update was supposed to eradicate, now only with chunks, instead of an entire world; the bigger a chunk is, the more laggy it is. You can't just increase the height limit and make chunks taller, because it will become laggier, and laggier, and laggier to do it.
That's why, to fix this, Minecraft must change over to a cubic chunk system. Under this system, 16³ block chunks are aligned on a three-dimensional grid, completely eliminating maximum height as an aspect of lag.

The immediate benefits:
•Minecraft worlds become as virtually infinite vertically as they are horizontally: The absolute limit being Y = ±30,000,000.
•A large FPS increase: Alpha testers report an FPS increase of 100~200%.
•Increase in running capability: Computers running Minecraft on Tiny render distance will handle only 30% the blocks they do now.

The possible features:
•Spherical render/load distance: Reduce handled blocks by up to 30% by cutting corners made of unneeded chunks.
•Server chunk occlusion/exclusion: Reduce bandwidth usage and defeat hackers by only sending data for visible chunks.
•Three-dimensional biomes: Save biome data per chunk rather than per block column, create volcanoes with magma chambers, underground rivers, tropical skylands floating over icy taigas, and more.

The disadvantages:
•Unloaded gravity-pause: Falling non-player entities and fluids will be forced to pause their fall if they reach unloaded chunks, but will resume falling when those chunks are loaded.
•Slow falling-pause: Players with slower computers and smaller render distances will have falling occasionally paused as they fall into unloaded chunks, until new chunks can be loaded.

The problems:
•Current sunlight and rain calculation methods cannot work with infinite vertical space: The solution to this is described here.
•Current BiomeDecorator cannot work with multiple vertical chunks simultaneously: The BiomeDecorator code must be altered to function correctly with this, or removed.
•Current cave generation method is executed an extra time for each vertical chunk created simultaneously, leading to lag spikes on world generation: Cave generation's method must be altered to suit this system more.
•Current grass/dirt generation algorithm forces additional chunk requests when chunks are loaded, causing chunks to load slower than they should: This algorithm must be replaced with something else.

---

Changes in how things work:

Obviously, the implementation of this new chunk system will change quite a few things. These changes are mostly either necessary or in the interest of increased efficiency. Such changes are categorized and explained below.

How worlds will be stored:
[spoiler]How the current storage works, and what changes:
Interestingly enough, the current method of storage, the Anvil format, is derived from the storage method that the original Cubic Chunks mod used. The Anvil format stores individual chunk as a series of 16³ quasi-cubic chunks. These 'fake' cubic chunks allow for easier reference of specific data, but they still can't be separated from each other, meaning that it fails to reap the full benefits of this system. Even so, the change allowed Mojang to double the maximum height with no performance hit. Chunks are stored in groups of 32², inside 'MCRegion' files, for a total of 1024 chunks.
By nature, cubic chunks does away with the 'quasi-cubic' nonsense. In terms of chunk grouping, instead of using groups of 32³ chunks, new "3DRegion" files would contain groups of 16³. This means each 3DRegion file contains 4096 chunks, four times as many as MCRegion files. However, each 3DRegion contains only one fourth the amount of blocks. For per-chunk positional metadata, 3DRegion files would use the same number of bits as MCRegion files, after compression. Calculations show that the same area encompassed by a single MCRegion file would consume 64 kilobytes of extra space with 4 3DRegion files, which is nothing.

Converting existing worlds:
Most people are probably wondering something like "But won't this totally destroy all existing worlds?". Absolutely not; conversion could not be simpler. When a non-cubic world is loaded after the implementation of this system, a conversion process will begin and convert the entire world at once(To avoid making chunk loading take longer during play). First, all existing MCRegion files will be divided into quarters to create 3DRegion files. Then, all existing chunks are divided into sixteenths using the quasi-cubic properties to identify boundaries. After that, conversion is done.

The "isEmpty" flag optimization:
A 1-bit flag is added to each chunk, named "isEmpty". If the chunk consists of 100% air blocks, this bit is 1, any other case makes it 0. When the bit is 1, all data for the chunk besides the isEmpty flag is deleted and ignored, which reduces filesize. Empty chunks are never loaded, and locations where they occur are merely simulated as entities reside in them. The chunk will only load when something requires saving inside it.[/spoiler]

Changes to terrain, ores, etcetera:
[spoiler]Terrain:
By default, nothing will change. Small bits of terrain generation code need to be reconfigured to work properly with Cubic Chunks.

Biomes:
By default, nothing will change.

Ore generation:
By default, nothing will change.

Structures:
By default, nothing will change.

The Void:
After conversion to Cubic Chunks, the void and bedrock layer will still exist and generate as they always have. However, the void(Not the bedrock layer!) will not exist as a hard limit and is able to be moved, but not removed, by editing an associated NBT data tag inside a world's level.dat. This feature, that allows for increasing the maximum depth, is intentionally disabled without external programs, to prevent terrain change of any sort. It is intended to be used by experienced mapmakers and world generation mods only.

Superflat settings:
Existing superflat worlds will not change. However, new superflat worlds will gain a new decoration parameter, 'void'. Inclusion of this parameter will cause the void to form below the lowest defined layer. Exclusion of it will cause all layers below the lowest defined layer to copy the settings of that layer.[/spoiler]

Coping with sunlight:
[spoiler]There used to be a solution here, but it wasn't deemed good enough by Jeb. Suggest solutions in this thread.[/spoiler]

Changes to servers:
[spoiler]Settings:
There's a setting inside the Server.properties file called 'max-build-height'. The setting makes it impossible for any player to place or remove blocks above that height.
With the implementation of Cubic Chunks, a new setting named "maximum-generation-depth" would be added. The void, bedrock layers, and magma layers will generate normally at and above the Y level designated by the value of this setting.

Chunk occlusion/exclusion:
Using the raytracing methods already available in the code and used for explosion calculations, servers can identify which chunks are visible to a player, within safe assumptions, and only send the data for those chunks. This both reduces bandwidth usage, and cripples the usefulness of X-Ray cheats.[/spoiler]

Render/Load distance alterations:
[spoiler]After the implementation of Cubic Chunks, view distances' radii will apply to the vertical axis too. This reduces handled blocks in the cases of tiny and short render distances, and increases them in the cases of normal and far render distances. This can be optimized by utilizing a spherical render distance instead of a cubic one, which would reduce handled blocks in all distances except Far.[/spoiler]

---

Frequently Asked Questions:

[spoiler=FAQ]Q: This is impossible.
A: No it's not. See below.

Q: Is this available as a mod?
A: Not yet! But it will be!

Q: I like X-ray! What if I don't want it to be broken?
A: First of all, breaking X-ray hacks will only be possible to do in multiplayer. That said, the system that would break X-ray would be possible to disable by the server owner. If the owner doesn't disable the system, then they don't want you using X-ray, and you should not be doing what the server owner doesn't want in the first place.

Q: I play on a PvP/Anarchy/Raid/Faction server. Won't this system let people pillar up into the sky and create a base thousands of blocks in the air and never be found?
A: No.

Q: I like Minecraft's current height limits. What if I don't want to have an infinite sky or infinite underground?
A: If this system is added, all worlds will not automatically gain an infinite underground. As stated below, the Void will remain in all worlds, even after the conversion to Cubic Chunks. The ability to remove the Void will simply be there. As for infinite space in the sky, the current build limit is over one hundred blocks above any terrain that vanilla Minecraft can possibly generate. It is ENTIRELY your decision on whether or not you take advantage of this height. If you play on a server, like stated above, the server owner can set a maximum build height. If s/he doesn't, then don't play on their server - you don't play on servers where the server owners allow things you don't like. Why would you play on an anarchy server if you hate being stolen from and killed?

Q: Will this affect Redstone at all?
A: No. This system will simply make it possible to make larger redstone circuitry than before.

Q: Won't this break existing worlds?
A: No. Existing worlds can be easily converted by dividing each MCRegion file into 4 pieces, then slicing the existing 256 block-high chunks inside them into 16 individual chunks.

Q: Won't this affect mods? Won't mod authors have a hard time updating their mods?
A: The answer to this question depends solely on the answer to the following two questions: Do parts of the modification code rely on chunk data/metadata? Does the mod author want to take advantage of the features of the new chunk system? If the answers to the first and second question are both "No", then updating a mod to this system should be very easy and quick. If the answer to the first question is "Yes", then those parts of the code will need to be rewritten somewhat, but in most cases, the changes should be fairly quick and easy. The only time that it should be hard to update a mod to this system, is if the answer to the second question is "Yes".

Q: Won't this require a total rewrite of the mod API if that's released first?
A: No. Whether or not even a small part of the mod API needs to be rewritten depends on the way that it is implemented and whether or not there are API inclusions for chunk handling and other chunk-related behavior.

Q: Could a player fall into unloaded chunks if chunks aren't loaded fast enough?
A: No, they could not, and for several reasons. Minecraft has a terminal velocity, though it might not seem like it. This velocity is slower than it should take to load new chunks below the player. In cases with exceptionally slow computers, even if the player did manage to reach an unloaded chunk, their fall would be paused until that chunk can be loaded.

Q: What would happen when water, sand, or a mob falls into an unloaded chunk?
A: Nothing. The water/sand/mob would freeze in place until the chunk is loaded and it can continue moving. You can already see this same thing happening on the horizontal axis.

Q: What will happen to the Void?
A: It will still exist, along with all its effects. The only difference is that the Void is no longer a hard limit and it can be moved. After the conversion to Cubic Chunks, the Void's location will be stored in a world's ' class='bbc'>level.dat, and this location can be changed with NBT editing tools. When and where the Void exists, chunks will cease to generate.

Q: Will this affect terrain?
A: No. However, terrain generators will gain the ability to use infinite height.

Q: Will this affect ore generation?
A: No. Ore is a part of terrain generation. As stated above, terrain will not be changed.

Q: Won't all current terrain generators be incompatible with this system and need to be rewritten?
A: No. Terrain generators work independently of chunks. When a chunk is generated for the first time, it calls the terrain generator and receives a specific section of the resultant terrain to save inside itself. Because of this, some custom terrain generators can generate steep terrain all the way to Y256, where you can experience a large, flat cut-off. Since there are no chunks above Y256 to call the terrain generator for terrain, no terrain exists there.

Q: What would happen if there's a huge solid ceiling so far above you that it is unloaded? Wouldn't you just see the sky, just with everything being completely dark?
A: Yes. This already happens on the horizontal axis, and it is an issue with sky rendering, not this chunk system. As such, this has nothing to do with this suggestion. Please do not post about this.

Q: If you go deep underground, will your plants grow/ores smelt/animals grow?
A: No, because those chunks would be unloaded, just as if you had walked far away. This is a flaw with any chunk system, regardless of shape. It is a necessary evil that allows Minecraft to have infinite worlds. The only way to fix this would be to introduce a separate new system that works with chunks as they are loaded and unloaded. This suggestion deals with the chunk system itself, and not sister processes. Because of that, that is outside of the scope of this suggestion. Please do not post about this.[/spoiler]

---

[WIP] The Cubic Chunks Mod! (Tall Worlds Mod):

Cuchaz has taken it upon himself to bring us the glorious Cubic Chunks, since Mojang refuses to do so.

Cuchaz is using a API of his own creation to help assist in the making of this mod, and he's quite far along, as seen in these two tech demo videos:
[spoiler=T-Demo 1: Vertical chunk loading][/spoiler]
[spoiler=T-Demo 2: Broken height cap and no lag!][/spoiler]
With the basic functionality in place - a complete overhaul of the basic chunk system, and height limit removed - this whole concept can already be considered proven. What remains is making sure everything else functions correctly under the new chunk system. In any case, stay tuned for future updates if it interests you(If it doesn't, then you are the weakest link - goodbye!).

You can follow the mod's development in much more depth in its very own topic!

---

Gallery:

[spoiler=A mountainside with an experimental engine using Cubic Chunks designed by Nocte. 960 block view radius, and 30 FPS.][/spoiler]
[spoiler=A different view of the mountainside with the same engine by Nocte. This time, with 1600 block view radius and 15 FPS.][/spoiler]
[spoiler="A video demonstrating Nocte's engine."]

---

Support & Submission to Mojang:

If you support this, hit the rep button in the bottom-left corner of this post. It is the only good way of accurately measuring support here.

If you wish, you can put the following banner, courtesy of laz2727, into your signature. It helps to attract support from all parts of the forum!

 [url=http://www.minecraftforum.net/topic/1707097-cubic-chunks-infinite-height-elimination-of-x-ray-and-more-60-supporters/page__st__0][img]http://img833.imageshack.us/img833/443/hov.png[/img][/url]

Please help us get word out of this suggestion! Share this with your friends, with Minecraft celebrities if you're familiar with them, or even with Mojangsters like Jeb or Dinnerbone! (Do not share this with Notch. Notch doesn't work with Minecraft anymore.)

The purpose of this suggestion is to have Cubic Chunks implemented in Vanilla. Being available as a modification does not fulfill that purpose. The modification featured in this suggestion is to act as a proof-of-concept only(Note: Its being featured here is to act as a proof-of-concept. The modification itself is on its way to becoming a fully fledged modification).

---

Special thanks:
Cuchaz, for taking Barteks' proof and running with it, to give us a truly functional Cubic Chunks mod.
Barteks2x, for updating the Cubic Chunks mod to 1.6.2, proving that it is possible.
Azraile, for posting the original suggestion and allowing me to take ownership of it.
Nocte, for helping resolve flaws and designing Hexahedra.
MineCrak, for a large amount of valuable insight and enthusiasm into the topic of Cubic Chunks.
aaronfranke, for helping resolve flaws.
PanJouda, for creating the original banner.
Flexico, for creating the predecessor to the current banner.
laz2727, for creating the current banner.
Robinton, for creating the original Cubic Chunks mod.
The_Watchman13, for answering all those stupid questions so I don't have to.

---

Note: Many calculations and information can be found among the many posts of this topic. There are too many for me to cite here, but if you wish, you can search for them yourself.

UPDATE 01/16/2014
Snapshot 14w3b introduces the ability to texture both arms and legs! It also gives every other body part an extra 3D layer similar to the hat layer in the original skin! Awesome! These new extra layers are covered up by Armor, just like the hat area. The new skin file uses a 64x64 layout with the old skin at the top and the optional overlays in the bottom half. Old 64x32 skins are still supported without modification.

However... this addition will not apply to similarly shaped mobs (zombies, zombie pigmen, etc) and it doesn't work on armor. Whether these things will change in the future is anyone's guess.

As happy as I am for the player improvements, I can't help but wonder if my suggested layout could still benefit the mobs and armors. If nothing else, it would still allow for asymmetrical mob skins and armor while staying within the small 64x32 file size. But then they would have a major discrepancy between formats...

I still like the idea of applying my format to the new skin layout - the bottom half of the 64x64 texture could contain the overlay regions. The only difference then is that the head and hat area on the bottom half would not be used. Perhaps those areas could then be left empty for modders and any other small additions that Mojang made add in the future....

What follows is the original post, while I decide if I should further modify it to try and push for the other mobs/armors to have asymmetrical textures. Either way, this is a huge victory!
Acknowledgement from Dinnerbone himself!

Quote from Dinnerbone

We've no plans to touch skins right now (except to fix them... the skin server is really unstable) but we're rewriting the whole rendering stuffs and maybe we can consider looking at this then, when it all becomes much easier.

Basically saying "maybe" in the future. The important part is that Mojang is aware of the suggestion and was moved enough to respond to the topic!

I am forever amazed with how much detail minecrafters have been able to squeeze out of the extremely limited space provided by the game's textures. Skins especially are quite a challenge due to being confined to a 64x32 pixel size. And yet there are many, many examples of beautiful and amazing skins out there that make the most of this limited space. And yet, it could be possible to grant everyone a little more... to be blunt, the current skin texture for the player character has a lot of unused and wasted space. For those counting, there are 480 unused pixels in the texture (out of a total of 2048).

With a little juggling, we could free up enough space to have independently textured left and right arms and legs! This is without changing the image size, it's still all contained within the same 64x32 png file. Of course, the player model would need to be updated to use this new mapping. Here is an enlarged view:
Pros:
+ independently textured arms and legs+ maintains the original 64x32 size = no additional skin server load/stress
+ keeps all sections grouped together in a fairly intuitive way.
+ sub sections follow a mapping very similar to the original (with only some parts slightly shifted)+ can also be applied to all armors
+ can also be applied to other humanoid mobs: zombie, pigmen, zombie_pigmen
+ can also be applied to skeletons - with slight modifications for the thinner arms/legs

Cons:
- one-time conversion needed for all texture packs for affected mobs and armors
- mods that make use of current skin's blank area may not be able to use the new format
- skin creation tools/viewers would need to update for the new format (difficult for discontinued tools)
- makes all current skins and skin repositories outdated (this is a big problem - see below)

Problem: Compatibility with Legacy Skins
There are hundreds of thousands of skins floating out there on the net. It is not reasonable to expect all of them to be updated or converted. Remember when they flipped the direction of the bottom-head/hat texture areas on the skins? There are still countless skins out there that haven't been fixed. This is a major change so it can't simply be done and let all the current content out there suddenly break. There will be backlash. On top of that, more recently the Minecraft Launcher has been augmented to allow easy access to older versions of the game - versions which absolutely expect the player skin to be using the old format. Finally, there is no reliable way to program the game to detect the different kind of skin formats based only on areas of the skin file that appear to be used. This is because the skins often have extra content in the "unused" areas. This content could be in the form of an author's name/logo, bleed off from the main image, or pixels used by specific mods on the skin.

Bottom line, we need to have a simple way for the game to know how to differentiate between the old and new player skin formats so both may be used at the same time by different players. Note that this problem only affects player skins. Mobs and armors are always controlled by the local texture pack, so there is no need to support the old format for those assets.

Below are several possible solutions to supporting the legacy skins. These are only suggestions, as I do not have intimate knowledge of how Minecraft and the skin system works under the covers. What I propose here may be incorrect or not applicable to the system, but I hope it might at least give Mojang ideas on how to implement this request.

Solution A: Increase new skin file to be 64x64
Increase the "new" player skin size to be 64x64 pixels. Place my new format in the top half and leave the rest blank. Let the old skins stay as using the 64x32 size. There are several reasons for this approach.

When the game client downloads the player skins, it can easily tell the difference in size. A 64x32 skin would use the traditional mapping we see today. Nothing changes and all the current skins out there are still ok to use. A 64x64 texture would signal the game to switch over to using the new format for that player. Since the game knows which player is using which skin, it can easily keep track of which format to use for who, and allow both types to co-exist at the same time.

The extra space in the bottom half of the "new" skin can be used for future player character enhancements by Mojang, in case they decide to add more. As an example... if we ever get custom capes, perhaps the texture could be saved to the player skin and use the extra space here.

The extra space in the bottom half of the "new" skin can also be used by mods! Any mods that had additions to the player model could use these areas. And there would be a lot more space now!

One major drawback to this approach is that the larger image file size could adversely affect the skin servers that Mojang use.

Solution B: stay 64x32 but use embedded metadata
If it proves undesirable to alter the skin file dimensions, another possible solution could be to have all new skins require metadata content added to them. Then, similar to solution A, the game would examine each skin file it downloads and search for the appropriate metadata flag. If it finds none, use the old formatting style on that skin's owning player. If it finds the appropriate metadata flag, use the new format for that player.

One problem with this approach is that png files don't have a standard way of encoding metadata. So I imagine Mojang would need to create a small utility to "stamp" skins with the metadata flag they would expect to use. This would require some extra care for making new skins on the part of the community. But on the up side, this could pave the way for an easy versioning system for additional future skin formats.

Another drawback would be the reduction in free space that some mods may have come to depend on. In this case, I believe the only solution would simply to have those mods not use the new style. They would have to require their users to say using the old skin format. So they wouldn't get the extra arm and leg, but the mods wouldn't break either. A fair trade off I think.

tldr Summary:
I propose a new skin layout for the humanoid mobs, player, and armor which would grant space for both arms and legs to be textured independently. It would be ideal to support both this new format and the old one at the same time for player skins - so as to not break all the current skins out there. There are two (possibly more) ways I can think of doing this:

Support banner get!

[url=http://www.minecraftforum.net/topic/677984-r][img]http://i.imgur.com/Iuxwe.png[/img][/url]

Changelog

News:

Jan 26th of 2013:

First update to the thread in a few months, and one that actually brings some new content. Although this is still not the "massive" update that has been referred to in many of the comments as "coming soon", that one is still, coming soon. However, let's talk about what we have today! this update brings some new models as well as the removal of some old ones. we also have some new pictures of the rest of the journal tabs, including, maps, quests and skills, speaking of skills, that just so happens to be one of our biggest accomplishments. CoolAlias has been working very very hard the past few months to bring you some quality skills! While you can see some pictures of them farther down, you can also try some out for yourself right now! Links to some Quest preview mods are down below.

A few other things that need to mentioned are - The team has grown quite a bit since the initial debut of this thread. Even so, there are still new positions open to apply for if you want! ( Check the recruitment section below ) We now have a twitter account you can follow to see new content before you'll see it here ( Links below ).

Well, the way that we’ll try and implement the storyline into the game is in the following manor...When a player fights a boss or talks to an important NPC they will drop a Journal page, once collected the item will disappear and its data will be placed into the Quest Journal. What is the Quest Journal you ask? Well it’s where the player will be able to read entries of the storyline that will help him/her further progress in the game. Here is a picture of the Quest Journal:

As you can see the journal looks like a standard book and the player will be able to flip through the entries once they have been stored. Now don’t worry this isn't the only way the player will be able to experience the storyline, the other way will be in typical cut-scene fashion.E.g. the Player arrives at the Crimson Mug Tavern, walks up to the bartender and right clicks him. A cut-scene would then commence showing the player asking about the bartender if he’d seen a small old man, with a tattered robe holding a staff with a mythical gemstone set in its pinnacle come through lately. The Bartender replies saying that a man of that stature did come through recently but if he wanted to know anything else it would cost him a price.The NPC would then drop a Journal page where the player could re-read through the previous conversation should he please. On top of this the main quest would be updated saying that the bartender request 50 pieces of silver for the information about the old man.

This leads nicely into my next point, Journal Tabs. You probably saw that there are 4 little bookmark like tabs on the right side of the journal. These are (from top to bottom) Journal, Quests, Skills and Map. The journal tab is what I previously mentioned, the place where the entries will show up, stored, and can be read at any time.

Quests shows the active quests that the player has started. There will always be a “Main Quest” section on top and then underneath will be the side quests.



The Skills and Map are pretty self-explanatory, skills will be a traditional skill tree made up of tiers with both active and passive skills,



The the map tab will show a map around the player highlighting the places to go that are quest related.

**Note - The biome that makes up the majority of the right page is a jungle biome, a swamp biome makes up most of the left page, there are a few mountains up at the top right corner, and the there is a ocean on the cutting into the swamp and jungle biome dividing the two. The portion of the map that contains nothing ( upper left corner ) that is unexplored area, you must travel withing a certain distance of that area in order for it to appear on the map.







This is Psion, one of the new dimensions that is almost fully complete already, One of our head coders (Jimmy) is a dimension expert and has been working very hard on this new world. Everything that you see in this image is completely mod made. The small creature in the front is called the Riz. He is a passive mob and is purely for aesthetic purposes. The block, touch all serve a purpose, And when you hold the Gia berries in your hand the Riz will follow you around.



A few of the blocks that we have created are going to be used new structures, here are a few of them in the following picture. The new creamy looking block is "White Washed Planks" and the roof is made out of shingles. Like I said these are only a few of these type of blocks, there will be many more that will be used in structures like alchemy towers, Haunted dungeons, Sky temples. ect..


Here is one of the coolest blocks we've made yet, it's called the magic infuser and acts like a more advanced furnace. It also includes a swirly animation in the middle as well as a very nice particle effect. Oh, by the way, don't pay any attention to that other stuff you don't recognize ;D





Alrighty! Here are a few of the many models that we have made, you can find there stats, names, descriptions and any other information concerning them on the wiki (coming soon!)



Q: Regarding any and all ETA questionsA: Unfortunately we can give no ETA on when there will be a public release of Quest. We will not release it until the story-line can be played from beginning to end and most kinks/bugs have been squashed. What I can say though is that the current version of the mod is in a.0.2.0 and there is still a lot of work to be done before it's beta, let alone v1.0 so it's going to be while.Q: I have an idea for the mod! how can I contact you?A: Just send me a PM, However I can in no way promise you that your idea will be implemented into the mod, but It will be put into consideration if it's good.Q: I have some skill and would like to join the team, how can I apply?A: See the recruiting section.


There are currently only two spots that we could use and those are a Code Animator, we are looking for someone who can proficiently code and animate the mobs, if you can also do rendering with particles that would be a nice bonus. Secondly, we need a ( or more ) lore writer, this is the position that will be writing the stories and side quests, you will need to have examples of your work . These are the two positions that we currently need, however even if you aren't one of them you can still apply.How to apply, just PM saying a little about yourself and a lot about your skill. Get creative! the more info you include the better your chances are of getting accepted. Also say a certain amount of hours per week that you could commit to doing. One last thing! Including a Portfolio/previous works is a must!

We have a few mods that serve as previews to Quest, we'd love for all of y'all to try em out and give us some feed back!

Hunternif's Antique Atlas mod - http://www.minecraftforum.net/topic/2045745-15216xforge-antique-atlas/page__st__60__hl__ antique atlas#entry27161107

Coolalias's Zelda Sword Skills mod - http://www.minecraftforum.net/topic/2239063-164forge-zelda-sword-skills-a-preview-for-quest/

[center][url="http://www.minecraftforum.net/topic/1965280-quest-high-end-rpg-storyline-bosses-npcs-demensions-mobs-initial-debut-9213/"][color=#880000][img]http://i.imgur.com/AWY9ZsH.png[/img][/color][/url][/center]

[center][url="http://www.minecraftforum.net/topic/1965280-quest-high-end-rpg-storyline-bosses-npcs-demensions-mobs-initial-debut-9213/"][color=#880000][img]http://i.imgur.com/bCuJpGK.png[/img][/color][/url][/center]

[center][url="http://www.minecraftforum.net/topic/1965280-quest-high-end-rpg-storyline-bosses-npcs-demensions-mobs-initial-debut-9213/"][color=#880000][img]http://i.imgur.com/lEgkky7.png[/img][/color][/url][/center]

Links to original mods:


Progress videos
Wildblood779's Progress

Changelog for the mod!:
There will be more to come soon!

DISCLAIMER: These mods are being continued with permission from the original producers, and full, legal copyrights are in place, so be warned!

By the way, if you give a rep point for this topic, your face will appear below!

[represent]

A little extra for you guys! XD
|
|
V








Download: MediaFire
Download: PMC


PS: Don't forget to hit that little green 1-up arrow, it'll make my day!

Hello I recently was trying to set up a Local Area Network server and I found there was not a lot of help out there. I will work on this topic and update it regularly so please ask questions and give me more information to add to it.

Unfortunately at the moment it is not possible to have LAN server that works without an internet connection although one can be mad that does not use internet through gameplay (when you have limited or slow internet) This is not possible because if you play minecraft without being connected to minecraft.net your username is always called “Player” no matter what you tried to login as. A person with the username “Player” can play on the LAN server perfectly well but the problem is if two people try to connect to the server and are both called “Player” the second person to connect will kick the first and it will say:



Because of this only one player can be called “Player” and all others must have individual accounts which unfortunately means without editing the minecraft files it is impossible to play multiplayer via a LAN server without any internet connection.

To setting up the LAN server, first of all you need to set up a server as normal.
(I may update this later on how to do that if too many people are confused although there is a lot of help out there. The tutorial that helped me the most was on the Minecraft Wiki:
http://www.minecraftwiki.net/wiki/Tutorials/Setting_up_a_server)
After doing that, do as following:
1. Open "server.properties"
2. Set online mode to "false"
3. Run the server and it will say stuff about how insecure and stuff it is (a heap of rubbish) If you have no problems it should say the Spawn area is ready.
4. To connect from the computer that is running the server click multiplayer and type in as the address: "localhost" hit connect and you should be in almost instantly (if that does not work for whatever reason try this: “127.0.0.1” although I doubt that will do any different).
5. To get others to connect you first need to connect and set up whatever you are using (e.g. Diverter, Ethernet adapter LAN, Tunnel adapter, built-in wireless router, etc.)
Next, on the computer that is running the server, open a command engine:

On a Windows XP open the start menu and use “Run”.
On a Windows Vista or newer (up to Windows 7) open the start Menu and type in “cmd” and select “cmd.exe” from the list. (C:\Windows\System32)
On a Mac I think you use Terminal (Applications/System tools?/Terminal) but I do not know the commands and cannot help you with the next step (anyone knows how please post so I can update this).

Edit: On a Mac you DO NOT use terminal. (It is possible but more difficult using the command "ifconfig")
Instead open the Apple menu (the very top right corner of screen) and hit system preferences. A window with lots of icons in sections will show up with titles such as: Personal, Hardware, Internet & Wireless, etc. Open up 'Network' in "Internet and Wireless" and go into the tab that has whatever connection you are using (e.g. Ethernet) and there should be an Ip Address - use that.

If you have an older (or newer) version of Mac and this does not work I am sorry but I again cannot help you. So please again post if you know how it is done or whether it actually has any difference/

Once you have “Run” or “Command Prompt” (“cmd”) open type in the command “ipconfig” and hit enter and scroll down until you find the type of connecter you are using with has an IP address next to it (if you cannot tell disconnect whatever you are using, and run the Command Engine in a separate window and try again and you can check what is different and that will be it). Any IPv4, IPv6 or Default Gateway addresses should work (whichever looks most like an IP address (192.156.1.84 or anything similar). Give one of these to all the people trying to connect and if they put it in they should be able to connect! (If not try a different one) Enjoy!

To all who thinks this is me asking you a question or that it is just an "idea" You are wrong!!! This works perfectly well (if not a bit laggy) and my friends and I use this everytime we are together!!!

Notes:

I have had this working on a Mac and a Windows Vista
Wired is much faster than wireless
I have not tested on a Windows XP and I am not 100% sure about whether and how ipconfig works for "Run"

If you have any questions, problems or if you have any suggestions to this topic feel free to post, I hope I helped.

Feedback is greatly appriciated and is never to silly (as long as it is on topic and your question has not already been answered. So if your have read this please tell me what you think even if it is a minor suggestion such as: "Blue text is annoying and people don't like it"

So tell me exactly what you think so you can help me help others by improving this thread!!!