Block Effect Configuration - OreCruncher/BetterRain GitHub Wiki

Internally Dynamic Surroundings has a Block Registry where it finds information related to spot sounds that can be played at a block as well as special particle effects such as dropping dust motes. Using Json configuration files an author can modify default behavior or add new blocks to the system.

The table below describes the various parameters that can be defined in the Json configuration file:

Parameter	Value Type	Comment
blocks	String List	The blocks for which the configuration options apply.
soundReset	Boolean	Clears existing sound configuration for the blocks.
stepSoundRest	Boolean	Clears existing step sound configuration for the blocks.
effectReset	Boolean	Clears existing effects for the blocks.
chance	Integer	1-in-N chance that a spot sound will play.
stepChance	Integer	1-in-N chance that a spot sound will play when players steps on the block.
sounds	List	List of spot sounds configured for the block. See below.
effects	List	List of effects configured for the block. See below.

In order to define block options the first thing that needs to be done is to create a Json file in the ./minecraft/config/dsurround/ configuration directory. It is a normal text file but has a specific Json syntax that must be followed. Here is an example of such a file:

		{
			"blocks":[
				"minecraft:water"
			],
			"effects":[
				{
					"effect":"steam",
					"chance":10
				},
				{
					"effect":"bubble",
					"chance":1800
				}
				
			]
			
		},
		{
			"blocks":[
				"minecraft:ice",
				"minecraft:packed_ice"
			],
			"chance":10000,
			"sounds":[
				{
					"sound":"dsurround:ice",
					"volume":0.3,
					"pitch":1.0,
					"variable":false
				}
				
			]
			
		}

Internally Dynamic Surroundings uses a Json config to set the initial state of the Block Registry. The file can be found here if you are interested.

Not all parameter values have to be specified. If they are not present in a config entry Dynamic Surroundings will continue to use the existing setting. Do note, though, the higher level entries parameter. This must be present for Dynamic Surroundings to process the file. As an example this is the minimal do-nothing configuration Json configuration:

{
    "entries":[
		
    ]
}

It is possible to have multiple entries in the config file that match the same block. The entries in the file are processed in order, so entries further down in the list can override the effects of entries higher in the list.

Once the configuration file is created Dynamic Surroundings needs to be told to process the file during it’s initialization. To do that edit the dsurround.cfg file and set the Config Files parameter:

block {
    # Configuration files for configuring Block Registry [default: ]
    S:"Config Files" <
        chisel.json
     >
}

In this example the chisel.json more than likely has configuration settings for world gen blocks like limestone so that dust motes can drop.

The sound configuration for blocks is similar to that of biomes. There are some parameters that will be different, such as “variable”.

Parameter	Value Type	Comment
sound	String	The name of the sound resource to play.
conditions	String	A Java regex expression that match the condition for playing.
volume	float	The volume level at which to play the sound.
pitch	float	The pitch to use when playing the sound.
variable	Boolean	The pitch will vary slightly for each play.
weight	Integer	Selection weight of the spot sound if more than one can be selected.
step	Boolean	Indicates the sound is a step sound.

This value determines what sound to play. It is in a ResourceString format. As an example, “dsurround:crickets” tells Minecraft to play the sound “crickets” from the mod “dsurround”. This can be any valid sound reference, whether it is from Minecraft, Dynamic Surroundings, or another mod. For example, if you want to play the Minecart movement sound you could use “minecraft:minecart.base”, or want to use the Minecraft flame sound “minecraft:fire.fire”.

Currently there are three conditions that could occur singly or in combination: “day”, “night”, and “raining”. The conditions regular expression operates on a string that is built with these tokens. For example, if it is daytime and is raining the condition string the regex will operate on is “day raining”. If the sound conditions regex matches the condition string the sound will be selected for play.

Normally a sound will be played at a volume of 1.0F as a default. Sometimes the supplied sound is too loud so specifying a lower volume would be appropriate. You will have to experiment to find the right value for the sound you are playing.

Pitch will raise or lower the pitch of the sound. Typically lowering the pitch makes the sound “deeper”, and raising will make it more “shallow”. For example, Dynamic Surroundings uses the regular beach wave noise for Deep Ocean by lowering the pitch to make it deeper to match the deep water.

Sometimes you have a single source sound, but want to vary the pitch when played. An example of this is the frog croak of the water lily. The croak is a single sound within the mod, but by varying the pitch it can give the impression of a small frog (higher pitch), or a bigger frog (lower pitch).

Specifies the relative weight of a particular sound when a random selection can be made. The higher the weight the higher the likelyhood of selection. Selection behavior of a sound is similar to the weighted selections from Minecraft’s chest content tables. If a weight is not specified a value of 10 is assumed.

Parameter	Value Type	Comment
effect	String	The name of the effect to spawn.
chance	Integer	1-in-N chance that the effect will spawn.

Effect	Comment
steam	Will display steam jet if lava blocks are near by. Duration is based on the number of lava blocks nearby.
fire	Will display a fire jet. Size and duration is based on the count of similar blocks underneath.
bubble	Will display bubbles rising upwards. Duration is based on the count of similar blocks above.
dust	Will drop dust motes under the block. Texture of the particles will be that of the block.

Using this system it is possible to do things like have a fire jet spawn on top of a dirt block. The size and duration of the jet would be based on the count of dirt blocks underneath the source block. Steam, however, has the requirement of needing lava blocks nearby.