Schematic Meta-Blocks

About the Modification

This project was developed during the creation of the ruin generation system for the SteamNSteel mod. While testing structure creation using schematics, we encountered the challenge of distinguishing between areas where empty space should remain untouched and those where it should be filled with air.

Schematic Meta-Blocks offers a set of specialized blocks that help clearly separate "internal" and "external" air spaces when creating schematics.

The modification's operation is closely tied to Lunatrius' Schematica, which handles template saving.

Installation Requirements

Meta-Blocks requires the Schematica mod, which in turn depends on LunatriusCore. Therefore, for full functionality, all three modifications need to be installed.

Usage

The MetaBlocks usage process involves several sequential steps:

1. Create the structure you want to convert into a schematic
2. Walk through the object and seal all openings between the interior and exterior using "Explicit Air" blocks. These blocks will be considered part of the interior
3. Thoroughly check that no unprocessed areas remain in the structure
4. Place an interior air marker inside the structure
5. The area will fill with a red grid up to chunk boundaries
6. If the grid extends beyond the structure into the chunk, there's a gap somewhere. Find and fix it, then wait for recalculation
7. Move to chunks without red markings and place the next interior air marker
8. Repeat until all areas are covered
9. Inspect hard-to-reach places behind pillars and furniture for unnoticed exterior air
10. Save the schematic through Schematica

After these actions, you'll have a ready schematic file with a name like ./schematics/.schematic

Loading such schematics requires a special loader that distinguishes between types of air spaces. Details about this and creating custom loaders can be found in the corresponding section.

For visual understanding of the modification's work, we recommend watching the video demonstration.

Known Issues

In some cases, recalculating interior air after filling a chunk may take longer than expected. While the process usually completes within a minute after fixing issues, sometimes it may seem like a game restart is required. Simply logging out and in may not be enough - a full Minecraft restart might be necessary.

Missing texture for the creative tab icon. No suitable icon/logo has been created for MetaBlocks yet. Suggestions on this matter are welcome.

Loading Schematics

An example complete class for working with schematics within a mod is available in the MetaBlocks source code repository.

This file represents a modified version of Schematica's loader and is distributed under MIT license. For use, copy it to your mod and rename the package to avoid conflicts.

Bug Reports and Source Code

For all questions and issues, please refer to the project page on GitHub.

License

The mod is distributed under LGPLv3 license, except for the SchematicLoader class, which is licensed under MIT.

Use in Modpacks

Yes, inclusion in modpacks is permitted. This tool will be most useful on servers with collaborative schematic work.