Best way to add my new block type during world generation

[emyerson]

Brand new to mod development, thanks for your patience.

 

I've managed to develop my new block type - a sort of glowing crystal, kind of like glowstone. I'm trying to figure out what is the best way to get the blocks to spawn during chunk generation. I've seen plenty of tutorials to get new ores to spawn, using WorldGenMinable(). I've been able to do that with no problem. The only thing is that function spawns the blocks in a typical ore vein pattern - contiguous groups of x blocks, generally arrayed 2 blocks wide. I've also stumbled on WorldGenBlockBlob(), which is neat, but also forms a standardized array (a layer of 9 or so blocks with a 1-block layer above it, etc).

 

I'd like my blocks to spawn in a different pattern, more like cactus - a single column of blocks. So what's the best way to achieve this? Should I override WorldGenCactus? Is there some function that spawns in a developer-assigned pattern?

 

I'm still finding my feet with mod development, but I'm learning a bunch. Thanks, all, for any pointers you can provide.

[emyerson]

I decided to just copy and modify the code from WorldGenCactus.class (which uses world.setBlock() for this purpose). It seems to work just fine. I'd still love to hear, though, what the best practice is for the general case of mimicking existing functionality.

 

Thanks.

[jabelar]

I think that is a legitimate way to do it.  Basically what you wanted was more like a structure or as you said the cactus.  If you think about it, world generation is a collection of quite different generations.  You generate bedrock, carve caves, contour the landscape, add plants, ores, villages.  Each is a very different algorithm of generation.  If you want something custom, then you would do it yourself.  There isn't (as far as I know) a generic "generate my pattern" method.

[emyerson]

Cool, thank you. It's comforting to know I was on the right path, or at least on a path that wasn't horribly wrong.