Maintaining list of blocks by type

[rondari]

Hi,

 

I'm creating a mod that will spatially project sounds made by blocks (only specific blocks called OSCBlocks ... after OSC ... Open Sound Control). So if I walk past an OSCBlock, I will hear (over a 5.1 or similar system) the block move behind me. I am using an external sound rendering engine.

 

What I would like to do is maintain a list of these OSCBlocks.... so that, at each tick, the OSCBlock can broadcast its new position relative to the player.

 

When the server starts, how can I iterate through all placed blocks and create a list of blocks of a particular type?

 

Or, instead, should I look for OSCBlocks using the Forge Chunk Loading System? Any advice on best practice? One of the challenges is that one can *hear* sounds behind the player ... even if one cannot see them. So there is the possibility that there will be errors if the Chunk loader ignores chunks behind the player.

 

 

 

 

[rondari]

> Are these your own Blocks? Or can they be any?

 

They are my own blocks ... called OSCBlocks (which extends net.minecraft.block.Block)

 

> Are you talking about specific block types ("every stone block makes noise") or coordinates ("block at 3, 12, 14 makes noise")?

 

I am only interested in my own OSCBlocks ... each OSCBlock that is placed will then constantly 'broadcast' its coordinates (and ID and other stuff) via a protocol called OSC (sends messages over TCP/IP). Doing the OSC broadcasting is fine, already works. I just need to work out when the OSCBlock is within a certain distance of the player (i.e. can be heard).

 

> When exactly does the sound trigger?

 

The block's sound should trigger as soon as the block is within a certain radius of the player ... say 200m/blocks.

 

> You say "walk past" and "behind me". How far behind you?

 

I don't understand your question, sir. How far the block is behind me depends on how far beyond it I have walked.

 

> How close do you have to be to the block?

 

To hear it? 200m/blocks ... or some other nominal (and configurable) distance.

 

> More info is needed basically.

 

All I am looking for, is a way to know if a Block that is of Java type OSCBlock exists within a certain radius of the player. That's all I need.

 

 

 

[rondari]

> TCP/IP What on earth are you doing man!

 

I am offloading the extremely CPU expensive sound spatialisation processes to other computers on the local area network.

 

> For finding the blocks: If your Block does not occur too often in the World, you can use a TileEntity. Then search the Chunks surrounding the player for those TileEntities by checking Chunk#chunkTileEntityMap.values(). If you set your TEs to non-ticking (override canUpdate to be false) they only take a bit of memory and no CPU time at all.

 

I will mostly likely have 1000-4000 blocks radiating sound. But probably no more than 500 that are on the current player context (current chunks). Does that sound like too much?