[SOLVED][1.8] Solid to invisible toggleable block rendering

[coolAlias]

I'm trying to update a block to 1.8 that has a toggleable state between solid and ethereal / invisible, but I'm having some trouble with the rendering (or rather, NOT rendering).

 

In 1.7, returning 'false' for isOpaqueCube and isNormalCube and then setting the block bounds all to zero was enough to get the block to 'disappear'; this no longer works.

 

I tried using an ISmartBlockModel to return the default model for air which, of course, there isn't one.

 

What I (think I) really need is to be able to dynamically return the renderType based on the block state, e.g.

// Inject this method into Block class:
public int getRenderType(IBlockState state) {
    return getRenderType(); // and deprecate this mo-fo
}

Then I could return -1 (do not render) or 3 (render as solid block) based on state.

 

Barring that, does anyone have any suggestions? I've been banging around trying all sorts of things trying to get it working, to no avail.

 

EDIT: Also, is it just me or is the block state sometimes not up to date on the client side? When first joining the world, I am occasionally able to walk through one of these blocks as though it were ethereal when it's not (and default state is not), but after a few seconds it figures out it's supposed to be solid. Are there just general clipping issues sometimes?

[Toxicshadow]

-sorry im a shit reader-

Whoops. 

[coolAlias]

I took a quick look in Block.class and it has some stuff that might simplify that a bit. You could potentially override 'isOpaqueCube' and 'isCollidable' and just set them to false. I haven't tested it though so I might be way off.

If you had read my post more carefully, you'd see I already override isOpaqueCube, and isCollidable, per the Java-doc, is 'only used by Fire'. I do override canCollideCheck based on state, but my problem is not being able to walk through the block or not, it is getting the block not to render at all when it is ethereal.

 

As it is, it always renders like it is a solid block, even when it should be invisible. The ISmart/IFlexible block model interfaces do not allow for cancelling the rendering altogether, which is what I need it to do. Maybe if I try it in the cut-out layer...

 

EDIT: Lol, well that sorta worked - the blocks were invisible, even the solid ones! However, as soon as I entered into the block's space, even though its bounding box is supposedly all zero, the inside of the block renders and blocks out the screen. Hm.

[Abastro]

I took a quick look in Block.class and it has some stuff that might simplify that a bit. You could potentially override 'isOpaqueCube' and 'isCollidable' and just set them to false. I haven't tested it though so I might be way off.

If you had read my post more carefully, you'd see I already override isOpaqueCube, and isCollidable, per the Java-doc, is 'only used by Fire'. I do override canCollideCheck based on state, but my problem is not being able to walk through the block or not, it is getting the block not to render at all when it is ethereal.

 

As it is, it always renders like it is a solid block, even when it should be invisible. The ISmart/IFlexible block model interfaces do not allow for cancelling the rendering altogether, which is what I need it to do. Maybe if I try it in the cut-out layer...

 

As getRenderType(IBlockState state) does not exist, you should make your own model invisible for the invisibility state.

So what was the problem with ISmartBlockModel?

[coolAlias]

That was my next step: seeing about creating a completely empty texture (all alpha transparency) and seeing if that would work.

 

The problem with the ISmartBlockModel is it still requires a model to render; air does not have a model (I tried and it gives you the infamous missing model texture) as well as air is render type -1 which does not look for a model at all in the render code but instead returns false.

 

ISmartBlockModel does not allow one to return false before anything even tries to render; I suppose that would be another alternative - change ISmartBlockModel to query whether to render a model or just return false without doing anything else.

[Abastro]

That was my next step: seeing about creating a completely empty texture (all alpha transparency) and seeing if that would work.

 

The problem with the ISmartBlockModel is it still requires a model to render; air does not have a model (I tried and it gives you the infamous missing model texture) as well as air is render type -1 which does not look for a model at all in the render code but instead returns false.

 

ISmartBlockModel does not allow one to return false before anything even tries to render; I suppose that would be another alternative - change ISmartBlockModel to query whether to render a model or just return false without doing anything else.

 

Then what about giving empty list of quads on getFaceQuads() and getGeneralQuads()?

[coolAlias]

Already return null for those, same. However, TGG to the rescue as always with rendering-related questions.

 

Solution: Create fully transparent 16x16 texture for the invisible state and change the block's render layer to CUTOUT_MIPPED. Works perfectly EXCEPT for when inside the block, where everything renders completely black.

 

Overriding isFullCube, isOpaqueCube, and isNormalCube to all return false fixed that, in combination of course with setting the block bounds all to 0 when invisible. I'm going to experiment some more and see which, if any, of those three cube methods I can safely leave with the default value and still get the desired effect.