[1.8] Json block states passing down variables

[Feronzed]

Is it in any way possible to pass down variables and somehow add conditions to JSON (I am aware that JSON is notation only language).

 

In order to further explain this, let's take Induction Smelter from Thermal Expansion for example.

Induction Smelter has custom states for each side (I/O) also, custom states for rotation, and let's say Team CoFH decided they wan't do display how much energy it has stored on the block.

It would take a huge json blockstate file to support this.

I started writing something similar:

 

 

	"energy=10, facing=north, bottom=n, top=n, left=n, back=n, right=n":  { "model": "energy_accumulator_10_nnnnn" },
	"energy=20, facing=north, bottom=n, top=n, left=n, back=n, right=n":  { "model": "energy_accumulator_20_nnnnn" },
	"energy=30, facing=north, bottom=n, top=n, left=n, back=n, right=n":  { "model": "energy_accumulator_30_nnnnn" },
	"energy=40, facing=north, bottom=n, top=n, left=n, back=n, right=n":  { "model": "energy_accumulator_40_nnnnn" },
	"energy=50, facing=north, bottom=n, top=n, left=n, back=n, right=n":  { "model": "energy_accumulator_50_nnnnn" },
	"energy=60, facing=north, bottom=n, top=n, left=n, back=n, right=n":  { "model": "energy_accumulator_60_nnnnn" },
	"energy=70, facing=north, bottom=n, top=n, left=n, back=n, right=n":  { "model": "energy_accumulator_70_nnnnn" },
	"energy=80, facing=north, bottom=n, top=n, left=n, back=n, right=n":  { "model": "energy_accumulator_80_nnnnn" },
	"energy=90, facing=north, bottom=n, top=n, left=n, back=n, right=n":  { "model": "energy_accumulator_90_nnnnn" },
	"energy=100, facing=north, bottom=n, top=n, left=n, back=n, right=n":  { "model": "energy_accumulator_100_nnnnn" },
	"energy=10, facing=south, bottom=n, top=n, left=n, back=n, right=n":  { "model": "energy_accumulator_10", "y": 180_nnnnn" },
	"energy=20, facing=south, bottom=n, top=n, left=n, back=n, right=n":  { "model": "energy_accumulator_20", "y": 180_nnnnn" },
	"energy=30, facing=south, bottom=n, top=n, left=n, back=n, right=n":  { "model": "energy_accumulator_30", "y": 180_nnnnn" },
	"energy=40, facing=south, bottom=n, top=n, left=n, back=n, right=n":  { "model": "energy_accumulator_40", "y": 180_nnnnn" },
	"energy=50, facing=south, bottom=n, top=n, left=n, back=n, right=n":  { "model": "energy_accumulator_50", "y": 180_nnnnn" },
	"energy=60, facing=south, bottom=n, top=n, left=n, back=n, right=n":  { "model": "energy_accumulator_60", "y": 180_nnnnn" },
	"energy=70, facing=south, bottom=n, top=n, left=n, back=n, right=n":  { "model": "energy_accumulator_70", "y": 180_nnnnn" },
	"energy=80, facing=south, bottom=n, top=n, left=n, back=n, right=n":  { "model": "energy_accumulator_80", "y": 180_nnnnn" },
	"energy=90, facing=south, bottom=n, top=n, left=n, back=n, right=n":  { "model": "energy_accumulator_90", "y": 180_nnnnn" },
	"energy=100, facing=south, bottom=n, top=n, left=n, back=n, right=n":  { "model": "energy_accumulator_100", "y": 180_nnnnn" },
	"energy=10, facing=west, bottom=n, top=n, left=n, back=n, right=n":  { "model": "energy_accumulator_10", "y": 270_nnnnn" },
	"energy=20, facing=west, bottom=n, top=n, left=n, back=n, right=n":  { "model": "energy_accumulator_20", "y": 270_nnnnn" },
	"energy=30, facing=west, bottom=n, top=n, left=n, back=n, right=n":  { "model": "energy_accumulator_30", "y": 270_nnnnn" },
	"energy=40, facing=west, bottom=n, top=n, left=n, back=n, right=n":  { "model": "energy_accumulator_40", "y": 270_nnnnn" },
	"energy=50, facing=west, bottom=n, top=n, left=n, back=n, right=n":  { "model": "energy_accumulator_50", "y": 270_nnnnn" },
	"energy=60, facing=west, bottom=n, top=n, left=n, back=n, right=n":  { "model": "energy_accumulator_60", "y": 270_nnnnn" },
	"energy=70, facing=west, bottom=n, top=n, left=n, back=n, right=n":  { "model": "energy_accumulator_70", "y": 270_nnnnn" },
	"energy=80, facing=west, bottom=n, top=n, left=n, back=n, right=n":  { "model": "energy_accumulator_80", "y": 270_nnnnn" },
	"energy=90, facing=west, bottom=n, top=n, left=n, back=n, right=n":  { "model": "energy_accumulator_90", "y": 270_nnnnn" },
	"energy=100, facing=west, bottom=n, top=n, left=n, back=n, right=n":  { "model": "energy_accumulator_100", "y": 270_nnnnn" },
	"energy=10, facing=east, bottom=n, top=n, left=n, back=n, right=n":  { "model": "energy_accumulator_10", "y": 90_nnnnn" },
	"energy=20, facing=east, bottom=n, top=n, left=n, back=n, right=n":  { "model": "energy_accumulator_20", "y": 90_nnnnn" },
	"energy=30, facing=east, bottom=n, top=n, left=n, back=n, right=n":  { "model": "energy_accumulator_30", "y": 90_nnnnn" },
	"energy=40, facing=east, bottom=n, top=n, left=n, back=n, right=n":  { "model": "energy_accumulator_40", "y": 90_nnnnn" },
	"energy=50, facing=east, bottom=n, top=n, left=n, back=n, right=n":  { "model": "energy_accumulator_50", "y": 90_nnnnn" },
	"energy=60, facing=east, bottom=n, top=n, left=n, back=n, right=n":  { "model": "energy_accumulator_60", "y": 90_nnnnn" },
	"energy=70, facing=east, bottom=n, top=n, left=n, back=n, right=n":  { "model": "energy_accumulator_70", "y": 90_nnnnn" },
	"energy=80, facing=east, bottom=n, top=n, left=n, back=n, right=n":  { "model": "energy_accumulator_80", "y": 90_nnnnn" },
	"energy=90, facing=east, bottom=n, top=n, left=n, back=n, right=n":  { "model": "energy_accumulator_90", "y": 90_nnnnn" },
	"energy=100, facing=east, bottom=n, top=n, left=n, back=n, right=n":  { "model": "energy_accumulator_100", "y": 90_nnnnn" }

 

 

 

All of that "code" is what it takes to add support for just power display and rotation, now, we would need to copy - paste this 256 times which would result in 10240 lines of text and creation of 256 files.

 

So, just out of curiosity, is there a way to avoid this? Is there a way of doing the checking in Java? How much would this impact the game performance and loading time?

[coolAlias]

You can of course alter a JSON file at any time, but Minecraft only reads them in once when it first loads the models, blockstates, etc., so in this case that would not have any benefit unless you forced it to reload for every single one of your blocks / TileEntities every single tick, because they're all different, right?

 

File I/O is relatively expensive, so I recommend you avoid it if you can. Luckily for you, there are ISmartBlockModels, IFlexibleBlockModels, TileEntitySpecialRenderers, and that sort of thing which allow you to dynamically render your blocks / TileEntities.

 

You can also register a custom IStateMapper for your block to drastically reduce the number of variants and models you need in your blockstate file - most useful in combination with the above.

[Ernio]

Or this:

https://github.com/MinecraftForge/MinecraftForge/pull/1885

 

[Feronzed]

Or this:

https://github.com/MinecraftForge/MinecraftForge/pull/1885

 

 

Thanks for showing me this. I think I'll go with this if it's implemented yet.

I was aware of custom model loading, but I wanted to do it this way because it's "preferred by vanilla".

Both of the answers were helpful, thanks again.

 

EDIT:

Just in case anyone ends up here:

Solution provided by user Ernio doesn't work in my case because I have way too many possible combinations and the game just crashes.

 

I ended up making my own library for blocks to support IO (at least model/texture wise).

And the path I chose is just creating a custom TileEntityModelProvider class that handles textures. (made it a bit more general and turned it into a library)