Possible Forge Extension I may work on - API Compendium

[oliverrook]

Ok, so I've been watching the modding community for a long time now, and I believe I have an idea that might help.

I may or may not work on this in the future, but if I do, I'll need a lot of support from the various mod authors who use forge, though I will be making most of the mod myself.

The idea is, as there are many, many mods out there, with their own APIs, and systems of doing things, this mod will try to do three things:

1. Make it easier for addon/mod authors to make cross-compatibility mods, by grouping many different mod's apis together, as one option.

2. Group mods with their own core apis (for instance iChun Lib) with similar or duplicate functions, into one mod.

3. Make it MUCH MUCH easier for mod based conversion rates, by making it so there only needs to be one line of code for each conversion to take place (And here's the ambitious part: Magic Mod Conversions, such as taking several thaumcraft aspects, for example lots of spiritus, beastus, and other aspects, and converting them into an entity that can be used as a "replacement" for an entity in intangible, instead of having to find the creature who's soul you need, simply creating an entity that can be used in its place).

Obviously, some parts of this mod are much more complicated than others, but I hope to be able to at least get some of this mod done, especially the core api parts.

Any thoughts?

[oliverrook]

That's just it, though. It's not going to be a standard, but a medium in which already existing standards can connect.

The post you made above is what happened to Universale Electricity. In this mod, I would simply be giving modders the means to easily convert one type to another, as THEY want it. It's more of a connector than a new standard. This mod doesn't actually add any of its own systems to the game, it simply gives a way to convert one mod's item type to another. The mod authors are the ones who decide what that conversion will be. As in the title, this is an "API" compendium, not a mod that adds anything to the game itself. There is no new standard, no new system, simply a way for modders to more easily add their own conversions as they see fit.

The only aspect that would be a "new standard" would be the combination of the other apis. But, this again is not a new system. I would simply be maintaining a api collection of other apis that modders would give me, almost like a mod pack, except for mod developers.

The purpose of the mod isn't so much as a universal standard, as it is a way to make already existing standards compatible with each other.

 

EDIT: Thus the use of the word "extension" rather than "mod".

[LexManos]

Just take it from 10+ years of experience, what you want to do is exactly what that comic is depicting.

We already have the tools in place in Forge to 'convert' anything you need. And consuming other APIs because you feel like it and trying to make a standard library isn't going to work.