[Mod] Real Compass [realcompass]

[kestral]

Real Compass

This mod tries to address what the "real" essence of being a compass is all about.

No options, no gui's, no bookmarks, just an animated needle that always points to the north.

This version is based on compassgps, with changes to just point north and the removal of all
its other features. The only other change I made was, that since compasses are typically
divided up in 1/4th, 1/8th, and 1/16th divisions, I updated it to point in 16 directions rather
than the original 12.

Same crafting recipe as most of the other compass versions, so it's probably not compatible with them.

This was my first mod, but it's still the first mod I always install whenever I play minetest.

License: CC0
Optional dependencies: default (Only for crafting recipe.)
Code and documentation: https://github.com/kestral246/realcompass
Download: https://github.com/kestral246/realcompa ... master.zip

Prior Art
Here is a list of all the other options I have found for displaying the direction the player is pointing.
If you find realcompass too simple, one of the others will likely meet your direction finding needs.

F5: Debug info built into minetest
Not always enabled. Gives yaw and four basic compass points, mixed in with a lot of other data

F9: Minimap built into minetest
Also not always enabled, and not everyone likes minimaps

Compass [compass]: https://forum.minetest.net/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=3489
Passive node with compass points labeled

Compass [compass]: https://forum.minetest.net/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=3785
Echo's animated version, which points to 0/0/0 or static spawnpoint

Compass+ [compass]: https://forum.minetest.net/viewtopic.php?id=8117
Adds bookmark locations to Echo's compass

Compass GPS [compassgps]: https://forum.minetest.net/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=9373
Adds hud display, gui for bookmarks, distance, teleport, maps, new graphics

Calibrated Compass [ccompass]: https://forum.minetest.net/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=17881
Adds calibrate by punching node to Echo's compass mod, with new graphics

Orienteering [orienteering]: https://forum.minetest.net/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=15247
Has a simple compass, but it displays digital yaw on the screen, rather than animating the icon

Thanks
This mod is basically compassgps with 90% of its code ripped out, so I can't take much credit.
That belongs to Echo, PilzAdams, TeTpaAka, and Kilarin. I was just standing on their shoulders.

[Stix]

Sorry, but this mod is useless. By enabling debug-info players can already tell what direction they're facing, and without using one direction as a reference to find the others, as it specifies your direction directly. Sorry.

[ChimneySwift]

Sorry, but this mod is useless. By enabling debug-info players can already tell what direction they're facing, and without using one direction as a reference to find the others, as it specifies your direction directly. Sorry.

I disagree, debug info is ugly and hard to read at a glance :D

This is much nicer:

[jas]

Thanks for the screenshot, it's what was missing from the main post. Good job on the mod. I can't tell from the screenshot whether there's a wield image that's constantly changing; I'm imagining that it's an invisible wield_image.

[ChimneySwift]

I can't tell from the screenshot whether there's a wield image that's constantly changing; I'm imagining that it's an invisible wield_image.

The wield image does change, but that is one possible complaint, with the wield image constantly changing it does that item swapping animation thing a whole lot, which looks a bit silly. It might be better to have no wield image.

The compass also doesn't care if you're holding it or not, it'll update wherever it is in your inventory. I'm not sure though, does it only check the first 8 slots? if not this might be an area for performance improvement.

[Hume2]

Good mod, I always wanted a compass like that. Just the textures could be better.

[texmex]

Just use my textures from ccompass, they’re CC-BY-SA.

[kestral]

I updated the textures to ones derived from texmex's vastly superior textures from ccompass. I hope you don't mind, but I changed the colors with the idea that realcompass could be used with ccompass to provide their different features.

I also went back to the original 12 directions, since I couldn't come up with a 16-direction version that had as smooth and even of an animation.



As always, this remains a single-feature mod that just points north.

[Stix]

Sorry, but this mod is useless. By enabling debug-info players can already tell what direction they're facing, and without using one direction as a reference to find the others, as it specifies your direction directly. Sorry.

I disagree, debug info is ugly and hard to read at a glance :D

This is much nicer:

The top end of the square minimap is north no matter which direction your pointing, but i can see how some ppl like this.

[texmex]

I updated the textures to ones derived from texmex's vastly superior textures from ccompass. I hope you don't mind, but I changed the colors with the idea that realcompass could be used with ccompass to provide their different features.

I also went back to the original 12 directions, since I couldn't come up with a 16-direction version that had as smooth and even of an animation.



As always, this remains a single-feature mod that just points north.

Looks good, kestral! Legally I CAN’T even mind ;)

The only thing I would change additionally is the slight mese tint on the face of the compass, since the needle is no longer mese. :)

[kestral]

Following in the footsteps of Calibrated Compass, I've converted realcompass to go back to using 16 directions instead of 12.

In addition, to be usable with games like nodecore, the default mod is now just an optional dependency—only used to define the crafting recipe.

I've also finally removed the mese tint from the background, which should make texmex happy.

Here's what realcompass now looks like—I've slightly shortened the compass needles compared to texmex's new ccompass textures:

[kestral]

Since there apparently can't be enough compass mods, I've created an alternate version of my realcompass mod. Instead of going through all the trouble of creating and cycling through inventory objects, this mod just draws the realcompass textures at the bottom right corner of the screen.

I call it hud_compass and it can be found at: https://github.com/kestral246/hud_compass

Display of the compass is optional and can be toggled by using the chat command: "/compass"

[ShadMOrdre]

kestral,

HUD compass. This is the best implementation yet. And I've not even downloaded or used the mod.


Would you be willing to also tackle another HUD friendly idea? It would be nice to have gauges for temp and humidity. Even if a separate mod.

Shad

[Kilarin]

avoids the whole wield image problem.

with the wield image constantly changing it does that item swapping animation thing a whole lot, which looks a bit silly.

If anyone ever finds a solution to this, please let me know!