[Solved] Is it possible to use nodeboxes in entities

[Sires]

And dats my question.
I tried doing it by setting a nodebox parameter but I dunno, the nodebox seems like "So buggy like depending in the direction you look you may see some sides or not or you see a hollow cube instead of an solid one"

Edit: I want to know where do I put the nodebox in the entity defenition to make it use a nodebox as the model

Edit2: I guess I found it and it's a complete code kludge(uuh, *Insert english is not my native language response here*), I saw that ppl register a node with the nodebox you want and then register an entity with visual wielditem of that block, that made me cry while I was reading it T-T Anyway, a bit offtopic but have anyone ever requested the feature of the "nodebox" visual?

[Krock]

Like this? viewtopic.php?f=9&t=16557

[Sires]

I read this code but it's too confusing, I didn't get it

[Sires]

Can you make me a "sample" code plz? so I can understand

[Sires]

But yeah, basicly I just want to be able to use nodeboxes like in this mod

[Krock]

First of all, please consider editing your posts instead of creating a new one. This is a forum, not a chat.
Here some help if you can't find the edit button:


I couldn't find an API reference there, so I suggest looking at the already existing mods, like this lion. If you create a new mod, ensure you add a "depends.txt" file with the line "nmobs" inside, so you can use the API functions.
For further questions or help, try asking in the mod thread.

[Sires]

Ok...

Edit: But anyways this still uses the api, look first post to see more details of my question :P
Second edit: solved -_-

[stu]

And dats my question.

It is possible in a round-about kinda way. First you need to register a regular node for your nodebox then create an entity with the `wielditem` visual type and use the item name-string in the `textures` table.

example:

Code: Select all

minetest.register_entity("your_mod_name:nodebox_entity", {
	visual = "wielditem",
	textures = {"your_mod_name:nodebox_node"},
})

You may also need to adjust the scale, I don't remember :)

Note: some moderator might correct the title of this issue, it seems to have become somehow self-depleting.

[Sires]

And dats my question.

It is possible in a round-about kinda way. First you need to register a regular node for your nodebox then create an entity with the `wielditem` visual type and use the item name-string in the `textures` table.

example:

Code: Select all

minetest.register_entity("your_mod_name:nodebox_entity", {
	visual = "wielditem",
	textures = {"your_mod_name:nodebox_node"},
})

You may also need to adjust the scale, I don't remember :)

Note: some moderator might correct the title of this issue, it seems to have become somehow self-depleting.

The solved I guess because I found it myself, I wrote your solution in the Edit2, but I think it's too hacky, but anyways work

[stu]

The solved I guess because I found it myself, I wrote your solution in the Edit2, but I think it's too hacky, but anyways work

Sorry, I didn't read that, guess we must have cross-posted :)

I would expect a `nodebox` visual wouldn't be too hard to implement given that nodeboxes are converted to meshes anyway, iirc. I am not sure how involved it would be code-wise or whether the developers would even consider this worthwhile.

Meshes are way more versatile and efficient, however, there does seem to be a demand for this seeing the number of mods that currently (ab)use this method. I guess it's because many people are afraid of 3d editors, esp. blender. Does Rubenwardy's NBE app not have a feature to export as .obj or something?

[Sires]

The solved I guess because I found it myself, I wrote your solution in the Edit2, but I think it's too hacky, but anyways work

Sorry, I didn't read that, guess we must have cross-posted :)

I would expect a `nodebox` visual wouldn't be too hard to implement given that nodeboxes are converted to meshes anyway, iirc. I am not sure how involved it would be code-wise or whether the developers would even consider this worthwhile.

Meshes are way more versatile and efficient, however, there does seem to be a demand for this seeing the number of mods that currently (ab)use this method. I guess it's because many people are afraid of 3d editors, esp. blender. Does Rubenwardy's NBE app not have a feature to export as .obj or something?

Maybe I'm dumb and I'm implementing the .obj wrong but the obj is the description of what happens when I try to use the nodebox parameter(I was using a mesh parameter at the same time so the mesh is pretty buggy), buy anyway, It's real buggy the thing that results from the .obj for me

Also I said many times, blender is too complicated for my brain ;-; if there was a simpler 3d editor that is just like rubenwardy's NBE I would love it

[rubenwardy]

Also I said many times, blender is too complicated for my brain ;-; if there was a simpler 3d editor that is just like rubenwardy's NBE I would love it

NBE can export to .obj, but it's unoptimised. It's better to use node boxes in most cases.

[stu]

Also I said many times, blender is too complicated for my brain ;-; if there was a simpler 3d editor that is just like rubenwardy's NBE I would love it

NBE can export to .obj, but it's unoptimised. It's better to use node boxes in most cases.

I am pretty sure the meshes generated by the `wielditem` visual are also sub-optimal, otherwise you could just borrow the code from there, right?

For nodes however, I agree, nodeboxes still very much have their place.

[Rochambeau]

So what you both are saying is that nodebox mobs are more ressource hungry than similar Blender/Wings3D meshes (without animation of course), because the nodeboxes have to be converted to meshes by the engine?

Can I somehow get those converted meshes and save minetest this step?

[stu]

So what you both are saying is that nodebox mobs are more ressource hungry than similar Blender/Wings3D meshes (without animation of course), because the nodeboxes have to be converted to meshes by the engine?

Can I somehow get those converted meshes and save minetest this step?

The meshes generated by the engine may have a few unnecessary faces as compared to a well designed mesh. Unless you spawn hundreds of entities in a very small area you are unlikely to see any tangible performance improvement. The biggest advantage of meshes IMO is that you have much greater control over the texturing.

[Tcll]

is this possible in 5.3.0 yet??
or is it still broken??
(there's no documentation on it which leads me to assume it's still broken)

reason I need this is because emissive maps aren't a thing yet...
so I can put an emissive nodebox entity inside a primary nodebox node to work around the lack of support.

yeah it's a bit smelly, I know...
it'll be cleaned up when emissive maps are a thing.

EDIT: just to clarify, by "possible", I mean this:

Code: Select all

minetest.register_entity(name, {
    visual = "nodebox",
    node_box = { ... },
})

this way, devs won't be forced to write an obnoxious amount of code just to make the engine work for them.

EDIT2: well, this won't work for me even if entity visuals could do "nodebox"
I was hoping the connect functionality would work for more performance, but it looks like the C++ engine doesn't even support this...

looks like I'm better off re-inventing the wheel with a basic mesh-node and numerous mesh-entities just to get the functionality I need...
that's a shame...