[Mod] Path marker signs [breadcrumbs]

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FaceDeer
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[Mod] Path marker signs [breadcrumbs]

by FaceDeer » Post

Image

This mod adds a specialized type of sign block that's intended to be used while exploring caves and other twisty mazes to make navigation easier.

Path markers are initially crafted in a "blank" state. Equip the stack of markers and click on anything with them to bring up a form where you can enter a short text label for this stack of markers. This initializes the stack of markers with that label. They can then be placed on surfaces like normal signs, but the text of the sign is predefined. It will read:

<label> #1
placed by <player name>

Each subsequent sign placed from this stack will increment the number count, and will also add a line of text indicating how many meters away the previous sign in the stack was placed. If you right-click on the sign a stream of particles will be displayed that travel in the direction the previous sign lies in. This should allow much easier "backtracking" along the path of signs. Good practice is to choose a label that describes the starting point of your expedition, since the trail of signs you leave behind will send travelers in the direction of that origin.

If you run out of markers and want to continue a path without starting over, right-click on the last marker you placed with a fresh stack of blank markers and the blank markers will be automatically initialized with the same label and the next number count in line. This also allows you to make "branching" paths, though this may be confusing in some circumstances so consider starting a second path with a new label instead.

Marker signs can be removed from walls using an axe, giving a blank marker sign ready to be initialized and reused. Initialized markers can also be returned to a blank state via the crafting grid.

If you place a marker and don't like how it's positioned, you can "undo" the most recently placed marker by clicking on it with the stack of markers. You can actually pick up all of the markers in a path this way, working your way backward to the origin. Note that this only works in reverse sequential order, if you want to remove a marker from the middle of a path you have to use an axe. Also note that removing a marker from the middle of a path doesn't update the subsequent marker's "previous marker" position - it will still point to the place the marker you removed used to be. So breaking a path in the middle can make following it difficult.

By default marker signs have a slight glow to them, making them easier to see in the pitch blackness of a cave but not bright enough to illuminate their surroundings. This can be disabled in the mod's settings.

Dependencies: No hard dependencies
License: MIT

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Last edited by FaceDeer on Sun Jun 03, 2018 17:51, edited 4 times in total.

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azekill_DIABLO
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Re: [Mod] Path marker signs [breadcrumbs] [0.1]

by azekill_DIABLO » Post

very original, it's like intelligent signs that show you the way! perfect for a server, to make the new players get a visit and not be lost!
+1 because it's simple original and well done!
Gone, but not dead. Contact me on discord: azekill_DIABLO#6565
DMs are always open if you want to get in touch!

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texmex
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Re: [Mod] Path marker signs [0.2] [breadcrumbs]

by texmex » Post

Very interesting mod with obvious usefulness. Will try it out! I don't know the recipes, but it occurs to me that the items are quite powerful with both particles and light. Yet it needs to be cheap for it to have a real use…

FaceDeer
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Re: [Mod] Path marker signs [0.2] [breadcrumbs]

by FaceDeer » Post

texmex wrote:Very interesting mod with obvious usefulness. Will try it out! I don't know the recipes, but it occurs to me that the items are quite powerful with both particles and light. Yet it needs to be cheap for it to have a real use…
I made it cheaper than signs since it's a special-purpose item and works better when the player feels free to be a bit spammy with them. I just went by gut feel to balance it, though, so I'm open to adjusting that (and I made it so the glow could be disabled in settings if the server runner prefers). The recipe is currently

Code: Select all

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texmex
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Re: [Mod] Path marker signs [0.2] [breadcrumbs]

by texmex » Post

The fact that you made glow optional is good enough for me. Still haven't tried it though.

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Re: [Mod] Path marker signs [0.2] [breadcrumbs]

by texmex » Post

Did try it out the other day. I feel as the system is somewhat complicated, but perhaps is has to be in order to form a pathway with the different items knowing their order in it. The particles need some work, some of the rays shoot off way past the sign they intend to point at.

I was thinking, what if left click on a sign produced a small cute sound from the next sign and simultainiously lit that sign up for the duration of the sound? A right click could do the same but from the previous sign, with a slightly alternating sound.

FaceDeer
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Re: [Mod] Path marker signs [0.2] [breadcrumbs]

by FaceDeer » Post

texmex wrote:Did try it out the other day. I feel as the system is somewhat complicated, but perhaps is has to be in order to form a pathway with the different items knowing their order in it. The particles need some work, some of the rays shoot off way past the sign they intend to point at.

I was thinking, what if left click on a sign produced a small cute sound from the next sign and simultainiously lit that sign up for the duration of the sound? A right click could do the same but from the previous sign, with a slightly alternating sound.
Hm, some of that is tricky and potentially unbalanced/unrealistic. How does a sign know where the *next* sign in the chain is located? The next sign hasn't been placed yet when the player posted the current one, I'd need to have the act of placing a sign cause the previous sign to be updated somehow. Technically possible, but I think I'd rather the player make a second traverse of the path in the opposite direction laying a reverse trail if the path is meant to be followed both ways.

Doing more to highlight the sign the current sign is pointing to is worth thinking about, though. And it should be possible to adjust the lifespan of the particle stream so that it won't continue on past the sign it's pointing to if they happen to be close together. I'll look into that.

If what you're looking for is some way of marking out a well-established route with some kind of trail marker or landmark, I was actually thinking about making a separate type of node for that. IMO it's better to have a couple of special-purpose tools that each do their job very well than to have one overly complex swiss army knife (I say that with full awareness of the irony of me being the creator of Digtron, a very complex swiss army knife indeed. :)

I was left with a bunch of unrealised ideas after I finished this mod that have been sitting on the back burner for a while now, I'll make a list. No guarantees about when I'll get to it though, it's a big list. And I just started doing a major revamp of the Castle mod, that may occupy my time for a while too. Lots of things to work on in there.

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