How The upcoming insect blocks of 0.5.0 could move

[BlueTangs Rock]

Hey guys, so there's new insects such as the firefly and butterfly that are in the development versions, and are likely to be added to the upcoming updates, however it seems like they're added in the form of animated blocks.

I would like to make a suggestion on how it may be possible to have them move around, while they still take up the state of a block.

So how grass spreading works in MineCraft (I believe MineTest has slightly different spreading mechanics, not sure), is that dirt blocks neighboring a grass block above, below, next to, or diagonal will have grass spread on to that dirt block.

With the insects, it could be the same, however instead of how grass just makes more grass as it spreads, once an insect block spreads, the previous insect block would turn into an insect-less air block, and thus giving the illusion of movement for the insect block.

Also if it can spread upwards and downwards(could be enabled for flying-type insects like butterflies or fireflies, or disabled for prehaps ground-type insect like beetles or ants), it'll also give the illusion of the insects flying at various heights over different points of time.

This "movement-flying spread" behavior could also be applied for if one day different fish are added to the Default game in a similar form as the insects.

I'm hyped for the new upcoming insects and plants, keep up the good work MineTest development! :D

[cy]

Insects like butterflies should be entities, because those were designed for movement. There are already extremely good butterflies in um... mobs_sky though I'm not sure I'd want something as complex as a mob framework in the default game. What about people who don't want to play with mobs? It'd just be a waste of loading time for them.

There are also excellent fish mobs you might want to try.

[AspireMint]

--snip--
There are already extremely good butterflies in um... mobs_sky
--snip--

Im glad you like it. But butterflies needs to be redone - complex model, bad UV - low quality. Probably animations too x)
I'll do my best on new version.

[sorcerykid]

Although it's not a perfect solution, you could "spawn" small insects with particles using random velocities and positions. Keep track of the particles in a table, and then when they expire, spawn new particles at the precalcated destination position, but with new velocities. This might save a bit of overhead compared to the engine having to manage large numbers of SAOs just for a tiny, non physical sprite.

Of course, if you're less concerned about actually tracking the insects, you could even try using a particle_spawner.

[BlueTangs Rock]

Insects like butterflies should be entities, because those were designed for movement. There are already extremely good butterflies in um... mobs_sky though I'm not sure I'd want something as complex as a mob framework in the default game. What about people who don't want to play with mobs? It'd just be a waste of loading time for them.

There are also excellent fish mobs you might want to try.

Thank you for the recommendations, I'll try them out. :)

[BlueTangs Rock]

Although it's not a perfect solution, you could "spawn" small insects with particles using random velocities and positions. Keep track of the particles in a table, and then when they expire, spawn new particles at the precalcated destination position, but with new velocities. This might save a bit of overhead compared to the engine having to manage large numbers of SAOs just for a tiny, non physical sprite.

Of course, if you're less concerned about actually tracking the insects, you could even try using a particle_spawner.

Though the butterflies/fireflies I'm mentioning are animated blocks that are confirmed to be added in 0.5.0, and as they're a block representing a moving animal, I believe they should have block movement similar to the way grass spreads, but instead of spreading insect blocks, the block on the old location will disappear, leaving only the insect block in the new location, then once that one spreads again, the cycle would repeat again, creating an illusion of movement.