Seasons #4694

New Issue

kno10 · 2024-11-04T21:24:33+01:00

kno10 commented

2024-11-04 21:24:33 +01:00

Seasons would be incredibly cool, but of course a lot of work.

snow in most biomes in winter
farming crops may depend on the season
flowers mostly in spring and summer
leaf color changes as seasons change

It would also add an interesting challenge to gameplay: you start in spring, quickly build your base, and collect some supplies so you get through the winter. In winter, you may have to rely on hunting and fishing, but otherwise may want to spend more time underground.

Seasons would be incredibly cool, but of course a lot of work. - snow in most biomes in winter - farming crops may depend on the season - flowers mostly in spring and summer - leaf color changes as seasons change It would also add an interesting challenge to gameplay: you start in spring, quickly build your base, and collect some supplies so you get through the winter. In winter, you may have to rely on hunting and fishing, but otherwise may want to spend more time underground.

kno10 added the

labels 2024-11-04 21:24:33 +01:00

THE-NERD2 commented

2024-11-22 19:13:27 +01:00

I agree; this is one of the many things that I really wish Minecraft had.

However, I don't think this needs to be a feature of VoxeLibre. I can see people disliking it or having a specific use case where they don't want it. That wouldn't matter if it was a sort of dynamic setting so that it could be turned on or off. That said, it should be possible to implement as an external mod.

I agree; this is one of the many things that I really wish Minecraft had. However, I don't think this needs to be a feature of VoxeLibre. I can see people disliking it or having a specific use case where they don't want it. That wouldn't matter if it was a sort of dynamic setting so that it could be turned on or off. That said, it should be possible to implement as an external mod.

teknomunk referenced this issue

2024-11-22 23:24:03 +01:00

WIP: Dynamic Rules and Settings #4662

kno10 commented

2024-11-23 15:51:40 +01:00

Obviously one would make this configurable, just as with weather and timespeed.

But I doubt this can be done within a mod, as it needs to integrate into farming (plants grow slower in winter) for example, weather (snowstorms instead of rain, snowfall) but also into biomes.

There was a mod for MTG, "mymonths" https://github.com/minetest-mods/mymonths https://forum.luanti.org/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=13639&hilit=mymonths but no activity for 4 years now; plus this only works on its own trees.

Obviously one would make this configurable, just as with weather and timespeed. But I doubt this can be done within a mod, as it needs to integrate into farming (plants grow slower in winter) for example, weather (snowstorms instead of rain, snowfall) but also into biomes. There was a mod for MTG, "mymonths" <https://github.com/minetest-mods/mymonths> <https://forum.luanti.org/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=13639&hilit=mymonths> but no activity for 4 years now; plus this only works on its own trees.

👍 1

THE-NERD2 commented

2024-11-23 20:42:58 +01:00

But I doubt this can be done within a mod, as it needs to integrate into farming (plants grow slower in winter) for example, weather (snowstorms instead of rain, snowfall) but also into biomes.

Okay, that's fair.

There was a mod for MTG, "mymonths" https://github.com/minetest-mods/mymonths https://forum.luanti.org/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=13639&hilit=mymonths but no activity for 4 years now; plus this only works on its own trees.

Yeah, we probably shouldn't use this. It depends quite a bit on its own APIs, and like you said it hasn't been maintained in a while.

> But I doubt this can be done within a mod, as it needs to integrate into farming (plants grow slower in winter) for example, weather (snowstorms instead of rain, snowfall) but also into biomes. Okay, that's fair. > There was a mod for MTG, "mymonths" <https://github.com/minetest-mods/mymonths> <https://forum.luanti.org/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=13639&hilit=mymonths> but no activity for 4 years now; plus this only works on its own trees. Yeah, we probably shouldn't use this. It depends quite a bit on its own APIs, and like you said it hasn't been maintained in a while.

kneekoo commented

2024-11-24 19:11:35 +01:00

Obviously one would make this configurable, just as with weather and timespeed.

But I doubt this can be done within a mod, as it needs to integrate into farming (plants grow slower in winter) for example, weather (snowstorms instead of rain, snowfall) but also into biomes.

Farming can be made to have the current defaults, but check if the seasons mod is enabled and use those values and mechanics if it's the case.

While I love the idea, I remember the Minecraft developers/designers avoiding seasons because it poses multiple challenges and also affects exploration. For instance, if a player is guaranteed to get snow and ice in winter, it's no longer as enticing to search for a cold biome. Also, how would spawning be affected? We spawn certain mobs in cold biomes. Would we also adjust spawning based on seasons, and have foxes everywhere we get snow on the ground? Polar bears too? Strays?

What else would change during winter? Water freezing would make sense, and torches near water source blocks could prevent freezing, but should that be enough? Is the farmland supposed to stay hydrated just the same during winter, or should we reduce its range from 4 to 2 blocks around it?

Having seasons would be really cool but if we do it, it should be more than a gimmick. And if we do it seriously and add various bits of mechanics, I wonder how the complexity of the code base would increase. So it's probably worth trying this as a mod initially, to see what kind of mechanics we want, and what their addition means in practice. If things look good, we can bring it in officially. Maybe even have it as mandatory in hardcore mode - whenever we add difficulty levels (#177, #1106).

> Obviously one would make this configurable, just as with weather and timespeed. > > But I doubt this can be done within a mod, as it needs to integrate into farming (plants grow slower in winter) for example, weather (snowstorms instead of rain, snowfall) but also into biomes. Farming can be made to have the current defaults, but check if the seasons mod is enabled and use those values and mechanics if it's the case. While I love the idea, I remember the Minecraft developers/designers avoiding seasons because it poses multiple challenges and also affects exploration. For instance, if a player is guaranteed to get snow and ice in winter, it's no longer as enticing to search for a cold biome. Also, how would spawning be affected? We spawn certain mobs in cold biomes. Would we also adjust spawning based on seasons, and have foxes everywhere we get snow on the ground? Polar bears too? Strays? What else would change during winter? Water freezing would make sense, and torches near water source blocks could prevent freezing, but should that be enough? Is the farmland supposed to stay hydrated just the same during winter, or should we reduce its range from 4 to 2 blocks around it? Having seasons would be really cool but if we do it, it should be more than a gimmick. And if we do it seriously and add various bits of mechanics, I wonder how the complexity of the code base would increase. So it's probably worth trying this as a mod initially, to see what kind of mechanics we want, and what their addition means in practice. If things look good, we can bring it in officially. Maybe even have it as mandatory in hardcore mode - whenever we add difficulty levels (#177, #1106).

teknomunk commented

2024-11-24 19:22:02 +01:00

I can get behind that. I would recommend that we initially limit changes in the main game to those that allow the mod access it needs to implement seasons via APIs.

kno10 commented

2024-11-26 14:01:37 +01:00

But to develop this API, one may need to largely work on this in a branch anyway.
I believe this will likely end up requiring too much integration (which is exactly why above mentioned mod brings along their own trees!) to be able to live as a separate mod. Just consider changing leaf colors in fall. You'd want to be able to hook into tree sapling growth, too, for example. And if these integrations are not tested well they will easily break across versions.
I doubt anybody will be happy to build and maintain this as an external mod. Just do a branch, develop it there, and then see how to integrate it step by step (and whether it is reasonable to make it a separate mod, or not).
But either way: whoever does work on this gets to decide how to approach this, not us beforehand, so this is a moot discussion.

But to develop this API, one may need to largely work on this in a branch anyway. I believe this will likely end up requiring too much integration (which is exactly why above mentioned mod brings along their own trees!) to be able to live as a separate mod. Just consider changing leaf colors in fall. You'd want to be able to hook into tree sapling growth, too, for example. And if these integrations are not tested well they will easily break across versions. I doubt anybody will be happy to build and maintain this as an external mod. Just do a *branch*, develop it there, and then see how to integrate it step by step (and whether it is reasonable to make it a separate mod, or not). But either way: whoever does work on this gets to decide how to approach this, not us beforehand, so this is a moot discussion.

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