SensiCraft Devlog

Today I worked on the Player Sensor and added three detection modes:

• Normal: Outputs 15 when a player is detected, otherwise 0.
• Analog: Outputs a signal depending on how close the player is to the sensor.
• Count: Outputs a signal based on the number of nearby players, up to 15.

I also worked on the redstone output logic and started setting up automatic syncing between the GitHub README and the Modrinth project page.

GOT APPROVED ON MODRINTHHHH!!!!

++ADDED BLOCK SENSOR

Started laying foundations for the block sensor

As usual, I started with the block classes and block entity for the sensor, and the definitions, then will move on to the actual logic.

The basic setup was pretty simple, but this sensor will be my first one with a variable redstone output based on the distance of the detected block. Instead of just turning on or off, the redstone strength will change depending on how close the detected block is to the sensor.

Still have some more logic and testing to do, but the basic foundation is now in place.

Added biome display to the temp sensor

The temperature sensor can now tell you what biome you’re in.

It now shows the temperature, threshold, status, and biome directly in the sensor GUI.

Small feature, but it makes the sensor feel a lot more complete.

Next up is more polishing and getting closer to finishing the temp sensor.

Added temp sensor fahrenheit unit setting

THE TEMPERATURE SENSOR IS DONEEE

So, in this time i:

• Finished the temperature sensor logic
• Added temperature measurement and updating
• Mapped the internal sensor value to a realistic -15°C to 40°C range
• Added all 56 temperature states :(
• Added different models depending on the measured temperature
• Added the temperature threshold system
• Finished the temperature sensor blockstates
• Fixed the GUI temperature/threshold display
• Made sure the sensor keeps measuring continuously

The sensor internally uses a value from 0–55, bc i couldnt set a negative number in the blockstate property, which gets mapped to the actual temperature range.

So basically:

0 is -15°C and 55 is 40°C

and everything in between gets mapped accordingly, and fahrenheit mode coming soon!

The current goal is to have the sensors feel like actual useful minecraft components rather than just decorative blocks. So the new temp sensor will not just use the minecraft biome temp, it will consider other factors like nearby blocks, current weather, altitude, … while also keeping the biome in mind

Started working on the temperature sensor

So for now, it will only check the biome temperature, but in future revisions, it will have a custom dynamic temperature sensing system based on its surroundings, and without forgetting the biome temp.

For now, only the temp sensor logic is done, the screen is a bit messy, having trouble with minecraft’s dimensions and screen placement

Optimized mod icon

After the alpha release, I noticed that the icon was lacking a bit so i gave it more life (didnt know lots of pixel art back then it turned out dry)

SensiCraft v1.0.0-alpha is ready

After a bunch of work on sensors, GUIs, textures, recipes, and redstone logic, SensiCraft is finally ready for its first alpha release!

What’s included

• Player Sensor — detects nearby players
• Mob Sensor — detects Creepers, Skeletons, Zombies, and Spiders
• Custom Mob and Player Sensor detection radius
• In-game Mob and Player Sensor configuration GUI
• Rain Sensor — detects rain and outputs a redstone signal
• Crafting recipes for all sensors
• Persistent sensor settings across world reloads
• Custom textures and models

The goal of SensiCraft is simple: add useful, configurable sensors that can be used to create interesting redstone builds and automation systems.

This is only v1.0.0-alpha, so there’s still a lot more I want to add. More sensors and features are planned for future versions. For the beta, i wanna add 2 more sensors, and variable redstone output based on entity distance.

Tomorrow I’ll be publishing the first alpha release on modrinth and github.

It’s really cool seeing this go from an idea into an actual minecraft mod :)

Starting out with the player sensor

So as usual, im starting with the screen and options, then moving on to the textures and functionality.

Done till now:

• Player Sensor GUI
• Player Sensor networking payloads
• I also spent a lotta time troubleshooting why elements werent appearing, turns out i forgot this.addRenderableWidget() :)

Custom sensor radius

• I added a custom radius to the mob sensor, so you can now choose how far it detects mobs.
• The radius is a blockstate property, with a range from 4 to 32 blocks and a default of 8.
• Added a slider to the Mob Sensor screen so you can change the radius before saving.

Sensicraft progress

• Finished the Mob Sensor completely today.
• Added the crafting recipe for it too, made it a bit expensive since it’s a pretty advanced redstone sensor.
• The sensor can detect Creepers, Skeletons, Zombies and Spiders and outputs a redstone signal when the selected mob is nearby.
• So the Mob Sensor is officially done.

Mob Sensor is DONE

• New day, new progress.
• I finally finished the mob sensor today.
• The GUI is now fully working, with a dropdown to select which mob the sensor should detect and a toggle to activate/deactivate the sensor.
• I also added a payload so the changes from the GUI actually get sent to the server. Tbh, once I understood how payloads work, this ended up being way easier to handle than the NBT stuff I was using before.
• I removed the unnecessary NBT storage afterwards since mob and active are already block states and Minecraft handles saving them.
• The sensor can now detect Creepers, Skeletons, Zombies and Spiders within an 8 block radius, custom radius coming soon.
• When the selected mob is detected, the sensor outputs a redstone signal.
• It also updates continuously, so the redstone signal turns on/off as mobs enter and leave the detection range.
• So yeah, the actual mob sensor is basically finished now.
• I still have to make the crafting recipes though.

Next up is probably cleaning up a few things and moving on to the next sensor.

Mob Sensor is finally starting to feel real

• I worked a lot more on the mob sensor today and finally got the different states working.
• The sensor now has two blockstates: the selected mob and whether the sensor is active.
• I made separate models for creeper, skeleton, zombie and spider, with active and inactive versions for each.
• I also added a None state for when no mob is selected.
• The blockstate JSON now switches between the different models depending on the current mob and activation state.
• I spent way too long wondering why Minecraft wasn’t loading the blockstates just to find out I had a space after the comma.
• I also connected the GUI to the blockstate, so changing the mob in the dropdown and toggling the sensor actually changes the model in-game.
• The Mob Sensor’s settings are also stored in its BlockEntity now, so the selected mob and activation state can be saved with the world.
• It’s still client-side for now. I’ll probably add proper networking later when I’m polishing everything.
• Next I’ll probably work more on the actual detection part so the sensor can activate when the selected mob is nearby.

Mob sensor screen is finally working

• I worked quite a bit on the mob sensor screen and finally got the dropdown working.
• The dropdown was honestly way more annoying than I expected. I had problems with the text not showing, the entries being weird when hovering, and moving the dropdown would only move the text instead of the whole thing.
• After messing with it for a while I got it working, with the mob names centered and the hover effect working too.
• Then I wanted the selected mob to actually save when I close the screen instead of resetting every time.
• Since the block is in main and the screen is in client, I had to figure out how to pass the BlockEntity to the screen without mixing the two.
• I added NBT saving to the Mob Sensor BlockEntity, so every sensor can save its own selected mob.
• I tested it with multiple sensors and it actually works, so one can be set to Zombie and another to Creeper and they both remember their settings.
• I also got HotSwap working, which made testing the GUI changes a lot easier.

Overall, I’m pretty happy with how the mob sensor is going. Now I just need to make it actually detect the mob instead of just remembering it, and add a texture to it, which will be dynamic.

Long time no devlog, but going at it again

• I couldnt work much these 2 days, but i managed to add the mob sensor block and screen sample.
• I got stuck on the fact that i couldnt import classes between main and client, so i just moved my screen to client so i can access the client minecraft packages.

Overall, i feel like, with a little patience, i can get this mod done to the level i want it to be

Added loot tables and crafting recipe

This one was mostly about getting the Rain Sensor to work properly as an actual Minecraft block. I added its loot table so it drops itself when broken, and made a crafting recipe for it.

I also worked more on data generation, especially with the block tags. Minecraft 26.2 changed some of the datagen APIs, so getting everything set up took a bit of figuring out. Still learning how all of this works, but it’s starting to make more sense.

The Rain Sensor is now getting closer to being an actual useful block. Next I want to keep working on its redstone behavior and add more sensors.

Devlog Recap:

• Added Rain Sensor loot table
• Added Rain Sensor crafting recipe
• Added block tool tags through datagen
• Continued setting up data generation

Added the rain sensor and its texture

This was an easy one, i made the texture using blockbench, and the code was very simple for the rain sensor.

However, i faced a problem where the exported json model wasnt ready, i had to change the parent for it to work (atleast for my project settings).