Minecraft Structure Planner Development Blog.

Mac users getting some lovin'

Posted by LankyBrit on June 15, 2011

It's been a long time coming, Mac users, but it's finally here!

Rather than work out how to fix the fundamentally broken Java 3D OrbitBehavior object, I threw it away and wrote my own. Mac users can now rotate and scale their 3D structure views the same as Linux and Windows users!

Don't fret though, Linux and Windows users, this release is for you too! You can still use the keyboard controls if you want, but you now have the far simpler and more intuitive click-and-drag mouse controls too. If you wish to rotate your design, simply left-click and drag the mouse left or right. If you wish to tilt your design, left-click and drag the mouse up or down. Of course, you can also combine rotation and tilt in one smooth mouse movement :)

Bonus Features

Multi-monitor support
'Magic slider' on right side of 3D view. Try it out to see what it does - it's really useful when checking on build progress or determining exactly how to build a structure!

Enjoy,
LankyBrit.

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It's been a long time coming...

Posted by LankyBrit on June 13, 2011

Release 0.99.6 has now shipped, and it's a fundamentally different application now (even if it looks similar.) Here are the big changes:

No more Java-3D headaches! Java 3D is now bundled within the main JAR file or executable. Not only that, but the application will detect which type of machine and Operating System you're running on, and will automatically load the correct native libraries for you. What does this mean? You no longer need to install Java-3D to use the 3D features of the Structure Planner!
Complete re-write of the 3D model code. The model code has been extended to allow for non-trivial (read 'more than just a simple block') object models. This means that I've now been able to implement stairs that actually look like Minecraft stairs! It also means that you'll be getting doors soon, and maybe even blocks with differing textures on the tops/sides/bottoms. As an added bonus, the new 3D code uses about 30% to 40% less memory, renders faster, garbage collects easier, and no longer locks the application up while it's drawing.
Modification to the Layer Panel display. You can now easily tell the difference between half-slabs and blocks of the same material in the layer panel.

The 'stairs' model is now available on the Freeform tab. Simply select which kind of stair you want to use, and click on the design grid. You'll see that the stair tile has a red arrow on it pointing in the direction that the stairs ascend. To change the direction of the stairs, either click on the stair tile with the stair texture still selected (this will rotate the arrow 90 degrees clockwise) or right-click on the stair tile and select the orientation from the new 'Orientation' menu. Note that when placing stairs the application will remember the last stair orientation you used, so it's nice and easy to place long lines of stairs all facing in the same direction.

Here's an example of a design using the new stairs blocks: