Modmaking Advice Please..?

[Wonjune Lee]

My friend and I are trying to make a new server with a wild west theme, and we thought it would be cool if we had an actual bar and everything. But, unfortunately, Minecraft lacks, and probably will forever lack, any type of "real" liquor. (Yes, I'm aware of the "Milk" mod.) I believe that a beer & wine mod existed for MC 1.1, but it hasn't been updated since then, and I sorta want to make something like that. Any advice? How should we (my friend and I) proceed?

[Neowulf]

IC2 has some brewing built in, check it out and see if it covers what you wanted.

Your starting point should be determining how you want brewing to work and what the resultant product will be.

Making: Distillery as a single or multi-block construction? Vat block to cook wort in? Hijack the brewing stand? Wine press?

Storage/drinking: Kegs + mugs? Bottles? Potions? Liquid block?

Effects: Purely cosmetic? Hunger satisfying? Potion effects?

Items: Do you need new items for ingredients? If so, how will they be obtained?

The first step of any mod is the idea, followed closely by fleshing out the idea with specifics.

Once you know what you want the mechanics to be, then look into creating the code to make it happen and the art to represent it.

If you don't have a programmer and/or artist on hand, you have some decisions to make. Is someone already on your team willing to learn what's needed to cover the gap(s)? Java is not exactly the easiest language to learn, and sprite art is a lot harder than it looks.

Also, even with a programmer and artist on hand, don't expect your bar to be fully stocked anytime soon. Art and programming are both creative endeavors heavily dependent on inspiration and "eureka" moments. Depending on how complex your brewing is it could take months to get it working and stable.

[Wonjune Lee]

Thanks a lot for the good advice! Really appreciated! Guess I'll have to hold my breath and jump in!

[ErusPrime]

If you do this, it would be fun if you made it as realistic as possible.