Java Dev trying my hand at modding

[Tedris]

Hey everyone!

I've been working with Java for a bit and decided to try writing my own mod for my friend's tekkit server.

The most requested thing is for them to have solar power in new tekkit, but since that isn't normally in the mod, I figured I could rig something up that could take in sunlight and output a small amount of power to Redstone energy conduits, also maybe having an internal energy storage that can be output, or maybe more like the Thermal Expansion machines.

Anyway, figuring out how to program that functionality has been slow going. I have set up my development environment in Eclipse already with Forge, but have been having issues just trying to make sense of making something that complex.

Are there any tutorials for making that sort of machine? Thanks.

[Munaus]

You can always crack open IC2 and thermal expansion and see how the mod devs made their machines work.

[Tedris]

Oh cool, I thought about doing something like that, but wasn't sure as I didn't think the projects were open source. I had some issues getting JadClipse working last night for looking at jars, do you have any recommendations for what I should be using to look at the source code?

[Munaus]

I don't know if they are open sourced mods.

But what would prevent you from looking at their source code anyway.

As for how to do it... Shit, I'm a complete noob at this! I'm struggling to make a mod myself and I'm fumbling in the dark.

I would have suggested MCP, but as for how... no clue.

[Neowulf]

Buildcraft is open source and contains all the MJ framework you need for your solar panel. I'd start there.

MCP can also deobfuscate most mods just fine. IC2 is a problem because alblaka hid the energynet code behind some trick that MCP's decompiler throws up on, but you can see the rest of the mod just fine with it.

[Tedris]

Awesome, I'll take a look at the buildcraft source and see if I can't figure things out.

Thanks for the advice about using MCP, I only set up forge in a Dev environment so I'm not sure if I have all the needed tools or not, was mainly following their getting started section.

Still less of a headache than the codebase I deal with at work!

Edit: Looks like Mekanism is open source, I'll be looking through that to figure out how they work with solar power, surprised it's not already in tekkit!

[Noah PLuimers]

If you install forge source with the install script you get all the tools needed, Just point eclipse to use the ./forge/mcp/eclipse folder as workspace and you are good to go

[Firehead94]

Personally, Id recommend looking into the new RF system Kinglemming made for Thermal Expansion 3. Widely supported even though the mod isn't even finished yet. Very easy to use especially for beginning modders.

As for the solar panel idea, probably just check the in game time and output power accordingly using IF statements. As far as tutorials go, check out vswe's summer courses or pahimar's lets mod series. They don't do exactly what you're looking for but they do offer tips and help with the forge modding environment.