Example mod · theonaris.examples.sphere-block 1.0.0

Glow Sphere Block

Adds a sphere block imported from an FBX model with its own texture, icon and placement sound. Spheres light up and shift from cyan to red the faster their creation moves.

A new building block made from an FBX model with its own texture, icon and placement sound, plus Lua logic that makes every sphere glow brighter and redder the faster its creation moves.

#Try it

1. Copy this folder into your mods folder (in the game: Mods → Open folder).
2. Start the game, open Mods, and allow its permissions the first time: Review permissions, Allow, then Apply changes. It asks because it puts lights and effects in the world (world).
3. Enter the building editor. The Glow Sphere is in the Basic category.
4. Build something that moves and watch the spheres go from cyan to red. Type /sphere-block.count in the developer console to count them.

#How it works

#The block is data

mod.json points the blocks content type at content/blocks/*.json. Each file there is one block:

{
  "id": "glow-sphere",
  "name": "Glow Sphere",
  "base": "Cube",
  "model": "/models/glow-sphere.fbx",
  "texture": "/textures/glow-sphere.png",
  "icon": "/icons/glow-sphere.png",
  "collider": "sphere"
}

• base is the game block this one copies. A block is far more than a mesh (connection faces, paint, aerodynamics, mirroring), so a mod block starts as a copy of a real one. Based on Cube, the sphere connects on all six faces. Base it on Thruster and it would really thrust.
• Paths starting with / are from the mod's root. Without the slash they are relative to the JSON file.
• The model is scaled to fit one block cell and centred, so it does not matter what size it was exported at. Set "fit": false to keep the file's own size, or "modelScale" to adjust it.
• The block's number in saves and network messages comes from its full id (theonaris.examples.sphere-block:glow-sphere), so it is the same on every machine: creations with spheres save, load and sync without any code.

#The behaviour is a script

scripts/client.lua runs on each player's machine. building.onPlaced("glow-sphere", fn) calls fn for every sphere that appears, whether placed, loaded or received. A timer updates a light per sphere, nearest first and capped by a setting, since lights cost performance.

Every object a mod creates (lights, effects, sounds, console commands) is removed automatically when the mod stops. There is no clean-up code.

#Files

mod.json                     identity, permissions, settings, content
content/blocks/glow-sphere.json
models/glow-sphere.fbx       1 m UV sphere
textures/glow-sphere.png     hex panels with glowing seams
icons/glow-sphere.png        palette and mod-list icon
sounds/place.wav
scripts/client.lua

#Make it yours

• Swap models/glow-sphere.fbx for your own model (keep it under 50k triangles for a block).
• Change "base" to another block, such as "Wheel" or "Thruster", to inherit what it does.
• Add a second file in content/blocks/. Every JSON file there becomes a block.
• Edit scripts/client.lua in the game's script editor and save: the mod reloads at once.

All files