ReCreate Ponder Discussion

[Apostrcfo2]

Hi! While waiting for the official release, I've been working on a small side project: a in-game handbook for ReCreate, similar to what Tinkers' Construct does with its manual.

The current implementation includes:
• A book item given to the player on first join (also craftable with a Book + Wrench)

• A clickable table of contents

• One page per implemented machine with a short description

• Proper line breaks in page text

It's still very early and missing textures and images, but the core functionality is working. I wanted to share it in case you find it interesting or want to incorporate something similar into the official release.

The code is in a private repo for now, but I'm happy to open it or submit a PR if you'd like to take a look.

[Gordon-Frohman]

This looks like a really neat thing to have, but are you sure that it is necessary?
After all Create has its own pondering mechanic, which is acting as an interactive manual, and which is going to be backported as well

[Apostrcfo2]

This looks like a really neat thing to have, but are you sure that it is necessary?
After all Create has its own pondering mechanic, which is acting as an interactive manual, and which is going to be backported as well

Hi! Yeah, that makes total sense, the Create Mod’s pondering system is definitely a more powerful and interactive approach than a static handbook.

My idea was more of a temporary solution while that isn’t available yet, especially since I wasn’t sure how feasible it would be to backport the pondering system to 1.7.10.

That said, I’ve actually started looking into how the pondering system works and experimenting a bit with how something similar could be implemented in this version. It’s still very early, but I’m trying to understand the core concepts behind it.

If pondering ends up being fully backported, then I completely agree that this handbook would probably become unnecessary, but in the meantime, it’s been a useful way to explore how in-game guidance could work

[Gordon-Frohman]

Pondering render system is not very different from the system used for contraption render, so it won't be hard to implement. I was going to add it on the same update it was added in Create (0.2 or 0.3, I'm not sure), but to spare you from making work that is going to be deleted, I can implement it with the initial release.

[Apostrcfo2]

Pondering render system is not very different from the system used for contraption render, so it won't be hard to implement. I was going to add it on the same update it was added in Create (0.2 or 0.3, I'm not sure), but to spare you from making work that is going to be deleted, I can implement it with the initial release.

Got it👍
I’ve been taking a look at how it works already, so I’ll keep exploring it on my side.

[Gordon-Frohman]

It looks like you are very interested in the backport release. I was going to write a backporting guidline for people willing to contribute to the repo, but I was putting it away for a long time. But I can hurry up if you want to help with porting pondering (or anything else).

[Apostrcfo2]

It looks like you are very interested in the backport release. I was going to write a backporting guidline for people willing to contribute to the repo, but I was putting it away for a long time. But I can hurry up if you want to help with porting pondering (or anything else).

That would be amazing, please do share the backporting guidelines whenever you have them ready. I've already been studying how the Ponder render system works and how it relates to the contraption render system, so I think I have a decent starting point.

[Gordon-Frohman]

Welp, the guideline is done
Tell me if you want me to add anything there

[Apostrcfo2]

Welp, the guideline is done Tell me if you want me to add anything there

Hi Gordon, ​Hope you're having a great week!

​I just wanted to let you know that I've made the Ponder-1.7.10 repository public. I've been actively porting and reviewing the code based on the guidelines you put together. It's not finished yet, it's still in the very beginning stages, but you can already get an idea of what it might look like.

[Gordon-Frohman]

Oh, so you've decided to backport the latest implementation of the Ponder as a standalone library
That's a great idea in case anyone would want to use it for their mod, but in version 0.4.1 it was still a part of the main mod, so I have a question: have you noticed that some of these classes were already backported by me as a part of the ReCreate repository? Have you just copied these, or have you made them from scratch?

[Apostrcfo2]

Oh, so you've decided to backport the latest implementation of the Ponder as a standalone library
That's a great idea in case anyone would want to use it for their mod, but in version 0.4.1 it was still a part of the main mod, so I have a question: have you noticed that some of these classes were already backported by me as a part of the ReCreate repository? Have you just copied these, or have you made them from scratch?

I based this port on the latest standalone Ponder library rather than the version embedded in Create 0.4.1. The reason is that the standalone version has a cleaner separation between the API and the implementation, which makes it easier to work with as an independent library.

I copied the classes from the standalone Ponder repository and have been adapting them for 1.7.10, not migrating from your ReCreate repo.

As for my plan, it has three stages:

Comment everything: go through all files and comment out any code that depends on APIs not available in 1.7.10, following the same guidelines you wrote for ReCreate contributors.

Metanip: port the essential parts of Catnip that Ponder depends on, using MetaWorld Mixins

Adapt all code: once Metanip is in place, go back through those commented and rewrite them using the 1.7.10 equivalents.

[Gordon-Frohman]

Okay then
I wish you the best of luck
Once you are done with that - we can make a proper integration between mods

[kuzuanpa]

I've created a Ponder-like standalone mod using GTNH's codes a years ago: https://github.com/kuzuanpa/Thinker
but I'm not sure it enough for mod's integration because I made it for my modpack, And It works most on reading json files.
also because I'm maintaining the modpack, It haven't be active developed for a time. It's API and usage is still neat and need some shortcuts. If you think it's able to use but need some more thins, I can add them.

[Apostrcfo2]

I've created a Ponder-like standalone mod using GTNH's codes a years ago: https://github.com/kuzuanpa/Thinker
but I'm not sure it enough for mod's integration because I made it for my modpack, And It works most on reading json files.
also because I'm maintaining the modpack, It haven't be active developed for a time. It's API and usage is still neat and need some shortcuts. If you think it's able to use but need some more thins, I can add them.

I also found an interesting repository, a Ponder for 1.12.2.

[Gordon-Frohman]

That's interesting, but porting from 1.12 is as easy (or as hard) as porting from 1.17 or 1.21, because all of these versions come after the 1.8 update added blockstates and the update added NBT-based structures (1.9 IIRC)