Project setup

  1. Create a new Java project in your IDE
  2. Add Maven to your project
  3. Set up pom.xml
  4. Paste following code into dependencies: 
     <dependency>
     <groupId>com.google.code.findbugs</groupId>
     <artifactId>annotations</artifactId>
     <version>3.0.1u2</version>
 </dependency>
 <dependency>
     <groupId>com.google.guava</groupId>
     <artifactId>guava</artifactId>
     <version>31.1-jre</version>
 </dependency>
 <dependency>
     <groupId>com.fasterxml.jackson.core</groupId>
     <artifactId>jackson-databind</artifactId>
     <version>[2.14.0-rc1,)</version>
 </dependency>
 <dependency>
     <groupId>com.fasterxml.jackson.core</groupId>
     <artifactId>jackson-core</artifactId>
     <version>2.13.2</version>
 </dependency>
 <dependency>
     <groupId>com.fasterxml.jackson.core</groupId>
     <artifactId>jackson-annotations</artifactId>
     <version>2.13.4</version>
 </dependency>
 <dependency>
     <groupId>com.github.Fylipp</groupId>
     <artifactId>easy-events</artifactId>
     <version>v1.1.0</version>
 </dependency>
  5. Place content at specific directories:
    • textures/ - textures
    • sound/ - sounds
  6. Place translations in a known directory (used in step 7)
  7. Create several classes:
    • A class which implements AddonCentral, a class which defines mods
    • A class with items/blocks (this is a separate class to ensure that items are created at the right time)
    • A class with recipes (this is a separate class to ensure that recipes are created after items)
  8. Fill in the methods:
    • (constructor) - instantiate mod
    • info() - return an instance of ModMetadata with mod name, release date, description and name
    • firstOpen() - load your translations with GlobalSettings.injectResources()
    • makeContent() - place your call to init function of your items class
    • integrationModules() - place your call to init function of your recipes class, and any mod integration
  9. Create blocks and items.
    • If you want to create a block entity, implement any of these:
      • BlockEntityDataless - when your block does not store any extra information beyond its type
      • BlockEntityData - if your block stores data and can’t be rotated
      • BlockEntityChirotable - if your block can be rotated and flipped
      • SkeletalBlockEntityRotary - if your block can rotate, but not flip
    • If you want to create an item entity, implement ItemEntity if you want an immutable item, or ItemEntityMutable, if your item would be mutable.
    • If your item or block is an entity, declare an appriopriate entity type in your content class
    • If your item entity is immutable, declare hash0() and equal0() for equal items to collate.
    • If you want captions (titles and descriptions) to be translated, instead of a literal string, use a translation key. Translation keys begin with ‘#’ and are followed by a key in your translation file.
    • Create additional classes if needed
  10. Create recipes
    • If your recipe outputs an item entity, declare a raw item with ItemRaw.make() instead of an item entity as the recipe output.
    • Do not consume item entities within recipes
  11. Test your mod. If you find bugs, debug them and apply fixes
  12. Publish your mod to GitHub. (See here)
  13. Write about your mod at the game discussions under ‘Show and tell’