My Experience

Lavender Biome mod was my final project for my Java class, where I learned the basics of the Java programming Language, Design Patterns ,and how to work with external libraries.

For this project, I worked alongside a classmate as the only two programmers on the team. My main responsability was to implement special blocks, items, tools, and a procedural generative environment to the mod using the Fabric API, Mixin, Loom and TerraBlender.

At the beginning, the project felt quite challenging and overwhelming, since I had never worked with an already existing codebase of this scale. However, after following some tutorials and exploring the documentation, I gradually started to understand how a database like Minecraft's works and how to safely implement new content without modifying the original source code.

One of the main challenges was the implementation of our custom tool, a Lavender pickaxe that mines in a plus sign (+) pattern. This required me to extend an existing tool class and override some of its methods to achieve the desired functionality while preserving some of the original functionality. In this process, I learned how to work with OOP Principles such as inheritance and method overriding in a big scale environment.

For the procedural generation of our custom biome, I had to explore the Terrablender library and its functionalities to create a well blended enviroment that felt natural into the game. This process required me to set up parameters and play with noise functionalities to achieve a smooth transition between biomes. This required a lot of trial and error, initially, our sky was purple and the water as well; it felt out of place and clahsed with Minecraft's aesthetic. However, by iterating with different values, rates, and parameters, I was able to achieve quite a natural look, well blended, while also adding some easter eggs hidden around the biome.

This experience has significantly improved my understanding of large-scale codebases, external libraries, APIs, and how to extend existing frameworks, while helping me with my programming logic as well. Even though this project felt quite challenging at first, I am very proud of the end result and how the mod turned out.