1st 2021.2 snapshot and themes contest

The first MCreator 2021.2 snapshot is here, adding some new interesting features to the core. As this snapshot adds themes support, we are doing a themes contest too. Read on!

At the first glance, it may look like this snapshot does not add many new features. This is because we did a lot of "behind the scenes" improvements that should reflect a smoother UI, faster performance, and tons of new features and options for plugin makers. Still, especially fluids got some new goodies, and some other elements too. More in the changelog below.

Snapshot changelog

Major new features in this snapshot are highlighted with bold text.

• Updated JDK to OpenJDK 11.0.11
• Updated Blockly to 2021 Q1 patch 1
• Added native high-DPI screen support
• Added desktop taskbar progress indicator support
• Improved built-in Gradle environment stability
• Improved code generator performance
• Improved UI performance and rendering
• Improved mod element list filter dropdown menu functionality
• Added right-click context menu to the mod elements list
• Custom GUI and overlay mod element editor grid settings are now stored
• Added new block base workspace previews: fence, fence gate, wall, end rod
• Added set text in a text field of custom GUI procedure block
• Custom fluid buckets are now listed on the items list
• Added new custom fluid bucket settings: name, custom texture, rarity, empty sound, special information
• Added custom fluid block parameters: resistance, luminance, emissive rendering, flammability
• Added custom fluid block triggers: on random display tick, on block destroyed by an explosion
• Added end rod block base
• Added new local variable type and procedure return type: direction
• Added plugin update checking system
• Plugins can now add custom themes
• Plugins can now add new local variable types
• Moved entity animation definitions to plugins so plugins can add more entity animations
• Added custom block valid placement position condition
• Added new block procedure blocks: is location valid position for a block
• Added guistate dependency to all GUI related triggers and conditions
• [Bugfix, A 1.16.x] Blocks generated with the ore pack tool had broken textures
• [Bugfix] Number from text procedure block did not support decimal numbers
• [Bugfix] Some procedure blocks did not detect certain procedure errors
• [Bugfix] Custom armor items could not be used in custom item tags
• [Bugfix] Disabling entity collision box did not work
• [Bugfix] Some other minor fixes and improvements

Release notes

• Changed custom code mod element default template
• [Plugins] Plugins can now add new local variable types
• [Plugins] Generator plugins can now specify UI field exclusions or inclusions
• [Plugins] Plugins can now specify update check URL
• [Plugins] Plugins can now add new entity model animations
• [Plugins] Plugins can now add custom themes

Make sure to tell us what you think about the update in the comments, test out the snapshot, and report bugs in the snapshot.

Themes contest

As mentioned at the beginning of this article, we are doing a themes contest! So what does this mean? As now MCreator adds themes in plugins, we have decided to include some community themes in the core. If you want your theme to be included in the core (MCreator itself), these are the steps you need to do:

1. Read our custom themes wiki page to learn how to make new themes (and ask on forums or community-driven chat rooms for more help if needed)
2. Make your awesome new theme (make sure icons or other resources you use are your own work for copyright reasons)
3. Post your theme on our plugins page and note that you want your theme to be included in the themes contest either in plugin description or comments so we know you would like to participate

Before the 2nd snapshot, we will run voting on our social pages (Twitter and Reddit) and select 2 themes that will be included in MCreator's core. How cool is that? :D

IMPORTANT NOTE: Some antivirus programs (known are Norton and Malwarebytes) detect this snapshot as a false-positive. This is because we updated the Java bundled in MCreator and this new release is really new and thus detected as less trustworthy. The way to solve this is that you report such detections to your software support (there is usually a button for this or a form on their website). This will assure experts will manually verify files and mark them as clean.