Development Update: Blueprint GUI Overhaul and New Blueprint World

Hey everyone! 👋 I know, I promised myself (and you!) to release updates monthly, but here I am, stuck in a cycle of ambitious ideas that turn a simple update into a massive overhaul. Sound familiar? This time, though, I think it's worth it—big changes are coming.

First, some tough love: this upcoming release will drop backward compatibility. That’s right, all your old worlds won’t work with the new update. 😅 I debated with myself long and hard on this, but keeping old-world compatibility has been slowing me down. This overhaul is massive, and going forward, I want to prioritize pushing more ambitious features without the baggage of the past. So, let’s call it a fresh start! 🚀

⚠️ CAUTION: This post is about features planned for an upcoming release of MineFortress and not something currently available in the latest version. If you download the current build, you won't see these changes yet—they're still in development. Stay tuned for the official release!

Blueprint GUI Overhaul

Let’s talk about blueprints, the heart of MineFortress. The blueprint system has undergone a major facelift to make it more streamlined and intuitive.

• New Categories: I’ve trimmed the chaos down to just three categories: Workshops, Living Houses, and Decorations. Workshops are where the magic happens, unlocking professions and driving gameplay, while the other two help flesh out your fortress aesthetically.

• Levels Combined: Instead of spamming the blueprint menu with multiple levels of the same house, they’re now condensed into a single slot. You’ll see only the first level in the menu, and upgrades will happen directly in the building interface. 🎉

• Icons for Professions: Blueprints now have tiny, helpful icons to show which profession they unlock. No more guessing! 🧑‍🌾 Also when hovering the blueprint it shows you some useful metainfromation about the future building.

The New Blueprint World

The blueprint world—where you design and edit your reusable houses—has also gotten a lot of love.

• Multiplayer Blueprint Editing: Yes, you read that right! This was asked long ago and now you and your friends finally can edit blueprints simultaneously without stepping on each other’s toes. No more accidental overlaps!

• New Metadata Block: I’ve introduced a special block in the blueprint world to make configuration a breeze. Use it to define how many pawns the house can hire and which profession it unlocks.

• Fixed Dimensions: The old blueprint world was fixed, it had issues after moving to 1.20.3 version. Now all should work as intendet again, and the entities behave properly in the blueprint world.

What’s Next?

Stay tuned for Part Two of this blog post, dropping in three days. I’ll dive into building upgrades, the overhaul of hiring pawns, resource management, and—believe it or not—the campfire becoming a blueprint!

💡 Support the Project If you’re as excited as I am, consider supporting MineFortress on Patreon. Your support makes these ambitious updates possible. Also, don’t forget: you can access early dev builds at this website. Just remember, WIP builds can be unstable, so proceed with caution!

I’d love to hear your feedback. Let’s chat in the comments!