Sugar Skulls

Presenting...

This mod brings the A game! Over 110 new lighted blocks with 12 different types, plus the Illuminator profession with Trade levels and profession block, 16 new enemies (flying Sugar Skulls, fast Hypersonic Lady Bugs), and special recipe cards for recipe viewing anywhere!

First, I need to admit that I fell down a lighted-block rabbit hole. I was thinking of small improvements to lighting, and mainly it was about size, placement, and style. All the lighted blocks require a Redstone Signal to work, with each lamp-type having 3 settings based on the power of that Redstone Signal, basically High, Low, and Off. (The fans do not go crazy on high, just a simple rotation every few ticks, with no animation.) Table Lamps, Leaded Table Lamps, Tall Table Lamps, Lamp Posts, Tall Lamp Posts, Light Strands, and Light Panels have a High, Low, and Off setting. However, the two Animated Light Panels and the Wall Lamps only have On and Off. Before we go too deep into all the lighted blocks, we need to discuss how to acquire them, and for that I need to introduce you to the Sugar Skulls, led by Skullvira, sweet, and colorful, but still very much baddies, and the Hypersonic Ladybugs (you will see why they are hypersonic once you find one in-game).

Sugar Skulls

Not that sweet, they throw sugar at you instead of arrows or fire charges, and those do hurt. To the victor go the spoils though, or rather the Sugar Skull Tears. Tears? Yes, Tears. Like the Ghast tear, but these are much more powerful in that they can be used in the lighted profession of Illumination! There are 8 Sugar Skulls in 8 different styles and colors, plus 8 different colored tears to match each one, and 8 different colored Dried Sugar Skull Tears. The tears can be used at a regular crafting table to make the lighted blocks called Sugar Lamps, and then those can be used at the Illuminator Table to craft specialty lighting like: wall lamps, table lamps, tall table lamps, lamp posts, tall lamp posts, hanging lamps, and hanging fan lamps. However, the Sugar Lamps, Table Lamps, and Leaded Lamps are also storage containers with 36 Slots, and the Sugar Skull Tears can change the background of the storage window when applied to the Sugar Lamp/Table Lamp/Leaded Lamp. The Hypersonic Ladybugs are vicious ground-attackers that drop Dried Sugar Skull Tears, which must be Brewed with a Poison Potion to rehydrate the Sugar Skull Tear. But, where do you find these Sugar Skulls and Hypersonic Ladybugs? Ah, I am glad you asked! The Sugar Skull Dimension featuring 3 new biomes: Sugar Skull Beach, Sugar Skull Mountains, and Sugar Skull Flatlands.

Sugar Skull Dimension

Alright, it is not that creative of a name, but it is fitting. This dimension contains three biomes I mentioned above: Sugar Skull Flatlands, Sugar Skull Mountains, and Sugar Skull Beach. The Sugar Skulls can be found all over, but the Hypersonic Ladybugs can all be found in the Sugar Skull Mountains biome. However, some of them do spawn in the other biomes, just not all of them. Other creatures spawn in the biomes too, like bats, parrots, wolves, donkeys, and skeleton horses. This means there is an endless supply of Sugar Skull Tears, which you will find helpful, as well as means of transportation, (if you didn't bring one with you)! Tally-ho skelly horse!

Crafting Sugar Lamps

Do you known which Minecraft blocks (and fruits) give off light? Well, if you do or you do not, you will soon learn which of those blocks can be used in the crafting of Sugar Lamps. I mentioned before that Sugar Lamps are also storage containers, but you will not be able to craft with a Sugar Lamp that contains anything, so contents will have to be removed beforehand. Lamp Parts are any vanilla block that gives off light, from magma blocks to soul lanterns, sea pickles, and even glow berries, plus a lot more. In addition, Sugar Lamps also need Sugar, regular Minecart Rails, and Sugar Skull Tears in specific postions. After you have crafted the Sugar Lamp, you have to decide if you want to use it for storage, or for Illumination! (well, not just placing the Sugar Lamp to provide light, but for the Illumination profession.) All Sugar Lamps give off some light when powered by Redstone too.

Illumination Profession

Opening the Illuminator Table gives players access to viewing and printing all the recipes for: Table Lamps, Leaded Table Lamps, Tall Table Lamps, Wall Lamps, Light Panels, Light Strands, Hanging Fan Lamps, and Hanging Lamps, plus access to Illuminate, the process of manipulating the Sugar Lamps to craft the specialty lighted blocks. The Illuminator Table requires Fuel and Lead to operate, so none of the buttons will work until the unit has at least Fuel and Lead. Paper is optional to Print recipes. Wall Lamps, Lamp Posts, and Tall Lamps Posts are unique amongst the Sugar Lamps in that players must craft the basic Wall Lamps first, and then right-click the Wall Lamp on an Empty Lamp Post or an Empty Tall Lamp Post. This converts the empty lamp into a lighted lamp with that style of Sugar Lamp. Other Minecraft lighted-blocks can be right-clicked onto empty Wall Lamps, empty Lamp Posts, and empty Tall Lamp Posts to create special lighted lamps with: Pumpkins (lighted as Jack o'Lanterns), Redstone Lamps, Froglights, Sea Lanterns, Glowstones, and Shroomlights. The final piece of the puzzle is crafting Lead, and it is not all that complicated, but players will need: 1 Copper Ore, 1 Magma Block, and 1 Phantom Membrane to created 64 Lead blobs. Lead is only used when Illuminating, so 64 lead blobs will handle, well 64 Sugar Lamps. Crafting Empty Wall Lamps, Empty Lamp Posts, and Empty Tall Lamp Posts can be done at a regular crafting table, as well, but they require Lead in addition to Logs (any log), and any Metal (raw copper, copper ingot, raw iron, iron nugget, iron ingot, raw gold, gold ingot, Netherite ingot). The Illuminator Table can also be added to any village to add an Illuminator, to purchase different Illumination items including: some recipes, some Sugar Skull Tears, and the Illuminator Table.

Redstone Signal strength

With the exception of Animated Light Panel 1, Animated Light Panel 2, the Wall Lamps, and the full-size Sugar Lamps, all other lamps have three settings based on: 12-15 RS for High, 1-12 RS for Low, and 0 for Off. Hanging Fan Lamps will also rotate at three different speeds based on these Redstone Signal strengths:0-4 Low, 5-8 Medium, 9-15 High. Animated Light Panel 1 & 2, Wall Lamps, and Sugar Lamps are on their highest setting with any Redstone Signal.

Animations

No additional animations were included, preventing the needed support from an animation mod like Geckolib. This means the Hypersonic Ladybugs do not have moving legs, but they still scurry, eat grass, and attack players! Ouch!

Requirements

Built and Tested on MC JAVA 1.21.1 and Neoforge 21.1.186\
This mod does not replace anything, adds a mountain of colorable potential and a new crafting profession, but it does require Neoforge/Fabric. Recipes are reasonably balanced.

Thank yous

Thank you to the MCreator team for all their hard work on making MCreator, and providing a decent source for the community to utilize.
www.mcreator.net

Thank you to the Mojang Team for Minecraft, without which none of us would be here.
mojang.net

Thank you to the Neoforge Team for picking up the pieces of Forge and pushing forward.
neoforged.net

Thank you to Modrinth for hosting all our fun!
modrinth.net

Thank you to the community!

F.A.Q.

Q. Can I use your mod in my mod?\
A. Yes! Please include a Credits.txt file for attribution.

Q. Why can't I use ___ to make Sugar Lamp(s)?\
A. Lamp Parts are pretty extensive from Torches to Glow Berries, and just about anything else that glows/casts light. However, certain blocks would not work, like Campfires or Candles, and things that have to be lit by the player to work.

Q. Can I change the Sugar Lamp background after changing it?\
A. Yes, just use another color Sugar Skull Tear on it.

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