Jungle

[Argmaster]

This proposal contains a proposal of jungle improvements.
Additionally it contains monstera plant created @careeoki which is heavily used in new jungle.

[Argmaster]

I would appreciate #1793 for this so we can properly mix monsteras, ferns, grass and flowers 😄

[Argmaster]

Trees found in this biome have branch based roots, which are susceptible to known branch issues:

Should I remove those roots? This problem is less visible among leaves.

[Argmaster]

I have segmented the large sapele trees and added decoration to them:

I have also removed branch roots from some of them, they were causing to much trouble.
However, we need more complex solution to this problem, some way of forcing block updates in generation for some blocks, because junctions of branches look even worse than branches replacing full wood blocks.

[careeoki]

The trees look amazing. The giant ones are very treehouse worthy.
Some subbiomes would be nice, like a sparse jungle or clearing.
I do have some minor nitpicks I'm going to make a PR for in a moment.

[Argmaster]

There is some work to left:

• split ancient sapele tree into segments
• add child blocks for decoration on ancient sapele tree
• add 2nd variant of medium sapele tree
• add 2 more bush variants
• add 2 variants of large khaya_ivorensis
• add 2nd variant of small khaya_ivorensis
• add socratea exorrhiza - a walking palm tree, a very unique looking plant. Although its not mahogany, for now we can just add them with mahogany wood and decide to change it to palm wood if we decide to add it. Postponed.

I don't think splitting khaya_ivorensis models make sense, considering they easily disappear in the jungle and they have a very strange shape (they don't have a simple, long, straight stem). There is already a lot of variation elsewhere and the jungle is mostly made out of leaf blocks anyway, individual trees blend easily.

I won't include what Carrie said in this list, so to not duplicate it, but it very much applies. I would appreciate if someone could have a look at subbiomes, because honestly I was only interested in making trees :3

[careeoki]

I can do some subbiomes.

[careeoki]

@Argmaster I made a PR for subbiomes

[Argmaster]

I think I am happy with the outcome and I will give up on further changes in the trees unless requested as necessary. Biome variants @careeoki made are super cool and they improved the jungle a lot. Monstera, also made by @careeoki, turned out to be an absolute game changer when it comes to making jungle feel like an actual jungle.
I still want to add socratea exorrhiza - a walking palm tree, but I will do that later perhaps, as I am simply tired of tweaking that jungle.
Additionally what would be good to add as soon as particles are ready to be used in prod is #2115 to make the jungle feel more alive as it is one of the most alive biomes you can think of.

Addressing @ikabod-kee concerns with wood collection, I have added quite a few fallen trees, additionally 2x2 trees are very very easy to cut down as you can make circle staircase through them and walk on the branches. If we allowed climbing the ivy it would improve even further. Short trees are fairly simple to cut down as they are in your reach all the time, while tall trees are tall trees and are awkward to cut down. Well, typical, can't do much about the last.

I did some testing how it would feel if leaves had no hitboxes and in my opinion this is totally viable with addition of branches. It is very cool that you can climb to the top of the tree through branches. I encourage you to try that, its a lot of fun. I won't force that change in this PR but I would like to open (or re-open) this discussion.

(screenshots were made on version 0.0.0 thus old fern)

[ikabod-kee]

Thank you for including fallen logs for wood collection :) It should help players out a lot

[careeoki]

You should totally make a seperare PR for no-collision leaves. Is it possible right now for leafy branches to only have collison on the branch parts?

[codemob-dev]

Is it possible right now for leafy branches to only have collison on the branch parts?

I couldn't get this to work, it will probably be possible with #1821 though.

[IntegratedQuantum]

This is great. I think you nailed the ground level. Also adding ancient structures is nice too.

There is that problem with the roots, but I would keep the roots since they add a lot to the atmosphere. We can figure out a solution or workaround for the root problem at a later point.

The only thing that I do not like is how repetitive the tree tops look, particularly in the ancient jungle

I'd suggest to add asome optional extenders into the stem and between the two leaf levels to give it some more variety in heigth.

[IntegratedQuantum]

new entries at the bottom please.

[IntegratedQuantum]

Can be moved into _defaults