Need tips on block orientation (like slab)

[Mat Fenric]

Hello

I have the idea to adapt my old (8 years!) Minecraft mod "Plaques" (plates) (video in french) for Vintage Story.

I need to place the plate block, like a slab (horizontal, vertical, left, right, front, back, top or bottom).

Could you give me some tips on how to handle this block placement or where to find this information?

Thank you

[l33tmaan]

I'm sure others could explain it better than I can, but open up your VS directory and go to assets/survival/blocktypes/stone/cobble/cobblestonestairs.json. In that file you can find this string of code:

	variantgroups: [
		{ loadFromProperties: "block/rock" },
		{ loadFromProperties: "abstract/verticalorientation" },
		{ loadFromProperties: "abstract/horizontalorientation" },
		{ code: "cover", states: ["free", "snow"] }
	],

What you're interested in are the verticalorientation and horizontalorientation properties. These are what allow a block to be oriented in different directions. The vertical orientation is up/down, while the horizontal orientation is north/south/east/west. The cover group determines if the block has snow on it or not. So the block cobblestonestairs-granite-up-north-free would be a standard cobble stairway that you place on the ground and isn't covered in snow.

What I did when making new blocks with orientation was to copy the stairs file and then change the important parts (variantgroups, attributes, shapes/textures). There may be a better way, but it got the job done for me.

[Mat Fenric]

I had done my research in the wrong directories. Thanks for this lead.
cobbleslab.json might be a better option for me.

[l33tmaan]

Probably, I just used the cobblestone stairs as an example since it's FAR easier to tell which directions stairs are facing than slabs.

[Mat Fenric]

I have the basis of my mod. A long work still awaits me.

Thank you @l33tmaan for your help.

[l33tmaan]

No problem, helping people is fun.