Curse

Welcome to the weekly Minecraft Spotlight! In this edition we will be covering "RWtorchLight", a plugin created by MYCRAFTisbest.

This plugin lets players light up their surroundings by simply holding a torch, instead of having to place one everywhere they go!

When RWtorchlight is installed on your server, players will never have to worry about running out of torches again! Rather than placing a torch to light up the darkness, they just have to hold one.

This plugin will not make any changes to the original functionality of torches. Players will still be able to place torches as usual, all this plugin does is adding the ability to use equipped torches as a light source.

The torch will not actually emit light by itself and it won't be burning like a lit torch either. But to give the illusion of a burning torch a glowstone will follow you wherever you go, lighting up the area around you. When you are looking around while exploring the area you will not even notice it. Only when you look down you will see the glowstone placed below your feet.

Even though this is a server plugin, the lighting is being handled on the client side. This means that when you are walking around with a torch in your hand lighting up a dark dungeon, other players will not be seeing this. They will only see you holding an unlit torch in the darkness, without a glowstone illuminating the area around you.

Fortunately, a client resource such as SpoutCraft is not required for this plugin to work properly. This allows everyone to use the plugin, even those who have no interest in any of the popular client mods

Aside from torches, players are also able to use other items for the same purpose. This allows them to equip weapons and tools without getting rid of the ability to lighten their surroundings. These items include golden boots and pumpkins. Once players equip one of these items, either a glowstone or a redstone lamp will follow them around.

Using the included configuration file you can change any item you want into a source of light! Just be sure to choose a light emitting block to use as Light_Block, such as a Jack 'o' Lantern, an activated furnace or even a lava block. Although the last one is not recommended; unless you want to give your players a hard time moving around!

Since the Torch_Item value does not represent the actual light source, any kind of block is allowed to replace the torch.

RWtorchLight is a must have for players who spend much of their time in darker areas. The plugin makes the use of torches much more convenient: rather than having to place torches everywhere, players can simply equip a torch to light the area around them. By changing the configuration file server owners can also choose other items to be used as torch.

What inspired you to start this project?
I had, and still have at least for now, a tekkit server called RWtekkit (hence the RW in RWtorchLight). It was beginning to become popular and I wanted something to make it better and I thought of how players always had said "I am out of torches" or something like that and having to leave there mine. I thought of Notch's original idea of a replacement for torches called "lanterns". He later scraped the idea. "Lanterns were to produce light as they are being carried, making it a useful thing to have when cave exploring, but Notch stated on Twitter that he would not add torches as a mobile light source because he didn't like how it looked." -MinecraftWiki Personally, I think he was wrong on this one. Today I can support my opinion with an average of 300 or more servers per hour and 850 per 24 hours.

Where did you publish the initial release of this plugin?
The first release was here on Curse/BukkitDev. The original release took many atempts to get a working copy.  It was my first public/useful plugin and I was happy when I had released it. Few people know that the original release was actually cancelled because on some servers it actually could crash the client when standing on a chest with a torch. The first approved release had many bugs in the logs and several minor glitches that didn't effect much. It happened that a similar plugin, TorchLight+, had recently been discontinued due to 1.2.5 adding client side lighting. Several other plugins were released after it, including mine. Mine was earlier, updated frequently and was far ahead by the time others were ready.

Approximately how long did it take to finish the first working version of RWtorchLight?
It took about 24 hours. The first 8 hours of code were scraped for not working. After 24 hours, the plugin worked enough that it had basic function. I had actually did it on the day I was celebrating my birthday with my family.

Did you come across any challenges during development and, if any, how did you handle them?
The main challenges I had was the original release. First off, the problem that ended the original TorchLight series was that items can no longer emit light correctly on servers because it was handled client side. My first code didn't work properly because of that. I had to scrap it. Octalimage had helped me with the source from his similar plugin that he released only a day earlier.  There was also the challenges of debugging the code's many flaws which is hard to explain all of the original errors, but with help from the users, i was able to solve them

What was your favourite development tool for this project?
Eclipse was my favorite tool. It is really the only thing i used to make it aside from some help from others.

Have you learned anything new from creating this plugin?
Since this plugin was created, I learned how to be a better coder. Since then I have released many other plugins as well as taken over others.  Many of them are still unknown, but soon enough they will live up to RWtorchLight

What stage of RWtorchLight's development process did you enjoy most?
I liked the recent stage, the Halloween update.  It added many thing people have been asking for like a config as well as a fun Halloween mode and many more features. It was the update to add the most features.

And what is your favourite feature of the plugin itself?
I have to say the original feature, the torch having glowstone following on client-side to give a player light. I do however like all of my features, including those not yet released.

Are you working on any other plugins or updates at the moment?
I am currently working on a new version containing the /torch toggle command many have hoped for as well as a disable in the command for those who dislike that.  I am also working on many other plugins.  The ones that I believe will become big are CraftMe and MMGserverStaff. CraftMe is a plugin that adds crafting recipes to minecraft. I am currently working on a feature to craft player heads. This allows players to have heads of all there favorite people, including myself and any donators. The other plugin, MMGserverStaff, is a simple plugin long overdue. It allows players to see the staff online when typing /staff rather then the alternative of a list of 50 offline people with 2 or 3 online staff mixed in there.

In addition to Minecraft, have you ever released any plugins, mods or maps for other games?
No, i have not. I do, however, like the games "Portal" and "Portal 2" and might eventually make a map for those. I am also planing to begin developing mods for Minecraft Clients in addition to servers, one of which, will be based off this plugin.

Besides your own creations, what are some of your favourite plugins from other developers and why?
I really like the plugin "Real Votes"  by tickleman1. It is a simple plugin that i have used since before i made public plugins and when I first got my own public server (in fact, there is a post there from a while back from me asking how permissions worked). It is a great vote plugin. It isn't overcomplicated like that of others and I like how simple it is. It also means updates are not required. I would recommend it for every economy server. I also like the plugins of Ludo077.

Do you have any advice for other potential plugin developers?
Never give up. If you fail, backtrack to something that worked or if it never did, work with it for a bit or consider scrapping it (but don't delete it, you may need it). Most import is to ask others for help. I couldn't of done it without help. If anyone here needs help, you can ask me or anyone else in the Curse/Bukkit community.

Thanks to MYCRAFTisbest for creating this plugin and for participating in our interview!

Thanks to MadPixel for the Minecrafter font.