The file-asset era¶
Mod versions 1.0.1 through 5.0.4 do not read datapacks. Nothing in this wiki's reference section applies to them, because those pages describe datapack codecs that do not exist there. code review
That era has its own section now. The File-Asset Era covers the ten asset types, the shape of a file, and how to add your own content, read out of the 1.12.2 jar. This page stays as the quick answer to which era you are in. code review
Which versions¶
| Mod versions code review | Minecraft | Asset system |
|---|---|---|
| 1.0.1 through 5.0.4 | 1.11.2 through 1.18 | File |
| 5.3.29 and later | 1.18 and later | Datapack |
The change lands inside the Minecraft 1.18 line. 5.0.4 is a file-asset version and 5.3.29 is a datapack version, and both are labelled 1.18. The mod version decides, not the Minecraft version. code review
How to tell in 10 seconds¶
Open the jar and look for a folder.
| What you find code review | Era |
|---|---|
assets/lostcities/citydata/ contains buildingparts.json, palette.json and similar |
File |
data/lostcities/lostcities/ contains buildings/, palettes/, citystyles/ |
Datapack |
What the file system was¶
The mod shipped its city content as a small set of combined JSON files inside the jar: code review
assets/lostcities/citydata/buildingparts.json
assets/lostcities/citydata/palette.json
assets/lostcities/citydata/conditions.json
assets/lostcities/citydata/highwayparts.json
assets/lostcities/citydata/monorailparts.json
assets/lostcities/citydata/railparts.json
assets/lostcities/citydata/library.json
Each file held many assets rather than one. Adding your own content meant writing a single extra file and pointing the mod at it: code review
config/lostcities/userassets.json
The datapack system replaced this with one file per asset, discovered by folder and loaded through Minecraft's own registry. That is why renaming does not convert between them: the unit of a file changed, and so did who loads it. code review
Config format also differs¶
| Mod versions code review | Config file |
|---|---|
| 1.0.1 through 2.0.22 | config/lostcities/general.cfg, in Forge's .cfg format |
| 2.0.28 and 3.0.2 | config/lostcities-common.toml |
| 4.0.5 and later | config/lostcities/common.toml |
The mod builds the first path from the config directory, then lostcities, then
general.cfg, and all four versions in that era do the same. code review
The profile keys themselves overlap heavily across all of these. The file that holds them, and its syntax, does not. code review
If you are on one of these versions¶
Two options, and neither one is bad.
| Option | What it costs code review |
|---|---|
| Stay | Nothing. The File-Asset Era documents the system you have |
| Move to a datapack version | Rewriting your content once, into one file per asset, and every block name with it |
Minecraft 1.12.2 remains widely used, which is why that section exists. code review