Crazy idea: Preview .json models

[Katrix]

So, here is a crazy and probably not feasible (still putting it here) idea. What about having some sort of preview for minecraft .json models? I'm not talking about a full blown editor or anything, just a preview to allow you to see how it's going to look without starting the game.

[DenWav]

I've had a crazy idea of adding an in-game GUI creator for a while, which would probably require running and OpenGL instance to preview it, so if that ever happens maybe this could happen too.

[Zidane]

I'm unsure if this is in the scope of this project. Especially since editors do exist in-which is just a few clicks away from see if the model will look fine in Minecraft.

[G-Rath]

@DemonWav since MrCrayfish's model creator is written in Java, it might be possible to work that into an IntelliJ plugin.

I've been toying with this idea, and might give it ago as a standalone plugin, sometime in the near future.

I do agree with @Zidane in that, scope of this project or not (it might make sense due to the size to have it as even just a separate plugin), I think it's something that should be looked at as highly experimental and left on the backburner for awhile in favor for more important and doable issues.

[G-Rath]

Actually this has spurred me on a lot to give it a try - once home from work I'll give it ago (as a separate plugin); I'll probably report back at the end of this week on how it's gone :)

In saying this, no promises - I've tried IntelliJ plugins before and found the lack of documentation to be show stopping for me, since I don't have a lot of free time these days, and so prefer to work on projects that I can make more headway on.

That said, my current goal is to try and cobble together a basic OpenGL instance in an IntelliJ panel, followed by actual model rendering. For now I'm not even going to try and add editing features - just focus on previewing.

[DenWav]

Cool to hear, let me know how it goes.