Contraption Lights

Your moving builds finally light up the world around them.

Place a lantern, glowstone, a froglight, or any light-emitting block on a Create contraption or a Sable sub-level, and Contraption Lights makes the light follow the build as it drives, flies, rotates, or sails. No more pitch-black tunnels.

In short, it can:

• Light up the world from the light blocks a moving Create contraption or Sable sub-level carries, rotating bearings included.
• Render it through LAMB (simple, shader-friendly, roughly vanilla-colored) or VEIL (colored light per source plus crisp angled shadows for sub-levels; 1.1 beta).
• Turn it around and let real world light sources shine onto a passing contraption or sub-level (off by default; 1.1 beta).
• Go server-side instead and place real light blocks as a build moves, so every player sees the light with no client mod, shaders included.
• Run with no Create installed at all, on Sable-only setups (1.1 beta).

It also closes a few Create lighting gaps:

• Flywheel-rendered kinetics (rotating shafts, cogs) pick up LAMB dynamic light instead of staying dark, since Flywheel otherwise skips LambDynamicLights entirely (off by default; 1.1 beta).
• Light-emitting blocks and items framed in placards actually emit their light (1.1 beta).

Beta

The 1.1.0 beta line adds everything below on top of the stable 1.0.0 release (LAMB dynamic light for Create contraptions and Sable sub-levels, plus the server light-block option). None of it is in a stable release yet, so treat it as beta and report anything odd.

• VEIL backend - a second client lighting backend built on Veil with colored light per source and crisp angled shadows for sub-levels.
• World lights your builds - real world light sources can shine onto passing contraptions and sub-levels, on both the VEIL and LAMB backends. All off by default.
• Kinetic world light - dynamic world lights near you can light stationary Create blocks that Flywheel renders (rotating shafts, cogs). Off by default.
• Copycat and placard light - light-emitting blocks inside Create copycats (froglight, glowstone) and items framed in Create placards now light builds like the real block.
• Create is optional - the mod runs on Sable, LambDynamicLights, and Veil setups with Create absent; every Create feature is unchanged when Create is present.

What it lights

• Create contraptions (carts, gantries, elevators, bearings, flying machines, anything assembled and moving)
• Sable sub-levels (physics-driven moving structures), when Sable is installed

How it lights: pick a backend

Client lighting has a single mode setting with three choices. Pick the one that matches the mods you run.

LAMB (default, simplest)

Client dynamic light through LambDynamicLights. Smooth, cheap, and shader-friendly. It rides the vanilla lightmap, so the light is roughly vanilla-colored and does not cast shadows, but it needs no server setup and touches nothing in the world.

• Smooth and responsive, per frame
• Works with shaders
• World lights can light your builds (optional, off by default) - dynamic world lights (a held torch, a glowing mob) can throw light onto a passing contraption, stationary Create blocks Flywheel renders near you (rotating shafts, cogs), and Sable sub-levels; static world blocks (torches, lava) also light sub-levels. See the enableWorldTo…LambLight options; the contraption and kinetic ones need Create's Flywheel backend on (the default).
• Client only: each player who wants to see it installs the mod
• Needs LambDynamicLights

VEIL (new in this beta, colored + shadows)

Client dynamic light through Veil deferred point lights. This is the fancy one:

• Colored light per source - a froglight glows green, a soul lantern glows cyan, glowstone glows warm, and so on, instead of one flat white.
• Crisp angled shadows for sub-levels - a tilted Sable sub-level casts a real shadow from its own blocks, aligned to how it is actually rotated.
• World lights can light your builds (optional, off by default) - a torch or froglight sitting in the world can throw light onto a passing contraption or sub-level, without changing how the world itself is lit.
• Client only, no server setup, touches nothing in the world.
• Needs Veil. For Sable sub-levels, also needs Sable.

No shader support: VEIL mode is for non-shader setups. Veil turns off its own lighting whenever Iris is installed, so VEIL mode disables itself while shaders are on and says why in the log. Use LAMB mode with shaders; it works on its own.

Light blocks (server-side, everyone sees it)

Separate from the client modes above, the server can place real (invisible) light source blocks in the world as a contraption moves, then clean them up behind it. Because the light is "real," every player sees it with no client mod required, and it plays nicely with shaders and other mods that read world light. It is a bit heavier, so it is off by default and meant for server admins. Configured in the server config.

Requirements

Every one of these is optional. Install only what your setup needs, plus at least a lighting backend (LambDynamicLights or Veil) and something to light (Create or Sable):

• Just want smooth contraption lighting? Create + LAMB mode + LambDynamicLights.
• No Create at all, just Sable structures (dynamic trees, moving builds)? Sable + a backend (LambDynamicLights or Veil).
• Want colored light and shadows? VEIL mode + Veil (and Sable for sub-levels).
• Running Iris shaders? Use LAMB mode; VEIL does not support shaders.
• Want lit contraptions for a whole server with no client mod? The server light-block option, just Create.

Configuration

All options live in the standard config screen (and config files), with sensible defaults.

Client

Grouped into three sections, the same in the config file and in-game.

General

Light from structures (a moving build's own light lights the world)

Light onto structures (world light sources light a moving build)

Server (light blocks)

FAQ

Which mode should I use? LAMB if you want something simple that just works. VEIL if you want colored light and real shadows and do not mind adding Veil.

Do other players need the mod? For the client modes (LAMB and VEIL), yes, each player installs it. For the server light-block option, only the server needs it and everyone sees the light.

Does it work with shaders? LAMB does. VEIL does not: Iris turns off Veil's lighting, so use LAMB mode when running shaders.

Froglights and lanterns light up white in LAMB but colored in VEIL. Why? LAMB uses the vanilla lightmap, which has no per-source color. VEIL renders real colored lights, so each source shows its own tint.

Nothing lights up. What now? Check that the backend's helper mod is installed (LambDynamicLights for LAMB, Veil for VEIL, Sable for sub-levels), that the build actually carries a light-emitting block, and that the matching option is enabled. If you are on Iris shaders, use LAMB mode; VEIL disables itself under shaders.

Compatibility

• Minecraft 1.21.1, NeoForge
• Create 0.6+ when installed (optional as of the beta)
• Safe to add to or remove from existing worlds
• The Create, Sable and Veil integrations only activate when those mods are present and disable themselves cleanly if anything goes wrong, so a missing or mismatched optional mod will not break your game

License

All Rights Reserved. You may include this mod in modpacks.