Minion Squad - Beta 0.2.0 Changelog

New Features

• Smart Pathfinding & Scaffolding:
  • Minions can now place blocks (Cobblestone) to bridge gaps or reach higher areas.
  • Minions can break blocks to clear paths through obstacles, making them much more capable in complex terrain.
• Custom Minion Model:
  • Replaced the standard player model with a unique, smaller "Minion" biped model with custom animations.
  • Minion heads are slightly larger and bodies smaller, yielding a distinct look.
• Improved AI Logic:
  • Reaction Time: Minions now find new targets much faster (reduced idle time between actions).
  • Stuck Prevention: Improved logic to detect when a path is failing and re-evaluate target options.
  • Mineshaft Depth: Fixed the depth calculation for Mineshaft tasks (now goes DOWN correctly).
  • Teleport Safety: Minions will teleport to their owner if they get stuck or wander too far, with safety checks to avoid suffocation.

Visual Improvements

• Chest Animations: Chests now properly open and close when minions deposit items.
• Mineshaft Preview Fix: The visual preview box for Mineshaft tasks now correctly extends DOWNWARDS from the placement position, matching the actual mining logic.
• Idle Animation Fix: Corrected model pose when minions are standing still to prevent "sliding" or floating appearance.

Bug Fixes

• General: Fixed several crashes related to pathfinding failure on unreachable blocks.
• Item Drops: Fixed an issue where minions would sometimes drop "ghost" items or duplicate inventory on death.
• Server Stability: Resolved "Class not found" crashes on dedicated servers by properly separating client-side rendering code.
• Water/Lava Handling: Improved reliability of fluid plugging logic to prevent flooding.

Known Issues

• Pathfinding Loops: In extremely complex caves, minions might occasionally get stuck in a loop trying to reach an inaccessible block. Breaking a block near them usually resolves this.
• Stair Placement: Stair orientation logic is robust but may still have edge cases on non-standard terrain generation.

Technical Changes

• Upgraded pathfinding engine to A* with custom node evaluator.
• Refactored rendering code for better compatibility with other mods.