Pen Len

Pen Len 1.6.8: Broom & Broom Race

This update adds a fully customizable broom, a brand-new racing mode, and broom support in Battle Royale. Everyone on the server and every client needs this exact 1.6.8 JAR (broom network protocol 2). Remove any older Pen Len JARs from the mods folder.

BROOM
Look and Customization
- New RGB workbench with a saturation/brightness square, hue slider, and hex color input. Choose a separate glow color too.
- Pick from two models: the magic broom (4 tip styles) or the original sci-fi model.
- Choose a jet flame or a beam for the boost effect, and adjust thickness from 70% to 160%.
- Your broom look is saved to you, so it follows you to every map and server.

Poses
- Six riding poses: Astride, Side-saddle, Standing, Racing crouch, Superman, and Arms up.

Flight
- Faster cruise and a stronger boost.
- Deeper banking in turns.
- Double-tap A or D to barrel roll sideways.
- Press H to lock your hover.
- Softer landings near the ground.
- Toggle a second seat in F8 to carry a passenger.

Effects and Sound
- Boost flame or beam, shock rings, and a Sonic Boom ring burst, all built from 3D meshes instead of particles.
- New sounds for summoning, dismounting, and stamina running out or refilling.

Stamina
- Separate F8 switches for free flight and game modes.
- Adjust how fast boost stamina drains and refills.

HUD
- A clean, racing-style round speedometer in km/h with a stamina arc.
- Status words show BOOST, HOVER, MACH, and CRASH.

Settings
- All broom settings now have their own "Broom" page in F8.

Battle Royale
- Brooms work once the round is live. Craft one from planks and sticks.
- You can't use one while choosing a skill or floating.
- Get hit by anyone (melee, arrow, bot, or mob) and you're knocked off. The broom goes on cooldown and the fall is real, at half fall damage.

BROOM RACE (NEW GAME MODE)

Joining
- Start a queue from the Broom Race card in F8.
- Click [JOIN] or [LEAVE] in chat, use the button on the R screen, or type /broomrace join, leave, best, queue, start, cancel, or stop.

Race Setup
- Pick Easy, Normal, or Hard presets, or set your own rings, distance, ring size, time limit, laps, height, low flying, and tunnels.
- Save and load your own presets.
- "Same track again" lets you practice against your ghost.
- Personal toggles for guide arrows, the light pillar, and the edge pointer.

Tracks
- A new track generator builds one smooth racing line with bounded bends.
- The track follows the real terrain and keeps clearance over the whole course.
- Rings sit evenly along the line and face each other.
- Some sections run through hills as tunnels, or dip beneath flat land. Tunnels are carved, lit, and restored after the race.

AI Test Pilot
- Before every race, a simulated racer flies the track using the real broom physics for speed, acceleration, turning, pitch, and stamina.
- It smooths out any path it can't follow, then a world test flight lifts the line over blocks in the way.
- Cyan boost rings sit on the racing line just after each point where stamina runs out.
- The chat shows the AI's lap time and warns you when the time limit is tight.

Finding Your Way
- A light pillar marks the next ring.
- A chevron trail follows the racing line through curves, climbs, and tunnels.
- An edge pointer keeps you oriented.

Challenge
- Boost rings refill your stamina and give you a speed burst.
- Crashing costs you time.
- Race your personal-best ghost.
- Green and red checkpoint splits show whether you're ahead or behind.
- Live placing and a minimap keep you in the fight.

Cutscenes
- Before the start, a track preview chases the AI's lap. The preview is sped up and skipped on "Same track again."
- Each racer is introduced one by one, the camera zooms to your own view, and then it's 3-2-1-GO.

Fixes
- Rings buried under the ground or out of reach are fixed.
- Tunnels on flat land are fixed.
- Starting positions are checked against real blocks, so no more spawning inside the ground. The grid holds 4 racers per row.
- You now return to a safe spot after the race.

Read Before Playing
- Everyone needs the 1.6.8 JAR. Mixing versions will break broom racing.
- Test in a backed-up world first if you plan to race heavily.