Render Controllers

Render controllers are an often-misunderstood part of the resource pack. But you don't need to be afraid! It would help if you considered render controllers as logic packs that take short-name definitions from the RP Entity File and determine how they will be combined/layered/rendered in-game.

Defining short-names ​

Render controllers work based on the short-name definitions of the RP entity file. Short-names are local identifiers, which we define in the RP entity file, and can then use in the render controller (and other places!). Variables such as geometry, materials, and textures can be defined in the entity,

Lets look at a simplified version of the spider RP entity file:

{
    "format_version": "1.8.0",
    "minecraft:client_entity": {
        "description": {
            "identifier": "minecraft:cave_spider",
            "materials": {
                "default": "spider",
                "invisible": "spider_invisible"
            },
            "textures": {
                "default": "textures/entity/spider/cave_spider"
            },
            "geometry": {
                "default": "geometry.spider.v1.8"
            },
            "render_controllers": ["controller.render.spider"]
        }
    }
}

In this case, four short-name definitions have been created:

• default, in the materials array
• invisible, in the materials array
• default, in the textures array
• default, in the geometry array

You can define multiple short-names in each array, such as in the materials example above.

It would help if you thought of short-name definitions as importing the assets you want. At this stage, you are defining the textures, geometry, and materials that you want to use in your entity. In the render-controller stage, you won't import anything. You will simply use the assets you already imported to create the rendered entity.

Simple render-controller ​

A simple render controller looks like this:

{
    "format_version": "1.8.0",
    "render_controllers": {
        "controller.render.cow": {
            "geometry": "Geometry.default",
            "materials": [
                {
                    "*": "Material.default"
                }
            ],
            "textures": ["Texture.default"]
        }
    }
}

This controller is taking the short-name definitions from the entity file and rendering them. For example, the line: "textures": [ "Texture.default"] says: "Take the default texture, and apply it to the entity". The render controller doesn't know what the default texture is; it simply applies it.

Re-using render controllers ​

Since render controllers work based on short-names, it is possible to re-use the same render controller for all of your entities. Custom render controllers are not necessary for simple entities with one material, one texture, and one geometry.

For example, the render controller above is used for the minecraft:cow entity. If you want to use this render controller in your own pack, simply define it as: "render_controllers": [ "controller.render.cow" ] in your entity file.

Creating custom render controllers ​

Often we want more power over the rendering of our entities, such as rendering layered textures, multiple geometries, or applying different materials to different bones. To create a custom render controller, simply copy and paste the vanilla render controller into the render_controllers folder, and edit to your liking!

Texture layering ​

Sometimes, it is helpful to create layered textures for custom entities. Layered in this context simply means multiple textures overlayed on top of each other, where the top texture has alpha pixels and allows the bottom texture to show through.

As a straightforward example, imagine a painting entity. The frame of the painting is always the same, but the picture itself can change. While you could duplicate the frame 10 times and paint in 10 paintings, you now created a problem: What if you want to change the frame? Now you need to edit 10 textures.

This can be solved by layering textures. Simply place the frame texture on first, and then add the different paintings on top. You can now edit the frame in one simple location.

Or, you could even create multiple frames for each painting! This allows you to make more variety in your panting entity since the player can independently change two textures.

Render Controllers ​

Texture layering is achieved through the use of render controllers. If you aren't comfortable with render controllers, you should do some looking through the vanilla usages. Entities such as the horse, which contains multiple textures, are outstanding to look at.

Texture Layering ​

Render Controller ​

{
    "format_version": "1.10.0",
    "render_controllers": {
        "controller.render.texture_layering": {
            "geometry": "Geometry.default",
            "materials": [
                {
                    "*": "Material.default"
                }
            ],
            "textures": [
                //You can add as many layers as you like. Layers are added top to bottom.
                "Texture.bottom_layer",
                "Texture.top_layer"
            ]
        }
    }
}

Entity ​

You need to define all textures in the entity and also use villager_v2_masked material.

"materials": {
	"default": "villager_v2_masked"
},
"textures": {
	"top_layer": "textures/top",
	"bottom_layer": "textures/bottom"
  //Add more texture short-name definitions here.
}

Texture Layering with Variance ​

While I guess hard-coding layered textures are cool, the real fun comes when you make the textures dynamic:

Entity ​

Set multiple top textures, which we will index later.

"textures": {
	"top_1": "textures/top_1",
	"top_2": "textures/top_2",
	"top_3": "textures/top_3",
	"bottom_layer": "textures/bottom"
}

Render Controller ​

{
    "format_version": "1.10.0",
    "render_controllers": {
        "controller.render.wool_only": {
            "arrays": {
                "textures": {
                    "Array.top": ["Texture.top_1", "Texture.top_2", "Texture.top_3"]
                }
            },
            "geometry": "Geometry.default",
            "materials": [
                {
                    "*": "Material.default"
                }
            ],
            "textures": [
                "Texture.bottom", //static bottom texture
                "Array.top[q.variant]" //pick top texture based on entity variant.
            ]
        }
    }
}

Using arrays and then q.variant, we can select the top texture based on the variant of the entity.

Setting variant ​

Now, to select which layer will show up, we can simply set the variant component in the entity:

"minecraft:variant": {
	"value": 0
}

Remember that components like variants are zero-indexed, which means 0 is our first texture, and then 1 and 2 point to the second and third.

Dynamically Changing Texture ​

If you want to change the texture of an entity during gameplay dynamically, you simply need to change the variant. This can be done using component groups and events.

Dynamic Layered Textures ​

Dynamic layered textures can be achieved by adding more lists of textures and other dummy components as indexes. You can read about dummy components here.

Dynamic Alternate Geometries ​

Altering geometry dynamically works almost the same way as altering the texture.

In the following example you can see a render controller set up to change the entity's geometry based on variant. Just the same way as in textures, the order in which you write down your geometries is what determines their numbering order. Top being 0. As we change the variant it will use a different geometry.

Note that unlike textures you can not layer geometries, and such you should not include a "base bottom layer" geometry. This still requires the use of villager_v2_masked material.

{
    "format_version": "1.8.0",
    "render_controllers": {
        "controller.render.player.third_person": {
            "materials": [
                {
                    "*": "Material.default"
                }
            ],
            "textures": ["Texture.bottom", "Array.top[q.variant]"],
            "arrays": {
                "geometries": {
                    "Array.geo": ["Geometry.default", "Geometry.custom_1", "Geometry.custom_2"]
                },
                "textures": {
                    "Array.top": ["Texture.bottom", "Texture.top_1", "Texture.top_2"]
                }
            },
            "geometry": "Array.geo[q.variant]"
        }
    }
}

Entity ​

Remember to include the geometry variants in your entity's file

"geometry": {
	"default": "geometry.entity.default",
	"custom_1": "geometry.entity.custom_1",
	"custom_2": "geometry.entity.custom_2"
}

Common Mistakes ​

In render controllers, you can have multiple references to textures but only 1 reference to a geometry. This applies to arrays too.

"arrays": {
    "textures": {
        "array.skin": [],
        "array.dress": []
    },
    "geometries": {
        "array.geo": []
    }
}

Followed by:

"textures": [
    "array.skin[q.variant]",
    "array.dress[q.skin_id]"
],
"geometry": "array.geo[q.mark_variant]"