Creating block schemes for SIR TET

[itsnotabigtruck]

Introduction

SIR TET, from version 0.4 on, supports custom block texture sets (block schemes). Block schemes are easy to make and, once added, will automatically show up in the Block schemes menu under Options.

Creating the graphics

You need to make a set of 7 16x16 PNG files containing the block textures for the I, J, L, O, S, T, and Z pieces. Below is a graphic from Wikipedia indicating the different types of pieces (note that the colors are different from those used by the schemes included with SIR TET):



You can also create a customized blank texture that will be displayed wherever no block is present. However, the default blank texture is suitable for most applications.

Organizing the files

Create a subdirectory in the sirtet\Content\schemes folder in the source distribution. Make sure your the name of your folder starts with a letter and doesn't contain any spaces or symbols. Copy all your graphics into that folder, then copy gt.sd from sirtet\Content\schemes\gt. Rename the copy of gt.sd to have the same name as the folder for your custom set, then open up Visual Studio and load the SIR TET solution (sirtet.sln in the root of the source distribution).

Adding the scheme descriptor to the SIR TET solution

Click the Content folder under sirtet in the Solution Explorer, then click the Show All Files button (looks like two pieces of paper) on the toolbar right above the Solution Explorer. Find your .sd file, right-click it, and select Include in Project. Don't include any of the graphics; they'll automatically be included along with the .sd file.

Creating the scheme descriptor

Double-click your .sd file. Select all the text, delete it, then paste in the following code:

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<scheme xmlns="http://sirtet.googlecode.com/svn/tags/0.4/blockschemepipelineexts/Schemas/scheme.xsd">
  <id>THE NAME OF YOUR BLOCK SCHEME FOLDER</id>
  <displayName>YOUR BLOCK SCHEME'S NAME</displayName>
  <author>HOW YOU WANT TO BE IDENTIFIED</author>
  <version>THE VERSION NUMBER OF YOUR SCHEME, USUALLY 1.0</version>
  <priority>10</priority>
  <blocks>
    <block type="i">THE NAME OF THE FILE FOR I PIECES</block>
    <block type="j">THE NAME OF THE FILE FOR J PIECES</block>
    <block type="l">THE NAME OF THE FILE FOR L PIECES</block>
    <block type="o">THE NAME OF THE FILE FOR O PIECES</block>
    <block type="s">THE NAME OF THE FILE FOR S PIECES</block>
    <block type="t">THE NAME OF THE FILE FOR T PIECES</block>
    <block type="z">THE NAME OF THE FILE FOR Z PIECES</block>
    <block type="blank">THE NAME OF THE FILE FOR BLANK PIECES</block>
  </blocks>
</scheme>

Replace everything with the info for your own scheme. Now, when you deploy SIR TET, your custom block scheme should show up in the menu. If there are any errors in the .sd file, Visual Studio will tell you and prevent you from deploying SIR TET. The error message should indicate the problem that needs to be fixed.

Submitting your scheme for inclusion

If you want to have your scheme included along with SIR TET, ZIP up the folder containing your graphics and the .sd file and attach it to a post in the SIR TET thread. Note that you may be contacted later to add more textures to the scheme, your set may be removed to make room for additional schemes, and your set might not be included if it isn't of sufficient quality (don't let this scare you away from sending in your stuff!).