Inactive [MECH] PorteCoulissante - Easy and realistic portcullises

Discussion in 'Inactive/Unsupported Plugins' started by Captain Chaos, Mar 6, 2011.

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    Captain Chaos

    ****************************************************************************************
    PorteCoulissante moved to BukkitDev!

    PorteCoulissante has moved to BukkitDev! I will no longer be updating this thread, please use the BukkitDev page to keep track of developments, download the plugin and source code, read how to configure it and other details, etc.
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    PorteCoulissante - The easy and realistic portcullis plugin:

    Build redstone powered portcullises, without using commands! This is my first ever Minecraft plugin, so please be gentle! I needed a project for my first plugin, and I've always wanted a working portcullis in my town gate, so I decided to write this. I subsequently discovered that there already is a portcullis plugin (which is why I named mine after the French word that the word portcullis was derived from), but I think mine has enough distinguishing features to be useful.

    Download the latest release from the BukkitDev page.

    Also check out the new sister plugin, RetractableBridge, which does basically the same thing, only horizontally.

    Features:
    • It doesn't use commands. Just build the portcullis and it will work.
    • Stateless, i.e. it does not have to save anything on the server.
    • It's redstone powered, giving you flexibility in controlling it.
    • It is realistic. The portcullis does not disappear, but moves up and down just like a real one would.
    Usage:
    • Build the portcullis itself by stacking rows of fences (wood or iron), at least two wide and two high.
    • Build the wall around it to contain it. Leave enough empty space above the portcullis to allow it to go as high as you want it to go.
    • Power the portcullis by powering one of the blocks adjacent to it on either side, by attaching a lever or redstone dust. For now, the power has to come from the side.
    • The result should look something like this:
    [​IMG]
    • When the block is powered, the portcullis will start moving upwards, and will keep going until it hits something and can't go any further. It moves slowly, since a portcullis is heavy!
    • Important: make sure that when it is in the up position, it is still in contact with a powered block (the same one, or a different one).
    • When the power goes off, the portcullis will drop down (a lot faster than it went up).
    • Decorate the gate by building walls in front of and behind the portcullis to cover the empty space and to make it appear the portcullis is moving in a groove. Of course you can make it look any way you want! Here is an example:
    [​IMG]

    Hints and tips:
    • The portcullis can be any size you want, as long as it is at least two blocks wide and two blocks high. It must be rectangular though, and have no holes. If the portcullis breaks, it won't move any more until you repair it.
    • Try to make the empty space above the portcullis one block less high than the portcullis itself (like in the first picture above). That way, you only need to power one block (the one in the middle on either side), since that block will always be in contact with the portcullis.
    • Of course the empty space can be even smaller, if you want. The portcullis only has to go up two blocks to let people through, or three if you want the passage to be a little less claustrophobic.
    • The portcullis will go through (and hold back) water and lava, so you can make water gates and water or lava traps with them.
    More information:

    For download links, source code, configuration information and change logs, please see the BukkitDev page:

    http://dev.bukkit.org/server-mods/portecoulissante/
     
  2. Offline

    Crast

    First off, I want to thank Captain Chaos for this elegant and really beautifully done set of plugins. The "user interface" to both this and RetractableBridge is brilliant: no arcane slash commands, no crazy permissioning setup, you just build the structure, enclose it properly, and power it, and you're done.

    In fact, I'm usually the "redstone guy" on my server and people are always getting me to make redstone things for them, but once I showed them how simple portcullis making was, they were doing it themselves, and that's a testament in itself to how awesome an idea it is.

    Furthermore, while I haven't looked at it, the code seems to be elegant too, because the same versions of RetractableBridge and PorteCoulissante worked without fail for 6 months or more, every MC update while I found myself updating or removing other plugins which failed, it just kept working.

    Really, huge thumbs up.

    Now, in the past 6 months on our server we've built your share of normal portcullises for castle entry, and drawbridges, etc, and also we've built some fun mechanisms using portcullises to control water/lava flow before pistons came out, but I wanted to show off a gigantic proportion combination of both plugins I made that there's basically no way pistons could do, due to the large distances involved:

    [​IMG]

    So we have the bay entry to one of our cities, and we wanted a way to prevent from perceived invaders by sea, so I built a 'sea wall' to enclose it:

    [​IMG]
    The bay entry is 45 blocks wide, and so I've got a 47 block wide, 8 high portcullis, and five vertically stacked RetractableBridges (four made of double slabs of wood, one of stone) all 55-ish long.
    [​IMG]
    The portcullis, other than being gigantic and underwater, was incredibly simple (though took many hours of me nearly drowning), as it only required redstone power at a single point. The bridge on the other hand, was pretty crazy to power:
    [​IMG]
    Each layer is successively 1 longer than the next so that they all line up when extending, and a similar structure is at the other end to let it retract properly.
    Some additional pictures:
    http://crast.us/forumpost/portecoulissante/portcullis_slot.jpg
    http://crast.us/forumpost/portecoulissante/fully_extended.jpg
    http://crast.us/forumpost/portecoulissante/underwater_sunrise.jpg
    I've also used RetractableBridge to make other crazy things, like retractable sunroofs /shutters for buildings. It's really bad-ass
     
    Digi and Captain Chaos like this.
  3. Offline

    Captain Chaos

    Legacy downloads removed

    Please note: I have removed the legacy download locations for PorteCoulissante and RetractableBridge! They are now only accessible through BukkitDev. This means that any auto updaters you may have been using which don't access BukkitDev directly, such as CraftBukkitUpToDate, will no longer work.
     
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    cj89898

    it doesn't work for 1.1 does it?
     
  5. Offline

    Captain Chaos

    Yes it does, and has done for a while now... ;)
     
  6. Offline

    Captain Chaos

    Demo server!

    Check out the PorteCoulissante and RetractableBridge demo Minecraft server at mc.pepsoft.org. It shows examples of both plugins in use, so you can see what you can do with them, and how you use them.

    Note that it is not finished yet! More examples will be added, in particular bare bones examples which clearly show the construction. Also note that you can't change anything or leave the area. Don't go outside at night, it's very dangerous and you don't have any weapons (and the gates don't open from the outside!). Please let me know if you encounter any problems, if the server is full, or if you find any evidence of griefing!
     
  7. Offline

    md_5

    Long time no see Captain Chaos. You will notice that this thread has now been placed into the Inactive Plugin subforum.
    If you wish to revive this plugin, please ensure that you update and test compatibility with the latest recommended Bukkit build before reporting your original post, asking for it to be moved back to the release forum.

    Thanks for your time.
    md_5
     
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