Tectonic v3: The Everest Update

The largest Tectonic update ever is here. A full rewrite, a plethora of new terrain types, and improvements to almost all existing features. This is the Everest update.

Made with love by Apollo. 💜

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Additions

Config Overhaul

[Mod Only] There is now a config screen for viewing and changing Tectonic options in-game! Every option has an explanatory tooltip and its default value displayed. The tooltips replace the comments in the config file to reduce clutter.

This also comes with 16 new config options. Please see the config screen for more information on these.

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Continents and Islands

Terrain in v2 was split roughly 50/50 between land and ocean, with no coherent shape for either. In v3, terrain now forms into more coherent "continents".

Continents will generate thousands to tens of thousands of blocks wide, designed for Tectonic's massive mountain ranges and new terrain types.

In the oceans between continents, you'll find relatively smaller "islands". These range from a few hundred blocks to around a thousand blocks across. These islands use vanilla's mountain terrain shaping, now making it possible to find traditional mountain rings. With Terralith installed, these islands have Volcanoes and Calderas!

[Mod Only] A config option to remove the random normal ice in Frozen Oceans has been added to help with ocean exploration in the new bigger oceans.

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Jungle Pillars

Some jungle biomes will generate towering pillars covered in vegetation stretching upwards of a hundred blocks high!

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Biome Valleys

Sometimes, you will find cherry groves and pale gardens nested inside of a valley!

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Badlands Canyons

Some badlands will feature massive canyons, carved around rivers.

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Badlands Buttes

Other badlands will generate isolated plateaus in an otherwise flat, desolate region. These are a perfect place to find red sand, which could be difficult to get in older versions.

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Wetlands

Some forests, taigas, and jungles will feature very flat terrain with frequent ponds and small lakes.

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Rolling Hills

Some plains, flower forest, and ice spikes will feature very smooth rolling hills.

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Chunk Blending

Tectonic v2 worlds will blend into Tectonic v3 worlds (somewhat) smoothly! There will be 1-5 block seams at the border between old and new chunks, but it's significantly better than the 100-200 block borders you could get without it.

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CliffTree Compatibility

On 1.21.x, Tectonic now natively supports CliffTree! Just install both as mods and you're set.

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Changes

Rougher Terrain

Tectonic used to smoothen out the terrain, removing the staircasing/"lerp" that is present in vanilla. This has been reverted. This has been done for a few reasons:

• Windswept terrain better integrates with the rest of the world.

• Slopes are easier to build on, with median areas at each staircase step.

• Grove generation around mountains is improved.

• Strange horizontal strips parallel to mountain faces are far less noticeable.

• The underlying noise that makes Tectonic work is better obfuscated, making terrain less predictable.

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Underground Rivers

Underground rivers got a massive overhaul in the Everest update, much closer matching my standalone Underground Rivers mod.

• Terrain inside of rivers varies significantly more. This includes varying sizes and shapes.

• Transitions between normal and underground rivers have been improved. The transition point has been moved further from mountains to make the terrain drop less steep, and the varying sizes mean the ceiling is no longer consistently super flat at entrances.

• Entrances are significantly taller than before, sometimes being more blocks tall than wide.

• Pillars are significantly more common.

• Significantly reduced aquifer issues at the sides of the rivers.

• [Mod Only] Increased glow lichen rates from Tectonic v1 have returned.

• [Mod Only] Added back Lantern Rivers from Tectonic v1. They are now a rare feature in underground rivers in any biome, not a biome themselves. Yes, this can be disabled in the config.

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Lava Tunnels

The deep lava sibling of underground rivers got some love!

• Lava tunnels are noticeably rarer than before. They still generate quite a bit, but not as pervasively.

• The size has been significantly shrunken down. They now have rougher, narrower walls, smaller ceilings, and less safe ground. Proceed with caution.

• The direction of tunnels twists and turns more often, making the underlying noise less visible and sightlines more obscured.

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Plateaus

The plateau terrain from v2 has been completely ripped out. The new plateaus can be 2 or 3-tiered, with occasional gentle "onboarding ramps" for easier survival exploration.

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Desert Dunes

Dunes have been rewritten again in the version, looking even more like actual dunes than before.

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Oceans

Ocean terrain is significantly more varied than before. Deep oceans in particular have seen special terrain introduced, causing overhangs and trenches to generate!

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Swamps

Swamp bones sit much closer to sea level, generating much more like in vanilla.

With Terralith installed, inland swamps near mountains have been removed.

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Windswept Savannas

There should no longer be large, flat regions of the Windswept Savanna biome.

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Oceanside Cliffs

The overhangs have been removed.

With Terralith installed, these cliffs will actually generate the mod's special cliff biomes.

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World Presets

[Mod Only] Removed the Amplified and Large Biomes presets from the world type selector.

• Amplified has never worked with Tectonic, either completely ignoring it or having unintended behavior.

• Large Biomes is redundant due to the new temperate/vegetation related config options. This also drastically reduces the amount of duplicated code needed for the mod to fully function.

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Deep Dark

The Deep Dark biome is now capped at y32.