Build Guide in FTB Evolution 2

Build Guide is a client-side only mod that projects shapes like circles and spheres into the world, so you can trace them with blocks instead of guessing. It works in singleplayer and multiplayer, even if the server doesn't have the mod installed.^[1]

This pack ships Build Guide 0.4.9, and it has been in the pack since FTB Evolution 2 1.0.2 or earlier.^[2]

How you use it

Press the 'Open Build Guide' key (default: B) to open the Build Guide GUI, which is at the Shape sub-GUI initially. Toggling the 'Enable' checkbox at the top-left determines whether a shape is rendered. The 'Set origin' button sets the location of the little origin cube (red by default) at your feet. That cube is what the shape is based on, for example the centre of a circle or the start of a line.^[1]

In the middle or on the right of the GUI you get a list of properties belonging to the currently selected shape, like the radius or the orientation. Some properties also allow negative values, which can flip a shape towards a negative axis.^[1]

Available shapes

• Round shapes: circle, ellipse, sphere, ellipsoid and torus. Circles and ellipses can be stacked to form walls or tubes, and spheres and ellipsoids can also be turned into one of six possible domes.^[1]
• Pointed shapes: cone and polygonal pyramid. The pyramid's given height may not be its final height.^[1]
• Straight and boxy shapes: line, cuboid (hollow, with toggleable walls), grid and polygon.^[1]
• Curves: catenary (a rope-style line between two points), parabola and paraboloid.^[1]

Handy extras

• The 'Shape list' sub-GUI lets you use multiple shapes at once. Each shape in the list has its own origin, and the currently selected shape is the one you can change in the Shape GUI. The 'Visible' checkbox can temporarily hide the selected shape, and 'Delete' removes it.^[1]
• The 'Visualization' sub-GUI has sliders to change the colours of the shape cube (white by default) and the origin cube (red by default). Having 'Depth test' disabled allows you to see the shape through blocks.^[1]
• The mod does not interact with the world in any way, so the see-through option cannot be used as an x-ray or another kind of cheat.^[1]
• All the shapes and their settings are bound to the world name (singleplayer) or server IP (multiplayer) and the dimension.^[1]

Build Guide is a client-side only mod that projects shapes like circles and spheres into the world, so you can line up a build before you place a single block. It works in singleplayer and on multiplayer servers, even if the server doesn't have the mod installed.^[1]

Your first steps

1. Press the 'Open Build Guide' key (default: B) to open the Build Guide GUI. It starts on the Shape sub-GUI.^[1]
2. Tick the 'Enable' checkbox at the top-left. This decides whether a shape gets rendered at all.^[1]
3. Use the two buttons just below that checkbox to cycle through the available shapes.^[1]
4. Press 'Set origin' to place the little cube (red by default) at your feet. The shape is based on this cube, for example the start of a line or the centre of a circle. You can also change the origin with the text fields and button below 'Set origin'.^[1]
5. Adjust the properties of the selected shape, like the radius or the orientation. Some properties accept negative values, which can flip a shape towards a negative axis.^[1]

Making the shape easier to see

The 'Visualization' button opens a sub-GUI with sliders for the colour of the larger shape cube (white by default) and the smaller origin cube (red by default). It also has a 'Depth test' toggle: turn depth test off and you can see the shape through blocks.^[1]

Using several shapes at once

Press 'Shape list' to use multiple shapes together. 'Add' adds an instance of the shape shown above it, and you can cycle that shape to pick what gets added. Each shape has its own origin, which starts at your feet when you add it.^[1]

Click a shape in the list to select it (a black bar marks it). The selected shape is the one you edit in the Shape GUI. 'Visible' hides the selected shape temporarily and leaves it out of the total block count, and 'Delete' removes it. The 'Global origin' buttons and fields shift the selected shape's origin and move the other shapes by the same relative amount, so their positions relative to each other are preserved.^[1]

Build Guide has no machines, multiblocks, power or fluids to set up. It is a client-side only mod that projects shapes like circles and spheres into the world, so you can use them as a guide while building. It works in singleplayer and in multiplayer, even if the server doesn't have the mod installed.^[1]

Opening the GUI

Press the 'Open Build Guide' key (default: B) to open the Build Guide GUI. Like any keybind, you can change it in Minecraft's controls settings. The GUI opens on the Shape sub-GUI first.^[1]

The GUI is split into four sub-GUIs, reachable by buttons along the top: Shape, Visualization, Shape list and Configuration. In the GUI you handle one shape at a time, the currently selected one. Toggling the 'Enable' checkbox at the top-left determines whether or not a shape will be rendered. There is also a keybind called 'Toggled enabled' as an alternative to that checkbox, and it is unbound by default.^[1]

At the top you also get the total number of blocks for the selected shape and for all shapes. The first line is the exact block count. The second line shows the same amount as a number of stacks plus a remainder. A shape you have temporarily hidden with the 'Visible' checkbox is ignored in the total count.^[1]

Shapes and the origin

Under the 'Enable' checkbox, two buttons cycle through the available shapes. The 'Set origin' button sets the location of a little cube (red by default) at your feet. The shape is based on this cube, for example as the start of a line or the centre of a circle. You can also change the origin with the text fields and button below 'Set origin'.^[1]

The properties of the currently selected shape, like its radius or orientation, are listed in the middle or on the right of the GUI. Some properties also allow negative values, which can for example flip a shape towards a negative axis.^[1]

The shapes you can cycle through are:^[1]

• Catenary: a chain or rope line between two points, with an arc length equal to the distance between them plus a given additional distance.^[1]
• Circle and Ellipse: can be around any of the three axes and can be stacked to form walls or tubes.^[1]
• Cone: can be towards any of the three axes, with a given radius and height.^[1]
• Cuboid: a hollow cuboid with toggleable walls.^[1]
• Ellipsoid and Sphere: each can also be turned into one of six possible domes towards a direction along an axis.^[1]
• Grid: a grid of blocks with a given step size and number of steps in each of the three axes.^[1]
• Line: a line in one of the six directions along an axis.^[1]
• Parabola: a parabola with a given half-width and height, facing a given direction and rotated by a given angle.^[1]
• Paraboloid: a paraboloid towards any of the three axes, with two given half-widths and a given height.^[1]
• Polygon: a triangle, square, pentagon, hexagon and so on. It can be rotated around any of the three axes and can be stacked to form walls or tubes.^[1]
• Polygonal pyramid: a pyramid with a polygon as its base, which can be rotated around any of the three axes. The given height may not be the final height.^[1]
• Torus: a donut-like shape with configurable radius and thickness that can be around any of the three axes.^[1]

Visualization

The 'Visualization' button opens a sub-GUI with sliders for the colour of the larger shape cube (white by default) and of the smaller origin cube (red by default). It also has a 'Depth test' option. With depth test disabled, you can see the shape through blocks.^[1]

Using several shapes at once

Press 'Shape list' to use multiple shapes at once. Pressing 'Add' adds an instance of the shape shown above it, and you can cycle that to-be-added shape first. Each shape in the list has its own origin, which by default is at your feet when you first add it.^[1]

• Click a shape in the list to select it, indicated by a black bar. The currently selected shape is the one you can change in the Shape GUI.^[1]
• The 'Visible' checkbox can temporarily hide the selected shape, and a hidden shape is ignored in the total block count.^[1]
• 'Delete' deletes the currently selected shape.^[1]
• The 'Global origin' buttons and text fields shift the origin of the currently selected shape the same way as the normal origin controls, and the origins of the unselected shapes do the same relative shifts, preserving the relative origins.^[1]

Saving your shapes

Shapes and their settings are bound to the world name in singleplayer or the server IP in multiplayer, plus the dimension. They can be preserved between client restarts by enabling the persistenceEnabled config option. Otherwise, the shapes will be lost when the client closes.^[1]

Unverified Whether persistenceEnabled is switched on in this pack is not shown by the sources here. Check the mod's config yourself, or the Configuration sub-GUI, before relying on your shapes being saved.

FTB Evolution 2 1.1.0 ships with Build Guide 0.4.9. It was already in the pack as of FTB Evolution 2 1.0.2 or earlier, so you have had this mod for a while.^[2]

Build Guide 0.4.9

This is the version in the pack, and it is mostly a bugfix release. The author hopes it finally fixes the bug where shapes don't render properly for some people, and asks players to report whether it fixed or broke rendering for them.^[2][3]

• Added: a new shape, Helix, contributed by a community member.^[3]
• Fixed: rare rendering issues that made shape blocks render at strange angles or not render at all (marked as potentially fixed).^[3]
• Fixed: z-fighting for cube sizes of 1.0.^[3]
• Fixed: loading failures on certain versions of NeoForge.^[3]

If your shapes ever looked tilted or vanished entirely, this is the update that targets that problem. The sources here do not list any pack changelog entries for Build Guide.^[2][3]