Fusion (Connected Textures) in FTB Skies 2: Aero

Same as in the All the Mods 10 8.1 guide

Fusion is a library mod that gives resource packs extra rendering features, with connected textures being the headline one. Other mods can also hook into it as an optional soft dependency. It doesn't add blocks or items of its own, so there's nothing to craft or collect with it.^[1]

What it adds

• Connected textures: textures with a special layout that join up with neighboring blocks when used with the connecting model type. Fusion offers 7 different connecting texture layouts for different situations.^[1]
• Scrolling textures: animated textures that scroll across an image, from any corner to any other corner, even diagonally. A conveyor belt is the example given.^[1]
• Continuous textures: textures that span multiple blocks.^[1]
• Block overlays: built using the connecting model and connecting texture features.^[1]
• Custom entity models: resource packs can change entity models and textures randomly or based on conditions such as altitude, biome, dimension and age.^[1]

Who it's for

Fusion matters most if you use or make resource packs. The mod's project page lists official packs such as Fusion Connected Glass, Fusion Connected Blocks and Fusion Emissive Ores, plus a range of third-party ones. It also says the list isn't comprehensive.^[1]

Fusion is only required on the client and does nothing when installed on a server. This pack includes version 1.3.14+a, built for NeoForge on Minecraft 1.21.1.^[1][2]

Where it fits in progression

Unverified The sources don't show any quests, in-jar guidebook or ATM Star path involvement for Fusion, so it doesn't appear to play a role in progression. Whether this pack ships any Fusion-compatible resource packs by default is also unconfirmed.

Same as in the All the Mods 10 8.1 guide

Good news: there's nothing to craft or unlock to get started with Fusion. It's a library that lets resource packs use extra texture and model types, like connected textures, and other mods can use it too.^[1]

The sources I have don't show any in-pack recipes, quests or items for Fusion, so there's no crafting order to follow. Instead, here's what it's useful to know first.^[1]

What to do first

1. Know that Fusion does nothing on its own. It only adds features that resource packs can use, so you won't see anything change until a Fusion-compatible resource pack is active.^[1]
2. Pick a Fusion-compatible resource pack. The project page lists official ones, such as Fusion Connected Glass, Fusion Connected Blocks, Fusion Block Transitions, Fusion Emissive Ores, Fusion Stacking Items and Fusion 3D Items, along with several third-party packs. It says the list isn't comprehensive.^[1]
3. Enable the resource pack in your resource pack menu. Connected textures need textures with a special layout together with the connecting model type, and Fusion supports 7 different connecting texture layouts, so the pack you choose has to be made for Fusion.^[1]

What else Fusion can do

Besides connected textures, Fusion supports scrolling textures (animated textures that scroll across an image), continuous textures that span multiple blocks, and block overlays. It also supports custom entity models, which resource packs can change randomly or based on conditions like altitude, biome, dimension and age.^[1]

Unverified I couldn't confirm which, if any, Fusion resource packs this pack bundles or enables by default, or any pack-specific settings for Fusion. Check your resource pack menu in game to see what's active.

Same as in the All the Mods 10 8.1 guide

Fusion doesn't have machines, multiblocks, power, fluids or item automation. It's a library that adds extra resource pack features, such as connected textures and custom entity models, for resource packs and other mods to use. So the core mechanics here are about how textures and models behave, not how a machine works.^[1]

What Fusion adds

• Connecting textures: textures with a special layout that connect to neighboring blocks when combined with the connecting model type. Fusion offers 7 different connecting texture layouts for different situations, including full and compact layouts.^[1]
• Scrolling textures: a type of animated texture that scrolls over an image. The scroll can run from any corner to any other corner, even diagonally. The project page uses a conveyor belt as its example.^[1]
• Continuous textures: textures that span multiple blocks.^[1]
• Block overlays: you can build these using the connecting model and connecting texture type.^[1]
• Custom entity models and entity model modifiers: these let resource packs change entity models and textures randomly or based on conditions such as altitude, biome, dimension and age.^[1]

Where it runs

Fusion is only required on the client and does nothing when installed on a server. Other mods can also integrate with it as an optional soft dependency.^[1]

Resource packs that use it

Fusion does nothing visible on its own, because the effects come from resource packs written for it. The official ones include Fusion Connected Blocks, Fusion Connected Glass, Fusion Block Transitions, Fusion Emissive Ores, Fusion Stacking Items and Fusion 3D Items. There are also several third-party packs, and the project page says its list isn't comprehensive.^[1]

Unverified Which resource packs, if any, ship with this pack, and whether this pack changes anything about Fusion, can't be confirmed from the available sources. There is also no confirmed information on any in-game items, blocks, recipes, quests or config options for this mod. This site does hold FTB Skies 2: Aero's own recipes, read from the pack itself: look the item up in the item browser.

FTB Skies 2: Aero 1.10.0 ships Fusion 1.3.15+a (the 1.3.15a build for NeoForge on Minecraft 1.21.1). Fusion was already in the pack as of Aero 1.0.3 or earlier. The notes below come from the mod's own changelogs, newest first.^[3]

Latest releases (1.3.13 to 1.3.15a)

• 1.3.15a fixed animated textures using the wrong frame index when the frames are not in sequential order.^[4]
• 1.3.15 fixed the ambientocclusion, shade and emissive model properties not always applying to texture types with subtextures, like connecting and random. It also fixed the is_biome predicate always being false for chunk geometry.^[4]
• 1.3.14a fixed the NeoForge render_type property making models invisible when no other custom render type was used. It also fixed modded models using NeoForge's custom geometry being baked as regular models.^[4][5]
• 1.3.14 fixed a crash when an Iris PBR texture has empty tiles and so ends up with a different number of sprites than the regular texture.^[4][5]
• 1.3.13 added an Iris integration that intercepts normal and specular maps for Fusion textures and handles them as Fusion textures. It also added a workaround for minimap mods that don't check geometry for different render types, and fixed a crash with the random texture type's sub-textures.^[4][5]

Performance and stability

• 1.3.11 significantly reduced the memory used by Fusion models. Among other things, connecting textures now ignore non-default tiles when the predicate is always true or always false, and their tiles are initialized lazily when there is no sub-texture.^[4][6]
• 1.3.10 fixed models sometimes failing to load with ModernFix' dynamic_resources option, and fixed models for blocks targeted by block model modifiers not receiving world context with Sodium.^[4][6][7]
• 1.3.7 fixed a crash when breaking blocks targeted by block model modifiers, caused by a Mixin bug.^[6][7][8]
• 1.3.6 significantly reduced the memory footprint of models from Fusion and improved the randomness of the random texture type.^[6][7][8]

Earlier highlights

• 1.3.5 added a workaround for Sodium breaking animated texture interpolation.^[7][8][9]
• 1.3.1 fixed a batch of early problems, including broken lighting for Fusion models, the connections property of connecting textures not working, and broken textures with ModernFix dynamic_resources enabled.^[9]
• 1.3.0 overhauled how models are loaded, so any model with a Fusion model as its parent is now loaded as a Fusion model. The base model type also gained emissive, shade, ambient_occlusion and gui_light properties.^[9]