Compass Tweaked

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Compass Tweaked

This simple Minecraft mod expands the functionality of compasses in the game, attempting to allow more usages during adventure and exploration. It strips the basic Compass functionality, moving it to two new variants and improving it.

It is recommended to use this mod with Trinkets Updated or, for older Minecraft versions, with Trinkets.

Full video showcase

Here's a 3-minute video showing all the mod's features (link). Keep watching the top of the screen! Also, note that the compass HUD overlay is larger with default GUI scale settings.

The compasses

Crafting recipes. From left to right: Compass (vanilla), Calibrated Compass (mod), Returning Compass (mod), Recovery Compass (vanilla).

Changes to Vanilla's Compass

Vanilla's Compass no longer shows the spawn point. Instead, it always points north, as one could expect. This allows for player-friendly navigation without opening the F3 debug screen.

Additionally, the regular Compass can no longer be paired with Lodestones. But we are not deserting this functionality! It will instead be available by upgrading the compass.

Calibrated Compass

Another usage for Copper Ingots! Since Vanilla's Lodestone Compasses are no longer there, pairing with a Lodestone is only possible with the new Lodestone Compass, crafted from the regular Compass with just the addition of three Copper Ingots and a single Amethyst Shard.

Returning Compass

Regular Compass no longer points at spawn, but you can regain a similar functionality by crafting a Returning Compass; it is not cheap, requiring 8 Prismarine Shards, but only one should be enough for a player.

If a player has a respawn point, the compass will point to that instead of the world's spawn point, but both markers will remain available within the HUD overlay (see chapter "Compass HUD overlay" below).

This new compass pairs well with Vanilla's Recovery Compass (which requires 8 Echo Shards).

Compass HUD overlay

Whenever you hold any compass, an HUD overlay at the screen's top appears, showing cardinal directions, diagonals and the compass's marker(s). A regular Compass marks north read and enables additional lines between world directions. Calibrated Compass marks the associated Lodestone, matching the compass's dye color. Returning Compass shows both spawn location (a comet icon) and player's respawn (a star icon). Vanilla's Recovery Compass, naturally, marks the death location (a skull icon).

Additionally, named Calibrated Compass items will display the names under the markers when you look towards them.

To show marks of multiple compasses at the same time, hold them together, or, better, use Bundles! Simply put all of your compasses in a Bundle to easily create a waypoint storage.

Of course, switching to the compasses all the time might turn out annoying, especially with the limited space of Minecraft's hotbar/inventory; for this reason, with the additional installation of Trinkets, you can put your compasses in an additional accessory slot! See chapter "Trinkets or Trinket Updated" below for more information on this.

The visual aspect of this feature is inspired by Simple Compass HUD by LuyenMinecraft.

Compatibility with other mods

Aside from providing compatibility for the following other mods, this mod includes an API allowing future mods to work along or employ some of its features.

Trinkets or Trinket Updated

It is recommended to use this mod with Trinkets Updated or, for older Minecraft versions, with Trinkets.

A new slot, hand/compass, is introduced, where any compass or a Bundle of compasses can be placed, allowing the player to see the HUD overlay without holding the compass, and saving an inventory slot.

Vanilla Backported

While there's no additional compatibility code, the mod works well with bundles from Vanilla Backport.

Recommendations

Once again, it is recommended to use the mod with Trinkets mod.

For a survival game, I recommend disabling the Locator Bar through the locator_bar game rule and reducing debug information through the reduced_debug_info game rule, which disables co. This can be done using the following commands.

/gamerule locator_bar false
/gamerule reduced_debug_info true

This mod is inspired by a survival server I had with my friends, where we used this set up. This twist forced us to use Compasses with Lodestones, which turned out very fun. Many players carried bundles full of Lodestone Compasses targeting various locations, making the gameplay more climatic. This mod aims to further improve this experience.