Modding Help Getting a perfectly generic item...

Alright, I want to start out by saying I am a mediocre programmer at best. I am trying to make a mod that adds in a "Smelter" which will allow you to smelt multiple ores at a time in it (have no idea if this is even possible yet.) But when I try to add the item in, I get a perfectly generic item instead of my smelter item. Here is the code if you feel you can find the errror:

.object file:

Code:

{
  "objectName" : "smelter",
  "rarity" : "Common",
  "description" : "A smelter, useful for making metal bars.",
  "shortdescription" : "Smelter",
  "race" : "generic",
  "subtitle" : "Advanced smelting.",
  "category" : "crafting",
  "price" : "200",
  "objectType" : "container",
  "printable" : false,

  "apexDescription" : "A steel smelter. I can smelt ore here.",
  "avianDescription" : "A smelter perfect for smelting.",
  "floranDescription" : "Smelter hisss, ssspit, burn. Floran brave it.",
  "glitchDescription" : "Craftsmanship. The smelter is the perfect temperature for creating metal bars.",
  "humanDescription" : "A smelter. Hot.",
  "hylotlDescription" : "A hot, imposing smelter.",

  "lightColor" : [229, 218, 207],
  "flickerDistance" : 0.5,
  "flickerStrength" : 0.1,

  "particleEmitter" : {
    "emissionRate" : 1.0,
    "emissionVariance" : 0.5,

    "particle" : {
      "type" : "ember",
      "size" : "1.0",
      "color" : [255, 100, 0, 255],
      "light" : [150, 50, 50],
      "fade" : 0.9,
      "initialVelocity" : [0.0, 5.0],
      "finalVelocity" : [0.0, 3.0],
      "approach" : [0, 20],
      "timeToLive" : 2,
      "layer" : "middle"
    },

    "particleVariance" : {
      "initialVelocity" : [0.5, 2.0]
    }
  },

  "inventoryIcon" : "smeltericon.png",
  "orientations" : [
    {
      "dualImage" : "smelter.png:<color>.<frame>",

      "imagePosition" : [0, 0],
      "frames" : 4,
      "animationCycle" : 0.5,

      "spaceScan" : 0.1,
      "anchors" : [ "bottom" ],

    }
  ],

  "soundEffect" : "/sfx/objects/campfire.wav",
  "soundEffectRadius" : 50,

  "statusEffects" : [
    {
      "kind" : "Warmth",
      "amount" : 70,
      "range" : 8
    }
  ],

  "recipeGroup" : "stonefurnace",
  "openSounds" : [ "/sfx/objects/campfire_use.wav" ],
  "slotCount" : 2,
  "uiConfig" : "/interface/objectcrafting/smelter.config",
  "frameCooldown" : 67,
  "autoCloseCooldown" : 3600
}

.frames file:

Code:

{
  "frameGrid" : {
    "size" : [24, 20],
    "dimensions" : [4, 1],
    "names" : [
      [ "default.0", "default.1", "default.2", "default.3" ]

    ]
  },

  "aliases" : {
    "default.default" : "default.0"
  }
}

.recipe file:

Code:

{
  "input" : [
    { "item" : "steelbar", "count" : 1 },
    { "item" : "coalore", "count" : 25 },
    { "item" : "stonefurnace", "count" : 1 },
    { "item" : "money", "count" : 450 }
  ],
  "output" : {
    "item" : "smelter",
    "count" : 1
  },
  "groups" : [ "metalworkstation", "objects", "all", "tools" ]
}

I put the blueprint in the player.config correctly as well (why it shows up in the crafting menu at all). I tried looking at another mod that adds in items to see what I was doing wrong but I couldn't find anything. I am pretty sure this is all the need information. Also if anyone more experienced with coding wants to take my idea to make it work, I would be okay with it as long as I am told how it is done so I can learn in the process.

NOTE: This is not a finished product. I had not even started on the other item slots to allow for three ore smelting.

 

Don't think there should be a comma after "anchors" : [ "bottom" ], in the .object file.

 

He's right. I'd also check your starbound.log in future. It is invaluable and will point out simple syntax errors like that.

Code:

  "slotCount" : 2,
  "uiConfig" : "/interface/objectcrafting/smelter.config",

If you're trying to smelt multiple ores at once, won't you need a few more input slots on the interface menu?

 

This happened to me..... learning when to use commas is super important.

 

createse, thank you! I forgot I removed a line after the "anchors" part. DUH! Haha. And as far as the slots go yes, I will try to add them now that the item will generate properly. However, I saw you can't change gui currently which means this mod probably isn't possible.

 

User Notepad++ and set the language to "javascript" to get nice color coding of the text. The format for these is JSON (JavaScript Object Notation)

Also you can use a free internet JSON parser to validate its properly formatted with proper data types (boolean, int, float, string) and will catch any syntax errors
Here is a french one (still useable for us since all we need it for is validation)
http://json.parser.online.fr/

and here is another heavier one
http://jsonviewer.stack.hu/

 

Thank you for the logfile tip very very very helpful!!!

 

First step in "my custom stuff is broken" should always be to run every file through http://jsonlint.com/. ^^

But yeah, bet you dollars to donuts that stray comma is the culprit.

 

Honestly, as one amateur modder to another almost anything I do doesn't work the first time, so I have to check the log file, tweak the game, check it again, etc.

 

Haha, yeah, I've found myself going apoplectic at a mod behavior not working and my girlfriend always has to remind me of "did you run it through jsonlint?" or "you're missing a comma, aren't you".

 

I'm at the point now where I prefer a simple missing comma as a reason things aren't working.

I've been doing a lot of work on movement techs, and getting something to work the way I want it is often a coding error. I haven't figured out how to properly code in the parameters and functions I want.

 

It also doesn't help that there is a lack of documentation on the API... not faulting the devs... I know this stuff takes time but for the rest of us, its a bit of a shot i the dark

 

There is a limited API in the scripts folder but it is missing a tech section.