ClassicSteveMobs

Adds a classic blocky Steve-style test mob to CastleMiner Z using CastleForge ModLoader.
Spawn them with a command, watch them wander around with rd-132328-inspired movement, and optionally allow rare natural aboveground spawns.

Current mod version shown in source: 0.0.1.0

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Contents

• Overview
• Why this mod stands out
• Features at a glance
• Requirements
• Installation
• Quick start
• Command reference
• Configuration
• Behavior notes
• Multiplayer notes
• Technical overview
• Known limitations
• Credits

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Overview

ClassicSteveMobs is a small experimental CastleForge gameplay mod that adds a simple blocky humanoid test mob inspired by the very early Minecraft pre-classic / rd-132328 mob style.

The goal is to make a goofy early-game creature that feels different from normal CastleMiner Z zombies without needing a full new enemy system. It keeps CastleMiner Z's existing enemy handling for things like spawning, networking, collision, damage, death, and despawn behavior, but replaces the visible model and chase behavior for the test enemy.

At its core, the mod:

• registers a configurable EnemyTypeEnum slot as the classic Steve test mob,
• defaults to TREASURE_ZOMBIE for full custom/modded-session testing,
• can optionally use an existing vanilla enemy slot such as ZOMBIE for vanilla-safe multiplayer testing,
• draws the mob as a simple six-part blocky character,
• replaces normal zombie chasing with random wandering,
• lets you spawn mobs directly with /spawnsteve,
• supports large square-ish command spawn batches,
• includes configurable movement, jumping, enemy stats, rendering scale, and hot-reload settings,
• can optionally replace a small percentage of aboveground natural spawns.

This makes it useful as both a fun test mod and a working example for future custom mob experiments in CastleForge.

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Why this mod stands out

ClassicSteveMobs is intentionally simple, but it demonstrates several important CastleForge modding ideas:

• Configurable enemy slot registration
  The mod can use TREASURE_ZOMBIE as a full custom test enemy slot, or switch to an existing vanilla slot such as ZOMBIE for safer online testing with vanilla clients.

• Custom rendering without a skinned model pipeline
  The blocky mob is rendered with simple cuboid parts instead of requiring a full CMZ skinned XNB model with animation clips.

• Different behavior from normal zombies
  The mob does not constantly chase the player. It uses a random wander state with occasional hops and wall-bump turns.

• Safe command-driven testing
  Natural spawning is disabled by default, so you can test the mob with commands before allowing it into normal gameplay.

• Runtime tuning
  Movement, jumping, spawn chance, scale, and other values can be edited in the INI file and reloaded while in game.

• Large group spawning
  The command spawner lays mobs out in a square-ish grid so spawning hundreds does not create a single long line.

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Features at a glance

Feature	What it does
/spawnsteve command	Spawns one or more classic Steve mobs in front of the local player
/steve alias	Short alias for /spawnsteve
Square-ish batch spawning	Large spawn counts are arranged into a compact grid
Custom blocky renderer	Draws a simple six-cube humanoid model instead of a vanilla zombie model
Random wander AI	Replaces normal zombie chasing with random movement
Random hopping	Configurable jump chance and cooldown for early-test-mob style movement
Wall bump behavior	Mobs turn and hop when they hit terrain
Optional natural spawns	Can replace a small percent of aboveground enemy spawns when enabled
Config hot-reload	Reloads settings with /stevemob reload or the configured hotkey
Runtime info command	Shows current enabled/spawn/rendering state with /stevemob info

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Requirements

ClassicSteveMobs is built for the CastleForge ecosystem and requires:

• CastleMiner Z
• CastleForge ModLoader
• ModLoaderExtensions

The mod declares ModLoaderExtensions as a required dependency because it uses the shared CastleForge command infrastructure.

Recommended target environment:

Item	Recommended value
Game version	1.9.9.8
Framework	CastleForge / ModLoader setup
Dependency	ModLoaderExtensions
Multiplayer	All clients should install the mod before joining a world that spawns this enemy

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Installation

1. Install and verify CastleForge ModLoader.
2. Install ModLoaderExtensions.
3. Place the ClassicSteveMobs DLL in your CastleMiner Z !Mods folder.
4. Launch the game once.
5. The mod will create its config folder and extract/use its resources.
6. Enter a world and test with /spawnsteve.

Expected mod folder

After first launch, the mod uses:

!Mods\ClassicSteveMobs\

Expected files include:

!Mods\ClassicSteveMobs\ClassicSteveMobs.ini
!Mods\ClassicSteveMobs\Textures\char.png

Depending on your packaging flow, the main ClassicSteveMobs.dll may sit directly in !Mods, while the config and texture files live under !Mods\ClassicSteveMobs\.

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Quick start

Once you are in a world, spawn one mob:

/spawnsteve

Spawn a small group:

/spawnsteve 10

Spawn a large test group:

/spawnsteve 200

Reload the config after editing the INI file:

/stevemob reload

Check runtime settings:

/stevemob info

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Command reference

Command	Usage	What it does
/spawnsteve	/spawnsteve	Spawns one classic Steve mob in front of you
/spawnsteve <amount>	/spawnsteve 25	Spawns multiple classic Steve mobs in a square-ish grid
/steve	/steve 10	Alias for /spawnsteve
/stevemob reload	/stevemob reload	Reloads the ClassicSteveMobs config file
/stevemob info	/stevemob info	Shows current enabled, natural spawn, spawn chance, scale, and enemy slot info

Spawn count behavior

The source currently allows large command batches and clamps command spawns internally. Large values are useful for stress testing, but they can hurt FPS and create heavy enemy load.

Recommended test values:

/spawnsteve 1
/spawnsteve 10
/spawnsteve 50
/spawnsteve 200

Very large values should be treated as stress tests, not normal gameplay.

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Configuration

ClassicSteveMobs creates this config on first launch:

!Mods\ClassicSteveMobs\ClassicSteveMobs.ini

Default config

; ClassicSteveMobs - test rd-132328-style mob config
; Uses a configurable EnemyTypeEnum slot.
; Default custom slot: TREASURE_ZOMBIE.
; Optional vanilla-safe slot: ZOMBIE.

[ClassicSteveMobs]
; Master toggle for patches, command spawning, and natural spawning.
Enabled              = true
; If true, some aboveground night spawns become classic Steve mobs.
NaturalSpawns        = false
; 0.02 = 2% chance when NaturalSpawns is enabled.
NaturalSpawnChance   = 0.02
; Distance in front of the local player for /spawnsteve.
CommandSpawnDistance = 5

[EnemyType]
; Main custom enemy slot used for full modded-session testing.
; TREASURE_ZOMBIE is the default because it exists but is normally unused.
CustomEnemyType = TREASURE_ZOMBIE

; Vanilla-safe mode uses an existing vanilla enemy enum such as ZOMBIE.
; This helps avoid vanilla clients receiving an unknown/unregistered enemy slot.
; Warning: using ZOMBIE can make modded clients/host treat normal zombies as Steve mobs.
VanillaSafeMode = false
VanillaSafeEnemyType = ZOMBIE

[EnemyStats]
; Low test health to match early-game/simple mob behavior.
Health          = 2
SpawnRadius     = 20
DistanceLimit   = 40
SlowSpeed       = 1.75
RandomSlowSpeed = 0.5
FastSpeed       = 3.0
HasRunFast      = false

[Behavior]
; Random wandering values. The mob does not chase the player in this test version.
WanderTurnIntervalMin   = 0.5
WanderTurnIntervalMax   = 2.0
; Maximum signed heading change when the wander timer rolls over. 1.5 radians is about 86 degrees.
WanderTurnAmountRadians = 1.5
; Vertical velocity added when the mob bumps a wall or randomly hops.
WanderJumpSpeed         = 7.0
WanderJumpCooldown      = 0.35
; Chance per second to hop while walking on flat ground. 0 disables random hops.
WanderRandomJumpChance  = 1.25

[Rendering]
; Classic model height is 32 texture/model units. 0.065 makes it about CMZ-player sized.
ModelScale       = 0.065
; Original rd-132328 style animation uses time * 10.
AnimationSpeed   = 10
; If the model faces backward in-game, try 180.
YawOffsetDegrees = 0

[Hotkeys]
; Reload this config while in-game:
ReloadConfig = Ctrl+Shift+R

Config reference

Section	Key	Default	What it controls
ClassicSteveMobs	Enabled	true	Master toggle for the mod
ClassicSteveMobs	NaturalSpawns	false	Allows rare natural aboveground Steve spawns
ClassicSteveMobs	NaturalSpawnChance	0.02	Chance to replace an aboveground enemy spawn when natural spawning is enabled
ClassicSteveMobs	CommandSpawnDistance	5	Distance in front of the player used by /spawnsteve
EnemyStats	Health	2	Enemy health value
EnemyStats	SpawnRadius	20	Enemy spawn radius setting applied to the custom enemy type
EnemyStats	DistanceLimit	40	Distance limit before the enemy gives up/despawns
EnemyStats	SlowSpeed	1.75	Base wander movement speed
EnemyStats	RandomSlowSpeed	0.5	Extra randomized movement speed range
EnemyStats	FastSpeed	3.0	Fast speed value retained on the enemy type
EnemyStats	HasRunFast	false	Whether the enemy type reports fast-run support
Behavior	WanderTurnIntervalMin	0.5	Minimum seconds between random turn decisions
Behavior	WanderTurnIntervalMax	2.0	Maximum seconds between random turn decisions
Behavior	WanderTurnAmountRadians	1.5	Maximum signed heading change on normal turns
Behavior	WanderJumpSpeed	7.0	Upward velocity added when the mob hops
Behavior	WanderJumpCooldown	0.35	Minimum time between jumps
Behavior	WanderRandomJumpChance	1.25	Per-second random jump chance while grounded
Rendering	ModelScale	0.065	Visual scale of the blocky model
Rendering	AnimationSpeed	10	Arm/leg swing animation speed
Rendering	YawOffsetDegrees	0	Extra yaw correction if the model faces the wrong way
EnemyType	CustomEnemyType	TREASURE_ZOMBIE	Enemy enum slot used for full custom/modded-session testing
EnemyType	VanillaSafeMode	false	Uses VanillaSafeEnemyType instead of CustomEnemyType when enabled
EnemyType	VanillaSafeEnemyType	ZOMBIE_0_0	Existing vanilla enemy enum used for safer online testing with vanilla clients
Hotkeys	ReloadConfig	Ctrl+Shift+R	Hotkey used to reload the INI while in game

Enemy type modes

ClassicSteveMobs supports two enemy-type modes.

Full custom mode

[EnemyType]
CustomEnemyType = TREASURE_ZOMBIE
VanillaSafeMode = false
VanillaSafeEnemyType = ZOMBIE

Hot-reload workflow

After editing the INI, use either:

/stevemob reload

or press the configured hotkey:

Ctrl + Shift + R

Hot-reload is intended for config/runtime values only. If you rebuild or change C# code, restart the game after replacing the DLL.

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Behavior notes

ClassicSteveMobs does not use normal CMZ zombie chasing for this custom enemy.

Instead, the custom enemy type replaces the chase/restart state with a random wandering state:

1. The mob picks a heading.
2. It walks forward at a randomized speed.
3. It occasionally changes direction.
4. It can randomly hop while grounded.
5. If it bumps terrain, it turns away and may hop.
6. If it gets too far away from the local target, it gives up/despawns using normal CMZ enemy behavior.

Making the mob jump more often

For a more chaotic early-test-mob feel, increase the random jump chance and lower the cooldown:

[Behavior]
WanderJumpSpeed        = 7.25
WanderJumpCooldown     = 0.35
WanderRandomJumpChance = 1.5

For a very active test swarm:

[Behavior]
WanderJumpSpeed        = 7.5
WanderJumpCooldown     = 0.20
WanderRandomJumpChance = 2.0

Natural spawning

Natural spawning is disabled by default:

NaturalSpawns = false

To allow rare natural aboveground spawns:

[ClassicSteveMobs]
NaturalSpawns      = true
NaturalSpawnChance = 0.02

A value of 0.02 means roughly a 2% replacement chance when the patched aboveground spawn selection runs.

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Multiplayer notes

ClassicSteveMobs is safest when every player has the mod installed.

By default, the mod uses TREASURE_ZOMBIE as its custom test enemy slot. This is useful for clean modded-session testing, but vanilla clients may not know how to register, render, or update that custom slot.

For safer online testing with vanilla clients, enable vanilla-safe mode:

[EnemyType]
VanillaSafeMode = true
VanillaSafeEnemyType = ZOMBIE

This makes the mod use an existing vanilla enemy type such as ZOMBIE, which vanilla clients already understand.

Recommended multiplayer usage:

• For fully modded sessions, use CustomEnemyType = TREASURE_ZOMBIE.
• For vanilla-safe testing, use VanillaSafeMode = true.
• Keep NaturalSpawns = false until everyone has confirmed the mod loads correctly.
• Use /spawnsteve for controlled testing before enabling natural spawns.
• Avoid very large spawn batches on public or lower-end sessions.

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Technical overview

ClassicSteveMobs works by patching a few focused points in the CMZ enemy/rendering flow.

Enemy slot

The mod registers a configurable enemy enum slot as the classic Steve test mob slot.

Default custom mode:

EnemyTypeEnum.TREASURE_ZOMBIE

Optional vanilla-safe mode:

EnemyTypeEnum.ZOMBIE

TREASURE_ZOMBIE is useful for clean custom enemy testing because it keeps the Steve mob separate from normal zombies. ZOMBIE is useful for safer online testing because vanilla clients already understand that enemy type.

Enemy type

The custom enemy type derives from CMZ's zombie enemy type so it can keep the normal enemy lifecycle:

• health,
• damage,
• hit detection,
• collision,
• death,
• despawn,
• enemy manager registration,
• spawn messaging.

The main behavior difference is that the chase/restart state returns the custom wander state instead of the normal target-following chase state.

Rendering

The mod patches the skinned model draw path and checks whether the current enemy is the custom Steve mob.

If it is not the custom mob, vanilla rendering continues normally.

If it is the custom mob, the mod skips the vanilla zombie model and draws a simple six-cuboid character instead.

Spawning

Command spawning uses CMZ's normal EnemyManager.SpawnEnemy(...) path. This keeps enemy IDs and world ownership consistent with the rest of the game.

For multiple command spawns, the mod computes a square-ish grid using the total requested amount. For example:

20 mobs  -> about 5 x 4
100 mobs -> about 10 x 10
200 mobs -> about 15 x 14

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Known limitations

• This is still an experimental custom enemy test mod.
• Natural spawning is disabled by default and should be enabled carefully.
• Very large spawn counts can reduce performance.
• Multiplayer sessions should require all clients to install the mod.
• The custom renderer is intentionally simple and does not use CMZ's skinned model animation system.
• If the model faces backward, set YawOffsetDegrees = 180 in the config.
• VanillaSafeMode = true helps avoid unknown enemy-slot crashes, but using ZOMBIE may cause modded clients/hosts to treat normal zombies as Steve mobs.
• Full custom mode should only be used when all players have the mod installed.
• Vanilla-safe mode is a compatibility fallback, not a perfect per-enemy handshake system.

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Credits

• RussDev7 - CastleForge / ClassicSteveMobs implementation
• CastleForge ModLoader - mod loading and runtime framework
• ModLoaderExtensions - shared command infrastructure