Turret TaCZ 0.8.3 Early Beta

This update focuses on polish, stability, localization, audio feedback, piston compatibility, idle behavior, modded mob targeting, and a major improvement pass for the 81mm mortar turret.

Added and Improved

• Added better piston compatibility for deployable turret platforms.
• Improved support for vertical and lateral piston movement.
• Improved turret support recalculation while being moved by pistons.
• Added a looping turret rotation sound that reacts to real turret movement.
• Rotation audio now works during tracking and idle scanning.
• Improved 3D sound positioning for turret rotation audio.
• Added improved procedural idle scanning for turrets.
• Idle scanning now uses steadier movement, short pauses, and less mechanical motion.
• Added different idle scan profiles depending on turret type.
• Added light camera shake feedback for standard turret firing.
• Expanded localization support based on the player's Minecraft language.
• Updated and polished translations for English, French, Spanish, German, and Brazilian Portuguese.
• Added clearer per-turret identification in the control panel to better distinguish multiple turrets of the same type.
• Improved creative inventory and item preview presentation for turret items.
• Polished several UI alignments, offsets, and translated text layouts in turret menus.

81mm Mortar Update

• Replaced the 81mm mortar turret with a new model.
• Added a new mortar reload animation.
• The mortar barrel now returns to its neutral reload position after firing.
• Reload animation now plays after the barrel has returned to its reload position.
• After reloading, the mortar resumes aiming before firing again.
• Added a short stabilization delay before the mortar fires once aligned.
• Reduced mortar horizontal and vertical rotation speed to make aiming feel heavier.
• Removed the old mortar firing animation behavior in favor of stronger firing effects.
• Added camera shake when the mortar fires.
• Added stronger ground dust, smoke, and pressure effects around the mortar shot.
• Improved mortar firing feedback for better immersion.
• Improved mortar salvo behavior so reload animations replay correctly during x3 and x5 fire missions.

Targeting and Compatibility

• Improved hostile detection for modded mobs that do not use vanilla monster classes (spore infection compatibility).
• Added support for forced-hostile entity type tags.
• Added default compatibility handling for Spore Infection hostile entities.
• Improved targeting against large or unusual modded entities.
• Added stricter final shot validation before consuming ammo.
• Reduced rare cases where turrets could fire into empty space after a target moved.

Fixes

• Fixed multiple turret menu text alignment issues in translated interfaces.
• Fixed long translated labels overlapping other UI elements in the access panel.
• Improved close-range targeting so turrets handle enemies standing very close more reliably.
• Reduced delayed burst effects after loading or rejoining a world.
• Prevented client-side backlog behavior where shots and shell ejections could appear stacked after short freezes or reloads.
• Fixed several edge cases where turrets could lose their support alignment during piston movement.
• Fixed cases where lateral piston movement could incorrectly snap turrets upward.
• Fixed mortar reload animation not always restarting during repeated salvo shots.
• Improved GeckoLib reload trigger handling while keeping held final-frame reload poses.
• Fixed a Forge 1.20.1 runtime compatibility crash caused by an incompatible ResourceLocation helper call.

Visual and Asset Updates

• Updated the 81mm mortar geometry, texture, and animation files.
• Updated the dual 5.56 turret geometry, texture, and firing animations.
• Improved shell ejection and barrel movement timing on the dual 5.56 turret.
• 45-75 sniper turret have now is own texture. (Model by PorotoMZ (@rporotos), commissioned by me on Fiverr)

Technical and Polish

• Added a client-side camera shake packet and manager for turret firing effects.
• Added reusable reload animation support to the shared turret entity system.
• Improved turret animation handling so turrets can have optional firing animations and dedicated reload animations.
• Added procedural idle scan state handling on the client side.
• Improved pre-shot line validation against target hitboxes.
• Cleaned up part of the internal logging to reduce unnecessary noise.
• Improved the TaCZ ammo/tag integration to keep the compatibility patch cleaner and more reliable.
• General polish and cleanup across turret behavior, UI, effects, targeting, and deployment handling.
• Cleaned up ResourceLocation compatibility handling for Forge 1.20.1 to avoid newer-version API calls and reduce development warnings.

Notes

• This release continues the early-beta polish pass.
• The mortar is receiving a deeper visual and feedback pass, with more sound and effect improvements planned later. (texture next normally)
• More visual updates are planned as new commissioned turret textures are completed.