Babel Book Loot v2.2.3

Babel Book Loot is a customizable Minecraft data pack that adds over 160 pre-written lore books to various loot tables. You can expand the library by adding your own books.

The pack is compatible with Minecraft 1.21.11 and likely works with older versions.

Quick Start

1. Download the Data Pack: Download babel_v2.2.3.zip.
2. Install: Place the downloaded .zip file in your Minecraft world's datapacks directory.

Gameplay Features

• Book Sources: Find books in village and stronghold chests, woodland mansions, fish them up, or get them from a librarian as a raid reward. The pack also introduces a new structure, the Lost Library, filled with book-related loot.
• Books to be found: Includes lore, mechanics, fiction, and more, written by "in-universe" authors.
• Book Rarity: You'll normally find books that are a "copy of a copy." But you'll rarely find books of other types.

Testing

Books are supposed to be quite rare. If you want to test the data pack is installed correctly, you can try the following commands:

• Give yourself a random book: /loot give @p loot babel:books
• Find the nearest library (in a fresh world or area): /locate structure babel:lost_library

Pre-Customized Versions

Additional variations of the pack offer tweaked mechanics:

• babel-bookish-zombies_v2.2.3.zip: Zombies can drop books when killed by a player.
• babel-only-chests_v2.2.3.zip: Books are chest-exclusive (no fishing or raid reward).
• babel-no-libraries_2.2.3.zip: Removes Lost Libraries.
• babel-fairytales_2.2.3.zip: Replaces lore books with public domain fairy tales.
• babel-recipe_v2.2.3.zip: Adds the below crafting recipe for random books.
• babel-more-drops_v2.2.3.zip: Increases book weight in loot tables significantly. Also includes zombie book drops.

Advanced Customization with Babel Builder

The Babel Builder tool lets you customize your pack further:

1. Download the Tool:
   • babel-builder-windows_v2.2.3.zip (Windows)
   • babel-builder-python_v2.2.3.zip (Python)
2. Run the Tool:
   • Windows: babel.exe
   • Python: python babel.py
3. Install Output: Place the generated babel.zip in your Minecraft world's datapacks directory.

Customizing Books

Books are stored in the lore_books directory, which can be changed via the books-path setting in the configuration file.

Books can be written in JSON or YAML formats. For example:

YAML Example

title: Sample Book
author: Some Author
pages:
  - This is page one.
  - This is page two.
  - This is page three.

JSON Example

{
  "title": "Sample Book",
  "author": "Some Author",
  "pages": [
    "This is page one.",
    "This is page two.",
    "This is page three."
  ]
}

Minecraft accepts slightly non-standard JSON, and Babel does its best to handle these formats. To ensure proper formatting, write pages directly in Minecraft or use tools like Text2Book.

Optional Book Attributes

Books can include additional attributes:

• weight: Affects selection probability (default: 1).
• lore: Adds lore text, similar to pages.
• custom_data: Adds custom NBT tags.

Example with optional parameters:

{
  "title": "Another Sample Book",
  "author": "Some Author",
  "pages": ["Hello World!"],
  "weight": 2,
  "lore": [[{"text":"Lore line 1","color":"blue"}], "Lore line 2"],
  "custom_data": {"foo": "bar", "number": 16}
}

Configurable Settings

Create your own config to:

• Disable specific loot drops.
• Adjust generation chances and loot table weights.
• Modify other pack settings.

Steps:

• Create my_config.yaml, and open in a text editor.
• Open config.yaml, and type any settings you want to change in to my_config.yaml.
• For example, add output-filename: custom-babel.zip.
• For any setting you do not specify, the value in config.yaml will be used as a fallback. See the other yaml files for examples.
• Run your config with python babel.py my_config.yaml.

Full Command Options

usage: python babel.py [-h] [-v] [-i] [-t] [-a] [-c] [filename]

positional arguments:
  filename              Optional config filename. (default: config.yaml)

options:
  -h, --help            show this help message and exit
  -v, --version         show program's version number and exit
  -i, --indent          Indent output json files. Overrides config field.
  -m, -t, --metabox     Add test loot tables. Overrides config field.
  -a, --append-version  Append babel version number to output filename.
  -c, --chance-calc     Calculate real chances of various book generations and exit.

Using with Other Data Packs

Integrating Books into Other Packs

Add books to custom loot tables using:

{
  "type": "minecraft:loot_table",
  "value": "babel:books"
}

If you just want to generate the loot table without the surrounding files, try running:

python build_loottable.py config.yaml > books.json

Contributions

• Submit issues or suggestions on GitHub.
• Reach out via Mastodon: @joe@social.jifish.co.uk.

Licensing

• Loot tables you generate with text you own are yours to use freely. A credit is appreciated but not required.
• Public domain books are sourced from Project Gutenberg.
• Babel tool and data pack are copyright Joseph Fowler.

Disclaimer

Software is provided "as is," without warranty or liability. Use at your own risk.