With the Instant Structures Mod (ISM) you can search, save and place structures. In addition, you can also use the Place Shapes feature to place geometric figures in your Minecraft world. These geometric figures include cuboids, circles, cylinders, ovals, cones, spheres and pyramids. You can also replace blocks in a selected area with others. This tutorial deals in detail with the function Place Shapes.
General Structure
You reach the Place Shapes view via the corresponding menu item in the left menu. This view is divided into three categories:
- Material
- Position
- Geometric Shapes
Material
Here you can select a block that will be used to place the shape. You can either use the dropdown menu or search for a block using the search bar. A matching block is then selected from the drop-down menu. You can also enter a meta to place the blocks.
Position
Here you select a position and direction from where the geometric shape is placed. The position corresponds to your player’s position when you opened the Place Shapes view. You can reset the position with the Place Shapes item so that you can also work in Survival mode. Alternatively, you can adjust the position via the text fields. You can also specify the direction in which the shape is placed.
Geometric Shapes
Let’s get to the geometric shapes you can place. With all you can adjust the dimension and with most you have options like center, tilt or hollow out. The centering option centers the center of the shape to the position indicated above, and the hollow option places only the surface of a shape so that the shape is hollow from the inside.
Cuboid
This will allow you to place a box and specify its width, height and depth. Now, if you choose the same width, height, and depth, you place a cube. You can also place the shape hollow.
Circle
You have quite a few options to place a circle here. The most important is probably the diameter, which is indicated in blocks. You can tilt the circle so that it is also placed on the Y axis. The center option places the center of the circle at the position indicated above. Again, you can have the circle hollowed out.
Cylinder
This function is analogous to placing a circle. Because you can use the tilt, center, and hollow out options the same way. So single and decisive difference can specify a height or a depth here.
Oval
While you could only specify one or two dimensions of the circle and cylinder, the Oval now gives you full control over placing a circular structure. Again, you can tilt, center and hollow out the oval.
Cone
The cone is composed of several circles that are stacked in layers together. With width and depth, you specify the width and depth of the circle of the first level. At each level, these circles rejuvenate by two blocks each. Thus, the specified width and depth are responsible for the number of levels. You can also specify the height for all levels and choose whether to place the first level up or down. It’s best to try this figure out for the first time before placing it in the actual location.
Spheres
Probably the most beautiful shape you can place in Minecraft: Spheres. Again, you specify a diameter and can center the balls to the specified position and hollow out.
Pyramids
Have you ever thought about recreating the famous pyramids of Giza? Then this function is perfect for you: place pyramids by specifying width and depth. From this, the height is calculated automatically.
Replace Blocks
This way, you cannot place a geometric shape exceptionally, but replace blocks in a certain area by others. From the top drop-down menu, select a block of appropriate meta you’d like to replace. If you enter -1 as a meta, all blocks of that type will be replaced regardless of their meta. Below, you then enter the dimension in which the blocks are replaced and through which blocks they are replaced.
That’s it with the tutorial on placing structures.
Here are some interesting tutorials about ISM that you should definitely read: