Custom Mob Spawn

[konsumer]

I'd like to be able to spawn custom mobs, like Mo' Creatures, which if you are unfamiliar, includes creatures and items with custom geometry/skins/behavior. I think this is also related to custom items which would also be awesome.


I am a programmer that is ok with C++ & lua, (and a lil bit Java) but I am new to minecraft and cuberite, and am unsure where to start, but I'm totally willing to try figure it out, if people wouldn't mind giving me a point in the right direction.

Some questions:

• Would I need to implement a sort of forge emulation layer to interoperate with the existing client-side Mo' Creatures/CustomMobSpawner? Is there a simpler/better way to get the client to know about custom geometry/skins?
  
• Is the current core mob system complete enough to support custom mobs, or should I start with trying to help improve the cuberite mob core? I can't tell if it's got (near) feature-parity with the standard java minecraft server, but it seems pretty solid.
  
• Where should I start, in terms of 1st iteration custom mob spawning? I imagine maybe like spawning non-mob core things, so I don't need a client-side plugin, like living cobblestone blocks or something. Am I imagining how the mob system works correctly?
  

Thanks!