I'm 100% behind the update. It sounds like it means more potential for new engine changes in the future.
Here is how I see the terrain issue. What is it that people like about terrain?
- Spawned with map
- Looks real
- Goes off towards infinite
- Fun to wander around
All of those points but "Looks real" can be solved with a terrain generator, but you replace that point with "Looks Awesome." The problems with brick terrain are:
- Loads slowly
- Limit to max amount of bricks
- Doesn't look real
- Less resolution
- Bad collision
- More polygons to render
I honestly think that the brick limit and bad collision can be fixed in future engine updates. The "Doesn't look real" and "Less resolution" problems are style issues in my opinion. Also, the new bricks look so nice that I think that's made up for.
We're left with more polygons and loading slowly now. More polygons could be a problem depending on how detailed terrain you're generating, but it's manageable on newer computers and at worst the resolution and rendering distance can be turned down. The more polygons is actually similar and has the same solution.
Another solution is to only load bricks that are nearby and unload the others, the problems with a massive amount of bricks being created is solved from that. Alternatively, a system like this (but much more elegant) could be thought out and used instead.