Messages

12316

General Discussion / Re: Blockland As We Know It

« on: February 08, 2012, 06:00:59 PM »

So I barely care about the first part but hopefully the second will live up. With these new graphics, comes a question. The game-market is visually-driven in many aspects, does anyone think this will give blockland a more mainstream appeal? Were such a userbase-jump to occur how would it be handled? I'd say this is a more the merrier case in the maps and such that would come out but the user-related issues would jump as well.

Personally, I do not think that this Shaders/Shadows update will be enough to transform Blockland into something that is going to immediately sell off the game like never before.
Blockland doesn't have such a large use of advertisment and isn't spread by word of mouth much.

While I'm not saying that the new looks will not gain us new members, I think that really, this update will be what leads the way for us to entice more people.
This update isn't just about the shadows/shaders, and removing interiors/terrains isn't just for the sole purpose of those. It's going to make Blockland an easier game to work upon by the developers and it's going to, from the looks of it, modify the game to be more up-to-date, in the sense that some of the way through which it was made was outdated, such as the interiors/terrain.


Now, once Blockland does become such a game to entice a larger audience, I don't think we'll have many problems satisfying them.
Unfortunately, there would be an awful lot of elitism in-game and on the forums, as you already get with BlocklandID's.
But the members who would be so annoying to new members would just be ignored.
You hardly see large games, which bring in hundreds of thousands of players, losing membership gains just because some members are mean to newer ones.

Another thing to consider is obviously the map thing, perhaps terrain builders will become glorified demi-gods. I've got no skill at such and wouldn't mind some tutorials.

By terrain builders, do you mean the sort who build terrain for Blockland as it is now, or people who can make Slate Maps?
I don't really have experience in either, but I'm curious as to what you mean.

The most damaging thing here for me is water. Water blocks are there but we can't truly recreate water terrains, water blocks are very mediocre and limiting.

Assuming that it would still be able to work, we can create Slate maps that have a high water-field.
Using this, you can create brick-made terrain in such a way that it dips down to meet the water-field and create lakes such as that, or instead make brick-islands in the water.

You obviously wouldn't be able to have water at differing heights, but that's not how it works anyway.
All water on a map is at the same height, so, maps with multiple lakes would've been at the same height.

12317

Development / Re: 2012/02/05 - Shadows and Shaders vs. Interiors and Terrain

« on: February 08, 2012, 05:40:03 PM »

kompressor, just an idea, but when converting bedroom saves and stuff to slate saves, if you get the lowest point of the build (the baseplate) and drop that to Z-Level 0, anything constructed on a single plane (like the floor of the bedroom) will port over to this new construct map perfectly. There'll be some floaters if anything is built on the dresser and floor at the same time, but with some advanced algorithms you can drop all non-contiguous baseplates to Z-Level 0 as well.

In other words, stop freaking out over saves. It's totally possible to bring stuff over to a slate map.


(Subliminal Message: Please make dedicated saving a possibility this update. <3? )

I would've personally just loaded my previous saves over into a slate world. (Assuming I can do that, for I don't know what happens to the folders that saves are in if their relevant map is removed)

And from there, I'd have used a duplicator to bring down all the floating pieces and put them down on the floor of Slate.
I obviously wouldn't be able to re-use them like I had them intended, but it'd be interesting and nice to have all my hard-work and favourite parts available for me to re-use or view when I like. (I like to get nostalgic over my old builds from time to time. :3)

I would even consider gathering all my old terrain/interior-map based saves, taking the best parts of them and putting them all together in a large museum build dedicated to my old works.
That might sound silly to anyone else, but I've got a lot of memory from building and roleplaying in builds, so I'd love to do something like that.
And I could give people tours. :3
Or just show off what I've done in the past.

12318

Off Topic / Re: Chrome for Android!

« on: February 08, 2012, 05:24:29 PM »

say that, not just ICS
at least the first time, you always type it out the first time, then you can abbreviate it later
unless it's something everyone knows, like USA or PS3

USA?

12319

Games / Re: Star Trek Online: Now F2P!

« on: February 08, 2012, 03:37:02 PM »

Crafting.
I for some reason can't leave loot behind :c

It'll always come up with the choice of Loot or Loot All (If there's multiple items)
I just click the exit button in the top right of the loot window, then fly or walk away.
Weird that yours should do that. Is it a common glitch?

12320

Games / Re: Star Trek Online: Now F2P!

« on: February 08, 2012, 03:27:39 PM »

Just a question, what am I supposed to do with the items you recieve for accessing the Anomolous Data things?

Stuff like the Antimatter samples and things like that.
They all have 0 value, so, I've been avoiding picking them up.

I've only picked up the ones marked rare incase they actually have some use or worth.

12321

Games / Re: Star Trek Online: Now F2P!

« on: February 08, 2012, 03:02:57 PM »

I started playing a few days ago and am now addicted.
I'm not remarkably good, and just made it to Lieutenant Commander.

Lucien Dooble Vaun

What a name!

12322

General Discussion / Re: Future of Blockland: Map naming convention and RTB

« on: February 08, 2012, 02:57:06 PM »

very good oscar wilde, you know a word. my point is even more clear now, individual map makers name maps, not some "general agreement... accepted as true by convention"

When I read the word convention, I thought it was meant in the sense of it being conventional.
As in, this is the convention that is set by the game or players.

If map-makers themselves name the full-name of the map then I suppose the main point of this topic is not really valid.


Anyway, I know that there's no real major difference between Plate/Construct/Slate maps, but I'd like to know what each type is.
So, if I look through my map-list when I start a server, I'd like it to list the maps as Slate_x, Construct_y, Plate_z.
Simply because, if that's the case, then alphabetically, I will have all the Construct maps at the top in a long list, then all the Plates, then all the Slates.

I find that that is an easier method of finding my maps.
For example, if all my Construct_ maps are most likely going to be colours, then I'd prefer to know that I can just see the long-chain of Construct_colour's instead of going through a long list and looking for colours.

It's easier to compare the Blue and the Yellow Construct maps if they're near each other (At the top with the rest of the Construct maps) than if the Blue is at the very top and the Yellow is at the very bottom.

12323

General Discussion / Re: v21 Update Petition

« on: February 08, 2012, 02:47:48 PM »

At first I disliked the initial idea of the update.
Not the actual having Shadows and shaders, but the removing of interiors and terrains.

But then I realised that overall, I probably only use a few maps ever for building things on.
If ever I use a terrain/interior map to build something, I don't get an idea of what to build then think I should build it on that map.
I will instead normally find an interesting map and then think of something to build on it.
And that's produced limited use of interior/terrain maps.

For about 95~% of all builds I've done, they've all be based on a slate/plate/construct map.
Interiors and things can look pretty cool, but they're not really useful for building on.
I've never built on the slopes because of the sole reason of having to use a baseplate wedged into the ground.
I only ever choose terrain maps which are themed, such as a tropical/desert island, and only if they have ample flat-ground for building.
I've not built anything proper on the Bedroom map in over a year. And most of those things could've been built on a slate map or didn't necesarilly need the bedroom as its map.
And I've never built anything in the Kitchen that was good.
The last thing I probably properly built in the kitchen was some silly little house back in 2008 when I first bought the game.


For me, the loss of interior/terrain maps won't affect me much.
Sure, I liked a ski on the slopes every now and then, but I never used it properly.
The Bedroom map has a lot of memories for me. But nothing I ever really built in there made me proud of my ability.
All my properly creative and best builds (Both in my opinion and others) have been built on a slate-style map.
I'll say goodbye to those few good things I did on terrain maps, I'll try and save the individual buildings as memories, but I don't mind.

Overall, I daresay that most people longsince stop using interior/terrain (Interior mainly) maps once they've been on the game for a while and get into building.
And the new shadows/shaders are interesting, new and fancy. Something that I haven't really seen happen within a Blockland Add-On in forever. Yeah, I've seen events come in and physics bricks, but they weren't quite as much of a change to the feel of Blockland as this will be.


I also love all these update-topics because I can write long boring posts. :D

12324

Development / Re: 2012/02/05 - Shadows and Shaders vs. Interiors and Terrain

« on: February 08, 2012, 12:17:07 PM »

Rainbow pink, obviously.

12325

Off Topic / Re: I had a dream I was fat

« on: February 06, 2012, 07:01:13 PM »

am i the only one who has ever had a dream about going to school in only underwear

I've gone naked in my dreams before, but never in just my underwear.

12326

Off Topic / Re: Must do homework..

« on: February 06, 2012, 06:53:14 PM »

No, they make you redo it at some other point in time and definitely don't just take 3 grades off because of it and don't tell you.

Ehh...
Depends on what the test is for.
If it's a test as I know it, like something your teacher just sets to make sure you've learnt part of the subject, then the grade either doesn't matter or they'll get you to do it later.

But if it's a proper exam, it can be worth a lot.
For example (although not truly fair since I'm not taking American exams), if I were to have missed the 1 exam in my English Language GCSE, I'd have lost 60% of the grade for not turning up.
I could not retake it, as the examboard only produces 2 exams a year, one for the spring and one for retakes.
If you miss the date of the spring one, you can't take that paper again as you could be given the answer, same for the retake.
(At GCSE (General Certificate of Secondary Education) however, they don't do retakes within the year, you have to retake the entire year/course. At A Level (Advanced Level Certificate of Secondary Education), they can depending on the course, have an exam in January then retake it in March, alongside a second-half of an exam for that course.)

So, if I were to say, have missed that one exam I'd be 60% of a grade down.
That leaves me with 40% of my grade belonging to Coursework.
If that coursework was at A* grade, then overall I'd only have 40% of the marks for an entire exam course, and the highest grade I could get would be a Grade D

12327

Off Topic / Re: I had a dream I was fat

« on: February 06, 2012, 06:45:16 PM »

same

Never been happier about having teeth than when I woke up

Apparently that's one of the most common nightmares.
Not sure why so many people have nightmares about losing their teeth, though.

12328

Development / Re: 2012/02/05 - Shadows and Shaders vs. Interiors and Terrain

« on: February 06, 2012, 03:47:20 PM »

I would personally have much (Blockland related) use for them and I believe the community would also benefit greatly from this. My intentions would be to import the interior 3D models to Blender and create skyboxes from them. Those skyboxes could then be used in Slates to create the illusion of an interior and also as an homage to the olden days of Blockland. I could very easily easily create several skyboxes from a single map. For example on the Bedroom floor, on the bed, on the drawer, inside the bed and so on. I see this as something the community would like.

I personally would love a slate map which (if possible) had the feel of walking on an infinite field of Bedroom Floor.
And the sky would look like an infinite Bedroom Ceiling, the walls in the image of Infinite walls.
I don't quite know how a poster or door or window would look as a skybox texture, but I'd be happy with just the walls.

And then it'd be awesome to change that floor texture to look like the inside or top of the bed, or a shelf or the roof of the Bedroom.
You could have a map that recreates that atmosphere of the Bedroom map and maintain a really traditional feeling of Minecraft.

I don't know if any of that is even remotely possible, but I've got a picture in my head which I just love at the moment.
Just imagining myself as if I'm absolutely tiny in the Bedroom and the bed underneath me goes on forever no matter how far I walk, or I can never travel far enough to reach the corner of the room.

12329

Development / Re: 2012/02/05 - Shadows and Shaders vs. Interiors and Terrain

« on: February 06, 2012, 01:59:54 PM »

This would never be your reaction to if your save got stolen especially if someone else was getting all the credit, and people were bashing you for "stealing" the thief's work.

I've had my own save stolen and hosted by someone else without credit.
I honestly didn't mind at all.
Because I know that from the way I build, they've got an unfinished project.
People can claim I stole it. But I'll only host it on my own server. If they come on and claim it's stolen, I'll say otherwise.
If they persist in badgering me over it being "stolen", I'll ban them. Simple as.

But we're currently not focussing on the subject matter at hand, which is likely why Kompressor just deleted a section of posts.

So I say bring on the update.
I'll pity the "mapping community" for a minute, then carry on with my pretty builds.

12330

Development / Re: 2012/02/05 - Shadows and Shaders vs. Interiors and Terrain

« on: February 06, 2012, 01:41:10 PM »

I personally am anxious over this.

I feel like I'm stuck between wanting to just keep the old version, but also have the new version.

My biggest fear is that losing maps with terrain will at times limit my personal gameplay.
For example, a number of builds and roleplays and games and the sort that I have done, have been based on terrain maps.
Whether that's a tropical desert island or a hilly map with a couple of lakes, I've used them to give me a great atmosphere for my build.
I can see myself being able to recreate them to an extent with bricks, sure, but do I really want 20k+ bricks used on just the terrain of my build and then trying to build on top of that?
I understand that it'll be quite nice to see this sort of thing, and if I were to make proper terrains with this, then shadows from hills and mountains and valleys would be absolutely beautiful and stunning, but I'll still feel slightly limited.

While I want Blockland to progress, and I know that it's been waiting for an addition like this for some time, I just can't help but worry that in the process it'll be removing a large portion of the game which I've used to large extent and have previously heavily relied upon.
There's a point where you can't create much more atmosphere with just bricks and a skybox.

But until I reach that point, I'll continue to enjoy the new beauty within the game and put what I can to good use.
I'll miss some of those old saves and games I used to play on hilly-terrains, but I've done plenty enough on slate maps. I've probably done more on slate maps than terrain maps, but it doesn't quite overcome the feeling of loss for those fewer, but great times on terrain maps.
I am curious though as to the Tutorial and the Demo system.
I'm sure that something will be done about the tutorial, and I'm certian it's not too difficult for a brick-based tutorial map+save to be created to replace the current one, but I have a little bit of concern over the game in Demo version.

Personally, for me, when I had the Demo version, I wasn't really excited by Slate.
I mean, it's a blank-canvas and I have a teensy pot of paint.
The reason I enjoyed the Bedroom and Kitchen maps when I joined was probably just because it gave me a little bit something else to see and enjoy in the Demo.
Sure, I may have only built a tiny little base with some lights, but building as I did, a base sticking off of the side of the pictureframe in the kitchen or on top of the kitchen light gave me more entertainment on the Demo than I would expect I could've had in just a slate map.

I don't personally know if I would have enjoyed the empty slate with my few bricks well enough to entice me to buy the full game.

Anyway, that's all my real concern. I'll look forward to whatever is put forward and done, but I can't help but feel a little bit sad to see the old stuff go. But hopefully this leads on to a new era of Blockland. More interesting updates with newer features, more creativity upon slate maps and more work into texturing of slate-maps for new atmospheres.

Sorry if I asked a question that's already been asked or answered. I didn't read all of this. I hope you'll forgive me for not reading all 57 pages.