I think it's funny that some individuals actually prefer shadows over game compatability in general.
I understand why Kompressor would want the feature, considering the amount of effort he put into making them work appropriately. But, the bias of one's creation aside, they do not benefit the game as much as terrain. This is a fact, not an opinion.. or some silly bias I'm here to display out of anger. The appearance of shadows will not allow for users to do more. It isn't some magical entity that'll now enlighten users of a better world -- they're literally shadows casted from bricks. You establish a primitive nature to something if the quality is effected by its appearance. A fool makes a house of gold; a genius makes one of steel.
Terrain is such an incredibly large portion of the game, regardless of how "ugly" it looks. The intent is to allow for environments that can be played in with no end, allowing for users to build differently to adapt to each individual location; why anybody would even consider ridding of this for brick shadows is beyond my level of comprehension.
I've been with the community since 2004, and have most likely logged more active playtime than the majority of the players here. This isn't a way of boasting, but stating that I've witnessed the ups and downs of this game. Sure, I haven't always provided too much input, but now I think it's the time to listen, and listen well. You will significantly hinder the game if you push this through, shooting the value of it down dramatically. You will rid of a fanbase that has followed you for years now. This is something that should be thrown in on the side, something, of which, shouldn't jeopardize the game in any way.
You've done a good job, Komp. Now do a better job by figuring out how to keep the game as it were.
I appreciate the effort you've put into this post. It's not just brick shadows - it's a lot of other things. Consider this: there are 4 major renderers in today's Blockland: DTS, interior, terrain, and bricks. That's 6 interactions to worry about. If we cut interior and terrains, it goes down to 1 interaction. Now - things won't become 6 times easier in general. But it definitely makes it WAY easier to do a lot of things. Blockland needs to be agile to be viable. That means making cuts from time to time, and interiors + terrain are our biggest source of technical debt. -- kompressor
