This has been bugging me for a long time. It seems like everyone wants them in, but Mojang simply do not want to add them. Why? What are their arguments against vertical slabs? I've heard that it would "limit creativity". HOW?! How could they limit creativity, they would add so much more possibilities for building all kinds of new things. They would allow us to make much more finer details to buildings. I just don't get it.
Another argument I've heard is that people would just build all walls out of slabs. Well...why is that a problem exactly? And if you don't want it to be like that - don't make them twice as cheap as a full block, let's say that 3 vertical blocks in the crafting table would only give you 3 vertical slabs. Or make them have a different texture, that would incentivise people to use both variants of the block.
Please note that I am not making any suggestions here, I am just giving examples of different solutions to possible problems that vertical slabs might cause.
Because it would make the game feel too much like other builder sims to have normal walls. Metre long walls is a Minecraft concept and helps make it unique.
Sure, but vertical slabs won't necessarily replace metre long walls.
They literally will, though. Who would prefer clunky thick walls to a thin sheet or a half slab? Minecraft has its aesthetic and in order to not bump heads with other sims and builder games, it needs to be unique and disjoint as much as possible.
I personally agree with the idea. For me, this game can get as big as it wants so long as the resources grow linearly with the content and not exponentially (memory, storage space etc.)
But for the devs, they gotta worry about legal, publicity, reputation, friendly competition, monopolizing, balancing, profits, and a million other big world gizmos that exist just because someone can make money off of them.
Bump! Come on people, get a discussion going. What is your oppinion on this?
Yeah tell that to the dozens of lurkers here who read and never post replies to anything. 90% of my ideas go by completely ignored, now you get how I feel. To the lurkers out there reading this, yes you!: sorry my stuff is so off-the-walls despite all the effort I put in specifically to avoid that, but Schmillen2's ideas are small and reasonable enough, please give them a fair chance.
That can easily be put to a test - start a modded server with vertical slabs and observe how people build. I cannot honestly predict how it will play out, but it largely depends on the way they are implemented. People build floors out of slabs because that is cheaper and thus more practical in a survival game. But they use slabs all of the time for aesthetic reasons. If vertical slabs are not cheaper than the normal blocks - it wouldn't be practical to make walls out of them, and the only use left for vertical slabs is aesthetics.
I personally do not think that Minecraft's clunkiness and disjoitedness is what makes it good. On the contrary - for me that only takes away from how good the game can be. I play Minecraft because it is the best block-building-survival-sandbox game that I know, not because of its disjoitedness. And long gone are the days when the blockiness of Minecraft was what made it unique. There are so many other clone games that copy the same blocky design - but they are all bad. It's only a matter of time before some other game copies Minecraft's blockyness and it turns out is actually decent. And if that game is not afraid to add stuff that the community clearly wants it will steal all of the success of Minecraft. And I can say with confidence that the community does want vertical slabs - just look at the comment section of any youtube video that touches this subject.
And look at what Mojang are doing right now with RTX. That's a RADICAL change to the game, that pushes it far more towards a realistic look. For me that shows that they are willing to make huge changes to the aesthetic, much bigger changes than adding a half vertical block.
This is being partially implemented in 1.16 anyway; walls will now stack seamlessly, with the major difference between them and true slabs being that walls are centered in the middle of a block (as opposed to slabs being to one side, so they only need to add a bit of code to enable them to be placed/offset like slabs):
This is being partially implemented in 1.16 anyway; walls will now stack seamlessly, with the major difference between them and true slabs being that walls are centered in the middle of a block (as opposed to slabs being to one side, so they only need to add a bit of code to enable them to be placed/offset like slabs):
What will happen to door placement? Currently they place on block edges and open flat, will this new mechanic place them in middle also and either swing-pivot them or collapse them like a folding door?
What will happen to door placement? Currently they place on block edges and open flat, will this new mechanic place them in middle also and either swing-pivot them or collapse them like a folding door?
Why not just try yourself? It's not like playing snapshots is impossible...
All the 1.16 change does is get rid of the pinhole you get when you stack walls in a 2x2 or bigger configuration so that much like building a mapwall you have no gaps in which to see through the texture. There's no actual change to how the walls get placed in the world or how they interact with non-wall blocks (ie, they still won't connect to doors).
I wouldn't mind vertical slabs but I'm not sure if they are necessary. (Yes i had to have a deep think about this before replying.) When is something "Too far"?, there are a small minority who want dirt, grass and glass regular slabs yet we don't even have slabs and stairs for things like regular terracotta and concrete but do so for Andesite, Granite and Diorite..
Possibly one intermediary, would be to limit it to only certain blocks, but then that pertains to the problem what definition should or should not blocks have vertical slabs? allyourbasesareggone has a point, with placement, there is an element on how to place them. Although one aspect of the game is about placing blocks if there's a special way of placing them when does it stop being Minecraft and a pure building program? Keeping in mind there's also mining, adventuring (Therefore discovery and exploration) and may other ways of playing that may not be vanilla of course.
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According to Mojang, it is because they inhibit creativity or can already be done in other ways:
Please don't make new threads about the ideas on this page! We have already talked about these ideas. If there is not a stated reason, it is because the team discussed the issue and decided the idea/concept is not a fit for Minecraft for various reasons. These threads will be considered spam, and are a violation of the Posting Guidelines.
Sideways slabs, vertical slabs, upright slabs and variations thereof: Features that inhibit natural creativity or can already be done in other ways are not being considered.
(there are many other things listed here which are very commonly suggested here and elsewhere)
At least you can always use mods to do whatever you want, which is part of the reason I still play in a 7 year old version (note that mods should definitely not be seen by Mojang as "can already be done in other ways" though; then again, they include "We would like the community to focus on foods that are not readily available via mods" so they seem to think that it isn't worth adding features often found in mods).
How about shelves? Slabs as is are great for chest 'cabinets' or 'shelving' but you can only put one every two blocks up, maybe a thinner version would create an incomplete block that could let you put chests on each level.
Yes, I know you could instead ask to have cabinets themselves be a thing or craft them from chests, but that's likely going to get no'ed as well.
And yes, I know there's a feature/glitch that lets you stack chests on top of each other and they all still open. It looks weird to see them clipping though when opened.
And yes, I know barrels exist. But they aren't 100% the same.
Controls what non-solid blocks can transform walls into their pillared block state
This is a "concession", of sorts. The "half-vertical slab" of the wall is always in the center, and it applies ONLY to materials that create "walls" such as cobble. It isn't exactly what was asked for, but it *will* add depth and texture to what would otherwise have been "walls" filling a full block space... now they may appear "indented" within a single block gap.
Controls what non-solid blocks can transform walls into their pillared block state
This is a "concession", of sorts. The "half-vertical slab" of the wall is always in the center, and it applies ONLY to materials that create "walls" such as cobble. It isn't exactly what was asked for, but it *will* add depth and texture to what would otherwise have been "walls" filling a full block space... now they may appear "indented" within a single block gap.
The main issue with this is that they still do not connect to doors.
What do you mean by "they still do not connect to doors" ?
I've been told they do not form solid walls against doors like they do against each other and against whole blocks. I'm used to building walls with fence gates so I wouldn't know myself.
Well, doors are "flush against the block", while stone walls are "in the center". One solution is to use whole block "door frames", and things are fine. Or, as @allyourbasesaregone said... use fence gates. Beyond that, you'll want to go Modded.
This has been bugging me for a long time. It seems like everyone wants them in, but Mojang simply do not want to add them. Why? What are their arguments against vertical slabs? I've heard that it would "limit creativity". HOW?! How could they limit creativity, they would add so much more possibilities for building all kinds of new things. They would allow us to make much more finer details to buildings. I just don't get it.
Another argument I've heard is that people would just build all walls out of slabs. Well...why is that a problem exactly? And if you don't want it to be like that - don't make them twice as cheap as a full block, let's say that 3 vertical blocks in the crafting table would only give you 3 vertical slabs. Or make them have a different texture, that would incentivise people to use both variants of the block.
Please note that I am not making any suggestions here, I am just giving examples of different solutions to possible problems that vertical slabs might cause.
Because it would make the game feel too much like other builder sims to have normal walls. Metre long walls is a Minecraft concept and helps make it unique.
Sure, but vertical slabs won't necessarily replace metre long walls.
They literally will, though. Who would prefer clunky thick walls to a thin sheet or a half slab? Minecraft has its aesthetic and in order to not bump heads with other sims and builder games, it needs to be unique and disjoint as much as possible.
I personally agree with the idea. For me, this game can get as big as it wants so long as the resources grow linearly with the content and not exponentially (memory, storage space etc.)
But for the devs, they gotta worry about legal, publicity, reputation, friendly competition, monopolizing, balancing, profits, and a million other big world gizmos that exist just because someone can make money off of them.
Yeah tell that to the dozens of lurkers here who read and never post replies to anything. 90% of my ideas go by completely ignored, now you get how I feel. To the lurkers out there reading this, yes you!: sorry my stuff is so off-the-walls despite all the effort I put in specifically to avoid that, but Schmillen2's ideas are small and reasonable enough, please give them a fair chance.
That can easily be put to a test - start a modded server with vertical slabs and observe how people build. I cannot honestly predict how it will play out, but it largely depends on the way they are implemented. People build floors out of slabs because that is cheaper and thus more practical in a survival game. But they use slabs all of the time for aesthetic reasons. If vertical slabs are not cheaper than the normal blocks - it wouldn't be practical to make walls out of them, and the only use left for vertical slabs is aesthetics.
I personally do not think that Minecraft's clunkiness and disjoitedness is what makes it good. On the contrary - for me that only takes away from how good the game can be. I play Minecraft because it is the best block-building-survival-sandbox game that I know, not because of its disjoitedness. And long gone are the days when the blockiness of Minecraft was what made it unique. There are so many other clone games that copy the same blocky design - but they are all bad. It's only a matter of time before some other game copies Minecraft's blockyness and it turns out is actually decent. And if that game is not afraid to add stuff that the community clearly wants it will steal all of the success of Minecraft. And I can say with confidence that the community does want vertical slabs - just look at the comment section of any youtube video that touches this subject.
And look at what Mojang are doing right now with RTX. That's a RADICAL change to the game, that pushes it far more towards a realistic look. For me that shows that they are willing to make huge changes to the aesthetic, much bigger changes than adding a half vertical block.
This is being partially implemented in 1.16 anyway; walls will now stack seamlessly, with the major difference between them and true slabs being that walls are centered in the middle of a block (as opposed to slabs being to one side, so they only need to add a bit of code to enable them to be placed/offset like slabs):
TheMasterCaver's First World - possibly the most caved-out world in Minecraft history - includes world download.
TheMasterCaver's World - my own version of Minecraft largely based on my views of how the game should have evolved since 1.6.4.
Why do I still play in 1.6.4?
What will happen to door placement? Currently they place on block edges and open flat, will this new mechanic place them in middle also and either swing-pivot them or collapse them like a folding door?
Learn something new each day
Why not just try yourself? It's not like playing snapshots is impossible...
All the 1.16 change does is get rid of the pinhole you get when you stack walls in a 2x2 or bigger configuration so that much like building a mapwall you have no gaps in which to see through the texture. There's no actual change to how the walls get placed in the world or how they interact with non-wall blocks (ie, they still won't connect to doors).
I still think it's the game's aesthetic - as well as crunches about how to place vertical blocks - that keeps this change from happening.
I wouldn't mind vertical slabs but I'm not sure if they are necessary. (Yes i had to have a deep think about this before replying.) When is something "Too far"?, there are a small minority who want dirt, grass and glass regular slabs yet we don't even have slabs and stairs for things like regular terracotta and concrete but do so for Andesite, Granite and Diorite..
Possibly one intermediary, would be to limit it to only certain blocks, but then that pertains to the problem what definition should or should not blocks have vertical slabs? allyourbasesareggone has a point, with placement, there is an element on how to place them. Although one aspect of the game is about placing blocks if there's a special way of placing them when does it stop being Minecraft and a pure building program? Keeping in mind there's also mining, adventuring (Therefore discovery and exploration) and may other ways of playing that may not be vanilla of course.
Closed old thread
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If you're hoping to get them, you won't. Mojang has publicly stated that they are not going to add vertical slabs.
I know. I just want to understand why?
According to Mojang, it is because they inhibit creativity or can already be done in other ways:
At least you can always use mods to do whatever you want, which is part of the reason I still play in a 7 year old version (note that mods should definitely not be seen by Mojang as "can already be done in other ways" though; then again, they include "We would like the community to focus on foods that are not readily available via mods" so they seem to think that it isn't worth adding features often found in mods).
TheMasterCaver's First World - possibly the most caved-out world in Minecraft history - includes world download.
TheMasterCaver's World - my own version of Minecraft largely based on my views of how the game should have evolved since 1.6.4.
Why do I still play in 1.6.4?
How about shelves? Slabs as is are great for chest 'cabinets' or 'shelving' but you can only put one every two blocks up, maybe a thinner version would create an incomplete block that could let you put chests on each level.
Yes, I know you could instead ask to have cabinets themselves be a thing or craft them from chests, but that's likely going to get no'ed as well.
And yes, I know there's a feature/glitch that lets you stack chests on top of each other and they all still open. It looks weird to see them clipping though when opened.
And yes, I know barrels exist. But they aren't 100% the same.
Because it would make the game feel a lot like other builder sims to have normal walls.
https://minecraft.gamepedia.com/Java_Edition_1.16
Quote: Added block tag wall_post_override.
This is a "concession", of sorts. The "half-vertical slab" of the wall is always in the center, and it applies ONLY to materials that create "walls" such as cobble. It isn't exactly what was asked for, but it *will* add depth and texture to what would otherwise have been "walls" filling a full block space... now they may appear "indented" within a single block gap.
The main issue with this is that they still do not connect to doors.
I've been told they do not form solid walls against doors like they do against each other and against whole blocks. I'm used to building walls with fence gates so I wouldn't know myself.
Well, doors are "flush against the block", while stone walls are "in the center". One solution is to use whole block "door frames", and things are fine. Or, as @allyourbasesaregone said... use fence gates. Beyond that, you'll want to go Modded.