That reason is mob spawning. It doesn't matter how many hundreds of blocks they add to the game if we can't use any of them for builds with lighting anywhere below "I want the actual sun in every room". You want to have a nice and moody castle with plenty of dark rooms, corridors, or just everywhere? Well, here are your options:
1. No lighting, no carpet, no slabs, no string on blocks: Mobs spawn absolutely everywhere nonstop and your build is nightmare just to stand in, much less use as an actual base.
2. You can use carpet to block mobs, which means no matter what you make your base out of, you're still limited to the 16 wool colors for any area of your build that you want to remain dark.
3. You can use slabs to block mob spawning, but run into the exact same problem as carpet. You are limited to the very small percentage of blocks that have slabs, so you have to work your entire build around that tiny palette.
4. String on all blocks: Cool, now you have an immensely annoying half-block grey selection outline popping up on every single block you pass unless you specifically look up at the ceiling as you walk, to say nothing of the string disrupting the textures. This is really only a viable solution for rooftops.
5. Use glass for some sections of the floor. Same problems, again, as wool.
6. Limiting your build location to only mushroom islands. Not TERRIBLE, but VERY limiting and you have to do a TON of terrain work if you don't want the standard mushroom environment.
Slabs and stairs of all the existing blocks can't possibly be so difficult that there's any legitimate excuse for us not having them. I bet an experienced modder could make the entire set in a couple of days. Why exactly do we not have these? It's probably as simple as just copying and pasting the texture onto the slab/stair, putting the correct sounds (walking, placing, breaking) on it, and assigning it a new block ID.
They could either do that, or give us a carpet-style cover of all the textures, or, possibly the most feasible solution, update beacons or give a new powerful tool for blocking all mob spawning in a certain radius. All of these would greatly reduce the need for more slabs and stairs.
1. No lighting, no carpet, no slabs, no string on blocks: Mobs spawn absolutely everywhere nonstop and your build is nightmare just to stand in, much less use as an actual base.
This is a fair point, although why would you build a castle and make it purposefully very dark? Plus, castles are typically made of wood, stone and (stone) bricks, all of which do have slab and stair variants.
2. You can use carpet to block mobs, which means no matter what you make your base out of, you're still limited to the 16 wool colors for any area of your build that you want to remain dark.
If you're building a dark moody castle and you can easily tell what color wool a carpet is, then your brightness is so high that there isn't much point in building a dark castle.
3. You can use slabs to block mob spawning, but run into the exact same problem as carpet. You are limited to the very small percentage of blocks that have slabs, so you have to work your entire build around that tiny palette.
There are 40 types of slabs, and the most common building materials (wood, stone/stone bricks, 1.8 stones, blackstone, etc.) all have slab variants. I doubt adding slabs and stairs for every block in the game would help. Who needs sponge stairs? Dried kelp slabs?
4. String on all blocks: Cool, now you have an immensely annoying half-block grey selection outline popping up on every single block you pass unless you specifically look up at the ceiling as you walk, to say nothing of the string disrupting the textures. This is really only a viable solution for rooftops.
I'm fairly sure mobs can spawn on string.
5. Use glass for some sections of the floor. Same problems, again, as wool.
I'm still assuming you're talking about making dark builds. Glass would fit even more outside of the palette than carpets as flooring.
6. Limiting your build location to only mushroom islands. Not TERRIBLE, but VERY limiting and you have to do a TON of terrain work if you don't want the standard mushroom environment.
That isn't exactly a very strong argument in favor of adding stairs and slabs for every block in the game.
Slabs and stairs of all the existing blocks can't possibly be so difficult that there's any legitimate excuse for us not having them. I bet an experienced modder could make the entire set in a couple of days. Why exactly do we not have these? It's probably as simple as just copying and pasting the texture onto the slab/stair, putting the correct sounds (walking, placing, breaking) on it, and assigning it a new block ID.
I'm going to wait for someone else to come along and answer that since I'm not qualified to. But consider that, if stairs and slabs were added for every block, the size of the blocks alone would slightly less than triple.
If you're building in the dark, there are going to be setbacks. You're going to need to come up with special ways to get around mobs spawning in Survival (since this isn't a problem in Creative where you can disable mob spawning). I can understand stairs and slabs being added for the big blocks, namely wool, terracotta and concrete. But for every block in the game? Unlikely.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Watch out for the crabocalypse. Some say the day will never come. But it will.
Feel free to drop by for a chat whenever.
If you'd like to talk with me about other games, here are a few I play.
Team Fortress 2
Borderlands series (Borderlands 2 is my favorite game, ever. TPS combat is a lot of fun and makes up for the lower-quality story, in my opinion)
Elder Scrolls series
Warframe (IGN is something like That_One_Flesh_Atronach)
Pokémon series (HGSS forever)
Rocket League
Fallout series
Left 4 Dead 2 (Boomer files always corrupt though)
SUPERHOT (SUPERHOT is the most innovative shooter I've played in years!)
Dead Rising series (Dead Rising 2 is one of my favorite games, and the 3rd was a lot of fun. 1st has poor survivor AI and the 4th is bad)
Just Cause series
Come to think of it, I mainly play fighting-based games.
Implementing so many blocks would be a headache.
In my opinion a much better idea would be a moderately expensive device that blocks automatic mob spawning in fairly big radius.
If you play in creative, one command can solve your problem for that world.
Dwarf gamer found:
Buildings - square, not round
Materials - from rubble mound
Dark caves - lit 'n' cleaned out
Settlements - deep underground
Farmability - to grinder bound
Shields - made creepers but sound
Axes and crossbows - taking mobs out
Why would implementing lots of slab/stair blocks be a headache? Surely, there must be some way to automatically generate the code for a slab block from the code of a full block?
Why would implementing lots of slab/stair blocks be a headache? Surely, there must be some way to automatically generate the code for a slab block from the code of a full block?
The main issue is that since 1.8 every block needs its own model; one reason why many mods took so long to update past 1.8, if at all, is the fact they would need a crazy number of json files (e.g. some mods add blocks that are dynamically rendered with hundreds or even thousands of unique states per block). Tripling the total number of block variations (less if only including full-cube blocks, but there are still a lot) also doesn't come for free, even if 1.13 removed any limits to the number of block IDs that can exist, since each block does consume resources, which is worsened by the aforementioned json files (modern versions require around 10 times more memory, if not even more, than if they hadn't made any of the structural changes in 1.8 and later versions, which is also why modern modpacks require 4-6 GB and adding hundreds of blocks for slabs and stairs would effectively do the same).
IMO, there need to be structural changes to rendering and block models which would greatly reduce resource usage, such as enabling all "slab" and "stair" blocks, and other common shapes (e.g. "full cube" and "crossed" (e.g. plants), all of which cover the vast majority of blocks), to use a single model by default, only using individual models if a resource pack changes the model a block uses (there are mods that optimize modpacks by doing just this, reducing memory usage by 50% or more). This is much like how block rendering worked before 1.8 (1.6.4 renders the majority of blocks with a single method which could render any size/shape cuboid, with stairs only needing a few lines of additional code to render their 2-3 parts using this method, and adding new blocks using an existing model is as simple as specifying its "render type", if even that as they default to a full cube).
This is a fair point, although why would you build a castle and make it purposefully very dark? Plus, castles are typically made of wood, stone and (stone) bricks, all of which do have slab and stair variants.
Have you never seen any fantasy fortresses of evil before? They're not lit up like futuretech labratories, they're grimdark and sinister, with tons of very dark spaces and sparse lighting. For a standard boring castle made out of the most generic blocks you can pick, sure, you have a point, but for those of us that don't want to have a castle that looks like thousands of others, if we want it to have any mood lighting at all, the wool and slab palettes are quite lacking.
If you're building a dark moody castle and you can easily tell what color wool a carpet is, then your brightness is so high that there isn't much point in building a dark castle.
I have my brightness settings so that I can see what blocks are in the dark, but not so dark that I literally can't see five blocks in front of myself, which is what you seem to be saying is the correct setting.
There are 40 types of slabs, and the most common building materials (wood, stone/stone bricks, 1.8 stones, blackstone, etc.) all have slab variants. I doubt adding slabs and stairs for every block in the game would help. Who needs sponge stairs? Dried kelp slabs?
I said ALMOST every block for the exact purpose of shutting down this nitpicking.
I'm fairly sure mobs can spawn on string.
You're probably right about that, I think I'm confusing that with string blocking snowfall.
I'm still assuming you're talking about making dark builds. Glass would fit even more outside of the palette than carpets as flooring.
You can put blocks under the glass and use darker colors, it all depends on what your texture pack does to glass. It's still limiting.
That isn't exactly a very strong argument in favor of adding stairs and slabs for every block in the game.
All I'm doing here is listing the ways currently in-game to mitigate mobs spawning if you want a dark build. It's relevant.
Caver's point about how the JSON files work is the most legitimate argument so far. I can understand why it would be an undertaking now. However, that doesn't change the fact that we really need a way to shut down mob spawning in an area in survival that doesn't involve sharp limits on a build palette. Doing a beacon rework would be fantastic for this, because as it stands they're barely worth the effort after your first couple for mining haste. They really need to have most if not all of the other potion effects available on them, and they could add a biome changer or something while they're at it. However, I think I'd rather there just be a new tool or something where you could "coat" a block to be mob-proofed. I am guessing that would be the easiest to do because it's just a block-state true/false value that could be applied to anything. You could make it expensive or something to compensate for its utility, which would give end-game players something new to farm.
That reason is mob spawning. It doesn't matter how many hundreds of blocks they add to the game if we can't use any of them for builds with lighting anywhere below "I want the actual sun in every room". You want to have a nice and moody castle with plenty of dark rooms, corridors, or just everywhere? Well, here are your options:
1. No lighting, no carpet, no slabs, no string on blocks: Mobs spawn absolutely everywhere nonstop and your build is nightmare just to stand in, much less use as an actual base.
2. You can use carpet to block mobs, which means no matter what you make your base out of, you're still limited to the 16 wool colors for any area of your build that you want to remain dark.
3. You can use slabs to block mob spawning, but run into the exact same problem as carpet. You are limited to the very small percentage of blocks that have slabs, so you have to work your entire build around that tiny palette.
4. String on all blocks: Cool, now you have an immensely annoying half-block grey selection outline popping up on every single block you pass unless you specifically look up at the ceiling as you walk, to say nothing of the string disrupting the textures. This is really only a viable solution for rooftops.
5. Use glass for some sections of the floor. Same problems, again, as wool.
6. Limiting your build location to only mushroom islands. Not TERRIBLE, but VERY limiting and you have to do a TON of terrain work if you don't want the standard mushroom environment.
Slabs and stairs of all the existing blocks can't possibly be so difficult that there's any legitimate excuse for us not having them. I bet an experienced modder could make the entire set in a couple of days. Why exactly do we not have these? It's probably as simple as just copying and pasting the texture onto the slab/stair, putting the correct sounds (walking, placing, breaking) on it, and assigning it a new block ID.
They could either do that, or give us a carpet-style cover of all the textures, or, possibly the most feasible solution, update beacons or give a new powerful tool for blocking all mob spawning in a certain radius. All of these would greatly reduce the need for more slabs and stairs.
This is a fair point, although why would you build a castle and make it purposefully very dark? Plus, castles are typically made of wood, stone and (stone) bricks, all of which do have slab and stair variants.
If you're building a dark moody castle and you can easily tell what color wool a carpet is, then your brightness is so high that there isn't much point in building a dark castle.
There are 40 types of slabs, and the most common building materials (wood, stone/stone bricks, 1.8 stones, blackstone, etc.) all have slab variants. I doubt adding slabs and stairs for every block in the game would help. Who needs sponge stairs? Dried kelp slabs?
I'm fairly sure mobs can spawn on string.
I'm still assuming you're talking about making dark builds. Glass would fit even more outside of the palette than carpets as flooring.
That isn't exactly a very strong argument in favor of adding stairs and slabs for every block in the game.
I'm going to wait for someone else to come along and answer that since I'm not qualified to. But consider that, if stairs and slabs were added for every block, the size of the blocks alone would slightly less than triple.
If you're building in the dark, there are going to be setbacks. You're going to need to come up with special ways to get around mobs spawning in Survival (since this isn't a problem in Creative where you can disable mob spawning). I can understand stairs and slabs being added for the big blocks, namely wool, terracotta and concrete. But for every block in the game? Unlikely.
Watch out for the crabocalypse. Some say the day will never come. But it will.
Feel free to drop by for a chat whenever.
If you'd like to talk with me about other games, here are a few I play.
Team Fortress 2
Borderlands series (Borderlands 2 is my favorite game, ever. TPS combat is a lot of fun and makes up for the lower-quality story, in my opinion)
Elder Scrolls series
Warframe (IGN is something like That_One_Flesh_Atronach)
Pokémon series (HGSS forever)
Rocket League
Fallout series
Left 4 Dead 2 (Boomer files always corrupt though)
SUPERHOT (SUPERHOT is the most innovative shooter I've played in years!)
Dead Rising series (Dead Rising 2 is one of my favorite games, and the 3rd was a lot of fun. 1st has poor survivor AI and the 4th is bad)
Just Cause series
Come to think of it, I mainly play fighting-based games.
Implementing so many blocks would be a headache.
In my opinion a much better idea would be a moderately expensive device that blocks automatic mob spawning in fairly big radius.
If you play in creative, one command can solve your problem for that world.
Dwarf gamer found:
Buildings - square, not round
Materials - from rubble mound
Dark caves - lit 'n' cleaned out
Settlements - deep underground
Farmability - to grinder bound
Shields - made creepers but sound
Axes and crossbows - taking mobs out
Why would implementing lots of slab/stair blocks be a headache? Surely, there must be some way to automatically generate the code for a slab block from the code of a full block?
The main issue is that since 1.8 every block needs its own model; one reason why many mods took so long to update past 1.8, if at all, is the fact they would need a crazy number of json files (e.g. some mods add blocks that are dynamically rendered with hundreds or even thousands of unique states per block). Tripling the total number of block variations (less if only including full-cube blocks, but there are still a lot) also doesn't come for free, even if 1.13 removed any limits to the number of block IDs that can exist, since each block does consume resources, which is worsened by the aforementioned json files (modern versions require around 10 times more memory, if not even more, than if they hadn't made any of the structural changes in 1.8 and later versions, which is also why modern modpacks require 4-6 GB and adding hundreds of blocks for slabs and stairs would effectively do the same).
IMO, there need to be structural changes to rendering and block models which would greatly reduce resource usage, such as enabling all "slab" and "stair" blocks, and other common shapes (e.g. "full cube" and "crossed" (e.g. plants), all of which cover the vast majority of blocks), to use a single model by default, only using individual models if a resource pack changes the model a block uses (there are mods that optimize modpacks by doing just this, reducing memory usage by 50% or more). This is much like how block rendering worked before 1.8 (1.6.4 renders the majority of blocks with a single method which could render any size/shape cuboid, with stairs only needing a few lines of additional code to render their 2-3 parts using this method, and adding new blocks using an existing model is as simple as specifying its "render type", if even that as they default to a full cube).
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?
Have you never seen any fantasy fortresses of evil before? They're not lit up like futuretech labratories, they're grimdark and sinister, with tons of very dark spaces and sparse lighting. For a standard boring castle made out of the most generic blocks you can pick, sure, you have a point, but for those of us that don't want to have a castle that looks like thousands of others, if we want it to have any mood lighting at all, the wool and slab palettes are quite lacking.
I have my brightness settings so that I can see what blocks are in the dark, but not so dark that I literally can't see five blocks in front of myself, which is what you seem to be saying is the correct setting.
I said ALMOST every block for the exact purpose of shutting down this nitpicking.
You're probably right about that, I think I'm confusing that with string blocking snowfall.
You can put blocks under the glass and use darker colors, it all depends on what your texture pack does to glass. It's still limiting.
All I'm doing here is listing the ways currently in-game to mitigate mobs spawning if you want a dark build. It's relevant.
Caver's point about how the JSON files work is the most legitimate argument so far. I can understand why it would be an undertaking now. However, that doesn't change the fact that we really need a way to shut down mob spawning in an area in survival that doesn't involve sharp limits on a build palette. Doing a beacon rework would be fantastic for this, because as it stands they're barely worth the effort after your first couple for mining haste. They really need to have most if not all of the other potion effects available on them, and they could add a biome changer or something while they're at it. However, I think I'd rather there just be a new tool or something where you could "coat" a block to be mob-proofed. I am guessing that would be the easiest to do because it's just a block-state true/false value that could be applied to anything. You could make it expensive or something to compensate for its utility, which would give end-game players something new to farm.