Under the current lighting system, light levels for day and night are handled on the chunk level. You can see this if you have a slow computer or stand(or fly) high enough when day changes to night and vice versa. Each chunk will turn from day to night in a specific progression. Map editors spend a significant portion of their processing on relighting the chunks that have been changed. Simply, the current lighting system is crap which is why Notch is changing it in 1.7.
The new system uses texture-based lighting with different kinds of light for the sky and for blocks. Skylight changes based on time of day and is handled on the block level. Block lights come from fire, lava, torches and whatever he adds such as the ever mythical lanterns. Each source can have different color lights which provides for some amazing new looks as Notch showed in screenshots recently.
Now, the possible consequence of this is that the height limit may been removed by this change. The main obstacle for modders when comes to extending the height limit is that nothing outside of the chunks is lit. They would have to change the current lighting engine or the way chunks operate in order to do so. Under the new lighting engine, the light no longer needs to update the 16x16x128 block per chunk to turn from night to day. Blocks receive skylight if they are above ground and don't if they are not. With the chunk no longer a factor, I think the height limit may be removed by this change.
that is an astute observation. i hope that the lighting system changes IN 1.7 and is not put off like some other thing will probably be. if lighting is changed and we get pistons. i will be completely satisfied
Jeb recently flat out stated that they are working on some things to increase the height limit.
kudos for figuring out known information in a roundabout way though i guess.
The height limit has very little to do with lighting limitations. Simply rendering the blocks on a chunk level, up to 128 blocks, regardless of lighting, is a problem for a lot of computers already. If they can streamline that rendering process (something they claim to be working on), the height limit could be raised.
I don't think the height limit will ever be entirely removed. But we'll see.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"Any sufficiently sentient being feels a certain alarm at the prospect of ceasing to exist."
out of curiosity what is the highest to fall that doesnt kill you (does armour limit fall damage?)
armor does reduce fall damage. if you edit the armor to have extra durability then you can even survive falling from the top of the sky down to bedrock.
out of curiosity what is the highest to fall that doesnt kill you (does armour limit fall damage?)
120-ish blocks (depending on how many levels of bedrock you need to work around, and how many levels of water you can put at the bottom to catch your fall).
120-ish blocks (depending on how many levels of bedrock you need to work around, and how many levels of water you can put at the bottom to catch your fall).
err, i'm pretty sure he meant without landing in water since you could safely land in water from like infinity high.
So long as entire chunks are loaded at a time and a chunk contains everything from bedrock to the sky, it's not practical to ever remove the height limit. And the only way to really increase it is to optimize general chunk loading enough that the limit can be increased without requiring more CPU/memory than it already does.
But to the topic of lighting...
I thought it was perfectly sufficient before. Watching distant chunks change lighting, one at a time, as just like doing so in real life as the sun sets over the horizon. I'm not sure I understand the point of them expending resources to change it.
The height limit has very little to do with lighting limitations. Simply rendering the blocks on a chunk level, up to 128 blocks, regardless of lighting, is a problem for a lot of computers already. If they can streamline that rendering process (something they claim to be working on), the height limit could be raised.
I don't think the height limit will ever be entirely removed. But we'll see.
Build dirt pillars to the upper far "lands"! :biggrin.gif:
One way or another, I want greater height/depth in the game and I want it bad! There is a world posted on this site somewhere that used ymod and has many full size recreations of famous buildings & skyscrapers in it and is posted for Download. I want the freedom to explore larger and more detailed mountain ranges etc. The smaller stuff in current maps can start to get a bit repetitious and bland after a while.
I want to come across a secret entrance atop a mountain crevice to a goblin tunnel leading to an underground/in-mountain stronghold, muhahahha. And then run far away from it! :wink.gif:
The new system uses texture-based lighting with different kinds of light for the sky and for blocks. Skylight changes based on time of day and is handled on the block level. Block lights come from fire, lava, torches and whatever he adds such as the ever mythical lanterns. Each source can have different color lights which provides for some amazing new looks as Notch showed in screenshots recently.
Now, the possible consequence of this is that the height limit may been removed by this change. The main obstacle for modders when comes to extending the height limit is that nothing outside of the chunks is lit. They would have to change the current lighting engine or the way chunks operate in order to do so. Under the new lighting engine, the light no longer needs to update the 16x16x128 block per chunk to turn from night to day. Blocks receive skylight if they are above ground and don't if they are not. With the chunk no longer a factor, I think the height limit may be removed by this change.
kudos for figuring out known information in a roundabout way though i guess.
I don't think the height limit will ever be entirely removed. But we'll see.
armor does reduce fall damage. if you edit the armor to have extra durability then you can even survive falling from the top of the sky down to bedrock.
120-ish blocks (depending on how many levels of bedrock you need to work around, and how many levels of water you can put at the bottom to catch your fall).
err, i'm pretty sure he meant without landing in water since you could safely land in water from like infinity high.
But to the topic of lighting...
I thought it was perfectly sufficient before. Watching distant chunks change lighting, one at a time, as just like doing so in real life as the sun sets over the horizon. I'm not sure I understand the point of them expending resources to change it.
Build dirt pillars to the upper far "lands"! :biggrin.gif:
I want to come across a secret entrance atop a mountain crevice to a goblin tunnel leading to an underground/in-mountain stronghold, muhahahha. And then run far away from it! :wink.gif:
- The Cubic Chunks Mod is back! Be a part of it's rebirth and Development.
-- Robinton's Mods: [ Mirror ] for some of his Mods incl Cubic Chunks Mod, due to DropBox broken links.
- Dungeon Generator for the Open Cubic Chunks Mod
- QuickSAVE-QuickLOAD for the Open Cubic Chunks Mod