The core of my idea is to add a type of block to the game that is solid by default, but becomes immaterial when powered. By immaterial, I mean that players, other mobs, items, and certain liquids could pass through it, and that items attached to it (like torches and signs) would fall off.
Bellow is a more specific working out of this idea (though many of the details could be changed while retaining this core idea:
Block Name: Soul Glass
Obtainable: by cooking soul sand into glass in an oven (this would take a while, and would only work with redstone as the oven fuel)
Appearance: Soul glass would look almost identical to regular glass block, differing only slightly in shade.
Behavior: When not powered by redstone, soul glass would act in an identical manner to regular glass. However, when powered by redstone, it would become immaterial until the power was cut off. Being immaterial would cause it to become invisible, and would allow mobs, items, flowing water, and flowing lava to pass through it as if it were not there. When the power was cut off it would reappear. If some other block was placed in a space occupied by immaterial soul glass that block would be placed as usual and the soul glass that had been there would cease to exist.
More precisely, any powered block of soul glass would go through a short vanishing animation at the end of which it would be immaterial. Several seconds after it started vanishing blocks of soul glass adjacent to it would begin to vanish as well. This would continue up to some finite distance from the power source (I was thinking something like 20 blocks). The same would happen in reverse if the power was cut off. This would allow for a cool visual effect as the glass comes and goes.
Soul glass which would normally re-solidify but was blocked by a mob would only re-solidify once the mob was out of the way. However, it would not be blocked by items, instead bumping them to the next available space (as currently happens when the space an item is in is filled).
Uses: Soul glass does reduplicate some of the uses of a piston, but it also has myriad uses of its own. Here are a handful of illustrations. It could be used to...
*construct long, freestanding drawbridges *make new sorts of traps (if the power were cut to a cube of the stuff with a mob inside every block but the ones the mob was occupying would quickly become solid again) *control the flow of liquids with redstone machines *make magical looking doors *hide doors in windows *construct vanishing walls *transport items and players upwards (An elevator could easily be constructed out of a column of the stuff powered from the bottom. If a player got on and cut the power he could then climb by jumping, with the blocks solidifying under him with each jump) *build entire structures which could vanish when a switch was thrown *make large trapdoors (either simple glass ones, or hidden ones covered with sand. These latter would be one-use, as the sand would destroy the incorporeal soul glass.) *permanently mark trespassing (connect a torch to a hidden block of this stuff and power it from a plate in the floor. If somebody passes that way the torch will fall off, and it will still be off whenever you get back.)
Excellent idea. Unfornately it sounds very OP for the method required to obtain it. It should be more difficult to craft.
That might be right: though getting to the nether in the first place is a bit of a task it would be very easy to make the stuff once you could get there.
I made one change to take care of this already (making it take longer to cook this than ordinary sand). Any other suggestions on how to fix this?
It does not seem half bad. Due to the difficulty in getting soul sand in the first place, and the difficulty of some to get redstone in the first place, and the coal used to smelt it in the first place, it is tough to come across, about the same difficulty as gathering materials for pistons. Plus traps can be created in a unique way.
However, may I offer this suggestion:
Soul Glass is almost not see through, I.E, it retains most of the original Soul Sand texture with just a hint of transparency. This way, it can be used to hide entrances better in puzzle maps.
That might be right: though getting to the nether in the first place is a bit of a task it would be very easy to make the stuff once you could get there.
I made one change to take care of this already (making it take longer to cook this than ordinary sand). Any other suggestions on how to fix this?
To go to the nether, you just need 3 iron and access to a lava cave (I hate having to mine obsidian with diamond). Just walk in, stroll around, hide from some ghasts (not the hardest things to do, building in the nether is what kills you) and grab some soul sand. However with pistons you have to find redstone by branch mining or whatever. Not to mention if you want a sticky piston you have to fiddle around for ages underground trying to find a slime chunk. Therefore to make a resetting magic block requires little effort, and you can make entire structures reset and dissappear by just using 1 wire, while with pistons are a more difficult to make, to make them reset you need slimes, and each piston must be powered and wired individually. Hence the block is OP. Perhaps if the incorporeal block required glowstone, redstone, diamond, lapis, gold, enderpearls, ghast tear or obsidian to craft it might be a bit more balanced.
To go to the nether, you just need 3 iron and access to a lava cave (I hate having to mine obsidian with diamond). Just walk in, stroll around, hide from some ghasts (not the hardest things to do, building in the nether is what kills you) and grab some soul sand. However with pistons you have to find redstone by branch mining or whatever. Not to mention if you want a sticky piston you have to fiddle around for ages underground trying to find a slime chunk. Therefore to make a resetting magic block requires little effort, and you can make entire structures reset and dissappear by just using 1 wire, while with pistons are a more difficult to make, to make them reset you need slimes, and each piston must be powered and wired individually. Hence the block is OP. Perhaps if the incorporeal block required glowstone, redstone, diamond, lapis, gold, enderpearls, ghast tear or obsidian to craft it might be a bit more balanced.
Yea, I was thinking one would generally want diamond, but I suppose one could do without.
I've made an alteration to the original recipe. Hopefully this will fix the OP issue.
Yea, I was thinking one would generally want diamond, but I suppose one could do without.
I've made an alteration to the original recipe. Hopefully this will fix the OP issue.
Well, not necissarily diamond. Diamond is so cliche. If it was enderpearls then you might be able to make a larger amount of them (enough to make a building) like you can with pistons.
Yes, your idea does look rather similar to mine, if less detailed; though this block would have applications that go far beyond constructing deadfalls.
Bellow is a more specific working out of this idea (though many of the details could be changed while retaining this core idea:
Block Name: Soul Glass
Obtainable: by cooking soul sand into glass in an oven (this would take a while, and would only work with redstone as the oven fuel)
Appearance: Soul glass would look almost identical to regular glass block, differing only slightly in shade.
Behavior: When not powered by redstone, soul glass would act in an identical manner to regular glass. However, when powered by redstone, it would become immaterial until the power was cut off. Being immaterial would cause it to become invisible, and would allow mobs, items, flowing water, and flowing lava to pass through it as if it were not there. When the power was cut off it would reappear. If some other block was placed in a space occupied by immaterial soul glass that block would be placed as usual and the soul glass that had been there would cease to exist.
More precisely, any powered block of soul glass would go through a short vanishing animation at the end of which it would be immaterial. Several seconds after it started vanishing blocks of soul glass adjacent to it would begin to vanish as well. This would continue up to some finite distance from the power source (I was thinking something like 20 blocks). The same would happen in reverse if the power was cut off. This would allow for a cool visual effect as the glass comes and goes.
Soul glass which would normally re-solidify but was blocked by a mob would only re-solidify once the mob was out of the way. However, it would not be blocked by items, instead bumping them to the next available space (as currently happens when the space an item is in is filled).
Uses: Soul glass does reduplicate some of the uses of a piston, but it also has myriad uses of its own. Here are a handful of illustrations. It could be used to...
*construct long, freestanding drawbridges
*make new sorts of traps (if the power were cut to a cube of the stuff with a mob inside every block but the ones the mob was occupying would quickly become solid again)
*control the flow of liquids with redstone machines
*make magical looking doors
*hide doors in windows
*construct vanishing walls
*transport items and players upwards (An elevator could easily be constructed out of a column of the stuff powered from the bottom. If a player got on and cut the power he could then climb by jumping, with the blocks solidifying under him with each jump)
*build entire structures which could vanish when a switch was thrown
*make large trapdoors (either simple glass ones, or hidden ones covered with sand. These latter would be one-use, as the sand would destroy the incorporeal soul glass.)
*permanently mark trespassing (connect a torch to a hidden block of this stuff and power it from a plate in the floor. If somebody passes that way the torch will fall off, and it will still be off whenever you get back.)
I made one change to take care of this already (making it take longer to cook this than ordinary sand). Any other suggestions on how to fix this?
However, may I offer this suggestion:
Soul Glass is almost not see through, I.E, it retains most of the original Soul Sand texture with just a hint of transparency. This way, it can be used to hide entrances better in puzzle maps.
[quote=Badgerz]You have to keep in mind that people are stupid.
[quote=Catelite]Just because you don't understand how something works, doesn't make it broken or pointless. >_<
He is suggesting it to vanilla.
[quote=Badgerz]You have to keep in mind that people are stupid.
[quote=Catelite]Just because you don't understand how something works, doesn't make it broken or pointless. >_<
To go to the nether, you just need 3 iron and access to a lava cave (I hate having to mine obsidian with diamond). Just walk in, stroll around, hide from some ghasts (not the hardest things to do, building in the nether is what kills you) and grab some soul sand. However with pistons you have to find redstone by branch mining or whatever. Not to mention if you want a sticky piston you have to fiddle around for ages underground trying to find a slime chunk. Therefore to make a resetting magic block requires little effort, and you can make entire structures reset and dissappear by just using 1 wire, while with pistons are a more difficult to make, to make them reset you need slimes, and each piston must be powered and wired individually. Hence the block is OP. Perhaps if the incorporeal block required glowstone, redstone, diamond, lapis, gold, enderpearls, ghast tear or obsidian to craft it might be a bit more balanced.
I've made an alteration to the original recipe. Hopefully this will fix the OP issue.
Well, not necissarily diamond. Diamond is so cliche. If it was enderpearls then you might be able to make a larger amount of them (enough to make a building) like you can with pistons.
Same idea, Different crafting. >.>
That's an excellent idea. I'm just hesitant to incorporate anything that's still in an unreleased version into a suggestion.