Notch said hes removing Stair blocks.

[Menen]

Notch, please dont.
:C

I dont know what is making you remove them, but they are quite nice looking and useful.

I think you should have 4 kinds of blocks that go with the step.

Step Bottom = What we have right now.
Step Top = The Opposite of what we have. Its like a step block, but its the top half.
Step Combined = when you put 2 steps together, you get this. But this version does not require you to put 2 together, just place this block.
Step Full = Looks like a step bottom block, but takes up the space of a full block. Like the block's top texture, on all the sides of a normal block.

Kthx notch. <3 you

[pulsusego]

idk whats makin him do it either, but i don't want him to... lighting would be my best guess, and i think he's said something like that before. water/lava 'penetration' too. it doesn't happen, which kinda messes w/ gameplay. but it's still worth it.

[Menen]

I can see the Liquids not going on them as a huge problem. But I think notch can figure it out somehow :C

[Strokend]

I don't care about all this lighting/liquids trouble involved with steps. If you don't like seeing it, don't build it yourself--Those of us who don't mind seeing it should still be able to build them.

[vdogamez]

I read through some of the source code, and it seems that stair blocks are coded so differently from normal blocks. You need to change all sorts of code bits to handle a half block, which is hard, as the code was made to generalize whole blocks. It's like modifying a vending machine that only accepts bills to accept coins, too. You have to add a whole bunch of parts to get it to synch up, and add new ones every time you add something else. One of the big benefits of Java is the modular programming, and the stair blocks sort of break it, making it a lot harder to work. I've come across similar problems in my own coding.

[madk]

I read through some of the source code,

You WHAT? MineCraft is NOT OPEN-SOURCE.

Get out of my sight.


Oh, and Mark also said no holdable torches, did he not?

[Dial]

B-but the walking! The smooth walking! Up and down stairs! No jumping!

[Warlord255]

If Notch expects us to go back to block-hopping, he's whacked. If anything there should be more half-blocks. Once he cracks the formula for the current half-blocks, applying it to any other scenario will be a lot easier.

That, and any other solution - such as ramps - is going to have the same problems.

[ChronoSquare]

Wasn't there something said somewhere by Notch about adding slopes? Maybe something simple like being able to cut a block along a 45-degree angle? We've got directional-sensitive blocks, so... (IMO taking out step and half-step blocks should only be done for this solution of a slope block; regardless, as it has been said, the textures of the step/half-step are textures that would be missed. A full step block wall makes for one of the closest things we can get to metal/mechanized walls in creative ATM...)

[MaliciousH]

Farm out the development of the half block out to us.

Not like I know how to do any of that though...

[Nurio]

Oh, and Mark also said no holdable torches, did he not?

That was before the dynamic layered lighting or something. It was impossible/too processor-intensive to happen with the old lighting system, but it's possible with the new lighting system.

But... When did Notch say he is removing stair blocks?

[Demki]

Half-Blocks aren't that important, jumping is way more fun! All of you lazy ppl who need half-blocks for stairs are, well, lazy!
Half Blocks aren't good unless they have more textures, or a half block per texture, so we can have stairs for road that doesn't look like some just put stairs on a road.

[LightWarriorK]

But... When did Notch say he is removing stair blocks?

Good question. I only remember him saying that he regrets adding it, not that he's definately removing it.

If Notch expects us to go back to block-hopping, he's whacked.

If Notch expects us to go back to block hopping, I'm sure we'll all adjust just fine.

[Neodymius]

Though I don't use steps that often, they can certainly be handy in making creations look and feel better.
I wouldn't be too bothered if they were removed from indev, but it'd be more annoying if they where removed from creative.

[Quatroking]

Notch, please dont.
:C

I dont know what is making you remove them, but they are quite nice looking and useful.

I think you should have 4 kinds of blocks that go with the step.

Step Bottom = What we have right now.
Step Top = The Opposite of what we have. Its like a step block, but its the top half.
Step Combined = when you put 2 steps together, you get this. But this version does not require you to put 2 together, just place this block.
Step Full = Looks like a step bottom block, but takes up the space of a full block. Like the block's top texture, on all the sides of a normal block.

Kthx notch. <3 you

when did he say this?

[mrwormy]

Half-Blocks aren't that important, jumping is way more fun! All of you lazy ppl who need half-blocks for stairs are, well, lazy!
Half Blocks aren't good unless they have more textures, or a half block per texture, so we can have stairs for road that doesn't look like some just put stairs on a road.

I use them for shingled roofs on my houses.

Bye stair blocks...I'LL MISS YOU!!! D:

[Varriount]

Give men some evidence that notch said this... If he hasn't, then this thread has no purpose.

[mrfatcat]

Keep them in creative, get rid of them in /indev/.

[A.I.]

I'm kind of glad they're going away. Sure, they were helpful and good-looking if used right, but they undermined the feeling of "only 1x1x1 blocks" space. They just seemed out of place.

Perhaps there will later be an option to, say, press a button to enable quick climbing of 1-high blocks, so there could still be effective stairs.

[mrwormy]

The roofs of my houses will not be as nice without them.

[Snake]

I'd be happy if they were gone. I don't really like the look of them. They don't match anything.

[andy11493]

As some others have already said, I'm pretty sure that Notch never said he was going to remove them. I personally wish he would, though.

[mrwormy]

But...THEY MAKE GOOD SHINGLES!!!

[Taz]

I heard Notch was removing stairs for ramps, from Beardbeard.

Assuming ramps are full blocks which you can walk up, and position themselves according to their surroundings similar to chests, I can understand why it might be easier code.

But I would much rather see different types of half-blocks.

[vdogamez]

I read through some of the source code,

You WHAT? MineCraft is NOT OPEN-SOURCE.

Get out of my sight.


Oh, and Mark also said no holdable torches, did he not?

The terms of service said nothing about decompiling the contents of the jar file. I checked.

[chezhead]

Yes, I agree with him.
I know this could be gamebreaking in some saves, but oh well. I don't really like them too much.

[Gnarly]

I read through some of the source code,

You WHAT? MineCraft is NOT OPEN-SOURCE.

Get out of my sight.


Oh, and Mark also said no holdable torches, did he not?

Something doesn't have to be open-source to get the source. He could have simply decompiled the client and server. I'm sure Notch doesn't care if someone decompiles Minecraft, as long as they don't distribute it.

[alka]

The fluid problem... I might be wrong but, isnt it easy to make fluids go trough half-blocks?

[Dark]

Awwww, I was just getting used to putting them on roofs

[Swedman]

The stair block would probably work a lot better as a entity instead of a blocktype. This would remove all problems it got with fluids and would still work approxmently the same way when you use it. It would be easy to allow it to stack and making only a top stair piece would be possible.