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Moss already grows over cobblestone in NR, as well as over stone brick and vice versa. A changelog is a great idea, unfortunately I actually don't recall which version the 0.8 release is for...I am a fool of many colours.

The gravel-into-saplings is also an interesting one, I can quite easily write a new ancillary process for it as with moss and vines, perhaps base it on a random chance dependent on the gravel block having no obstruction above and dirt/grass beneath, with the possibility to turn into flowers, tall grass, and shrubs as well.

Managed to tick a fair few things off my to-do list today however.

• Decay information has been compiled into DecayData objects which can be perused and utilised in functions, allowing the removal of all but a dozen or so lines of Nature Reclaims code from Block.java
• Player-placed block information has been compiled into Point3D objects that are managed by tile entities and looped through routinely by the nature_reclaims.java, rather than using update tick. This means decay can now be made much more orderly and progressive rather than the randomness noted in earlier version.
• The decay method is being, once again, rewritten to utilise an Age variable, causing older blocks to decay faster than newer blocks. This means you won't have to worry about a block decaying the instant you place it, or repair the same handful of blocks in a mansion. The blocks you repair with will noticeably be among the last to decay compared to the rest of the structure.

Currently, I just need to interface the Age variable from the tile entities to the decay method and get the nature_reclaims.java's OnTickInGame function working properly and then everything should be hunky dory.

Hopefully this means there'll be a 1.2.5 (at least) release soon.

I've been kept busy with university work in the past few weeks, and my associate who was giving me ideas to handle the decay timing managed to get busy with his own mod so I'm not figuring things out by myself.

I've already worked out gravel-into-saplings as in my previous post, which causes pileups of gravel to gradually deteriorate (gravel on dirt and beneath gravel will vanish, reducing the pile) until it then turns into one of a variety of foliage, including ferns, tall grass, and saplings. I'd love to put out a release but right now there's no connection between the passage of time and the decay code, so nothing happens ingame (though blocks are still marked for decay by the TileEntityPlayerBlock class, so you could in theory install my current model and build in readiness for a future working version).

That said, my last exam is tomorrow afternoon and having found the entire Life After People series online my mind is brimming with tweaks and new ideas for how things should decay in-game. My summer vacation promises to be a productive one for this mod.

Quote from Nikolaos

well then, I freakin hope so

I actually know **** about java, but personaly, I think that after rubble deterioration issues, it would be VERY nice to get decay properties to some new blocks.

And I know that its time consuming, and stuff, but I would give your mod some much now needed character, and thats a good way to get atention. I mean things like iron blocks turning in to rusty ones, rails overgrown with grass when put on dirt and not used, cracked sandstone, player placed small polls of stagnant water geting mucki, and slimy, or some other stuff just decaying slowly to nothing.

I'm waiting for further updates, cheers man.

Rusted rails that break when travelled on (sort of like the rotten wood, but only related to minecarts) are certainly on the list of things I'm interested in adding. Expanding the selection of decay-enabled blocks is also a big priority once decay is finally smoothed out.

I'll also be adding tarnished resource blocks (iron and diamonds) which can be cleaned with a bucket of water in the crafting table, but which can also deteriorate into their ore states if left alone long enough. Naturally, gold blocks will not tarnish or decay, but they also won't provide the decay-dampening effect of obsidian, so you can make a whole building out of gold blocks but whilst the building will stand nothing inside it is inherently safe.

Honestly I'd love to get non-vertical tower collapses working but the physics of Minecraft and block updates make it tremendously prohibitive and I think the game favours the more stationary collapse model.

Lots of progress today, I'm hoping to have a full update by the end of the week, including more decaying blocks, a revised decay process, and player-block-only functionality to drastically reduce the ingame lag of decay.

Today I got the decay process working, so the last thing I'm doing before I release the 1.2.5 update is fine-tuning the decay rates of different blocks and adding new ones. There's one or two known bugs at the moment, but they're not big ones (mostly cosmetic) and are unlikely to affect the release.

Version 1.0 for Minecraft version 1.2.3 (Yes I know, but by the time I update it to 1.2.5 it's probable 1.3 will have been released) is now available for your downloading joy. Bear in mind this is still my first mod and there are some known bugs, but nothing that particularly cripples gameplay that I'm aware of.

I'll be making the opening post more presentable tomorrow as it's already gone midnight here, but feel free to make artwork and/or videos of your own if you wish.

Hope you all enjoy

Looks like 1.3 is coming soonish, but without the mod api, have you been working on a multiplayer version of this or is it just single player at this point?

Still just single player, though it shouldn't be too difficult to port over to multiplayer code-wise (most things are related to the nearest player, rather than a single player), but I've precious little experience coding for SMP. I'm going to wait for 1.3 before I start working on anything substantial, else I'm liable to have to update my code mid-way through writing it.

Some intended features for the 1.3 update of Nature Reclaims:

1. Corrosion: Blocks on the border between air and water will decay faster than their submerged or exposed kin
2. Sliding Gravel/Sand: A new kind of gravel/sand block that moves to the side to fall down slopes, causing rubble fields as large structures collapse (instead of the current state where stone structures remain largely recognisable after decaying into gravel)
3. Iron Insulation: Iron blocks will absorb the decay of non-iron blocks around them, allowing you to have an iron support structure in buildings and statues that would reduce the rate at which they decay. This is similar to how the Christ the Redeemer statue weathers lightning strikes and other damage, an internal iron mesh. Of course, the iron can only stand for so long...
4. Soulstone!
5. Custom block textures for the decayed blocks
6. (Potentially) Multiplayer functionality

Make sure to tell /r/Minecraft and if in 1.3 it's smp compatible /r/admincraft, this kind of mod is just the thing I've been looking for for a realistic server, along with a general physics mod.

Not much to report as yet, kind of waiting on 1.3 to kick development back into high gear and get things updated and running in SMP

Quote from Bird_boy

not quite sure if npc villages count as placed blocks, but if they dont it would be awesome if they did! (so if you kill all the villagers the village will rot away)

Adding specific natural blocks to the decay rate is pretty difficult, since I'd have to cycle through every block in the game, though it could potentially be done if I altered the schematic data for the village buildings. Generally-speaking I'd like to keep the effects of the mod more or less isolated to your own constructions however.

I've hit a minor but irritatingly vital snag with my mods, which is stalling my progress a fair bit, and I'll be heading back to university in a little over a week from now. Progress consequently is set to be rather slow and, assuming that 1.4 will land as predicted on Halloween, Nature Reclaims is unlikely to have a 1.3 release. I'll try to keep everyone apprised of the situation though in case any developments transpire.

Aw, no 1.3.... Oh well.

Yeah, I've been really busy with university and other projects I'm afraid, so very little progress.

In light of the length of time between the last update of this mod and accrued experience working with other mods I've made, I've organised a plan for how to go about making a 2.0 version of Nature Reclaims. You can find it here with full details here, though I can't give a certain date as to when either of it will be available for download.