To give more variety to the underground exploration,
and to avoid getting lost because it all looks the same
( which can get very frustrating, especially when you lose a load of cool items because you fail to find the place where you just died) ,
I suggest giving the underground stone blocks slightly different hues based on their location.
There would be no new types of block or new textures, the existing ones would just be rendered with slight color variations, based solely on their position. The new colour data would not need to be stored in each block.
So when exploring, the player would find several rooms and corridors of a given colour, followed by rooms of a slightly different one, etc.
Some rooms could have 2 different colours or feature a colour gradient.
It would be bit like biomes, but on a smaller scale, and underground. And instead of a discrete set of predefined colours, there could be continuous variations, calculated from the 3d position.
The coulour variations would have no consequence on the blocks properties or on any other game mechanisms.
The colour variations would be subtle enough to not make the player mistake one block for another type,
but big enough to give the underground areas a look that player will notice and remember, greatly reducing the risk of getting lost.
All the blocks that are based on the stone texture ( stone blocks and all the ore blocks ) would be affected.
and to avoid getting lost because it all looks the same
( which can get very frustrating, especially when you lose a load of cool items because you fail to find the place where you just died) ,
I suggest giving the underground stone blocks slightly different hues based on their location.
There would be no new types of block or new textures, the existing ones would just be rendered with slight color variations, based solely on their position. The new colour data would not need to be stored in each block.
So when exploring, the player would find several rooms and corridors of a given colour, followed by rooms of a slightly different one, etc.
Some rooms could have 2 different colours or feature a colour gradient.
It would be bit like biomes, but on a smaller scale, and underground. And instead of a discrete set of predefined colours, there could be continuous variations, calculated from the 3d position.
The coulour variations would have no consequence on the blocks properties or on any other game mechanisms.
The colour variations would be subtle enough to not make the player mistake one block for another type,
but big enough to give the underground areas a look that player will notice and remember, greatly reducing the risk of getting lost.
All the blocks that are based on the stone texture ( stone blocks and all the ore blocks ) would be affected.
Too bad Notch aren't in charge for Minecraft anymore, Jeb is the baws now.