Lets be honest. Gravel doesn't have much of a use at the moment. Its a lot less pleasant to look at than sand when it comes to gravity blocks, and its abundance underground often means your inventory gets filled with it. Of course, you can harvest flint from it, but people usually don't end up using nearly as much flint as the gravel they end up collecting.
So perhaps it would be helpful to turn gravel into another way of getting stone. Smelting gravel would make a block of smoothstone, which makes sense, since gravel is essentially a bunch of little stones. In that case, if someone has a huge structure made of smoothstone or stone brick or the like, they can get the resources for it a lot faster, and without cutting into their cobblestone supply as much.
The process would be reversible, too (though not quite as easily), by blowing up smoothstone or cobblestone with TNT. At least some of the blocks that are blown up should drop gravel. This would be realistic, and it would ensure that the change to smoothstone wouldn't be permanent for those who worry about the loss of potential flint.
Sand is a gravity block, makes nicer-looking paths than gravel, can be made into sandstone, is an ingredient in TNT, and can be made into glass which can be used to make windows and potion bottles.
Gravel is a gravity block that you can get flint out of, which can make flint and steel or arrows.
Is it really such a horrible thing to add one more feature to it, when sand already has so much more either way?
Not every item needs many uses. Gravel is good just as a building block, and since it's easier to get than sand, it can be used for whatever gravity blocks are needed in a more efficient way.
And "Sand makes better looking paths"? Your opinion. I, for example, think gravel looks a lot nicer than sand, and I'm sure there are a lot of people with the same opinion.
I actually think gravel already has some uses, like arrows. But it would benefit with explosives, because it wouldn't just blast huge chunks, but bits of dust and pebbles, too.
Gravel could use one or two uses for sure, but crafting it into smooth stone is a very poor idea. We can already smelt cobble into smooth stone and cobble is in abundant supply (infinite with lava and water). I would not support this; it adds almost nothing to the game.
In that case, if someone has a huge structure made of smoothstone or stone brick or the like, they can get the resources for it a lot faster, and without cutting into their cobblestone supply as much.
So perhaps it would be helpful to turn gravel into another way of getting stone. Smelting gravel would make a block of smoothstone, which makes sense, since gravel is essentially a bunch of little stones. In that case, if someone has a huge structure made of smoothstone or stone brick or the like, they can get the resources for it a lot faster, and without cutting into their cobblestone supply as much.
The process would be reversible, too (though not quite as easily), by blowing up smoothstone or cobblestone with TNT. At least some of the blocks that are blown up should drop gravel. This would be realistic, and it would ensure that the change to smoothstone wouldn't be permanent for those who worry about the loss of potential flint.
What do you think of this idea?
Gravel is a gravity block that you can get flint out of, which can make flint and steel or arrows.
Is it really such a horrible thing to add one more feature to it, when sand already has so much more either way?
And "Sand makes better looking paths"? Your opinion. I, for example, think gravel looks a lot nicer than sand, and I'm sure there are a lot of people with the same opinion.
Maybe you should click this?
Yeah cause there's such a shortage of the stuff.