My friend and I build a lot of redstone contraptions together. One part of this often involves bashing through new areas that might abut other rooms where we've built things. We've probably all been there. You bash out a block of dirt only to realize that block of dirt was, on the other side, supporting a redstone comparator for your other device in the adjacent room. Or maybe you're looking at a circuit you rerun some redstone dust another direction only to realize it was crucial that it ran the previous way, because it was powering something though a block. So my buddy and I came up with a standard set of blocks to use for redstone contraptions.
Here's the standard:
Stone slab : use to hold up redstone components that need a block to be placed on top of
Polished andesite : used for blocks that are powered or unpowered based on the working of the circuit
Polished granite : used for blocks that are always powered by the circuit, and could be redstone blocks
Polished dorrite : used for blocks dust is flowing down the side of to a lower block, but are not being used for power.
The goals are as follows.
1) Use blocks that do not occur naturally. Where possible, avoid blocks you tend to build your own aesthetic builds with. This will make it clear that a block that you're looking at is exclusively for redstone. If you encounter the backside of one of these blocks when breaking out new area, you'll know it's supporting redstone.
2) Increase the readability of the redstone circuits. Some blocks only support redstone comparators, repeaters, or dust from the bottom. But some are required to be powered. Sometimes blocks in a circuit are powered, but it's just incidental. A good block standard should tell the viewer what this block is actually being used for.
3) Blocks should be very cheap. Ideally blocks that I have lying around that I'm not using or easy to make with them.
4) Blocks should not occur naturally in the environment so that I know these were placed by us.
Here's the rationale behind why blocks were chosen.
Stone slab: Use this for a block to place redstone on top of. Dust, repeaters, and comparators all need a block to be placed on top of. But they don't need to be solid blocks. Stone slabs are a great choice for this because they tell the viewer that even though redstone dust is flowing over this block, we're not using the powered that the block is getting for anything in the circuit. Slabs are also half as costly as a full block and stone slabs in particular have really strong boarder contrast, so it's super simple to count the number of blocks in a row.
Polished Granite: Used for any block that is always powered. This is for things like placing rails down on blocks and leaving an always-on lever to power it. These blocks are used when you could have just placed a redstone block, but you wanted to save redstone.
Polished Andesite: Used for blocks that are sometimes powered, and sometimes not. Flowing power through a block is a very common technique. It's nice to know which blocks in a circuit are used for this. So we use polished andesite.
Polished Dorrite: Used for downward redstone dust stair cases. Often you need to take a step down, maybe even several in a staircase. You cannot do this with slabs. So we want a block that says "There's redstone dust on here. Yes it will be powered, but the only reason I'm using a solid block here is to allow redstone dust to flow down the side. In the event that block is used to flow dust downward, while also being used for it's powered property, the powered property should win out, and it should be made of polished andesite.
This standard should be used loosely. Often times you make redstone contraptions, you're using some aesthetic blocks both for the visible portion of your build, but also they have power running through them. In those cases, choose your aesthetic block. This standard is one we use for large contraptions that are hidden behind the aesthetic wall or floors of the creation. In any case, we always avoid putting redstone on to the existing dirt or stone that happens to be in the environment.
What do people think? Have I missed anything? I haven't added a stair block, you might notice. I can't think of any scenario where a stair block is necessary in a redstone contraption where it's not also an aesthetic block. For example, people often use stairs to cover up a wall on one side but they need it not to cut a redstone dust wire on the back side. In these cases, I'd just use whatever aesthetic block matches the wall, so this would be a case-by-case choice.
I think using unique blocks for important builds is a good idea to prevent this I do the same thing, for example my skeleton farm is build entirely out of netherbrick (oh man that was a lot of netherack farming) the idea is if I'm just randomly mining and come across netherbrick I know not to break it.
I do similar with my redstone devices and build all the hidden parts with polished andesite, I don't go into as much detail as you mention about specific types for different meanings but I think your principle is sound that you should always build important structures out of blocks that aren't naturally in that area so when you do see it you know "hey I should totally not break that"
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My friend and I build a lot of redstone contraptions together. One part of this often involves bashing through new areas that might abut other rooms where we've built things. We've probably all been there. You bash out a block of dirt only to realize that block of dirt was, on the other side, supporting a redstone comparator for your other device in the adjacent room. Or maybe you're looking at a circuit you rerun some redstone dust another direction only to realize it was crucial that it ran the previous way, because it was powering something though a block. So my buddy and I came up with a standard set of blocks to use for redstone contraptions.
Here's the standard:
Stone slab : use to hold up redstone components that need a block to be placed on top of
Polished andesite : used for blocks that are powered or unpowered based on the working of the circuit
Polished granite : used for blocks that are always powered by the circuit, and could be redstone blocks
Polished dorrite : used for blocks dust is flowing down the side of to a lower block, but are not being used for power.
The goals are as follows.
1) Use blocks that do not occur naturally. Where possible, avoid blocks you tend to build your own aesthetic builds with. This will make it clear that a block that you're looking at is exclusively for redstone. If you encounter the backside of one of these blocks when breaking out new area, you'll know it's supporting redstone.
2) Increase the readability of the redstone circuits. Some blocks only support redstone comparators, repeaters, or dust from the bottom. But some are required to be powered. Sometimes blocks in a circuit are powered, but it's just incidental. A good block standard should tell the viewer what this block is actually being used for.
3) Blocks should be very cheap. Ideally blocks that I have lying around that I'm not using or easy to make with them.
4) Blocks should not occur naturally in the environment so that I know these were placed by us.
Here's the rationale behind why blocks were chosen.
Stone slab: Use this for a block to place redstone on top of. Dust, repeaters, and comparators all need a block to be placed on top of. But they don't need to be solid blocks. Stone slabs are a great choice for this because they tell the viewer that even though redstone dust is flowing over this block, we're not using the powered that the block is getting for anything in the circuit. Slabs are also half as costly as a full block and stone slabs in particular have really strong boarder contrast, so it's super simple to count the number of blocks in a row.
Polished Granite: Used for any block that is always powered. This is for things like placing rails down on blocks and leaving an always-on lever to power it. These blocks are used when you could have just placed a redstone block, but you wanted to save redstone.
Polished Andesite: Used for blocks that are sometimes powered, and sometimes not. Flowing power through a block is a very common technique. It's nice to know which blocks in a circuit are used for this. So we use polished andesite.
Polished Dorrite: Used for downward redstone dust stair cases. Often you need to take a step down, maybe even several in a staircase. You cannot do this with slabs. So we want a block that says "There's redstone dust on here. Yes it will be powered, but the only reason I'm using a solid block here is to allow redstone dust to flow down the side. In the event that block is used to flow dust downward, while also being used for it's powered property, the powered property should win out, and it should be made of polished andesite.
This standard should be used loosely. Often times you make redstone contraptions, you're using some aesthetic blocks both for the visible portion of your build, but also they have power running through them. In those cases, choose your aesthetic block. This standard is one we use for large contraptions that are hidden behind the aesthetic wall or floors of the creation. In any case, we always avoid putting redstone on to the existing dirt or stone that happens to be in the environment.
What do people think? Have I missed anything? I haven't added a stair block, you might notice. I can't think of any scenario where a stair block is necessary in a redstone contraption where it's not also an aesthetic block. For example, people often use stairs to cover up a wall on one side but they need it not to cut a redstone dust wire on the back side. In these cases, I'd just use whatever aesthetic block matches the wall, so this would be a case-by-case choice.
I think using unique blocks for important builds is a good idea to prevent this I do the same thing, for example my skeleton farm is build entirely out of netherbrick (oh man that was a lot of netherack farming) the idea is if I'm just randomly mining and come across netherbrick I know not to break it.
I do similar with my redstone devices and build all the hidden parts with polished andesite, I don't go into as much detail as you mention about specific types for different meanings but I think your principle is sound that you should always build important structures out of blocks that aren't naturally in that area so when you do see it you know "hey I should totally not break that"