Gravity affecting dirt but not diagonally

[NastyFlytrap]

Like the title says.

I'd like to turn on gravity for a lot of blocks aswell, but for now im asking for you to give an option where we can turn it on for dirt aswell, but only vertically. No sliding diagonally.

 

Please devs

[Thorfinn]

I don't know that I'm understanding what you mean by "diagonally".

Let's say a block falls one Z. It hits a lone flat block directly below. It then:

1. Stops. No further movement,
2. Can (but does not have to) slide one block in either the X or the Y, but not both, or,
3. Can (but does not have to) slide one block in X and one block in Y.

The most natural meaning of diagonal seems to be 3, but I don't think it does that anyway. Or it might. Landslides and avalanches seem pretty chaotic, so I just stay out of the way. But eliminating 2 is a major change in behavior, and completely eliminates the hazards of landslides and avalanches. Is that what you meant? Sandpiles work the same way they do in Terraria, where they can form cliff faces into outer space?

[NastyFlytrap]

3 hours ago, Thorfinn said:

I don't know that I'm understanding what you mean by "diagonally".

Let's say a block falls one Z. It hits a lone flat block directly below. It then:

1. Stops. No further movement,
2. Can (but does not have to) slide one block in either the X or the Y, but not both, or,
3. Can (but does not have to) slide one block in X and one block in Y.

The most natural meaning of diagonal seems to be 3, but I don't think it does that anyway. Or it might. Landslides and avalanches seem pretty chaotic, so I just stay out of the way. But eliminating 2 is a major change in behavior, and completely eliminates the hazards of landslides and avalanches. Is that what you meant? Sandpiles work the same way they do in Terraria, where they can form cliff faces into outer space?

I meant the landslide mechanic.
I would like dirt to fall without it sliding off the tops of my pretty mountains.

[Thorfinn]

Been thinking about this, trying to come up with how I'd use it. What is gained by having non-sliding falling blocks that you couldn't accomplish with, say, packed earth, apart from being able to remove them safely from ground level?

I don't think mountains shed dirt without you or some critter walking on it. I guess that could be worthwhile -- if a ram climbs your mountains and is caught in the slide, he will aggro.

Edited August 14, 2023 by Thorfinn

[NastyFlytrap]

On 8/14/2023 at 11:57 PM, Thorfinn said:

Been thinking about this, trying to come up with how I'd use it. What is gained by having non-sliding falling blocks that you couldn't accomplish with, say, packed earth, apart from being able to remove them safely from ground level?

I don't think mountains shed dirt without you or some critter walking on it. I guess that could be worthwhile -- if a ram climbs your mountains and is caught in the slide, he will aggro.

Im asking for falling blocks/dirt for immersion.

Not because i want to 'use it' in any way.

[MCRusher]

Oh I totally agree with this. When I place down a block on another block, it should not slide off of it on to the ground like it's greased and on ice during an earthquake.

It should stay put, at least until I hit it or walk on it. That part makes sense and I'm fine with it, but when I place a block, it should stay until something touches it.

Incredibly annoying when I'm trying to terraform and the land keeps randomly and imo illogically shifting around me while I'm placing blocks.

[Maelstrom]

So the angle of repose doesn't apply until someone walks on the dirt?

If terraforming with soil instability on, consider using cob or packed dirt.  Those two are not affected by gravity.  Cob will eventually grow grass, but takes a lot longer than regular soil.  Packed dirt will never grow grass.

[NastyFlytrap]

1 hour ago, Maelstrom said:

So the angle of repose doesn't apply until someone walks on the dirt?

If terraforming with soil instability on, consider using cob or packed dirt.  Those two are not affected by gravity.  Cob will eventually grow grass, but takes a lot longer than regular soil.  Packed dirt will never grow grass.

This doesnt solve the issue of all the pretty mountains the game generates by itself will turn to shit, which is what bothers me.

[Thorfinn]

Meh. The kind of mountains that are grass-covered, with greater than a 1 meter soil depth, like the Appalacians, are gradual enough that to the extent they exist in the game, they are stable. What's falling down are steeper than the Rockies and Cascades and Sierra Nevadas, even the new kids on the block, the Himalayas. Even something as steep as a 1:1 slope is stable in the game. If we are going for realism, those kinds of slopes should be grass- and dirt-free.

What is really under-represented are the vast swathes of the globe where the slope is under 5:1000. But that's kind of boring, and not so picturesque, so I'm good with the terrain as is. Though if I had my druthers, I'd prefer those really steep grades, 4:1 and up, for sure, to be dirt-free.

Edited August 28, 2023 by Thorfinn

[Maelstrom]

17 hours ago, NastyFlytrap said:

This doesnt solve the issue of all the pretty mountains the game generates by itself will turn to shit, which is what bothers me.

Then leave soil instability off when you create a world.  If you want to turn it off on your existing world, I'm sure there's a command you enter to turn it off.

[NastyFlytrap]

8 hours ago, Maelstrom said:

Then leave soil instability off when you create a world.  If you want to turn it off on your existing world, I'm sure there's a command you enter to turn it off.

Yea but i still want them to fall.


I genuinely dont understand why its such a hard concept for some of you to grasp this.

Edit: In fact, i want to be able to turn on gravity for most blocks, i just dont care about sideways instability

Edited August 29, 2023 by NastyFlytrap

[Straille]

i also don't know why they don't get it
you want blocks to be able to fall straight down, but not sideways
like minecraft sand and gravel