Possible Ice Storms

[CloudCloudGuy]

Recently got heavily into the game and love the weather mechanics. As a full time meteorologist it really scratches my nerd brain. One thing id like to see is a small possibility for ice storms. It could slowly build up just like snow storms except it will also build up on walls depending on wind direction. This usually occurs between 0 to at most -10 degrees Celsius in either fall or spring during the transition to or from winter. I know this might be pretty intensive and hard to implement but would none the less love to see more weather

[LadyWYT]

Welcome to the forums! This is one of those ideas that I don't know whether I love it or hate it.  IRL, ice storms can make the landscape look interesting, but are a pain in the butt to deal with. I'm not really sure how that would translate to actual gameplay either. It seems the kind of moderate disaster that would be a rare nuisance-type challenge, similar to the heavy hailstorms already implemented, in that it's a bit troublesome to deal with while the effects are present, but it's not a base-destroying monstrosity like a tornado or anything. 

I think the general implementation I could see, is just adding a sheet of ice over the appropriate outdoor blocks(that is, anything not under cover), and letting players and most other entities slip and slide around on those blocks as if they were actual ice blocks. Such an event would be a rare occurrence, and the ice storm effects would disappear after a couple of days(because otherwise that ice isn't disappearing until late spring!) to help ensure that it remains an interesting weather event rather than become a total pain in the butt. 

[CloudCloudGuy]

Thank you for the welcome! I think it would be a good call to let it occur late spring just so the players don't have to deal with it for an extended period of time but none the less I do like the idea of stuff frozen over in winter unless you actually shovel out your area lol. This would 100% be more of an annoying weather phenomena but will add some more unique weather experiences.

[LadyWYT]

4 minutes ago, CloudCloudGuy said:

Thank you for the welcome! I think it would be a good call to let it occur late spring just so the players don't have to deal with it for an extended period of time but none the less I do like the idea of stuff frozen over in winter unless you actually shovel out your area lol. This would 100% be more of an annoying weather phenomena but will add some more unique weather experiences.

Or just limit it to the warmer climate bands, where it will drop to around freezing at the coldest, occasionally, which isn't great for snow but perfect for ice. 

[Entaris]

Great, MORE things to go wrong exclusively in the winter.

I can see it now, waking up one morning and you're frozen into the house, having to bash the door a few times or really get the place cookin before you can pry yourself from an ice-encased prison, the ice having formed saltpeter-like layers around all naked surfaces and making it a bear to access literally anything you've left outside as it's held fast to the ground or nearby structure. 

We already have the annoying 10-degree thaw/frost cycles of early spring, let's throw tornados into it as well, so it REALLY feels like I never escaped Michigan.

Edited August 24, 2025 by Entaris

[Never Jhonsen]

I like this idea as well  As someone who grew up near the shores of Lake Erie, Icy winds were a very common occurrence

I'm not sure how easy adding in ice-covered blocks would go; You could give the blocks a data line "IsIcy: true", but every block in the game would need that data line, and that'd be just one more thing the engine would have to process every time it loaded a block.

You could also have a special block placed on top of ground level, much like snow, which would be a much lower impact to performance. However, that would bring up another issue that also isn't addressed in the previous statement; how would an iced-over block look? Also, if the ice is treated as a layer, how would it interact with snow layers, both old layers on the ground before the storm, as well as new layer added after.

At the very least, I think there should be an "Ice Wind Storm", one that gives you cold damage no matter how warm you are, but would otherwise not effect the blocks; I've felt those kinds of winds many-a-times whilst awaiting the arrival of the school bus  

[CloudCloudGuy]

2 minutes ago, Never Jhonsen said:

I like this idea as well  As someone who grew up near the shores of Lake Erie, Icy winds were a very common occurrence

I'm not sure how easy adding in ice-covered blocks would go; You could give the blocks a data line "IsIcy: true", but every block in the game would need that data line, and that'd be just one more thing the engine would have to process every time it loaded a block.

You could also have a special block placed on top of ground level, much like snow, which would be a much lower impact to performance. However, that would bring up another issue that also isn't addressed in the previous statement; how would an iced-over block look? Also, if the ice is treated as a layer, how would it interact with snow layers, both old layers on the ground before the storm, as well as new layer added after.

At the very least, I think there should be an "Ice Wind Storm", one that gives you cold damage no matter how warm you are, but would otherwise not effect the blocks; I've felt those kinds of winds many-a-times whilst awaiting the arrival of the school bus  

Ice wind storm is an amazing idea! I can relate to being stuck in those storms lol. For the layer problem I believe it could keep the same texture as the current ice blocks but just in a smaller layer. This should in my opinion also layer over the current snow that is on the ground and if it snows after have additional snow layered on top of it. However, this could quickly become more intensive and could see how it becomes a pain to implement. 

[LadyWYT]

7 hours ago, Never Jhonsen said:

You could also have a special block placed on top of ground level, much like snow, which would be a much lower impact to performance. However, that would bring up another issue that also isn't addressed in the previous statement; how would an iced-over block look? Also, if the ice is treated as a layer, how would it interact with snow layers, both old layers on the ground before the storm, as well as new layer added after.

 

7 hours ago, CloudCloudGuy said:

Ice wind storm is an amazing idea! I can relate to being stuck in those storms lol. For the layer problem I believe it could keep the same texture as the current ice blocks but just in a smaller layer. This should in my opinion also layer over the current snow that is on the ground and if it snows after have additional snow layered on top of it. However, this could quickly become more intensive and could see how it becomes a pain to implement. 

I'd figure you could make it even simpler than that, and perhaps just use a variation of the frost overlay on top of everything exposed to the icy conditions. Then it's just a texture that appears and disappears when necessary, instead of an actual model that has to be accounted for.

[Never Jhonsen]

On 8/24/2025 at 11:12 AM, LadyWYT said:

I'd figure you could [...] perhaps just use a variation of the frost overlay on top of everything exposed to the icy conditions.

For a visual-only appeal that doesn't add the slipperiness, that's a great idea I was still thinking about the physical interactions, but if all we're going for is the extra cold damage and looks, then that's perfect  

[Entaris]

1 hour ago, Never Jhonsen said:

For a visual-only appeal that doesn't add the slipperiness, that's a great idea I was still thinking about the physical interactions, but if all we're going for is the extra cold damage and looks, then that's perfect  

physical interaction could be simple. 

Doors: ifIced = Yes; Locked = 1

[Never Jhonsen]

12 hours ago, Entaris said:

Doors: ifIced = Yes; Locked = 1

Ice-ifying openables (Door, trapdoor, gate, Iron hatch) is a great idea

As I mentioned earlier, adding even a single extra line to a block will amplify in performance costs as more chunks are loaded. However. .. typically you may have one or two doors in a loaded area, maybe 30 or 60 in a compacted multiplayer village. So even at 100, that's still not really that much of an impact.

Plus, Daytime thawing mixed with nighttime Icey winds will absolutely freeze stuff shut. Code will need to be a bit more complex, as only the outside facing doors should be able to freeze. There'd be a check for if a door has at least one side facing a non-block, non-sealed_room area before ifIced can equal true; you wouldn't expect your bedroom door to freeze inside a valid room.

The question now is, how would you unfreeze a frozen openable?

[Entaris]

1 hour ago, Never Jhonsen said:

The question now is, how would you unfreeze a frozen openable?

You've already answered this.

Heat, or maybe beat on it some. Maybe just as simple as requiring multiple open attempts to "bash" your door open. Or running punch. Or a soldering iron. Or a torch. Or a blowtorch. 

[LadyWYT]

8 hours ago, Never Jhonsen said:

The question now is, how would you unfreeze a frozen openable?

I'm not sure I'd worry about it, really. The slipping and sliding around will probably be enough hassle to deal with. That being said, could just scrape a frozen openable object with a knife in order to restore function. Or borrow the code from the crude door, and just give a chance of failure to open a frozen object on first interaction. If the opening attempt succeeds, just remove the ice from the object and treat it as normal; if the attempt fails, display an appropriate pop-up warning so the player knows what the problem is, and just let them keep trying until they succeed. 

[CloudCloudGuy]

14 hours ago, LadyWYT said:

I'm not sure I'd worry about it, really. The slipping and sliding around will probably be enough hassle to deal with. That being said, could just scrape a frozen openable object with a knife in order to restore function. Or borrow the code from the crude door, and just give a chance of failure to open a frozen object on first interaction. If the opening attempt succeeds, just remove the ice from the object and treat it as normal; if the attempt fails, display an appropriate pop-up warning so the player knows what the problem is, and just let them keep trying until they succeed. 

Honestly these suggestions youre giving sounds like the perfect implication of the storm that is easy on performance. I think the crude door like coding to open it from the inside would be perfect and shouldnt be a huge hustle to code due to it already being implemented with another door

[Entaris]

Saltpeter-like ice encasement would be GORGEOUS, though.