Wet sand, dry dirt?

[Eric]

Joel, Aleksi, etc. -- I've always wondered but never asked --- what was with the Edu inclusion of wet sand and dry dirt blocks? Or steppe sand, as the file was known, I think. Seems like odd blocks to include in the Edu textures. And why are they now gone? I had to re-texture a small part of my world that used them.

[Joel Levin]

I'm almost tempted not to answer that and leave it as a mystery...   ;)

Anyone want to take a guess before I explain?

On Tue, Apr 30, 2013 at 11:40 PM, Eric <ejwal...@gmail.com> wrote:

Joel, Aleksi, etc. -- I've always wondered but never asked --- what was with the Edu inclusion of wet sand and dry dirt blocks? Or steppe sand, as the file was known, I think. Seems like odd blocks to include in the Edu textures. And why are they now gone? I had to re-texture a small part of my world that used them.

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[EduElfie]

PICK ME PICK ME!!! I know :D

There are (or used to be, not sure they are still there) server settings that allowed you to use those blocks in a very educational way. Any further guesses before we give the game away :D

Elfie.

On Wednesday, 1 May 2013 13:43:38 UTC+10, Joel Levin wrote:

I'm almost tempted not to answer that and leave it as a mystery...   ;)

Anyone want to take a guess before I explain?

On Tue, Apr 30, 2013 at 11:40 PM, Eric <ejwal...@gmail.com> wrote:

Joel, Aleksi, etc. -- I've always wondered but never asked --- what was with the Edu inclusion of wet sand and dry dirt blocks? Or steppe sand, as the file was known, I think. Seems like odd blocks to include in the Edu textures. And why are they now gone? I had to re-texture a small part of my world that used them.

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[Eric]

Did it have to do with deforestation? Maybe dirt turns to dry dirt when it is no longer "fertile" and cannot grow new trees?

[EduElfie]

That is pretty much spot on, there were 2 server settings, desertification and tropification that allowed you to utilise these blocks. So if you cut down all the trees in an area it would slowly degrade into dry-cracked dirt and then sand. The reverse of course is if you planted trees in a sandy area (on dirt of course) the sand would slowly become dirt.

Elfie.

[Joel Levin]

That's right!  The original prototype had some feature built in to do some environmental simulations.  We originally planned to embed some specific lesson plans into the mod itself.  But we quickly realized that it made much more sense to build the platform to let others create their own curriculum.

~Joel

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[Eric]

Yeah, I remember those settings! Well, seeing them, anyway. I don't think I ever figured out exactly what they were. It's funny - Edu has its own history now, even with artifacts!

On Thursday, May 2, 2013 5:07:21 AM UTC+3, Joel Levin wrote:

That's right!  The original prototype had some feature built in to do some environmental simulations.  We originally planned to embed some specific lesson plans into the mod itself.  But we quickly realized that it made much more sense to build the platform to let others create their own curriculum.

~Joel

On Wed, May 1, 2013 at 4:43 PM, EduElfie <elford.s...@edumail.vic.gov.au> wrote:

That is pretty much spot on, there were 2 server settings, desertification and tropification that allowed you to utilise these blocks. So if you cut down all the trees in an area it would slowly degrade into dry-cracked dirt and then sand. The reverse of course is if you planted trees in a sandy area (on dirt of course) the sand would slowly become dirt.

Elfie.

On Wednesday, 1 May 2013 22:36:17 UTC+10, Eric wrote:

Did it have to do with deforestation? Maybe dirt turns to dry dirt when it is no longer "fertile" and cannot grow new trees?

On Wednesday, May 1, 2013 12:13:55 PM UTC+3, EduElfie wrote:

PICK ME PICK ME!!! I know :D

There are (or used to be, not sure they are still there) server settings that allowed you to use those blocks in a very educational way. Any further guesses before we give the game away :D

Elfie.

On Wednesday, 1 May 2013 13:43:38 UTC+10, Joel Levin wrote:

I'm almost tempted not to answer that and leave it as a mystery...   ;)

Anyone want to take a guess before I explain?

On Tue, Apr 30, 2013 at 11:40 PM, Eric <ejwal...@gmail.com> wrote:

Joel, Aleksi, etc. -- I've always wondered but never asked --- what was with the Edu inclusion of wet sand and dry dirt blocks? Or steppe sand, as the file was known, I think. Seems like odd blocks to include in the Edu textures. And why are they now gone? I had to re-texture a small part of my world that used them.

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[lath...@cablespeed.com]

So are these options gone now... I would love to have dessetification / tropification built in... makes the kids think about the environment every time they are playing...

[Rick M]

Not available at the current time, I fear.

Ideas like this make me excited to see what can be built in the future, though. As much as I love the game Notch made, the fact he made it so accessible and extendable was the true stroke of genius. Maybe someone else will take the idea and run with it in future versions.

[EduElfie]

I have a feeling the commands are still there, just no nice buttons to press to get them happening. Don't hold me to it though, the commands used to be /desertification and /tropifcation I think, I think these can go in the eduworldsettings.ini in the world folder with an =true after them if you want them.

Aleksi care to agree or disagree??

Elfie.

[Aleksi Postari]

Yes, the settings are still there! ;D

You can turn them on / off with these commands (defaults to false / not enabled):

/educommand desertification

/educommand tropification

Algorhitm for desertification:

Once you cut down leaf from a tree, game will try to find dirt block from below the ground. If it does find, it changes that dirt block into steppedirt block. That steppedirt block changes into sand block once a minecraft day and spreads to blocks next to it. Has also a very small chance to create cactus in the surface while it changes to to sand.

Algorhitm for tropification:

Once you plant a tree in the ground that does create leaves, game will try to find once a day sand from below the leaves and if it does find, it turns single sand block into steppesand. That steppesand will once a day change into dirt and spread to blocks next to the block. Has also a very small chance to create flower or tree in the surface while it changes to dirt.

That is the herobrine of minecraftedu :D