legobanana

I'm new to TerraFirma, started playing b79, but I've read up on the thatch changes and I think a really great way to make thatch useful again (besides early game roofing) would be to introduce some sort of clay + straw block. Here's some background on the real world: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adobe http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mudbrick http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chirpici http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cob_(material) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rammed_earth ExtraFirmaCraft has an adobe brick, which follows a fairly simple recipe. I think something like that (maybe with some alternatives to clay, like sand and dirt) should definitely make it into the base mod, because: There's no non-flammable early game wall materialThere are no good early game building materials in biomes that lack trees, if you're on a plain, good luck surviving the first nights now that you can't use thatchWood is expensive to build with even in mid-game, since you need so much of it for charcoalThatch/straw is pretty useless now, especially considering how much of it is availableAdobe fits the theme of the game really well. Once spiders are underground, adobe and thatch buildings could be essential stone/copper age sheltersExtraFirmaCraft hasn't been updated and adobe seems like the kind of thing that belongs in the core game I know adobe's been mentioned before on here, I just think it might be time to add it in, given the thatch changes. Here are some ideas on implementation details: Adobe would have to dry for a day after being createdThe ExtraFirmaCraft recipe doesn't include water. I don't know how it could be included at an early stage, when all you have is a jug, but if there's no good way to do it, a dry crafting recipe like in ExtraFirma would probably be believable enough.Maybe you have to be standing in water to make adobe?Adobe should be affected by gravity (so it can't be used for roofs), but stackable into a wallMaybe there could be a height limit on the wall? Adobe placed above the max height would fall sideways like dirt/cobbleAlthough clay is often used for adobe, limiting the recipe to clay (like in ExtraFirmaCraft) is probably bad for an early game block, because clay is really important to have for other stuff.Also, dry areas near the equator might not have clay (and those areas also probably won't have trees, making it excessively difficult to build. You should at least be able to build a temporary shelter until you can gather resources to explore with. Obviously some spawns will be more difficult than others, but it shouldn't be impossible to build a shelter for the first few nights).A solution would be to have two types of earth + straw blocks: clay adobe, made with clay and straw, and mud adobe (basically mud brick), made with dirt/sand and straw.Clay adobe could be more resistant than mud adobe, with double (or perhaps no) height limit. Or maybe the clay adobe wouldn't be affected by gravity. Or if insulation is ever added, clay could make for a warmer shelter. Whatever it is, clay adobe would need to have an advantage over mud adobe, otherwise it wouldn't be worth the clay.I can't find the most up to date details on this, so I'm not sure if it's possible to get a raw clay block in early game, but it shouldn't be possible, From my understanding, clay blocks aren't affected by gravity (maybe they should be?), which makes them too versatile. Also it's not particularly believable to be building stuff out of soft clay when you otherwise have to put in a kiln.