Ice carving

[HiddenSage 39]

So, I was discussing a few interesting Minecraft mechanics with an RL friend earlier, and we stumbled into discussions of ice, mainly the use of ice roads in vanilla as VERY fast transportation. We both play a mix of vanilla and TFC still (vanilla for sake of a few SMP servers with a great community, and his computer protests a LOT at TFC's higher performance requirements), and he made a suggestion I wanted to share here.

IRL, many people used swing saws to carve ice blocks out of frozen lakes, both for use in ice houses, and for use in sculpture (actually, it's still done today for the latter purpose). The gist of the suggestion is just that: add the ability for saws to collect ice blocks. It'd have to be a slower break time than ice typically is, say something similar to the length of time wood blocks take to break now. But once done, you could collect and place ice blocks in the world, and possibly even carve them with a chisel (similar to stone) for creating ice sculptures.

For the sake of believability, though, Ice would have to have a risk of melting, even if it's player-placed. This is actually already handled by the TFC engine, of course, in that ice blocks have a chance to turn back into water whenever the temperature is above freezing. For blocks placed in the world, just ensuring the system does not differentiate between player-placed and natural ice balances this ability. It would be possible to place ice blocks, but if you wanted to do this for, say, long-term ice sculptures as decorations, you would have to build WELL above the cold line, in environments that crops cannot grow in as easily.

It's a minor reward for settling TFC's arctic circle, but I think that it would be an interesting option to explore. And of course, there have been suggestions before about creating an "icebox" for food storage before, with food having a risk of going bad if left in warm air for too long. Collectible iceblocks could be placed in a chest to alter its temperature, or maybe placed in the world as a means of "chilling" a certain area, before melting and being replaced.

I'm already dreaming of having a migratory settlement pattern, with a "summer base" in the south for growing crops in, decorated in flowers and wood and green life, and a "winter base" in the far north with permanent freezers built for cold storage of food, and ice sculptures for decorations. Go south in the summer to farm, north in the winter to store food and mine. It would a be a fun, if challenging, way to play.

[EternalUndeath 1,208]

Eh...

...Pretty cool, but I'd say it'd probly be on Dunk's list of priorities just under 'code in funny hats for the zombies'

[Bihlbo 29]

I love the idea of using ice for construction, but it probably aught to be treated the same way as dirt and sand are (hard to stack) but it can float on water.

The biggest problem with this is probably the fact that if you can pick up a block of ice, Minecraft says you can then move it, thaw it, and it becomes a new water source block. Awesome, but probably not the modders' intent.