Why stone block yields 0-3 rocks ?

[dantedarkstar 7]

I was wondering since last version and can't really find a rationale for the fact, that when you mine raw stone with pickaxe, you get just 0-3 stones.

 

I know it's Minecraft, so conservation of mass is not necessary, but I simply can't find a single reason for this behavior. It only makes stone-gathering strange, since it's profitable to resort to controlled caveins (which was waaay worse when torch-mining worked) to turn stone into cobble, and only then dig it up. This yields almost twice the amount of stones from same quarry size.

 

Pro:

- stone harder to get (is this a pro ?)

 

Con:

- unrealistic non-conservation of mass

- invites unrealistic workarounds

 

So what reason am I actually missing ? Is there one, or is this a relic of old times when cobble block consisted of single stone item ?

[noname_42 36]

"TFC is actually not trying to achieve realism. The goal is believability, while keeping in mind that not only is this a game, but also a mod for Minecraft."

 

however i agree random drop count doesn't make sense to me too

[dantedarkstar 7]

If there was a good reason for this, I would just say "Oh, okay. It is just a game.", but my dilemma comes from the fact that I do not see that reason. I see only cons.

[Palisight 34]

Well conservation of mass isn't really a argument (you are mining, it is reasonable to lose some of the stone)

 

Of course mining 1 m^3 of stone and getting no rocks at all makes no sense, so the 0 drop makes no sense

 

One could argue that mining wouldn't always give the same amount of usable rocks, so a numerical range would make sense

 

The cave-in issue is a point. Mining cobblestone shouldn't be more profitable than mining smooth stone as not to encourage cave-ins

 

Perhaps mining both smooth stone and cobblestone should give 1-2 rocks when dropped.

[Kittychanley 1,002]

I'll admit that I agree with some of the points in this topic. For example, I have an entire episode in my series called "Cave-ins for Fun and Profit" in which we go try to cause cave ins because we needed lots of rocks for something.

 

I wasn't part of the TFC team yet when the decision was made, but I'm assuming the logic behind the decision was making it so that you can't directly translate 1 rock = 1 cobble safely. Many of the updates have had changes that focus on making cave-ins even more dangerous (breaking support beams, damaging the player like a vanilla anvil, destroying ore).

 

Another point that was brought up to me is that if the stone dropped at least a single rock item, there will always be an indicator to help gauge if there is any block lag happening. When nothing drops, it's hard to tell if it was actually a 0 drop, or the world is lagging behind and it will drop the item shortly.

 

Another thing to consider is inventory management. When stone doesn't drop 4 rocks each time it is mined, you can mine a much larger area in search for/digging up ore. While the rocks can be compacted into cobble, and then stored in vessels to minimize the amount of space they take up, you can spend more time mining and gathering ore, and less time running back and forth to unload your inventory.

 

In my personal opinion, the drops should be changed to be 1-3, or even 1-2. Cobblestone would still behave the same, so that players who wish to use this more efficient method of gathering rock must face the dangers of a cave in. To me, that is a fair enough trade off for the resources.

 

However, I do not have final say on this matter or the authority to change it currently, but I will bring this topic to Bioxx's attention for reconsideration.

[munin295 18]

My interpretation has been that "rocks" are "chunks of stone whose shape and composition make them useful". So you break apart a cubic meter of stone, lots of it breaks into pieces too small or crumbly to be useful, either because of its original composition or because you're taking a pickaxe to it.

 

Cobblestone, by definition, is made up of useful rocks, either because you put it together or because it falls in its natural state instead of being knocked apart by a pickaxe.

 

Probably not a perfect interpretation, but it works for me.

[Kittychanley 1,002]

Update: Got the OK from Bioxx. Stone will drop 1-2 rocks in 79.

[iced 3]

Just think about it when you are mining you are breaking the stone, not all of that stone is going to be able to be used most of it will be little chips of stone that no one will ever use. So the fact that you only get a little bit of stone per block or sometimes none is a believable feature. 

[dantedarkstar 7]

Well, I understand the reasons are more along the line "no easy stone" then. As much as I might dislike it I can accept that. The rest of TFC is certainly worth it

I also realized one extra difference between cavein cobble mining and normal stone mining: gems.

 

As for loss due to breaking into small fragments, I can ask:

If the rest (meaning 4-amount dropped) of stone is just unusable because it's too finely chipped, where is my 50% chance to get gravel to statistically get around 1 full block per stone block destroyed ? :>

[transcengopher 349]

Occasionally getting some gravel actually is not a bad idea, I think.