Death to bonemeal?

[FlowerChild]

Well, I think everyone here knows about my hatred of bonemeal due to it largely killing actual farming as a system in MC.

So, what do you guys think? Axe it?

This is crossing a few lines for me that I've refused to violate in the past, so I'm wondering how others feel about the mod taking this kind of step. I think this would be the first vanilla feature I outright disable like that.

It's two minutes of work, but the consequences of such an action would be rather far-reaching.

And before anyone says it, no...I'm not willing to make it an option. Either the mod has it, or it doesn't.

[Folrig]

Axe it from everything? Or just trees and foodstuffs?

Do flowers and grass grow naturally?

[Sarudak]

Well you already know you have my support. Personally I think you should go ax crazy all over the minecraft code base and just rip out anything and everything you don't like. Then again I'm also of the opinion that you be better off going total conversion or just making your own game. :)

[Mason11987]

Considering you've replaced the unique function of the bonemeal (growing flowers/tall grass too right?) with the planters I think it'd be safe to get rid of it.

The only situation I could even consider it being a valuable addition to a BTW game is on a hardcore anarchy BTW server as a way for players to survive by killing skeletons to get a enough bones to grow wheat quickly.

But that's just a way to make a gamemode designed to be hard easier, which doesn't make much sense to me.

I say axe it.

[sargunv]

I support this, but can we keep bonemeal growing tall grass / flowers when used on grass blocks?

[Ferrus.Manus]

Would it be possible for it simply accelerate the growth (maybe let the plant skip few growth stages, can only be used once per growth cycle) instead of makin the plant grow instantly? Though may not be possible with only 4 bits of block subdata.
But in general I would agree on axing, though as Folring says still allow it to grow tall grass and flowers.

[The Phoenixian]

Personally, I'd say:

Removing bonemeal for farming and trees: Excellent

Removing it's effects for grass, flower, and huge mushroom, generation: Not quite as enthusiastic. Mainly because there's no other artificial way to gain those things.

[FlowerChild]

Well, honestly I think what I'd like to do here is create a new state for tilled soil that acts as fertilized, so you can apply your bonemeal to your crops, and help their growth (planters would probably have this bonus inherent to them), but yeah, the insta-grow nonsense would go right out the window.

[Pentagram]

I'm not sure..

Honestly, When building an auto wheat farm, I like to bonemeal the wheat repeatedly and harvest seeds from it to get the farm built up quicker so that I can get it fully automated faster.

I also like that when I'm very low (or out) on wood I can just bonemeal a tree and grab a few blocks..

Perhaps as a configurable option it would be good..

I also have a bonemeal based seed/flower farm for red/yellow dyes and seeds


So I like sargunster's suggestion.

[ignika42]

We would still need a way to grow flowers and giant mushrooms, but other than that, axe away m'lord.

[Ceunon]

I'd suggest only remove it from farming. I, for one, don't really use bonemeal, unless when I'm planting decorative trees. And those can take *a lot* of time to grow, depending on where they're planted.

I don't really see bonemeal that gamebreaking, but, again, I don't really use it that much. The farming system isn't really much of an issue to the player, and once you get enough quantities of bonemeal to waste it on your farms, you've probably already automated them too.

[aJaroOllie]

Well, honestly I think what I'd like to do here is create a new state for tilled soil that acts as fertilized, so you can apply your bonemeal to your crops, and help their growth (planters would probably have this bonus inherent to them), but yeah, the insta-grow nonsense would go right out the window.

This seems like a really good idea, makes sense to actually be used as a sort of fertilizer, rather than "Look! Magic!" My only concern is what would happen with getting giant mushrooms, although to be honest I don't use them much anyway. @ignika, Planters can be used to collect flowers ^^

[Battlecat]

I hate using it for it's design purpose because it feels like cheating. I even built a massive tree farm rather than having bonemeal. Patience is a virtue and honestly, bonemeal is way too powerful. I fully support the removal of bonemeal as magical instant growth powder or even as a farming aid. I like your mentioned idea of creating fertilized soil.

I believe BTW has mushrooms growing into large mushrooms when planted on mycelium already so that's not an issue. I primarily use bonemeal to grow decorative trees and plant meadows.

There are only two applications of bonemeal in the game currently I can think of that would be a loss if it is eliminated entirely. On the aesthetic side, we've got the ability to make tall grass and flowers grow in grassy areas, which I mostly use for decorations. I'm not sure if there is a way to farm the tall grass from planters in BTW yet (water flows destroy tall grass).

The other use that would be lost is the growth of the 2x2 trunk jungle trees. I have not been able to locate any confirmation if they will grow without bonemeal. A bit of a bigger loss, but if there's a way for them to grow without bonemeal (or one added after the needed bonemeal nerf) then this is a non-issue.

[Folrig]

Well, honestly I think what I'd like to do here is create a new state for tilled soil that acts as fertilized, so you can apply your bonemeal to your crops, and help their growth (planters would probably have this bonus inherent to them), but yeah, the insta-grow nonsense would go right out the window.

Interesting. Would plants in fertilized soil grow faster, or would we have to use fertilizer to grow plants on dirt blocks, thus incentivizing potted plants for automation?

[SterlingRed]

Axe it. I am also of the opinion btw should go total conversion. I trust that you would still keep it as Minecraft, just 2.0.
Early game boost advantage is one of the reasons to remove bone meal. It's basically mojang approved cheating, and makes farming irrelevant.

[shifty]

I only ever use it for aesthetics (grass and flowers), everything else can get the axe.

[Sarudak]

Honestly, When building an auto wheat farm, I like to bonemeal the wheat repeatedly and harvest seeds from it to get the farm built up quicker so that I can get it fully automated faster.

I also like that when I'm very low (or out) on wood I can just bonemeal a tree and grab a few blocks..

Perhaps as a configurable option it would be good..

IMO This is exactly why it shouldn't be an option. Trees SHOULD take a long time to grow. You should have to think ahead if you need wood (or go on a logging trip). Building up seeds SHOULD take work. Basically you're saying "I like to cheat so please make your anti-cheating measures optional."

[FlowerChild]

K guys...I had never really considered this as a serious option before, but with my recent policy towards modifying vanilla behavior, I just realized that it opens up a lot of options to me with regards to bonemeal.

As a result, an entire system for "Hardcore Farming" just almost instantly crystalized for me.

Expect it to be coming to a release in the near future. I do believe I will get to work on it immediately.

[Battosay]

*nerd boner*

[FlowerChild]

BTW guys: thanks for the moral support on this one. I have hated bonemeal for so long (basically since I started playing MC, or within a week or two of that), and with my own previous policies preventing me from doing anything about it, that I think I had a mental blockage with regards to what I could do to it to "fix" it.

So yeah, thanks for virtually slapping me upside the head and reminding me that I can resolve this, and for letting me know that I'm not alone in wanting to see something done about it :)

[FlowerChild]

*nerd boner*

Trust me man...your boner is warranted. You're going to like this design of mine...a lot :)