New tool idea: The Rotater

[Bronski]

Me: Basically it's like the scroller, but lets you rotate logs/stairs etc. through all of their various positions without changing the material. Placing logs can be a bit annoying now, and I'm wondering if this could help people in survival worlds.

You: "I working on updating the plugin with the new materials / data scroll values from Minecraft 1.3, including the log rotation data values. So far I've just considered the functional break down between scrolling data values, and possibly scrolling between related material types. However, I can see an argument made for a usage break down. Please open an issue on github so we can discuss further."

2 reasons I'm suggesting a new tool:

1. For use in survival worlds, I don't want someone who collected birch logs to be able to scroll to oak logs, but I do want them to be able to rotate their birch log.

2. With the current scroller, rotating through 8 positions with 4 different materials would take you a very long time to get through.

[Peter200lx]

If this tool was added, it could also be used for flipping half-steps as well. Can you think of any other materials that could use the data-scroll split? Hmm, if we focus the new tool on rotation, it could conceivably take over the use of rotation for some materials the data scroller currently provides. Not sure where to draw the line.

So far:
Logs - Rotate between vertical, N-S, E-W
Half steps - flip between top half, bottom half
Stairs - flip upside down, rightside up?

Or if considering taking over all rotation related data changes:
dispenser, (powered/button) rails, (sticky) pistons, (redstone) torches, (*) stairs, furnace, (wall) signs, ladders, levers, doors, buttons, repeaters, trapdoors, fence gates, cocoa plants, tripwire hooks, etc

If we go with the rotation only, then the new tool would handle rotation for stairs only, with the data scroller providing the upside down, rightside up functionality. This then would mean that half-steps would still have all 16 scroll items if we wanted to group the new tool functionality around a specific action.

Could you give me your thoughts on my rambles?

1. What materials do you think the new tool should operate on?
2. Should some materials be removed from the data scroller tool to be added to the new tool?
3. Should the new tool focus only on rotation, or if not, what should be its "theme"?
4. Should flipping up/down (stairs, half steps) be part of the new tool?
5. any other thoughts?

[Bronski]

I think I'm leaning this way...

I think The Scroller should become The Inker/The Materializer/The Tinter/something. Going forward, it merely changes the visible material type of an item, if there are any. Oak logs to birch logs, stone brick stairs to wood stairs, etc. Wool colors, etc. This would not be for strict survival worlds, and that's the core issue with this one. You are letting people obtain by a click something which they did not necessarily have (I had an oak log but now it's a birch log).

Then we add The Rotater, which merely rotates any item that can be rotated through different positions. Logs, half-slabs, stairs, dispensers... all the other stuff you mentioned. This is safe to give out in survival worlds. Its only function is to help with the correct placement of something you have already farmed/obtained.

Now, as for the mechanic of The Rotater, we could just go with the old Scroller methods of clicking to scroll through every conceivable position, left-click goes one way and right-click goes another, but...

I'm wondering if the following might not cut down on the number of clicks needed to get something to its desired position:

Stairs - Left-click: flips the stairs if they are upside down, making them right-side-up, and then cycles through the 4 right-side-up positions with subsequent clicks. Right-click does the opposite: flips the stairs if they are right-side-up, making them upside-down, and then cycles through the 4 upside-down positions with subsequent clicks.

Logs - Left click orients it vertical, ala the old way you had to place them. Right click flips it onto its side and rotates it around through both positions as you right click.

Etc.

Do you see any problems with that or have any other thoughts about it?

[nightpool]

I, personally, would like to maintain an option for scrolling through ALL id values, for testing/plugin/custom textures reasons. Maybe config? Or adding two new tools and removing none? Other then that, everything mentioned here sounds really cool. :D