I see that a lot of you want me to allow painting of not just full blocks, but also stairs, slabs, and additionally be able to paint blocks in different colors on different sides.
In short, I would love to do it! I would have done it long ago, had it been possible. Unfortunately, it’s not with the current data layout. To explain further I need to get slightly more technical, please forgive me.
There are exactly 4 bits of extra information associated with each block in the terrain. It means each blocks can have up to 16 “variants”. As you can guess, painted planks use all 4 bits to specify “color variant” of the planks, that’s why they can have 16 different colors.
In stairs, these bits are used for a different purpose: to determine how the stairs are rotated and whether they are upside down or not. Similarly in slabs (although there is no rotation).
There just isn’t enough bits to make stairs or slabs paintable, because these bits are already used for something else. The same reasoning applies to painting planks different colors on different sides. There are 6 sides, so we would need 6 * 4 = 24 bits to encode 6 sides (and chose from 16 different colors on each).
As any programmer worth his salt will tell you, some clever encoding schemes can be used (and I do a lot of these with the electrics), but they are not magic and won’t turn 4 bits into 24.
The only way we can have proper painting (or some approximation of it) is when I increase the number of bits per block. This can be done, but it heavily increases the memory usage of the game, and may have grave consequences for low memory devices (e.g. Lumia 610 or iPod 4)
Even if I did increase it, painting all sides in 16 different colors is utopia, 24 bits per blocks is just too much. At most we could have about 18 bits available (which is still a massive jump from 4). This is enough for 6 sides painted in a choice of 8 different colors. Personally, I don’t think it’s a good solution – although it allows you to paint all sides separately, it restricts you to use just 8 different colors, which, in some sense, is worse than what we have now. And it still does not solve painting stairs or slabs.
Most likely, If I do increase the number of bits, some other encoding scheme will need to be used that allows you to paint a lot of different things, and some limited form of painting different sides.
It’s all restricted by memory though. If Apple put full 512MB on the iPod 4 back in 2010 and if Microsoft did not do the crazy thing of suddenly releasing “low spec” devices like Lumia 610 with only 256MB of memory…
Survivalcraft 
193 Comments
Yay im first
A telescope would be a good way to deal with people wanting farther render distances.
Hi I’m a jellybean
PLEASE REPLY (I BEG YOU) I really want know when will it be Amazon my options (A) 1-2 days (B) 3-4 days (C) 5-6 days (D) 7 or more. SAY A B C OR D PLEASE!
On Amazon.
U said that u submitted it to Amazon on Saturday hmmm 1, Sunday 2, Monday 3, Tuesday 4! So will it be out tomorrow or the following?!?!?
Please reply,
Allie ;-)
I <3 survivalcraft
Kaalus, if only default-coloured stairs and slabs? No need for us painting it. Will that be any good?
Yeah, what about making not only one stair, which u can paint, but craft painted stairs from painted blocks! Would tht be possible?
Kaalus is the update out for windows phone yet
You could always make a version of survivalcraft that is specifacly for the computer that has these extra bits of data.
I want to avoid the nightmare of dealing with incompatible worlds created in different versions
But the PC version would be different than the mobile version as it would have a lot more features to it. Kind of how Minecraft on the PC is a lot different than the mobille version
But you cant start a game on minecraft pc and than continue it on minecraft pe. That is what kaalus wants to avoid.
Why did he make such a big deal out of this and has Amazon said ok
I got a good idea for you in the next update you should make Indians and like castles in the world and people could be in it and you could trade with them. Just a comment u don’t have to do that but it would be nice.
i think tge most important thing is now Multiplayer we are waiting so long and i quess i am not the obly one who thinks the game gets more booring and borring cuz you have to play with yourself all thetime…..
Kaalus please think about the Multiplayer its more important than coloured stuff oO cmon thats not really necessary for now!!
Hey what if someone made a texture With Stairs Like That!
jriot10 it’s something called BlueStacks :)
BlueStacks such a tease, crashes, can never open a world :( running a Dell Win7 with 8gb ram.
You should add ropes kaalus.That way we can catch horses and link them to fences so that they cant escape.Because catching an horse in real life isnt easy.But in the game you just go next to a horse and put a saddle on it.İts not realistic.
Kaalus, here may be a solution to your problem: by normally painting the stairs or slabs, they then change into the new block with the same position but new texture. So by doing that it changes it to a brand new block with a different texture but is still 4 bits
That just moves to issue to a different place, instead of using “variant” bits we would be using block id bits. These are in short supply as well.
Hey Kaalus, could you increase the visibility range please? It would be awesome, I think it would be still smoothly running on my Galaxy s3. From far to very far.
It can cause lag that’s why he keeps it low in a way
What’s lag mean???
Its when your game starts freezing.
Oh,I hate that
Can you add titanium please because to use to make armour for humans and horses. Also can you add mine carts that could get pulled by horses because it’s annoying if you find a good mine with lots of things in it and you don’t have any room left in your inventory so you have to walk or ride all the way home which is annoying. Please add mine carts and wagons. Plz
We have iron… Unless you intend to make a battletank, iron is the realistic material for metal armor. That, and leather, and maybe a leather/iron combo (scale armor, brigandine) or a wood/metal combination (like Japanese armor).
No I was thinking titanium is stronger that iron. And if we get more updates such a vehicles or something
It’s survivalcraft,not carcraft!!
Hi Kaalus, what about colored glass!? This will help with pixel art.
Just about that device which can turn the other electrical devices are connected via a block which holds the wire
Sorry for my bad english
Food I LOVE the idea of coloured glass u could make awesome stainless windows
I hate spell correct I meant dood and stainglass
kaalus this is a great idea as in i can make rainbow blocks
I can make my rainbow factory now..
That would be the amazing thing ever!!! Pony references everywhere lol
I wonder if you can put sc on xbox. It’s alright with me if the sc is the same as on phone and stuff so the worlds are compatible. It would be much easier for me to do it on xbox. On mc xbox I have made the most epic creations that I just don’t have enough patience for on sc mobile, and I have alot of patience. If you were to do this, the only difference that I would absolutely need would be a faster way to build since it’s a controller. In mc xbox you can hold the build button and move or fly up instead of pressing for every block. And if people would want more features since xbox has more capabilities than mobile, you could create two different world versions. The xbox version where there is all the other features that mobile can’t handle but xbox can. And if you want to make world that mobile players can get on, you need to build in mobile mode on xbox.
or PS3.
But then he might stop working on mobile kind of like mcpe
yeah :/
Do Xbox, I agree with what max said.. but don’t stop work on mobile version like Notch did
I’d prefer that performance reductions were due to new features in the game, not painting blocks!! :) (Kaalus, do not increase the “bits” )
And it wouldn’t piss off customers with lower end devices :’)
Don’t sware it’s rude
I’m sorry, but Haven’t YOU seen other Posts? At least he didn’t say something worse, P.s My little 4yr old cousin came back and she said that I was “Going To be pissed when she sees me.” xD Funny Memory
swear. and piss is not actually a swear, it is a bad word but not a swear.
I know but like these are comments left for kallus to look at and it’s just plain rude because this is a comment post not a swear bord
Brown bear is right.This is a comment post.not a potty mouth convention
P*ss isnt a swear word, however for people who are easily offended, I’ll choose my words more carefully
It is just that there’s children on here, some I think as young as five judging from their temper tantrums, and children have tender ears.
So true I am a good girl and shouting obscenities is one of the many thing I don’t do :(
The risk to preformance is too high, i already have had to decrease the fps to 30 in large worlds so the game doesnt lag.
0.0
How about lens?
It can be made of a glass block, when it was placed on the ground under sun it would make the ground very hot even burn it.
I love BBQ XDD
Me too.I loved it when my grandpa made bbq…I can still taste it,like it is actually there.
My grandpa is dead
HOW SAD:(
Awwww…well,I hope hes in heaven and he is happy.Don’t worry.He will watch you to make sure your alright.LIKE AN GUARDIAN ANGEL.
I’m only half a pegasister
Aww,I’m sure he is with God up in hevan and he I’d probably thanking you for being the best grandchild ever x xxx
He died on ST. Patrick’s Day :'(
kaalus what about stone blocks(granite for example)? if i good understand u can add this mechanics for painting (solid)stone blocks?
i really hate build with wood :(
piranhas and sharks frequently pops out of the water and die.
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/689/survivalcraft2013042218.jpg/
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/213/survivalcraft2013042218.jpg/
and it should be like this? – when i jump, cows and bulls run away from me? (creative mode)
cheers
Yes, I could make stone blocks paintable. The same way as planks. Indeed, fish tend to strand themselves on the shore. And cattle is very jumpy, the moment you make any noise they run away. Oh well, can’t fix all the bugs :-)
if u can please do it. I will love u forever if u make granite blocks paintable. Like i said, i hate planks…. burn so quick…
about bugs. I do not expect that u fix them all, but I think that you should know about them :)
cheers
Are there going to be fish in 1.21
Yes
Is the Amazon version out
Due to lightning my structures typically have to be capped with stone so I would prefer to be able to paint stone. Or if there was a dedicated lightning rod item. It’s a minor thing that we don’t “need” but it’d help make more pleasing designs. Just like corner steps and fences that connect to buildings.
BUG
on the get content screen if you press download by mistake and press cancel it dosent work ( galaxy S3 ) ( 1.21.3.0)
sorry about that last thing the site glitched what texture pack is that
kaalus when do u thick apple will accept thursday or friday or on the weekend
I wouldn’t want you to go through the hard stuff but it would be cool :)
i must have colored stairs
Hi guys, I have a Kindle. What is the new secret animal?
Invisible bull.
no it’s not, Oh God, not the white bull again x.x it’s a Giraffe
Invisible bull is actually more common than any other animal in the game. It’s on every treetop judging your amateur building skills, stands across the pool of lava by the diamond ore you can’t reach taunting you, and it’s the one who takes all your belongings before you can run back to the spot where you died.
Still think it is a giraffe
Yeah, it is invisible bull. :)
Invisible bull but u never know he’s there
A giraffe or discuss I saw a Mexican play 1.21 and the was a giraffe and fishies
A GIRAFFE
Yeah I saw an albino bull and I killed it I was really mad
Albino Bull is very rare. I never found them! >:(
just go really far into the island. when they start spawning they are more common than you would think
On my kindle I go on apps store and it won’t load up is the update even out yet for survivalcraft I want to get it on Amazon app store
I have a kindle to do you have e the update ?
Any news for us with kindled
Yes the update comes out thur Fri or sat
Any news from windows next?
I want it on amazon
It is not on Amazon yet. Though I really wish it was, I have a kindle too. It should be out Thursday Friday ish cannot wait. Want a pet pony. And a camel called Dieago Eric Ptomley III
My little pony Mlp ahahahhahaha.MLP I USED TOO WONDER WHAT FREINDSHIP COULD BE.MLP……I want ponies from my little pony in SC…what…it’ll be 20% cooler
Olivia you are as crazy as pinky pie.who is your favourite pony I like rainbow dash cos she is awsome
People please stop with the pony
I like all the ponies… :)
Here is a easy solution.
Remove all colored wood blocks, and replace them with colored covers, that are like torchs.
They would looks colored pressure plates but be completely opaque.
this way people could edit them with texture packs to look like whatever (paintings, multi piece maps ECT.)
This would kill 3 birds with one stone.
Also make it so you can go through them and that they are water proof maybe, so that people can build secret entrances, sort of like paintings in mine craft.
this should be easy enough, and have big payoff
Is it on Windows yet as well
Is anyone reading my massages
Klaus
I want the update for Amazon
are in analysis, both wp store like amazon
On Amazon app store it dead the app is not available ?
You could do this with 1 bit. If the bit is set then it’s a painted block. Start a query for the block located at x,x,x then apply the color specified in the stored array data. You would need to make an array which contains the coordinates of each “set” block and the color. Yes, it adds overhead but it only is an additional query to an array.
Or you could let the player mark an area to create a zone and every block placed in that zone would be a designated color.
I didn’t mean dead I meant dead I meant said
How do you make texture packs?
Kaalus also you should add an back pack to put on a horse and delete all coloured blocks in creative mode menu also some farming like being able to breed cows and bulls or planting pumpkins, merger amour would be good and textured wallpaper or when you use paint you can put in on one side but your doing a great job keep going ;).
Don’t know but I want to make one :(
You could add temples and underground chambers with like diamonds in them that would be cool lol ;)
Any chance of some gates Kaalus?
Its looking a bit funny using wood doors as gates on my horse pens.
Use trapdoors it looks ok
Some Ideas for the next update.
1. Beign able to farm cotton. Then you can get fibers from the cotton to make string and clothes and string. You can then use the string to make a crossbow. Also use Iron to make Iron.
2. Vehicals like cars, trucks, boats, submarines, and others. Also a spaceship to go to the moon.
3. Making chests from other things like stone and iron because I hate it when I foret that I am holding a match and try to open a chest.
4. Guns and bullets. There would be lead ore under ground which you can mine to get lead which then can be made into bullets.
5. More food like bread, carrots, apples, and other vegetables.
6. More animals including elephants, deer, lions, tigers, dogs, monkeys, and cats.
7. Islands appearing out in the ocean.
8. Humans that you can interact with and in creative mode when you spawn them you can program them so that in adventure mode they will attack you, help you, run away from you, and so on.
Please look into these you can come up with the reciepes. Thanks.
Defiantly, although I’m not sure about the vehicles… Kaalus better see this
I definitely agree with the crops. I love having something to do like tend and harvest crops! I already have a tree farm. :) I think it would be good to add apple trees. You could have a leaf block on the Apple tree, and then under it, a medium-sized red dot could pop up. If you harvest it, it could eventually come back! I would like it if we had a farming update in the feature.
Yeah, I want islands(i have a topic on forum about islands) and more food.
Sweet
What if, you made a PC, Mac and Linux version of Survivalcraft? Wow, It’ll be big like minecraft! Just a thought.
Runesten
On Tue, Apr 23, 2013 at 1:36 AM, Survivalcraft
I think the game would be 20% cooler if there were blue rainbow ponies.that you can ride and fly around with… awesome!!!!! Oh and docter who something..you are 20% cooler than any pony!!!! EVERYPONY IS 20% COOLER
Ps.the blue rainbow pony is a Pegasus.
I love Dr who and mlp!!!!!! Kik me Olivia!!!!!!!!!!
I love docter hooves and derpy! And rainbow dash and all the ponies!…but wat does kik mean??
Ps.AMAZON SHOULD ACCEPT THE GAME BEFORE IM DEAD.
Exactly.I might be dead right now waiting.x[
Me too I have a kindle fire:) my little pony rocks ;)
Say something babies
Look please don’t swear; and if you dont like survival craft, why are you on the s/c website? Just a thought…
‘:-/…super true.if you hate the game why are u on the site?????? O_O
Year I agree with Olivia if you hate the game why are you on here
Making babies
;)
Hey kaalus
do you have the minecraft pc version of minecraft.If so what computer do you have
thanks
parker
BUG
on the get content screen if you press download by mistake and press cancel it dosent work ( galaxy S3 ) ( 1.21.3.0)
Hey kaalus.can you add snorkeling gear.like a helmet that helps you breath underwater.RECIPE: I= iron g=glass
I II
IGI
III
I know its a bad looking recipe…maybe it can be useful,for underwater adventures.FOR SURVIVAL…
That would actually be an amazing idea…
Me:*reads reply for idea* thanks for the nice reply…I LIKE MY LITTLE PONIE!!! My cousin:And you messed it up.like always :/
really.derp
Pistons plz
Is it out for kindle yet ?
Will the ios version have iphone 5 support?
I really think you should make it to where we can tame other animals. So we can have them as companions.
Can you please add some villages ( doesn’t have to have villagers just ruins).
When is kindle fire update cause I just can’t wait
Oh add wagons and deer! Oh how about hunting eagles! When’s the update on kindle?
i like the wagons idea
To kaalus:
Some ideas for next update: 1. We should be able to build a boat by crafting and we can fish on it 2.we can get ingredients and cook a meal on the furnace like pie :D 3. Monkeys!!! I hope you like my ideas and hope you use them.
Simply make all the different colors of stairs; only available in creative mode?
Bug Report
Im not sure if its a bug exactly but whenever i approach a wicker lamp it causes my character to auto Jump. This is very annoying because i use wicker lamps next to doors so i have a lit entrance way and if i get too close to the lamp i auto jump and it makes it hard to get through the doorway.
Kaalus u should add savages that are hard to find like giraffes and they throw stone spears and look like Indians and can ride horses so we can have something more human than werewolves plzz
I found a glitch. I put some buls and cows in a pen and when I left and came back after awhile a piece of fence was one and all of my bulls and cows had escaped and some horses from the pen next to the cows were missing. This is in creative mode.
I····AM·····BORED PS I am from Ecuador in south America BUT I LIVE in Texas
Nice, Texas me too.
I haven’t seen the 1.21.5 for wp8, is it coming out soon, or do I have to wait another week. (starting to get bored waiting)
I havent downloded q world for ever becuse all the worlds have all the updwtes wnd i dont. ( shighs) come o amazon you jave been revewing yhe game for like ever. If you have a amazon store or a kindle then say I
.
I
I believe i may have the answer to your issue, i know small amounts of java so that is why i know this is possible. Why not make references to what the activities are. Like you would take the activities in the block’s bits and cut them to a file and make reference to that file and it would have all the blocks activities in one bit. Its just an idea, idk what coding language you are using so idk what the compabilities are to it.
farming!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ps add fareming
Kaalus for the next update I think you should add a form of scuba gear so we can breathe underwater, pistons (sticky), cars, planes, submarines, guns, lead…….etc….please reply
Guys we should stop asking when is it going to be out on WP, kindle, apple, etc. They’re checking it and as you can see in this blog Kaalus always keep us update about it when he gets some news. Just be patient, if they accept the update, they will simply put it on the store of those different devices, if not Kaalus will inform us. But asking him every 2 posts won’t change anything, he’s not the CEO of those companies, he’s not deciding anything about it!
That’s why you will NEVER get an answer for those question. And its really annoying for him and other people that try to discuss the subject this post is originally about!
Thanks :)
We must have one colored blocks!!!
Maby Kaalus, you should make a list of avaliable stuff you can do and make people vote what they want most.
For me i would like
.Beds ( point being im sick of sleeping oon the floor, maby give you a 10% boost of attack, mining, speed for like half a day )
.Ruby ore and gold ore
.Cloths and Armor ( For horses and camels as well ) is very wanted
.Farming ( even if its basic weat, berries, plums )
. More hostile mods eg Lions, tigers
Other than this massive list i have now created, i really enjoy your game and i hope it is widely recognised. One last thing, i recommend you to have a look at a game called stranded two for ideas and prehaps no more fantasy creatures i love your realism. I am widly aware that you are very busy and take your time you have done alot for use already. If you read this i would be very gratefull.
yes l agree. i vote for gold ore armor farming and to add one o the list pets like a wolf to a dog. more mobs would be fine
Would it be possible to add gates in the next version? I think it would be an easier option than using trap doors, plus they dont stick to the fences :/ also i think asking for multiplayer would be too much. Wouldnt it make the download size bigger?
Hey everyone who has a kindle fire say I ;)
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
I…….derpy whooves
I
Can you change the jumping for the horse because it does not look real.
kaalus since the update came out? why me not to come or not come out yet?
My phone is lumia920. I’m so unhappy because I can not play the new version :/
Who likes the hobbit I live the hobbit
The hobbit is my favorite movie/ book…. soooo what does this have to do with survival craft again? 0_•
Offer an option of number of bits, like a computer does. So low powered devices wouldn’t see the colored blocks. (just guessing, not sure if this is truly possible)
Kallus, why don’t you add colored covers instead of blocks?
what my is spek poco english
Kaalus do you work alone or with someone else??
Do you work alone ??
Howdy, Kaalus!
I get sooo exited reading your posts!I’m really confused thow. What is Amozon getting?Alpha 1.21.1 , 1.21.2 , 1.21.3 ,1.21.4 or 1.21.5?I’m only 9 and I get confused pretty easilly.
Also I dont get all the updates either.My sister has Survivlcraft.She got it a couple years ago as well as I did.She hyas got like 10 more updates than I have!!She has something called wildboars.And traps.The only thing im looking forward too are the rideble horses.
One last thing,my cousin has this game and i was om her Kindle Fire yesterday>I clicked on one of her worlds called “my house” (without the “) And then something popped up and it said “sorry!this world is unavalivalible because it has materials from Alpha 1.21.0 .” I hope you could tell me what that means.I also follow you on Facebook and twitter.
And my sister doesnt know how to get your posts so this is hermail address
cmbuck0904@hotmail.com
please reply!! Sincerly Caitlyn
ps is your real name kaalus???
Date: Mon, 22 Apr 2013 15:37:01 +0000 To: duckygirl0723@hotmail.com
have you started working on 1.22 yet?
I still think u should add boomboxes. And some more stuff in the ocean like whales (oh my gosh, that would be so awsome) coral reefs, ot tiny, different colored fish. Also, im hopeing between this update, and the nxt huge update, u will add multiplayer :). I really wish you would make it to where we can tame animals. Now, this cant be coppying mc because lots of apps, and games have it to where you get a pet…animal. and, there r tons of multiplayer games, mc didnt “invent” animal taming, and multiplayer.
I have the update on my Lumia 920 in Canada.
Good job Kaalus. My dad says just be patient. Once it gets approved, the bug fixes are like cake! Hope it gets approved. Thx Kaalus for everything!
Sent from my iPhone
I think you should also make it to where if you paint a wood block, it only paints one side, because while painting a 4 story house, or hotel, it gets annoying having the same colored ceilings as the floor above it.
Windows store wins!!! Updates out!!!
First one on windows to play 1.21
WHEN WILL IT BE OUT ON AMAZON! TOMORROW, TWO DAYS, THREE?!?!?!
klauus is it. could it be possible to make this game for computers.
Hey,
How do you get the boat?????
Hey,
How do you get the boat????
Dungeon dobavte
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