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Display the 4th map shading in survival.

The shading as is on maps is very nice, however if you look into the code, there's actually 4 shades available for each color, while only 3 ever appear in survival. I have a few ideas for how this 4th shade could be implemented for greater depth, immersion, and of course artistic control when using maps to build paintings. The simple option would be, if the y position of the pixel to the north is 1 block higher, use the regular dark shading. If the y position is 2 or more blocks higher, use the darkest shading. Perhaps a higher range could be attributed to the regular dark shading but you get the idea. It would be similar to how the dithered shading on zoomed out maps only occurs in a specific range of height differences on the map. Another way the 4th shade could be implemented would be to render a block with tinted glass over it as the 4th shade. Overall it would make maps more detailed and the map community would be very very grateful to be able to access a huge chunk of colors that are already in the game.

Registered User shared this idea

• May 14, 2025 22:36
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  • May 15, 2025 11:16
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  A fourth shade would be super useful for creating map art !
  I'd be more in favor of the tinted glass idea because adding a new shade for steep slopes would create a discrepancy between slopes that rise to the north (2 shades) and slopes that rise to the south (1 shade) in normal maps of terrain.