Make light sources an actual block

[Aaron1011]

I think it would be nice if light source corresponded to a placeable block/item, similar to torches in Minecraft. This could allow additional decoration. @fogleman: What do you think?

[fogleman]

I liked having signs writable on any block, hence I also like the flexibility in allowing any block to be a light source.

[Aaron1011]

@fogleman: Okay. What about a texture that is applied to an existing block, like the way signs work? It would also make it clearer which blocks are actually light sources.

[satoshinm]

Although having any blocks act as a light source, or a sign, is a nifty feature, I think having distinct blocks with these capabilities could still be useful (especially in a potentially future "survival mode" where these blocks would be acquired through progressive gameplay), perhaps something like:

• lamp block: when placed, is always illuminated immediately
• sign block: when placed, opens up the chat line to write the sign text

[satoshinm]

If there's interest, I added a placeable light block (call it "glowing stone", reusing the stone texture but with higher exposure) in my fork, straightforward: https://github.com/satoshinm/NetCraft/commit/70d2c02d341ea96773866f085d04fdf3161b8668 (adds an is_illuminated function to items.c, called in set_block and if returns nonzero it in turn calls set_light).