UPDATE 10/23/2017: A version 2 of this guide is in development. You may view and comment on the new Beta version: https://docs.google.com/document/d/19mO-m3AARy7ObhjKZvYE3CDL8IAALO8KkCUhXc09Wqo/edit?usp=sharing **** WARNING & Disclaimer: This Minecraft post is about controversial and subjective blocks in the game. Viewer counseling and psychotherapy is advised. This top post is not intended to spawn any fights towards anyone who uses the blocks that’ll be covered here. This post is meant to inform people on what these blocks are, how to get them, how they're placed and how to use them effectively, and finally, their real-world inspiration and history. I will be covering glazed terracotta at primarily a mathematical perspective. When I am describing any rotations: positive is to clockwise, as negative is to counterclockwise. I will not be referencing the Unit Circle. I hope you learn something here about these blocks and try them out in your builds! **** These are “glazed terracotta” blocks (terra-cotta). They are vibrant, multicolored, directional accent blocks. They're made by smelting stained terracotta in a furnace (hardened clay was renamed to ‘terracotta’ in 1.12). Glazed terracotta comes in 16 different designs, each corresponding to their non-glazed counterpart (smelt white terracotta to glaze it into white glazed terracotta). A glazed terracotta block consists of a texture rotating in 90°-intervals per face. When placed, it'll be “facing” the player horizontally. Therefore, these blocks have a front face, and they rotate in the same way as chests and furnaces. The rotational design and lack of a distinctive face for glazed terracotta allows them to create a plethora of decorative patterns. However, this also makes placing the blocks very confusing. -https://gfycat.com/RemarkableUnluckyGodwit *In this GIF, the player is looking at the south, top and bottom faces of glazed terracotta. All of the terracotta blocks are facing the same direction. What do notice about the rotating terracotta in the image above? - As the “Facing” state of glazed terracotta rotates clockwise... *The side faces rotate counterclockwise. *The top and bottom faces rotate clockwise. Both of these rotations in textures reverse when the player turns counterclockwise. *When you rotate +90°, a given face of glazed terracotta will rotate: +90° if it's a side, -90° if it's the top or bottom. The rotations flip when you switch to a -90°-turn. *In respect to the player’s rotation, terracotta sides have a normal relationship, while the top and bottom have an inverse relationship. *All pairs of opposite faces are 180°-rotations of each other. *The front side of all glazed terracotta is the top face rotated -90°, or +90° from the bottom face. *Most of the time, you'll want to use glazed terracotta blocks sparingly. Treat them as decorative blocks, not primary building blocks. *Pistons are useful for pushing terracotta that'll have their front facing into a wall. *Glazed terracotta is “glossy”, similar to melons, pumpkins, and leaves. It doesn’t stick to slime blocks nor sticky pistons. They can push terracotta, but not pull. *Parts of some glazed terracotta blocks blend into concrete and other blocks seamlessly, such as purple glazed terracotta next to purple concrete. *In a resource pack I made, >>Download Link Here<<, I rotated glazed terracotta in the inventory to reflect what you'll see when you place it. Hardened clay blocks had their name changed to “terracotta” in Minecraft 1.12. This likely is because the word terracotta comes from ‘baked clay’ or ‘baked earth’ in Italian. In the real-world, terracotta has been used to make ceramic pots, plates and sculptures, as well as detail work in architecture. You may have heard of the Terracotta Army before. It's actually a display of soldiers made out of terracotta. https://i.imgur.com/IV5Coc7.jpg Terracotta is glazed by brushing colored glaze over it, which is then stirred in water, followed by firing after drying. Complex and colorful designs are made by glazing the surface(s) multiple times. Minecraft simplifies and shortens this process: dye the terracotta first and then bake in a furnace to glaze it. According to Jeb, glazed terracotta was inspired by an ornate bathroom floor inside a hotel. On the day the first 1.12 snapshot, 17w06a, was released, Jeb replied to a Reddit user who pointed out a 2x2 pattern of cyan glazed terracotta forming a German nazi symbol.1 The pixel artist, who designed glazed terracotta, and Mojang had worked very hard to prevent such offensive imagery from appearing in the blocks. As a result, cyan and a few other suspected colors of glazed terracotta had their textures changed by the next snapshot. Who knew you could make the 20th century swastika out of Creeper faces!? If you have any ideas to share, I might incorporate them into this post. References: https://www.reddit.com/r/Minecraft/comments/5sspmk/minecraft_snapshot_17w06a/ddhiqhz/
As far as I know, this block can indeed be used for a lot of things... Like highly detailed custom biomes: Maybe as a nice meal cooking: Or maybe as the background of your new kitchen? As the background of a nether portal... There are way more uses for it, only I'm for now too lazy to show them all off...
Thanks for the post, I think it was a very nice read. As to the controversy... yah, some players really should try and think about the bigger picture. If you don't like something within Minecraft there's nothing forcing you to use it Anyway, won't be reading all of this now but I will later this weekend. Thanks for sharing! I hope that some players may come to realize that even though they may not like the idea of terracotta there might still be something useful you can do with it. At the very least the arrows
I have found glazed terracotta to be very hard to teach about. I have always looked at the blocks by a mathematical perspective, but not all people's perceptions are the same. How can I teach the science of glazed terracotta outside a mathematical or analytical mindset? I am open to making edits to this guide or completely rewriting it for a broader audience.
I plan to post an updated version of this terracotta guide, with lots of images made in-game and out. Pattern recognition and spatial reasoning have to be the most important skills for building with glazed terracotta.
