Glider

[magikeh]

So i was thinking about Steve's level of intellect and how he is able to create a block that is able to detect things that are placed in front of it. So i wondered if it was possible that he might also be able to craft a Glider, he has the ability to craft sails (for the windmill) that could double as wings for the glider. And also how he has the ability to craft lightweight items (platforms) So FlowerChild i was wondering if you could add a glider to the mod (i personally think it fits the vanilla feel) BUT it would have certain limitations:

- a chicken is able to glide at a slow pace, the chicken is 1x1x1 blocks in size and 1x1x1.5 when its wings are open. So using this, Steve is 1x2x1, with a wing span of (assuming that he is using a glider, and the sails are 6 blocks long) The gliders wings would be 8 times longer than the chickens wings

-Steve is (avg male weight = 140lbs) 140 lbs and the chicken is (avg chicken weight = 5lbs) 5 lbs then Steve is 28 times heavier than the chicken so he must fall faster!

-the sails are made for catching wind at the moment and they should have a slight modification to be able to support Steve's weight

-The carriage (part that holds Steve to the wings) i think crafting it should be by filling all the spaces with wicker pieces. Thus creating a lightweight cradle that Steve can ride in!

-The movement (left and right) should be verrry slow due to the lack of steering (all he can do is lean, and only lean on the z and x axis)

-The entire unit is a lot less put together than a boat so if Steve decides to try a crash landing it will result in parts being strewn all about and a certain amount of damage will result to Steve as well!

So with all that information out there, we can now think that with 28 times the weight and 8 times the wingspan of a chicken, Steve should be able to glide 28.57% faster and further than a chicken (within the current physics of minecraft)

[Kwilt]

Physics: Even in Minecraft. :P

Anyways, one modification I think that would make sense would be nixing the idea of a basket, and just working with a normal hang glider build (using maybe sticks for a handlebar) rather than having a basket or something such similar. It's a little lower on the tech tree, and it also allows for your calculations to remain correct. (You would have to factor in the effects of the basket if we were going to use calculations with your build.) Also, I see no reason why there couldn't be movement on the y-axis.

[gftweek]

Thermals over ground level lava lakes?

[the_fodder]

I see this as having very limited use. The majority of the time it would be a single use item.you would tower up to the sky plop down a work bench and build the glider flying of ina random direction and unless you pre seeded landing strips crash at your destination, then tower backup a and have yourself a return flight with the same experience. I see a better flight plan of a catapult and parachute.that you could get a few more users out of then just long distance slow slow travel. Sorry if this its rambling I am onmyphone with swype.

[Conscript Gary]

Have it only break if it runs into a block, as opposed to simply landing on one. The large footprint will make that tricky, but not impossible.

[Riveter]

I've been thinking of why you would need/want a glider. If your goal is to float safely from heights, that could be done easily with a cloth/string parachute. It could trigger after you've fallen far enough that you would take damage, but not too soon to allow some semblance of balance.
There is already a way to do this with the birds in Mo' Creatures. It is a limited ability, having to have a bird on your head.
The other reason would be flight, and there are Airship/plane mods that allows you to do that.
I would love a parachute to help explore high areas. The rope/anchor is nice when you are going back up, but for exploring across the map, this isn't an ideal set up.