I created a mod that makes cave exploring easier. If you want to see how the caves really look like, this is an easy way to do so. By enabling the mod, lights spawn as an ore so you can see without the need of placing torches. This mod is not meant for survival mode.
This mod is good mainly for:
Debugging underground structures
Debugging ore and cave generation
Or you can just see how the caves actually look like.
A less heavy-handed way is be to have the stone nodes to glow a bit; light_source=5 gives a similar result in terms of functionality, but it looks weirder than the screenshot. Also, the world outside the cave "benefits" from it too.
Thanks for feedback. The texture of stone has too low contrast, so it's a pain when you have to recognise the shape of cave. These lights enhance the 3D structure a bit.
I fixed a bug which caused these lights to generate in air in some cases. The 1.0 release is finished (and it will be probably the last release).
If you lack the reality, go on a trip or find a job.
Astrobe wrote:
A less heavy-handed way is be to have the stone nodes to glow a bit; light_source=5 gives a similar result in terms of functionality, but it looks weirder than the screenshot. Also, the world outside the cave "benefits" from it too.
I've used that once as well in order to explore a large cave. The glowing stone did look a bit odd, so I eventually changed the definition of the common ores so that those alone would emit light. The effect was quite amusing.
Maybe this mod can change the ore (or stone) definition to emit light? That way it'd work in already generated areas.