I think many people aren’t understanding what the toggle does.
The current state of the graphics toggle effects textures and includes added foliage.
The updated textures are new Water, shadows, etc…
The foliage was already a hidden feature you could activate in the 1.12 client using an add on to prompt a console that allowed you to edit settings beyond the maximum graphical settings.
In short, the toggle just allows you to crank up the texture definition on the old models, while activating a hidden feature of increased foliage.
I’m assuming this was done for two reasons:
- It’s a compromise between the new/old graphics camps. You get old models, but with the ability to make them prettier.
- It greatly decreases the size of the client, because having 2 of every single model and texture on your computer would eat a TON of space and make resource queries super robust and slow. Remember, the models are in the client files, and the server just tells your client where a model is at in any given moment.
Personally, I’m fine with the way it’s setup. “Classic mode” just means reduced (old) textures, old shadows, old water. The current mode gives you old models that are just dolled up a bit.