Minecraft Forum: Minecraft Forum - News, Forums, Mods, and Texture Packs

Minecraft + Mojang News: Zombies vs. Doors and Villagers!

This week, David & Toby cover the multitude of features that have been added in this weeks' Snapshot release! They cover additions such as enhanced zombie AI (and door-breaking abilities), rare drops from monsters, improved villager AI, improvements to cats, and more - click the image above to check it out!

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Pocket Edition Updates

There has been a lot of buzz surrounding the upcoming Minecraft - Pocket Edition updates, and with the promise of Survival being added to the hand-held port, players have been anxious to enhance their portable experience. Now, the wait for an update is drawing to a close - Carl tweeted only minutes ago that the Pocket Edition updates will be released as early as tonight! The Android version will likely see the update first, with other platforms following suit in the near future.

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Are you a League of Legends player? If so, we've got a surprise for you - our LoL site, specifically geared for pro players, is now live! Dedicated LoL players owe it to themselves to check it out!

This week's Snapshot is out for testing! What cool features have been added this go-around? Let's take a look:

• Many minor bug fixes and tweaks
  
• Doors have been changed to properly detect if they are open or closed. Double doors in existing maps will need to be updated
  
• Villagers will move indoors during night and rain, and socialize with each other
  
• Zombies will break down wooden doors on hard difficulty
  
• Added cat sounds
  
• Better movement for mobs in water
  
• Added rare mob item drops
  

Are you ready to defend your newly interactive villagers from door-destroying zombies? Get your Snapshot downloads in the links below!

12w06a Client

12w06a Server

We will be examining some of these changes in greater detail, but in the meantime, we have the following to consider - how are your villagers behaving with this update? How awesome is it to have working double-doors? What sort of rare items do mobs drop? Let us know about it!

As part of our ongoing series to bring you community-created content, we are proud to present a video submission by TheWaffleGalaxy; a detailed review on the Useful Seeds Mod, created by dino120! Useful Seeds gives the seeds dropped in Minecraft a wide range of uses besides mere planting; here, TheWaffleGalaxy goes over what the mod does for seeds, and shows us a number of the things they can be used for. If you like it, be sure to check out the mod creator's thread! Be sure to check out the video description for more details on the mod, the author of the video review, and more!

This week, I take an in-depth look at Misa's 64x Realistic Texture Pack! Many of you are likely familiar with this incredible pack, which combines high quality textures with an eye for performance. In addition, I had the opportunity to discuss the pack's history with Misa, and so touch on the amazing journey this pack has undergone from start to finish. Click the image above to watch this week's Community Spotlight!

Did you like the pack? Get Misa's 64x Texture Pack here!

Over the last week, we've seen some pretty interesting updates in the weekly snapshot (as well as the follow-up quickfix snapshot). Now, the Dead Worker's Party has provided us an insightful review on the major features from the most recent snapshot! Covering creeper AI improvements, Villager's tendencies to find housing, and the curious effect of cats on creepers, the Party covers this, and more - click the image above to give it a watch!

Minecraft News - Boxart, Snapshot Details & More



This week on Minecraft News, Toby and David cover a number of recent hot topics, such as bringing on new Mojang staff, a quick peek at the 360 version of Minecraft, details on this weeks' Snapshot, with focus on changes to cat behavior, villager AI, and a pleasant surprise change to lava! Additionally, the randomly-generated mineshafts scattered throughout the world appear to have received a visit from safety officials - they now generate with wooden flooring where gaps would have been in prior terrain generation, whether small potholes, or much larger gaps.

Click the image above to check out this week's series!

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Shapeways 3D Printout Contest



Did you read this article about 3D printing models from Minecraft and think to yourself, "I wish I could get one of those"? I know the feeling - it seems like there is an endless stream of possible models to print from my SSP games alone, nevermind any servers I play on. Still, for those of you looking for a 3D printout model of your creations, we have a sweepstakes that might be just what you're looking for - winners can receive, at no cost, a 3D printed model of their Minecraft creations, as well as $50 certificates for Shapeways, perfect for discounting larger projects, or outright buying smaller ones, like character models or small structures. Want to know more? Click the image above for details!

Weekly Snapshot Ready For Testing

The Week 5 Snapshot is out for testing! Here's what has been added for this round:

• Many mob-related bug fixes (and some new behaviors)
  
• Ocelots are easier to tame, and cats can be told to sit
  
• Many small bug fixes and tweaks
  
• Villagers will try to detect village houses and live in them
  
• Updated language files (now with 50% less profanities!)
  

UPDATE: Quickfix snapshot is now out, which adds the following fix along with the above changes:

• Shift-click on items in menus is fixed
  
• Cats can be told to sit with an empty hand
  

You can get your snapshot client right here!
Need the server client? Click here!

New Minecraft 360 Box Art Revealed

Daniel Kaplan of Mojang just now tweeted the new cover art for the XBOX 360 version of Minecraft. We've taken a look at the upcoming console port in the past, and it is well on its way to living up to the hype of its computer-based predecessor. In addition, you can view a video released by Hat Films showing off some teasers of the game - as well as highlights of the Mojang team - by downloading it to your 360 console, or by clicking this link.

With the console release fast approaching, steady updates continuously coming out for the PC version, and a rapidly expanding pocket edition, Minecraft seems nearly unstoppable. What do you think some of the best parts of having Minecraft on the 360 will be? Tell us about it!

Stronghold 2 (by Vareide) is Out!

Earlier in the week, we had a chance to show you a video made by Minecraft legend Vareide - and now, the second installment of the series is out! Barring jokes about pigs dropping beef, the player continues his journey of self-discovery, only to run into tell-tale signs of a piece of Minecraft mythos almost as old as the game itself...

Click the image below to watch!

The game of Spleef has a long and telling history, reaching the height of popularity in Minecraft Classic. Even today, nearly every large server you visit has a Spleef arena somewhere, with regularly scheduled tournaments, special-occasion events and more. The game is simple enough - knock out blocks from underneath your opponent while they try to do the same to you. Whoever falls first, loses. Rules and specifics beyond that tend to vary from server to server, but the core of the game tends to form the foundation regardless of house rules.

This video shows off a Spleef tournament, with one slight variation - it comes with its own sports announcer and overlays! Done in the stylings of a major sporting event, this vid sensationalizes Spleef in a way that's sure to entertain, take a look!

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A Survey for Minecraft Gamers

We take your feedback seriously. Yes, it's true! As a part of our ongoing process to make things here on the forums better for everyone, we have a quick survey which asks about some of your preferences. If you'd like to help us make your experience better, please head over here and fill it out!

Weekly Roundup - You're in the Jungle

We've got some exciting news from around the gaming network this week! This Roundup talks a bit about the recent weekly snapshots - which feature ocelots (and kittens!), dense & lush jungle, smarter skeletons & zombies - as well as LEGO's official announcement of the all new, 100% official Minecraft LEGO sets! Elsewhere around the network, we talk about the now-absent Blizzcon for this year, some rather significant changes to WoW's system via a new update, and more - take a look!

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3D Printing, Revisited

Awhile back, we talked a bit about printing 3D models from Minecraft constructions, and had a chance to show off a particularly interesting village that was printed using this method. Today, we're giving you a look at the in-game village that the model came from, giving you a side-by-side perspective of what an in-game wonder becomes, block by block, when printed in real life - take a look!

Minecraft Forum Community Spotlight

For a long time, we would put up people's creations here on the front page. As I sought ways to provide players with access to amazing creations by their fellow gamers, a thought occurred to me - Why not make a video series that focuses entirely on the community?" So, it is with no further delay that I am proud to present the Minecraft Forum Community Spotlight series! What is it, you ask? It is nothing less than a show built around player-created mods, texture packs and other amazing creations, to bring you incredible community-generated stuff for your game - even from authors you may not have heard of before!

Our Mission; What This Can Do For You

It is my hope to give mod authors, artists, map-makers and other innovators from the community the chance to shine right here on the front page, to help them get the most out of their hard work. How can you get your (or your favorite) work spotlighted here? It's easy!

• Create something awesome
  
• Send an email to this address, specifying what your creation is, and/or including a link to your thread
  
• Our content team reviews your work, and if it's amazing enough to be highlighted, we'll contact you about it - if you get a confirmation email, you're headed to the Community Spotlight!
  

That's all there is to it! Now, without further delay, some information about today's spotlighted mod:



Author: w3(r4ft
Thread (includes download links, building information & more): Click here!
Notes: This mod adds lasers, sensors, refractors and more to your game. What can it do? More than can be easily described here - check out the video and the creator's thread, above!

This mod requires other mods to function - ModLoader, ModLoaderMP and Forge. Be sure to read the installation instructions carefully! Don't forget - if you like w3(r4ft's mod, show him some love by dropping a post in his thread telling him!

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The Minecraft Forum Community Spotlight series is on-going, so there is no final deadline to submit your creations for review. If you think your work (or another mod/map/texture pack you like), is good enough, send it to us - you could be next on the front page! To see the first episode, just click the banner above, and check out the Laser Mod!