Currently snow biomes are somewhat lacking. Changes should be made to both Tundra and Taiga and a new biome needs to be added. Arctic.
First. Snowball stacking really sucks. What's needed is naturally forming snow as a half block that can stack to 64 and be crafted into snow blocks or snowballs. In addition, snow blocks no longer break into snowballs if you use a shovel. They still do if you use something else.(2 for a half block and 4 to a whole block)
The topmost layer of snow does not have collision, so the player is always slightly sunken in the snow
Visually, four layers of snow is the same height as a slab. However, five layers of snow has the same collision height as a slab
Crafting recipe is 3 snow blocks in a row to create 6 snow layers
For each thin layer of snow crafted, the player loses exactly half the snowballs required to produce it
We hope to see more in the future!
Now, about snowfall. Tundra and Taiga both start with a half block of snowfall on the ground. Next snowfall brings it to a full meter. I'd have said a quarter meter per snowfall but that's just going to start problems when you get to 3/4 snowblock. These two biomes can get a full two meters of snow. Arctic however can get 4 full meters of snow block before it stops stacking. This means that paths cleared through snow will fill up again if torches aren't places to stop them.
Exceptions being: Snow doesn't fall on glass or ice, only a half block on leaf blocks, snow does fall through leaves to simulate sideways snowfall. This checks if there is air below the leaves, how much, and fills it if it can. To keep snow from over stacking it also counts the number of snow blocks below where it's placing new ones. A solid block that isn't snow can have another placed on top. However, if the block below snow is in the air, it doesn't place a second. This keeps snow structures with interiors from growing on their own. If reasonable, make slabs and fences count as air blocks in this case.
An additional thought would be to have villagers and the player break partial snow layers just by walking on them (no drop). This would allow paths to form in snow for the player to backtrack and the impression that villages are taken care of. Had a thought. This would only work half the time as one snow fall would be half blocks but a second snowfall would be all full blocks.
Grass in Snow Biomes could use a different texture called: Ice Grass, that can be mined with silk-touch but otherwise just drops regular dirt. If placed in any other biomes it will 'melt' to normal grass.
The landscape generation is raised up to a minimum height of 100 blocks for Taiga, 110 for Tundra, and 120 blocks for Arctic.
The Arctic Biome is a generated directly on rock with a 2-4 blocks of ice and 2-3 blocks of snow. It has no trees, no plants at all. this is also the only place where Arctic villages generate. They are small igloos of 2-5 filled with patterned wool floors in grey and brown, furnaces and chests filled with fish and supplies. If their is water nearby there will also be an ice fishing hole.
Because of the unforgiving nature of this biome, it is never the player spawn point.
When snow falls in the Arctic Biome it plays a windy sound, the snow particles are more intense and visibility is decreased dramatically (like near the bedrock but white)
Ice: As of right now Ice melts quickly when light is placed next to it. The only way to light ice caves at all is to keep them separate from the torch by 2 blocks or by using redstone torches. I think the distance should be decreased by 1 in Tundra and Taiga and removed entirely in Arctic. (ice wouldn't melt in Arctic, though if broken and replaced with water it won't freeze again if properly lighted)
Ice is also currently very difficult to mine (silk touch) This needs to be changed to either be mineable with an iron pickaxe or have it drop the ice equivalent to cobblestone.
When I was working on these I decided to try changing the ice texture to be less simple, more blue, and less transparent. The result was quite nice but it only looks good in fully frozen regions. Implementing a tint scale like with the grass and water might be a good idea.
Trees, The Arctic Biome obviously doesn't have any as it is above the treeline, but technically Tundra shouldn't either. Tundra kinda means "treeless plane" Right now the Tundra has the oak, a tree that could never survive such frigid cold. Tundra can sustain a variety of bushes which can be seen when the snow melts and I've even seen the odd evergreen tree like the current Spruce.
Some thoughts on the Spruce:
Biome Specific mob textures. Depending on which biome a mob spawns in it could have a different texture. I put together some textures for the images here and you'll note they look a bit more snow related. Pig's are Boar, Cows are Yaks, zombies are frost zombies. creepers are still creepers but they have snow on them.
To keep from having snow faced mobs in the deep places under each biomes they revert to default when spawning 10 blocks below the biomes lowest generation point. (Because biomes should be generated by height more than by abstract temp and rainfall.)
There wouldn't need to be changes to every mob either. or every biomes. three versions including default at most.
Lastly I'd like to see the addition of a snow specific mob. The Mammoth. Large, Neutral until attacked, and drops leather and ivory. Ivory could be used in trading, turned into a full ivory block, carved to be decorative and potentially made into new, useful devices.
[Note that this is not yet a mob, just a model. If you would like to use it to make into a mob, sent me a PM and we can talk about it]
* 2 blocks of snow covering tundra and taiga (except on trees)
I guess my two main issues with snow is the stacking of snowballs and the way it looks visually.
Even one layer of snow block forming naturally would be a great improvement and a stack of 16 snowballs making 4 snow blocks is really sad. snow is basically four times harder to get than sand and even less so if you account for the way snowballs stack. Maybe if snow blocks didn't break into snowballs?
Silk touch solves these problems, yes, but digging around for diamonds, obsidian and everything needed to make books is just to much trouble to reasonably make snow defenses on you outdoor structures. My point is I'd like snow and ice be more useful.
Firstly? I freaking love this idea. In my world at the moment I'm busy constructing a tower in a windswept, snowed-in taiga... frankly, it doesn't feel snowy. It doesn't feel cold.
I honestly believe this could improve tundra/taiga/othersnowy biomes.
Even better would be if Ice over water became thin, traditional breaking ice and glacier ice became a thicker mine-able ice.
In relation to this; Ice already checks to see if there's a block underneath - if there is, the ice breaks into a water spring... correct? I think so. At least, that's what happens to me. So I don't know how difficult it would be to extend that check; if the block underneath is also ice, then the ice just mined has a decent chance of dropping an ice block. (Sometimes the ice just shatters, 'cause them's the breaks)
If the chance was dependent on the tool used, that could work too.
Wooden Pickaxe - 15-20 % chance of drop (Wood tends to smash, not chip! Wooden pickaxes suck, is what I'm saying)
Stone Pickaxe - 30 % chance (Stone can at least produce a point... but you're still using a rock to smash something rock-like)
Iron Pickaxe - 45-50 % chance (Hey, a real edge/point! Now we're talking!)
Diamond Pickaxe - 70-90 % chance (If you're nuts enough to waste a diamond pickaxe on ice, you deserve to get something!)
Quote from Eraed »
Snow blocks appearing naturally would really increase snow related construction.
You, and others, raise the issue of a snowy biome quickly being submerged in snow. Well - what if... Glass can't get covered in snow, right? Neither can ice. So we know that these checks exist. So:
1) If there is a dirt block and it's snowing, a layer of snow builds up on it.
2) If, next time a snowstorm comes along, there is a layer of snow still present, then a second layer forms. It's now a snow half-block
3) Third snowstorm = third layer (Essentially a half-block with a layer of snow... which I don't think can happen yet, so that'd need to happen)
4) Fourth snowfall - the snow layers now act as a single, full snow block.
After that, no more layers of snow can form (Or, like two layers at max) so as to prevent you from leaving a snowy biome for a year and coming back to a wall of goddamn snow between you and everything.
The idea is that a single full block takes a while to form. In the real world, most single snowfalls don't result in a full metre of snow being dumped... outside of blizzards, anyway.
for the polar biome there should be a way to make it so its night every 14 minecraft days and day every 9 minecraft days as in your would spend the equiviant to 14 minecraft days in night then day for 9 minecraft days
I like the idea of a polar biome and you seem to have thought about what it could have without overthinking it or making it too complicated.
The pictures looks really nice, too!
The only issue I would have is that spawning in a polar biome sounds like an almost instant game re-start. If it would be possible to make it so that you can't spawn in a polar biome, I'm all for this idea.
EDIT: I also think they should be relatively rare, and that tundra and polar biomes COMBINED should only spawn as frequently as tundra biomes do currently. Could you imagine encountering a massive tundra biome, and then a polar biome beyond that? I would probably ragequit lol. So yeah, make them large but rare, rarer than tundra, and also make tundra much more rare to compensate.
for the polar biome there should be a way to make it so its night every 14 minecraft days and day every 9 minecraft days as in your would spend the equiviant to 14 minecraft days in night then day for 9 minecraft days
I like the idea of a polar biome and you seem to have thought about what it could have without overthinking it or making it too complicated.
The pictures looks really nice, too!
The only issue I would have is that spawning in a polar biome sounds like an almost instant game re-start. If it would be possible to make it so that you can't spawn in a polar biome, I'm all for this idea.
That's quite possible. They've already done this with the mushroom island biome.
I really like this idea : D. Hope this gets implemented into Vanilla MC, especially the biome specific mob textures and Arctic biome :3
If I figure out more complex modding and have time I may be able to work on this. However, right now I can only arrange my ideas as best as possible. I am looking for a way to displaying 3-quarter view blocks though.
I've seen them around but not sure how they're being made. Not by hand I hope.
I like the idea of actually having snow blocks spawn instead dirt being everywhere. As for arctic villagers it would be cool if there were random igloos but there shouldn't be a mob to live in them.
I'm serious.
I'm going to start checking this out and stuff, you know, seeing what it would look like.
I'll post pictures when I do it.
Please do! I'd like to see what you come up with. Check the Photobucket link if you like. I'm trying to put all my (hack work) mods there as resources for people to use, change, develop.
I think that Spruces are fine, though, when they don't generate the super tall spruces with 9 blocks of leaves.
Ultimately this thread is my opinion, so I expect some people to disagree and have their own ideas. We'll discuss and develop these ideas as best as we can for the pleasure of the Great and Powerful Mojang.
If you give it a short bit of more time the Millenaire mod will have Inuits that you could ask Kinn if you could showcase in your mod in a sort of mod pack, a minor tweak on their villages txt files would be required to let them spawn in this new biome but not much difficulty really.
If you give it a short bit of more time the Millenaire mod will have Inuits that you could ask Kinn if you could showcase in your mod in a sort of mod pack, a minor tweak on their villages txt files would be required to let them spawn in this new biome but not much difficulty really.
Thanks for the idea but these suggestions are mostly meant for vanilla. I'm trying not to add any drastic changes to the game that I don't think really need to be done. I think Mojang really means to stay with their current villagers so at the most I might retexture them to be more snow resilient. Even that I don't feel comfortable touching on as it may delude the information from it's core purpose. There are some details in already that I'm considering editing for that exact reason.
Thanks for the idea but these suggestions are mostly meant for vanilla. I'm trying not to add any drastic changes to the game that I don't think really need to be done. I think Mojang really means to stay with their current villagers so at the most I might retexture them to be more snow resilient. Even that I don't feel comfortable touching on as it may delude the information from it's core purpose. There are some details in already that I'm considering editing for that exact reason.
Of course Minecraft is keeping the Testificates, but... they can't compare to Millenaire?
Quests, personality, money, historically accurate cultures, village growth, etc etc, while all the testificates have are money and that isn't even implemented yet.
The Inuits are Native Americans who lived in the Artic btw.
First. Snowball stacking really sucks. What's needed is naturally forming snow as a half block that can stack to 64 and be crafted into snow blocks or snowballs. In addition, snow blocks no longer break into snowballs if you use a shovel. They still do if you use something else.(2 for a half block and 4 to a whole block)
THE ONES ABOVE HAVE HEARD OUR CRIES!
Snapshot 12w05a
Fully implemented multiple snow heights
We hope to see more in the future!
Now, about snowfall. Tundra and Taiga both start with a half block of snowfall on the ground. Next snowfall brings it to a full meter.
I'd have said a quarter meter per snowfall but that's just going to start problems when you get to 3/4 snowblock.These two biomes can get a full two meters of snow. Arctic however can get 4 full meters of snow block before it stops stacking. This means that paths cleared through snow will fill up again if torches aren't places to stop them.Exceptions being: Snow doesn't fall on glass or ice, only a half block on leaf blocks, snow does fall through leaves to simulate sideways snowfall. This checks if there is air below the leaves, how much, and fills it if it can. To keep snow from over stacking it also counts the number of snow blocks below where it's placing new ones. A solid block that isn't snow can have another placed on top. However, if the block below snow is in the air, it doesn't place a second. This keeps snow structures with interiors from growing on their own. If reasonable, make slabs and fences count as air blocks in this case.
An additional thought would be to have villagers and the player break partial snow layers just by walking on them (no drop). This would allow paths to form in snow for the player to backtrack and the impression that villages are taken care of.Had a thought. This would only work half the time as one snow fall would be half blocks but a second snowfall would be all full blocks.Grass in Snow Biomes could use a different texture called: Ice Grass, that can be mined with silk-touch but otherwise just drops regular dirt. If placed in any other biomes it will 'melt' to normal grass.
The landscape generation is raised up to a minimum height of 100 blocks for Taiga, 110 for Tundra, and 120 blocks for Arctic.
The Arctic Biome is a generated directly on rock with a 2-4 blocks of ice and 2-3 blocks of snow. It has no trees, no plants at all. this is also the only place where Arctic villages generate. They are small igloos of 2-5 filled with patterned wool floors in grey and brown, furnaces and chests filled with fish and supplies. If their is water nearby there will also be an ice fishing hole.
Because of the unforgiving nature of this biome, it is never the player spawn point.
When snow falls in the Arctic Biome it plays a windy sound, the snow particles are more intense and visibility is decreased dramatically (like near the bedrock but white)
Ice: As of right now Ice melts quickly when light is placed next to it. The only way to light ice caves at all is to keep them separate from the torch by 2 blocks or by using redstone torches. I think the distance should be decreased by 1 in Tundra and Taiga and removed entirely in Arctic. (ice wouldn't melt in Arctic, though if broken and replaced with water it won't freeze again if properly lighted)
Ice is also currently very difficult to mine (silk touch) This needs to be changed to either be mineable with an iron pickaxe or have it drop the ice equivalent to cobblestone.
When I was working on these I decided to try changing the ice texture to be less simple, more blue, and less transparent. The result was quite nice but it only looks good in fully frozen regions. Implementing a tint scale like with the grass and water might be a good idea.
Trees, The Arctic Biome obviously doesn't have any as it is above the treeline, but technically Tundra shouldn't either. Tundra kinda means "treeless plane" Right now the Tundra has the oak, a tree that could never survive such frigid cold. Tundra can sustain a variety of bushes which can be seen when the snow melts and I've even seen the odd evergreen tree like the current Spruce.
Some thoughts on the Spruce:
Biome Specific mob textures. Depending on which biome a mob spawns in it could have a different texture. I put together some textures for the images here and you'll note they look a bit more snow related. Pig's are Boar, Cows are Yaks, zombies are frost zombies. creepers are still creepers but they have snow on them.
To keep from having snow faced mobs in the deep places under each biomes they revert to default when spawning 10 blocks below the biomes lowest generation point. (Because biomes should be generated by height more than by abstract temp and rainfall.)
There wouldn't need to be changes to every mob either. or every biomes. three versions including default at most.
Lastly I'd like to see the addition of a snow specific mob. The Mammoth. Large, Neutral until attacked, and drops leather and ivory. Ivory could be used in trading, turned into a full ivory block, carved to be decorative and potentially made into new, useful devices.
[Note that this is not yet a mob, just a model. If you would like to use it to make into a mob, sent me a PM and we can talk about it]
* 2 blocks of snow covering tundra and taiga (except on trees)
* New
Polaror Arctic Biome.* Natural forming icicles?
* Snow Villages.
* Better Snowfall.
* Better ways to mine ice and snow.
*Ice Grass block.
* Re-skin Mobs by biomes.
*Mammoth
All Textures and images are found here: http://s135.photobuc...jack/Minecraft/
Worth checking out this thread I found on Glaciers. Similar thoughts and ideas but different solutions. http://www.minecraft...heard-me-right/
Even one layer of snow block forming naturally would be a great improvement and a stack of 16 snowballs making 4 snow blocks is really sad. snow is basically four times harder to get than sand and even less so if you account for the way snowballs stack. Maybe if snow blocks didn't break into snowballs?
Silk touch solves these problems, yes, but digging around for diamonds, obsidian and everything needed to make books is just to much trouble to reasonably make snow defenses on you outdoor structures. My point is I'd like snow and ice be more useful.
I honestly believe this could improve tundra/taiga/othersnowy biomes.
In relation to this; Ice already checks to see if there's a block underneath - if there is, the ice breaks into a water spring... correct? I think so. At least, that's what happens to me. So I don't know how difficult it would be to extend that check; if the block underneath is also ice, then the ice just mined has a decent chance of dropping an ice block. (Sometimes the ice just shatters, 'cause them's the breaks)
If the chance was dependent on the tool used, that could work too.
Wooden Pickaxe - 15-20 % chance of drop (Wood tends to smash, not chip! Wooden pickaxes suck, is what I'm saying)
Stone Pickaxe - 30 % chance (Stone can at least produce a point... but you're still using a rock to smash something rock-like)
Iron Pickaxe - 45-50 % chance (Hey, a real edge/point! Now we're talking!)
Diamond Pickaxe - 70-90 % chance (If you're nuts enough to waste a diamond pickaxe on ice, you deserve to get something!)
You, and others, raise the issue of a snowy biome quickly being submerged in snow. Well - what if... Glass can't get covered in snow, right? Neither can ice. So we know that these checks exist. So:
1) If there is a dirt block and it's snowing, a layer of snow builds up on it.
2) If, next time a snowstorm comes along, there is a layer of snow still present, then a second layer forms. It's now a snow half-block
3) Third snowstorm = third layer (Essentially a half-block with a layer of snow... which I don't think can happen yet, so that'd need to happen)
4) Fourth snowfall - the snow layers now act as a single, full snow block.
After that, no more layers of snow can form (Or, like two layers at max) so as to prevent you from leaving a snowy biome for a year and coming back to a wall of goddamn snow between you and everything.
The idea is that a single full block takes a while to form. In the real world, most single snowfalls don't result in a full metre of snow being dumped... outside of blizzards, anyway.
http://s135.photobuc...jack/Minecraft/
The pictures looks really nice, too!
The only issue I would have is that spawning in a polar biome sounds like an almost instant game re-start. If it would be possible to make it so that you can't spawn in a polar biome, I'm all for this idea.
EDIT: I also think they should be relatively rare, and that tundra and polar biomes COMBINED should only spawn as frequently as tundra biomes do currently. Could you imagine encountering a massive tundra biome, and then a polar biome beyond that? I would probably ragequit lol. So yeah, make them large but rare, rarer than tundra, and also make tundra much more rare to compensate.
Technically it wouldn't apply to the poles as minecraft is a giant flat endless world. However there are threads that discuss the topic or a round earth or small map game types. Like this one: http://www.minecraftforum.net/topic/967082-make-the-world-round/page__hl__round+earth__fromsearch__1
That's quite possible. They've already done this with the mushroom island biome.
If I figure out more complex modding and have time I may be able to work on this. However, right now I can only arrange my ideas as best as possible. I am looking for a way to displaying 3-quarter view blocks though.
I've seen them around but not sure how they're being made. Not by hand I hope.
How did you make such a sick signature btw?
It helps to have Photoshop experience. The hardest part for me was when I ran into trouble posting it. Signatures are a bit finicky.
I'm serious.
I'm going to start checking this out and stuff, you know, seeing what it would look like.
I'll post pictures when I do it. I think that Spruces are fine, though, when they don't generate the super tall spruces with 9 blocks of leaves.
Thank you guys
Please do! I'd like to see what you come up with. Check the Photobucket link if you like. I'm trying to put all my (hack work) mods there as resources for people to use, change, develop.
Ultimately this thread is my opinion, so I expect some people to disagree and have their own ideas. We'll discuss and develop these ideas as best as we can for the pleasure of the Great and Powerful Mojang.
http://www.minecraftforum.net/topic/1401777-earn-a-good-or-evil-reputation-with-the-villagers/
Click here if you support more interaction with the Villagers!
they could have snow golems, but a new type where the snow balls inflict damage!
SUPPORT THEM!!!!! (also if your a new please click on the picture)
Hmmm. I hate to make Golem suggestions but I would enjoy seeing a larger snow golem with melee attacks.
player.me/felinoel
Thanks for the idea but these suggestions are mostly meant for vanilla. I'm trying not to add any drastic changes to the game that I don't think really need to be done. I think Mojang really means to stay with their current villagers so at the most I might retexture them to be more snow resilient. Even that I don't feel comfortable touching on as it may delude the information from it's core purpose. There are some details in already that I'm considering editing for that exact reason.
Quests, personality, money, historically accurate cultures, village growth, etc etc, while all the testificates have are money and that isn't even implemented yet.
The Inuits are Native Americans who lived in the Artic btw.
player.me/felinoel