OK. I know monkeys have been suggested before, and I have done a search on this and read many of the posts. The thing is, the suggestions have largely been "We want monkeys" and not much more than that. So here is a more fleshed out idea.
Summary
=======
Monkeys live in jungle biomes only, mostly in the upper sections of trees. They are hostile in that they steal food from the player - if the player has no food they will not attack. Once food is stolen, they run away and climb to the tops of the nearest tree to eat the food. They can attack in groups.
Health Points = 10 (half that of a zombie, quite weak)
Armour points = 2
Attack Strength (only if they take damage do they attack)
Easy = 1
Normal = 2
Hard = 3
Spawn = Top of jungle trees, any light level, must be in jungle biome.
Appearance
==========
Brown mostly, which can make them difficult to see if they are on a tree trunk. When climbing they are a 2x1 shape (like the character), when on the ground a 1x2 shape (like a pig). Long tail, like an ocelot.
Uses
====
Monkeys are food thieves, and if they have stolen the players food, they will drop this - less any that has been eaten (see behavior). If the monkey is killed before it has stolen any players food, then it will drop 0-2 bananas, which is a new food type (See below).
Behavior
========
Monkeys have some special features - they can climb THROUGH leaves, unlike the player, but can also travel ON them if they wish (like the player). On wood they can travel on the underside (ie hang of the bottom face of a block) - which even a spider can't do. On the ground they travel as fast as the player (the player is faster if they sprint), and when climbing they are as fast as a player climbing a ladder/vine. Monkeys can but do not need vines to climb, they can climb on bare wood. Monkeys take less fall damage than most mobs, only starting to take damage after 10 blocks. Their signature attack is to drop very near the player (sometimes even ON them!), grab the food, and then climb back up the tree to the top. When a monkey grabs food, they take one whole STACK of food. Rotten flesh or uncooked meat is not considered food. A monkey will only fight back if attacked, and if it has stolen food, it will continue to flee instead.
Once a monkey gets to the top of a tree, it will start to eat the players food, with a 30 second pause between each meal. It will eat up to 5 items before stopping, keeping the rest. If the monster despawns, the food is lost. A monkey can be seen holding the food, like another player - so you can see which monkey in a group has your food. If all the food is eaten, then the monkey or group can re-attack.
Monkeys live in groups of 1-4, and like to attack a player as a group. In this way, if a player is fighting one monkey, another may get a successful steal in. Once one monkey gets some food, they ALL scramble the the nearest tree. In this way, even if a group attacks you will only lose on stack of food.
Monkeys can also open and steal food from CHESTS (but not an enderchest).
A monkey will not go underground - there must be natural light overhead (similar to the rules of where grass spawns). Monkeys will try to be within 10 squares of the nearest tree trunk.
Weakness
========
Monkeys hate dogs and fire, and will actively move away from them (torches do not count as fire). Monkeys give quite a loud "uh-uh" sound which warns the players of their presence, even if they can't see them. When they successful steal from the player, they let of a distinctive screech.
Bananas
=======
Bananas give you 4 hearts of health back, but you can not over-eat with them. When you eat a banana, you get a banana skin, which when placed on the ground makes that block "slippery". If a mob or player walks on this block, they slide on it similar to ice but more pronounced - you can not change direction easily at all.
=============================
So... what do you think? I know there is a lot of difficult coding in these behaviors - so I'm not holding my breath. I think they would be cool, with a different twist to them compared to other mobs which just deal damage. They indirectly harm the player mostly by depleting resources. Anyway, if you like/don't like this - or think it should be tweaked in some way - discuss!
I enjoy alot of the ideas mentioned, but, even better, maybe (after offering alot of food to them, and I mean ALOT) you have a chance to tame them so that they may become pets?
Tame monkey? I suppose so, although I wanted them to be a mob to contend with. I think you would have to offer them a banana - but what use could a tame monkey be? Perhaps a way to "fetch" things in a distance by asking your monkey to get it? I'm not sure how that would work...but it might.
Like so many things in minecraft - once you think of a way of changing or improving something, it just exposes more things you could change/improve.
One issue with the idea is how the monkeys should behave if the player is already at the top of a tree. I was considering they could have a "leap" special ability also, so that they can jump from tree to tree to escape. That would make them pretty darn hard to beat however. Fighting on top of a tree has it's own risks though - if they have even a little knockback it's a LONG way down for the player. If there is a group of them.. well.. I'm not sure i'd be game. Still, they'd be easy to pick off with a bow. .... Hmmmm....
LIke the banana idea. Could make for useful traps.
The monkey idea is quite nice as well. Only thing that's a bit 'meh' would be how much food they take.
If they take a whole stack EACH, and they travel in packs of 4, that's alot of missing food.
(Although I doubt you would carry more than a stack of any food on you anyway)
Also, the 'Stealing food from chests' idea seems pretty useless, if they have to have overhead light for them to even want to go any specific place.. So how would they get to any type of chest, when almost all chests are inside a house?
...
Also, the 'Stealing food from chests' idea seems pretty useless, if they have to have overhead light for them to even want to go any specific place.. So how would they get to any type of chest, when almost all chests are inside a house?
I agree, it is unlikely that many chest s would be looted. On the other hand, if chests were unsafe everywhere - that would be a bad thing also. There has to be a balance somewhere. It seems reasonable that if you are underground or in a house, you are safe from monkeys, don't you think?
The stealing animation needs to take a few seconds to prevent new players from losing stacks of food easily when traversing jungles. Other than that I support.
Summary
=======
Monkeys live in jungle biomes only, mostly in the upper sections of trees. They are hostile in that they steal food from the player - if the player has no food they will not attack. Once food is stolen, they run away and climb to the tops of the nearest tree to eat the food. They can attack in groups.
Health Points = 10 (half that of a zombie, quite weak)
Armour points = 2
Attack Strength (only if they take damage do they attack)
Easy = 1
Normal = 2
Hard = 3
Spawn = Top of jungle trees, any light level, must be in jungle biome.
Appearance
==========
Brown mostly, which can make them difficult to see if they are on a tree trunk. When climbing they are a 2x1 shape (like the character), when on the ground a 1x2 shape (like a pig). Long tail, like an ocelot.
Uses
====
Monkeys are food thieves, and if they have stolen the players food, they will drop this - less any that has been eaten (see behavior). If the monkey is killed before it has stolen any players food, then it will drop 0-2 bananas, which is a new food type (See below).
Behavior
========
Monkeys have some special features - they can climb THROUGH leaves, unlike the player, but can also travel ON them if they wish (like the player). On wood they can travel on the underside (ie hang of the bottom face of a block) - which even a spider can't do. On the ground they travel as fast as the player (the player is faster if they sprint), and when climbing they are as fast as a player climbing a ladder/vine. Monkeys can but do not need vines to climb, they can climb on bare wood. Monkeys take less fall damage than most mobs, only starting to take damage after 10 blocks. Their signature attack is to drop very near the player (sometimes even ON them!), grab the food, and then climb back up the tree to the top. When a monkey grabs food, they take one whole STACK of food. Rotten flesh or uncooked meat is not considered food. A monkey will only fight back if attacked, and if it has stolen food, it will continue to flee instead.
Once a monkey gets to the top of a tree, it will start to eat the players food, with a 30 second pause between each meal. It will eat up to 5 items before stopping, keeping the rest. If the monster despawns, the food is lost. A monkey can be seen holding the food, like another player - so you can see which monkey in a group has your food. If all the food is eaten, then the monkey or group can re-attack.
Monkeys live in groups of 1-4, and like to attack a player as a group. In this way, if a player is fighting one monkey, another may get a successful steal in. Once one monkey gets some food, they ALL scramble the the nearest tree. In this way, even if a group attacks you will only lose on stack of food.
Monkeys can also open and steal food from CHESTS (but not an enderchest).
A monkey will not go underground - there must be natural light overhead (similar to the rules of where grass spawns). Monkeys will try to be within 10 squares of the nearest tree trunk.
Weakness
========
Monkeys hate dogs and fire, and will actively move away from them (torches do not count as fire). Monkeys give quite a loud "uh-uh" sound which warns the players of their presence, even if they can't see them. When they successful steal from the player, they let of a distinctive screech.
Bananas
=======
Bananas give you 4 hearts of health back, but you can not over-eat with them. When you eat a banana, you get a banana skin, which when placed on the ground makes that block "slippery". If a mob or player walks on this block, they slide on it similar to ice but more pronounced - you can not change direction easily at all.
=============================
So... what do you think? I know there is a lot of difficult coding in these behaviors - so I'm not holding my breath. I think they would be cool, with a different twist to them compared to other mobs which just deal damage. They indirectly harm the player mostly by depleting resources. Anyway, if you like/don't like this - or think it should be tweaked in some way - discuss!
My only concern is that it would be incredibly difficult fighting them with all the "bushes" on the grounds of jungles.
But I still offer my support to this idea.
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!
KAWAII MONSTER
Tame monkey? I suppose so, although I wanted them to be a mob to contend with. I think you would have to offer them a banana - but what use could a tame monkey be? Perhaps a way to "fetch" things in a distance by asking your monkey to get it? I'm not sure how that would work...but it might.
Like so many things in minecraft - once you think of a way of changing or improving something, it just exposes more things you could change/improve.
He actually is? Source.
The monkey idea is quite nice as well. Only thing that's a bit 'meh' would be how much food they take.
If they take a whole stack EACH, and they travel in packs of 4, that's alot of missing food.
(Although I doubt you would carry more than a stack of any food on you anyway)
Also, the 'Stealing food from chests' idea seems pretty useless, if they have to have overhead light for them to even want to go any specific place.. So how would they get to any type of chest, when almost all chests are inside a house?
I agree, it is unlikely that many chest s would be looted. On the other hand, if chests were unsafe everywhere - that would be a bad thing also. There has to be a balance somewhere. It seems reasonable that if you are underground or in a house, you are safe from monkeys, don't you think?
this forum = the most disgusting thing ever