Minecraft Forums

My attention is being leeched away. I continue to think more and more, every day, that this is just one huge trolling.

We have one video, and several pictures, These are old, and the OP is conflicting with itself.

Until I see some new pictures/footage, I'm going to say that this mod is a lie, and all just an extremely successful trolling.

If you actually think that this mod is a whole big lie than you sir are either stupid, or extremely misinformed. It's one thing to think little progress is being made, but it's a completely other thing to think that the project is a whole big lie designed to "troll" people. Yeah, "Har har har" I'm going to go through all that trouble of faking these screenshots to troll people. I don't know if you've noticed, but I've been so busy with the Aether that I haven't had the time to update my personal mod called "Minecraft Advanced". All of the content in those pictures are not possible to "fake", we would have to literally make them before we could take screenshots. Really, are you serious or just trolling? Because right now your logic is so flawed I'm actually face-palming. It's been stated several times that the generation is not the problem, it's LIGHTING calculations. When generating the Aether (and thus, going through the portal) the lighting calculates slightly above one billion times, which almost crashes Java. In the process, it takes six minutes for it to even respond. I hardly want to release the mod in such a state, so until it's fixed you're going to have to wait.

Also, if you think that a moderator (which is considered staff of the website) and two highly respected modders of the community would actually create a fake mod or troll an entire group of followers (plus all of my fellow coders which I talk to in the IRC channel), then you seriously need to rethink your logic.

Now, GreyAcumen, here's my reply to your much-appreciated feedback:

No issues with this. Dropping golden apples is fine when the Golden trees have a certain level of rarity. I would recommend making it so that Bonemeal wont work on golden saplings unless you use some pretty heavy enchantments on it. (and even then should only have something like a 10% chance of working)
Farming Golden apples should not be easy.

I'm fine with this, it makes a lot of sense too considering how the resources the tree yields.

I actually quite like the idea of having a "Wood Ore" style block, but I really do hope that it requires an Axe of some kind to access.

Yeah I coded this in just a few minutes ago. They now require Zanite axes and above in order to chop down.

Personal opinion here, but I think that the "golden orbs" should be replaced with, or even just renamed to "Golden Amber" It'll emphasize its tree origins, still work for crafting the items already using golden orbs, and possibly even open up new crafting recipes.

That's a pretty cool idea, I'll see what I can do.

I'm a little iffy about the golden orbs being used for compasses. I don't see any reason why Aether should need it's own compass. It has access to sky so it DOES have direction. Lapis Lazuli is also already a material that is perfect for making compasses that point where the player chooses, as this is apparently the material the compass from Pirates of the Caribbean was made from. Even if it would have to be run through the enchanter to work, I'd rather see existing materials be given new functions, especially when their current function is only aesthetic, than give those same functions to a new item.

Well the Compasses that we currently have for the Aether point to the last portal you entered/left. The generation in its current state isn't as advanced as we plan it to be, so right now a lot of the world feels repetitive and you can easily get lost. Don't worry about this though, the generation is only placeholder for the first version (Beta V0.1). Full release (V1.0) will basically have a completely recoded generation which is more advanced and random.

I don't like Ice stone, but that's mostly because I'm a proponent of Gloomwood and Snowballs being used to freeze water into ice.

The uses for freezing Water into Ice with Gloomwood/Snowballs is completely different from Icestone. As far as I can remember from the last time I read your suggestion thread, Gloomwood/Snowballs would be used in the Freezer to freeze Buckets of Water into Ice blocks. This was useful because for the first time in Minecraft you can actually place your own Ice blocks. Icestone, on the other hand, can only freeze surrounding water, thus you cannot actually gain the Ice blocks for your own personal uses. Icestone is great for making bridges across lakes and rivers, and even for stopping large water flows within caves. Gloomwood/Snowballs would be for gaining the Ice itself.

Rather than referring to this as a "lack" of oxygen, it might be better to just say that Aether's Oxygen is non-flammable.

This also seems reasonable. I don't think we really need to get too technical anyway, it is Minecraft after all. A bit of realism doesn't hurt though.

I still feel that more emphasis needs to be placed on the possibility of using redstone torches, glowstone blocks, and lava (which should still be placeable in the aether, but just not be able to set things on fire) for lighting those rare dark area in the aether.

Ambrosium isn't as easy to get as other people predict it will be. It can be considered the "Aether" equivalent of Coal, and in a way it is. However, considering that you find these Shards underneath islands rather than caves, you still have to risk your life in order to gain them. Because Shards are going to be used for a lot enchanting and health regeneration, it's far easier to use Glowstone for a light-source.

I'll be honest. I liked the "PokeMoa!" style better, and I REALLY don't like the idea of Breeding the dumb things.

"Dumb things"? I thought you were beginning to like Moas. The "PokeMoa!" mechanic didn't really work as we had hoped. It wasn't necessarily boring, but it wasn't fun either. The problem with it was the fact that it was too easy to tame them. I think the Moa should feel like a HUGE privilege to use, because they as a transport are so useful in the Aether that they are almost necessary. Making them harder to tame will make Moas feel like a much more rewarding form of transportation than if you simply throw an egg at them. Breeding isn't such a bad idea, I don't understand what you have against it. Each off-spring still has to be tamed like any other Moa, it's just that you can do this in captivity rather than wandering out in the open to search for one. Moas are also great sources of Feathers, so you can easily farm them with this feature. Each breed will have separate and unique attributes, so they aren't just simple reskins of the same model. One might be faster but with less jumps, or one might be able to float in the air longer. I don't know yet.

I do rather like the leash, but if it's going to work on both wolves and moas I don't feel it should use Aether material.

The leash can be both made with Aether materials and Surface materials, since both require a type of wood and it would be silly if the player couldn't make a leash in the Aether just because it is Skyroot Logs instead of normal Logs.

I'm guessing that the leash will work similarly to the fishing rod, where you just end up with a line drawn between the player and the mob on the leash.

I don't really think it would be too useful to simply have a line between your character and the mob. Instead, we've just made it that upon right clicking a mob with the leash, for example a wolf, it would change into a "Leashed Wolf" item. Right-clicking again would release the mob back into the world. This allows Wolves to enter the Aether with you. Essentially, it's exactly the same as the "PokeMoa" concept, just with a different name.

While I'm totally behind the style of poison being used (screen disorientation, random directions, etc rather than HP draining) I still generally don't like the idea of poison being something introduced by the Aether.

While the name might be a little misleading (Aechor Plant), these mobs actually originate from the Nether. I'm quite keen on the idea of subtle stories within Minecraft, so I've been playing around with a few plots for the mod. There are two plains: the Nether, which is a network of desolate, fiery caverns filled with bloodstained Cobblestone and sticky Soulsand which lies beneath the very soil of our Minecraft world, and the Aether, which is a collection of floating plains and islands, all connected together to create an opposite dimension of the skies. As you already know, these two plains are completely opposite in almost every way. A subtle plot idea that I had was that the blocks, creatures and shadows of the Nether all have an urge to "Plague" and "Spread" to anything which is pure. In some rare areas of the Aether, you would find small patches of Netherrack and Soulsand which have been placed there by Nether creatures in effort to corrupt the surrounding environment. On these patches you'll find large, poisonous vegetation: otherwise known as Aechor Plants (I might change the name now, since it does really sound like a plant which originates from the Aether). I also plan to have rare "weather" events called "Portal Storms". Basically, dark shadows will start forming in that particular area and Nether portal blocks will appear in random locations. Ghasts and other planned flying Nether creatures will escape from the portals and destroy blocks in the area (still no direct damage, since these Ghasts will be another entity which only destroys blocks). In retaliation, warriors of the Aether called Valkyries will slowly fight off the flood of monsters and then the event will end. Another idea I had was that Glowstone actually originates from the Aether, and the only reason you find them in the Nether is because it is an effort of the Valkyries to "purify" the Nether (so in a way both areas are trying to take over the other). I could either see you really hating this idea, or being "okay" with it. I'm going to guess you dislike it, but I'm really in favor of it because I really feel that the player needs some more interaction with its environment. Being able to help Valkyries fight off indirect damaging (but still deadly) Ghasts in order to speed up the retaliation is a very good way to motivate the player to interact with such events.

My other issue is that it's a BUCKET of poison. I'm just generally feeling tired of the bucket. Couldn't we shift this feature onto bowls? Give them another use besides just mushroom soup? Plus an entire bucket of poison jut feels like a bit too much. A bowl of poison seems more like a normal dose that would be made at any particular time. (assassins carry "vials" of poison with them, not entire barrels of it)
On top of that, normal bowls are already made from wood, so it makes sense that Aether wood would also make bowls.

I guess it wouldn't hurt to change this. I just felt it wasn't necessary to create yet another item when we could just use buckets instead.

I'm not sure how I feel about this. I've already had in idea for using reeds to create a blowgun and cactus and wool to make the darts for it; extremely low damage, no knockback at all, probably not an incredibly high firing rate,(possibly even draining the oxygen meter when you use it?) but incredibly cheap materials.
This apparently operates through a different mechanism, apparently revolving around the properties of Zanite?
If this ends up being too powerful, slowing down the speed of the projectile could probably go a long way towards balancing it.

We've balanced it so that while the Darts are extremely accurate and fast (much faster than Arrows), they do very little damage and have a small period in-between firing where you need to "reload" the dart. This is all automatically done, and you will simply hear a small sound to make the player aware of what is happening, but it definitely makes the Dart Shooter a much more specialized ranged form of weaponry rather than a Bow where you can literally use in any situation. I can see Dart Shooters only being used from far away distances, kind of like Snipers.

I'll be honest. I'm not so sure the "moving in random directions" would really help all that much with fighting any particular mobs. If anything it might just make them harder to accurately hit them. It would make them easier to run from though.

Poison on Darts also inflicts small bursts of damages periodically because the dose of poison is more concentrated than on the needles of Aechor Plants. So while it might be slightly harder to aim (which from personal experiences, it isn't), you will still inflict those small bursts of damage on your enemy.

So as I'm understanding this, it's not so much that a bronze key is needed to unlock a bronze chest, and a gold key is needed for a gold chest, but all keys can work on any chest, but using a better key gets you better items from the same chest?

That is more or less correct, except for one detail (which I probably worded wrong within the description). There is only one type of chest, and it is simply a Locked Chest. Using a higher-level key (such as a Gold Key) will give you better rewards upon opening the chest, while using a lower-level key (such as a Bronze Key) will give you poorer rewards.

I feel like there should be a way to combine keys together, like 4-9 bronze keys can be crafted together to make a silver key, and 4-9 silver keys can be crafted together to make a gold key. It seems a little unfair that luck of the draw would decide how difficult the boss mob that you're fighting would be. you might have been willing to go after a boss that would drop a gold key, but the map keeps giving you bronze level bosses only?

This seems reasonable. I'll see what I can do.

I'm still not too big on the idea of Boss mobs in the Aether, and still stand by my "no directly damaging enemies" position, but the key idea itself is rather neat, and might even benefit Nether dungeons proposed in the New Nether.

Apart from the Boss mobs, all mobs within the Aether STILL deal non-direct damage to the player. However, even though the Boss mobs deal "direct" damage to the player, they still are quite unique and different to what you might imagine. For example: The first Bronze Boss is a statue which keeps self-replicating itself, and a light beam continuously bounces off each clone. Once the Boss replicates itself so much that it is spread out enough, the beam has enough room for it to bounce off one of the clones and hit you several times. While there is a cap as to how many times the Boss can replicate itself, it can still be challenging to defeat them. In a way, the whole fight is a Time Trial: if you kill it earlier you don't have to deal with so many clones. If you keep it alive for too long it can get quite hard to kill all of its replicas while dodging one very fast-travelling beam.

Interesting concept, though to continue the "gold used in enchantments" theme it could be set to only work on gold records. That's just a thought though.

Not a bad idea I guess. I just wanted it to be easier to access, so I made it that you could enchant either Record. Either way it doesn't really matter.

Floatsand was another block I wasn't sure was even going to be feasible

It's actually incredibly easy, and we have a few plans to make it easier for the player to control once they have mined them. I'll get back to you on this one.

I'm wondering if the idea for hoverglass will also be included or if that one really would be too complex.

I haven't even heard of that block yet. Mind giving me a brief explanation?

Either way I'm wondering if they're sticking with the plans to make the Hover/Float armor from these blocks (no real defense, but much better jump distance (both length and height) for each piece of float armor being worn.

This ability has been reserved for Gravitite Armour.

I'm a little sad about the apparent absence of Aetherrock. I had been under the impression that one actually was feasible. It was one of my favorites out of the blocks, both for how effective of a hazard it would have been and how useful it could have been to the player. Plus that was perfect for creating camo armor, that instead of offering physical defenses from damage would instead make it easier for the player to get near mobs without drawing aggro.

It is possible to create. We just didn't like it all that much to include it. It may appear in an update after Beta V0.1, but currently we don't feel it is too necessary to include on day one. I also felt that it was a bit harsh on the player because of how hard it is to detect whether a block is Aetherrock or not. I'm all for making the environment the player's enemy, but I really don't like that you can fall off an island to some misleading rock which otherwise looks like the real deal. It's not a fun concept is what I'm trying to say. I do, however, like the Camo-armour idea. I'll see what I can compromise.

I don't like the idea of Aerwhale Nests. Actually, I'm incredibly strongly opposed to Aerwhale nests, possibly even moreso than I am to breeding Moas and using poison.
Aerwhale Nests makes them come across as doofy looking birds. I personally feel that Aerwhales should be able to use their Aerwhale bladder to remain floating effortlessly, and thus treat the air as if it were water. Real Whales don't make nests, they just float in the water. Making Aerwhales use nests would not only ruin a lot of the magic that makes them so enjoyable, but it would also ruin some of the science to them as well.
(I know the Zelda: Link's Awakening had the wind fish, a creature very similar to the aerwhale, inside of an egg that was in a nest on a mountain, but the Wind Fish wasn't HATCHING from that egg, it was TRAPPED in that egg)

The idea I had was that the infant Aerwhales were still developing their bladders during their first few months after birth, so they couldn't immediately fly into the air. Basically, the "Nest" (which is probably a bad name, I'll see what I can do) would take up a 1x4 flat area like so:




Nests would be guarded by one mob called a King Aerwhale. Pods consists of one male and the rest female. The females roam freely, digesting and collecting blue clouds and leaves for the baby Aerwhales within the Nest, while the male Aerwhale (King Aerwhale) would protect the Nest from Moa birds which would love to nip on vulnerable baby Aerwhales. King Aerwhales would be larger, horned versions of females. Instead of directly damaging the player if they get too close, the King Aerwhale will simply charge at them and attempt to push them off the cliff. Nests are found on circular platforms of dirt. Nests also act as Aerwhale spawners (female Aerwhales, not male Aerwhales).

I'm not sure if you like the idea or not, but I think it would be pretty cool to give them an actual living pattern rather than just randomly floating whales which do nothing with the environment.

The Aerwhale bladder should be for making airships, plain and simple.

I don't see the point in having over-lapping roles. Moas already act as very good transports, there's no reason in adding yet another transport which basically does the same thing.

I approve most of those ideas. Except the netherrack patches thing and the portal storms. I would hate that. I would abolish that. The intention is good, but i don't wanna have ghasts to ruin the aether.

The current Nether (in Vanilla Minecraft) is a lot less dangerous than the Aether. The Aether has so many environmental hazards and mobs which are trying to kill you that, when it comes down to, the Aether isn't such a friendly place after all. If you're afraid that the Ghasts will make the Aether harder, then be assured it won't.