With the introduction of tridents in the Update Aquatic, Minecraft’s combat field looks to be receiving new interest from Mojang again. Currently, we have four basic categories of weapon: melee (swords, axes, tridents, etc.), area-of-effect (harming potions and TNT) and ranged (bows, with a very small element of tridents). With the wide variety of melee and AoE tools available for combat, I think it’s high time we get another newcomer; something that can fill niches currently left empty by the Bow.
Meet the Musket.
Wait, what? Guns?
Yeah.
“But that doesn’t fit at all! Isn’t Minecraft a game of medieval fantasy?”
Nope. We’ve got things like TNT (invented 1863), jukeboxes (invented in the 1890s), furnace minecarts (invented 1803), chocolate-chip cookies (invented 1937), pumpkin pie (invented between 1620-1690), and daylight sensors (invented in the 1950s). To quantify any sort of tech level for Minecraft is an impossible job.
But what Minecraft does have is a theme. It’s a world of adventure, wonder, and exploration. A world like ours before we knew precisely what lay at the borders of the maps. Certainly, I wouldn’t like automatic rifles, phones, or cars any more than you would. But what better tool to defend yourself with than the very muskets that the great explorers carried during their voyages?
“That sounds reasonable, but I’m worried about the rating. Wouldn’t it not be family friendly anymore if people were blasting each other with muskets?”
Nope. Minecraft’s rated Everyone 10+. That means you can have fantasy, cartoon, or realistic but mild violence, mild strong language, and even minimal suggestive themes. Really, a musket- which has a “boom”, a cloud of smoke, and your target flashing red as they’re hit- is no different than a sword in terms of violence- and it’s certainly less than a bow, which leaves arrows poking out of your foe in a macabre fashion. With all that in mind, it's hard to believe that an old musket would do anything different; after all, the fact that you can commit arson, bomb buildings, and set animals on fire in Minecraft has never gone an inch toward swaying its ratings.
Behavior
Now that we’ve established why it’d fit, let’s establish what it’d do.
Note: In the 3rd recipe, the Clay stands in for the Musket Ball.
The Musket itself has 251 units of durability, just like any other iron tool. It uses Musket Balls for ammo, which are crafted with iron ingots in batches of 4. To use the Musket, you have to first load it. (You can tell if a Musket’s loaded or not by looking at its tooltip.) That involves crafting an empty Musket with a Musket Ball and Gunpowder. This’ll return you a loaded Musket. The unloaded Musket's arm is lowered, but a loaded Musket is cocked back; if your eyes are sharp enough you can tell whether another person's Musket is loaded or not that way.
When you’re ready to use the Musket, you can aim with RMB, just like a Bow. While the Musket won’t become more powerful by aiming longer, unlike the Bow, its accuracy will improve; just clicking will get you an accurate range of around 5 blocks, but aiming for 3 seconds or more will give you 50 blocks. When you fire, the Musket pushes out a cloud of smoke particles (like a much smaller version of a TNT blast), makes a big *BOOM*, and puts out a quick flash of light, particularly noticeable at night.
The Musket’s shot travels two times faster than an arrow, leaves a tiny trail of smoke particles as it flies, travels nearly flat (hitting the ground at 50 blocks from the horizontal), and can’t be picked up after it lands, unlike an arrow. Firing the Musket uses 1 durability point just like any other weapon. It cannot deal critical hits.
The Musket deals 8 hearts of damage as a standard. This makes it strong enough to kill a Spider in one shot, Skeletons and Zombies with two, and Illagers with three. However, it also has another, special property: 50% of the armor of an enemy player will be ignored. This means that an Iron Armored enemy player, for example, will take 7 hearts (6.88 damage) from a Musket shot, instead of 4.5 (4.48 damage) like he normally would.
Shields are a special case; a Musket can always penetrate a Shield fully, but will not ignore the player’s armor itself then (so using a Shield and Iron Armor will mean you take the normal 4.5 hearts of damage instead of 7 hearts). A player whose armor has been pierced will emit sparks when they are hit and a *CLANG* noise. The spark particles are bright yellow particles similar to the embers Lava gives off, and vanish after a second or so.
There is one more kind of special ammo available to the Musket: Buckshot.
Crafted with Gravel instead of Iron Ingots, Buckshot radically changes how the Musket’s shot works. Buckshot doesn’t ignore any armor or shields, and has a terrible range; just 10 blocks at full accuracy. In return, it’s more powerful: buckshot emits a spread of six small shots each dealing 2 hearts of damage, which can deliver a total of 12 hearts if every single pellet connects at point blank range.
The Musket can get Mending, Unbreaking, Punch, Curse of Vanishing, and Flame for its enchantments, and can get the Power enchantment up to level II (compared to V for the bow).
Uses and Tactics
A lot of suggestions often put out their cool new weapon, but then they totally fail to describe exactly what you’d do with it.
Pros:
The Musket is pretty powerful- 3.5 more hearts on average than a Bow.
The Musket ignores 50% of enemy armor unless they have a Shield, in which case it can ignore that but not their armor.
The Musket, when aimed long enough, is quite accurate, and its shot travels straight and rapidly.
The power of the shot is always 8 hearts, and never changes depending on how long you hold RMB, unlike the Bow.
The Musket is much easier to aim and shoot with than a Bow, and has a longer range.
With Buckshot, the Musket can be a viable close combat weapon assuming that you can keep your cool and land your shot.
Cons:
When not aimed for a minimum time, the Musket is inaccurate; just clicking will make you miss by a mile.
The Musket needs to be reloaded after each shot; you have to go into your inventory and leave yourself temporarily defenseless and less aware while you’re crafting.
Both the Musket and its required ammo (Musket Balls and Gunpowder) are more expensive than a Bow and arrows.
The Musket never crits.
The Musket is less effective than a Bow at handling multiple enemies at range or rapidly reacting to multiple enemies.
The Musket has no ammo that has enchantments or special effects, unlike the Bow.
The Musket gives your position away very obviously, since it makes a loud boom, smoke particles, and a flash of light at night or in low light environments.
So what is the Musket overall? It’s a good sniper weapon (well, given the usual ranges of Minecraft combat… you still will have a hard time hitting somebody 100 blocks away), easier to aim with, and quite effective at hurting heavily armored mobs or players. In return, you’d better have a plan once you’ve fired; standing still, your attention focused on reloading, will probably ruin you in a PvP fight.
Let’s divide combat into PvP and PvE here, and talk some tactics you could use with this:
PvE Tactics
The Musket can start or finish a fight with a monster, if combined with a Bow or Sword. Even if it can’t immediately kill a Skeleton or Zombie, it’ll soften them up enough that a Sword can easily dispatch them.
The Musket can be used to snipe at Skeletons, Witches, and other ranged monsters from outside their attack range, provided you’re in a safe spot for the moment.
The Musket can take the fight to monsters attacking you from far away- such as Ghasts or the Ender Dragon. It’s better for these beefy monsters too, since it does more damage, and if you have a place you can retreat to, you can reload in safety.
With the Buckshot ammo, Muskets can be a viable tool for dealing with a few monsters at point blank, like Zombies or Creepers. If you can aim that one shot, you can wipe out a few of them right away. This forces you to sacrifice your long-range aim, though.
PvP Tactics
The Musket, just like with PvE, can be used to start or finish a fight. You can hit someone with a Musket and then close in with the Sword, or pull back and use your Bow to finish them off. Alternatively, if an enemy is running away after you beat them in a slugging match, you can snipe them with the Musket.
The Musket can be used for “guerilla warfare”. If you have little armor or the enemy has a lot better armor, it can be an equalizer of sorts; as long as you play smart and don’t get in melee, you can snipe at and wear down a superior-equipped enemy player.
If someone is turtling with their shield out, the Musket can stop them from using this tactic; however, it’ll sacrifice the resulting armor penetration.
If you load your Musket with Buckshot, you can instantly kill an unarmored enemy charging toward you as long as you hold fire until the last moment.
To counter the Musket, you can close to medium range; there, Buckshot is much less useful, and if they try to use regular Musket Balls you can charge them. Medium range is also the best environment for the Bow, and the Bow can shoot faster than the Musket, letting you win a firefight.
Alternatively, you could make use of a Shield and aggressive tactics; since the Shield can block Buckshot, you can weather a close-range blast from an enemy, and then pressure them before they can reload.
If you have a Musket yourself, you can obviously just shoot back; to counter an enemy charging with Buckshot, you can shoot them once with the Musket and then attack with a Bow or switch to Sword and Shield.
Closing
Well, that was a doozy, wasn’t it? Here’s what I hope is a useful and unique suggestion for a ranged weapon that fills niches the Bow doesn’t cover. I’m perfectly happy to respond to anyone’s suggestions, questions, comments, or just their two cents; but let’s try to keep this intellectual, please. Given that guns tend to be an inflammatory topic in Minecraft’s community, I would highly appreciate it if you applied For The Critics to your responses if you choose to critically evaluate it. I will respond fairly and to the best of my ability for the most part, but one word/sentence responses and “i don’t like it because i don’t like it” type answers will either be ignored or just laughed at.
With all that in mind, I thank you for reading, and I hope you have a good day!
Introduction: Would tridents also be classified as a ranged weapon
Guns?!?: Very nice points. I would also like to note that cookies were invented in 1937 and pumpkin pies 1620-1692 and also most importantly, redstone comparators were invented in 2168.
Behavior: I like the idea of loading muskets; very creative and never used before. The smoke and clang particles should be gray squares similiar to that of the ink blast squid feature in the upcoming snapshot. Also make the crafting recipie only give 4 balls to fit the arrows (not necessary just nitty gritty) because of iron and creeper farms. Also, you don't have to make them but there should be a seperate texture for a loaded and unloaded musket similiar to when a bow texture changes as its bein used. Yes shotgun is my favorite weapon! Always choose them before anything else. What exactly is that item that is used to craft the buckshot (can't see).
Introduction: Would tridents also be classified as a ranged weapon That's valid. I'll add that, but with a disclaimer, since Tridents have a painfully short range and are more of a "I'll hit him outside of his sword range as either of us is charging" weapon than a "I'll snipe at him and use skirmish tactics instead of committing to melee immediately" weapon like the Bow or Musket.
Guns?!?: Very nice points. I would also like to note that cookies were invented in 1937 and pumpkin pies 1620-1692 and also most importantly, redstone comparators were invented in 2168. I will add these to the OP. I don't get the redstone comparator one though. It's worth noting that these imaginary machines are quite complex, regardless of whether or not the base underlying theory is running on electricity or whatever magic that Redstone is.
Behavior: I like the idea of loading muskets; very creative and never used before. The smoke and clang particles should be gray squares similiar to that of the ink blast squid feature in the upcoming snapshot. Also make the crafting recipie only give 4 balls to fit the arrows (not necessary just nitty gritty) because of iron and creeper farms. Also, you don't have to make them but there should be a seperate texture for a loaded and unloaded musket similiar to when a bow texture changes as its bein used. Yes shotgun is my favorite weapon! Always choose them before anything else. What exactly is that item that is used to craft the buckshot (can't see). The reason the 5 balls per recipe deal exists is to use every one of the ingots/gravel (what's used in Buckshot- I'll describe that in words in the OP, since you're right, it's hard to see), but for consistency's sake I'll reduce it to 4. I love the loaded/unloaded texture difference. I think that simply displaying the firing mechanism's arm cocked back or "at rest" would accomplish this. I'll add that to the OP.
The mechanic of loading muskets should be tweaked, as using the crafting recipe in order to reload consistently results in a nearly useless weapon, at least when considering mods that used it (The lone exception IIRC was Quiverbow, and most of it's weapons were capable of firing lots of times before needing to reload, and the few were either capable of nearly 1-hitting the Wither, or were used to make other weapons, or were more useful for different reasons than combat). Specially when considering that in PvE, there's few heavily-armored mobs, so the Bow has higher DPS at less cost (Which admittedly, isn't an inherent flaw as it isn't supposed to be a full upgrade), and can also be used to kill mobs beyond their attack range. That's all true and valid. I was considering using the old "hold RMB for 3-5 seconds to reload" system I've utilized before. I think I'll create a poll for these purposes, since I can't decide whether or not either system should work. The intent of the crafting system is to both keep consistency (so you don't load Buckshot when you want regular Musket Balls) and to simulate a little bit of the real-life focus you need to keep when reloading the Musket.
Buckshot is particularly awful in such a weapon, as it means that it cannot be reused, and that if the target somehow survives m(Which is likely, consideirng it's high spread), then it becomes a big threat, generally resulting in it being cheaper and more effective to merely sprint away. 10 blocks accurate range means that at the 10th block every pellet will just about hit that mob, dealing the full 12 hearts damage. That's more than enough range to get somebody before they can close into 2.5 block melee-hitting range, and if you wing the shot you either switch to melee or back up. It's meant to both augment PvE with the Musket (by letting you wipe out a squad of Zombies up close, for instance) and to augment PvP by letting you deal a very big chunk of damage on someone as they charge in, forcing them to play intelligently and try tactics like using the Shield or flanking around.
In general, the reloading recipe itself lowers the usability of the Musket and, when coupled with the cost, causes the Musket to be mostly outclassed by the bow.
Nope. We’ve got things like TNT (invented 1863), jukeboxes (invented in the 1890s), furnace minecarts (invented 1803), chocolate-chip cookies
(invented 1937), pumpkin pie (invented between 1620-1690), and daylight sensors (invented in the 1950s). To quantify any sort of tech level for Minecraft is an impossible job.
I'd like to point out that the world of Minecraft isn't equivalent to our world, and that the level of technology hasn't necessarily come in the same order as ours. It's really more about what fits in with the style of the game.
I'd like to point out that the world of Minecraft isn't equivalent to our world, and that the level of technology hasn't necessarily come in the same order as ours. It's really more about what fits in with the style of the game.
I honestly just don't see why we need muskets.
Right- that's the argument I was making. There's no real way to quantify the tech level, so what's more fitting with the theme (adventure, exploration, etc.) is how one should decide what would be nice to have and what wouldn't be. Given that that sort of wild, "let's travel the world" feel came into mass prominence around the 1400s-1500s (i.e. during the musket's rise to prominence), I feel like there's no problem with it fitting in.
As for the gameplay reasons on "why bother making one", it has some things the Bow doesn't:
High utility at long range (can be used for sniping), owing to flat shot trajectory, rapid speed, and ease of use
Higher damage (8 hearts is a LOT to consider when one swing of a sword will finish a mob or unarmored player afterwards)
Armor-piercing capability letting it threaten armor (unlike an unenchanted Bow) and additionally counter shields
With Buckshot, a short-ranged high-damage (but without AP) solution to encroaching mobs or a charging shieldless player.
The Bow has a superior fire rate (better for countering multiple weak mobs at medium range, or one after the other), it's cheaper (available earlier and its ammo is dropped by some of the most common monsters in the game), and is easily shootable up to medium range. In a one-on-one engagement at 20 blocks, a musket-using player can severely damage an archer, but will then suffer a repeated hail of arrows, unable to reload unless they find a safe spot or manage to quickly do so before they get charged/skewered with more arrows. In comparison, said musketeer can horribly wound a charging melee player and then has the upper hand in the resulting combat, or alternatively can drive someone off and then snipe them in the back as they're fleeing much more easily than with a Bow.
Some people have expressed their dissatisfaction at the cumbersome nature of reloading, though, so I have considered replacing it with a 5 second RMB-holding process (similar to what's used in Balkon's Weapon and other mods). If you haven't already, you can vote in the poll.
I have voted in the poll for crafting. I think the reason why I fully supported it was because of the crafting. Making it craftable wouldn't be useless because a musket is more of a tool for trench warfare. It makes it scary and exciting becaus you are vunerable. It is appropriate given the damage and accuracy.
I don't want to take muskets too far but maybe you could add some more special types of shots. A gold musket ball would be much faster than the iron but at the same time, less damaging. Crafting a musket w/a fire charge and gunpoder will make it shoot out small explosives.
I have voted in the poll for crafting. I think the reason why I fully supported it was because of the crafting. Making it craftable wouldn't be useless because a musket is more of a tool for trench warfare. It makes it scary and exciting becaus you are vunerable. It is appropriate given the damage and accuracy.
I don't want to take muskets too far but maybe you could add some more special types of shots. A gold musket ball would be much faster than the iron but at the same time, less damaging. Crafting a musket w/a fire charge and gunpoder will make it shoot out small explosives.
A gold ball could maybe deal enhanced damage against certain creatures (such as zombies or skeletons; basically undead), mirroring the fact that many hunters in fantasy use things like silver musket balls or whatnot for dealing with stranger creatures. A firework crafted with the Musket could make it fire said firework out and deal an explosion on impact.
I'm considering adding a variant of the Musket with a bayonet, which would have a slower swinging speed and slightly less damage but a long reach. This would give the standard Musket some more utility, as you could go in and melee an enemy with it alone, and if you're really good, stay just out of their melee range while poking with yours.
As for the gameplay reasons on "why bother making one", it has some things the Bow doesn't:
High utility at long range (can be used for sniping), owing to flat shot trajectory, rapid speed, and ease of use
Higher damage (8 hearts is a LOT to consider when one swing of a sword will finish a mob or unarmored player afterwards)
Armor-piercing capability letting it threaten armor (unlike an unenchanted Bow) and additionally counter shields
With Buckshot, a short-ranged high-damage (but without AP) solution to encroaching mobs or a charging shieldless player.
I'm not asking why you should make a musket if it were added, I'm asking why the musket needs to be added. Nothing should be added for the sake of being added.
I'm not asking why you should make a musket if it were added, I'm asking why the musket needs to be added. Nothing should be added for the sake of being added.
Ah. My mistake.
The Bow leaves two niches currently untouched:
short range (you can simply sword-charge in before the second arrow flies, or use a shield to negate it)
long range (you are basically immune beyond 30 blocks of range as long as you erratically dodge)
It additionally has three problems:
one of only two weapons in its class (one of which, the Trident, is barely even a ranged weapon)
nearly worthless against heavily armored enemies unless enchanted
nearly worthless against anything using a shield unless enchanted
The Musket solves this without rendering the Bow useless. Its three main roles are:
sniping (fast-moving projectile and flat trajectory enables hitting a target 30-60 blocks away with proper aim, though the fact that you have to aim for 3 seconds instead of 1 to get maximum accuracy means that your enemy has a chance to hide)
piercing armor (counters heavily armored mobs and players)
piercing shields (counters enemy players)
The Musket, as a result, adds diversity to ranged combat and nicely complements the Bow in the niches it misses. Though it's not as good for medium-range fighting or fighting unarmored players/numerous loosely-spaced mobs, it can be used for both longer-ranged fighting and close-ranged blasting depending on the ammo you load, encouraging tactical thinking and planning what you use for what fights. That's why it would be overall good for the game and worth adding.
Would be an interesting weapon to use in combat. It would also add an extra layer of strategy and planning. Although fighting regular mobs isn't exactly too strategic, it would give a leg up in PvP, in close quarters and in a long range firefight. I feel it fits the time minecraft technology fits in very well, and i don't think it would feel too out of place. Especially considering there are weirder things. Like the nether, the end, golems, whatever zombie pigmen are, etc.
A gold ball could maybe deal enhanced damage against certain creatures (such as zombies or skeletons; basically undead), mirroring the fact that many hunters in fantasy use things like silver musket balls or whatnot for dealing with stranger creatures. A firework crafted with the Musket could make it fire said firework out and deal an explosion on impact.
I'm considering adding a variant of the Musket with a bayonet, which would have a slower swinging speed and slightly less damage but a long reach. This would give the standard Musket some more utility, as you could go in and melee an enemy with it alone, and if you're really good, stay just out of their melee range while poking with yours.
There are tons of mods. why not use them? also, in my opinion i think that this would kind of ruin minecraft.
Everything in Minecraft has a mod. This isn't a valid arguement. You state that this would ruin minecraft, but don't explain why. If your post is useless and doesn't contribute whatsoever, then please don't post.
While I'm far from sold that firearms are a needed addition, this proposal is the most reasonable I have yet seen...
That this creates a second long range weapon that is functionaly distinct from the bow is a strong point in its favor.
The differences in speed and damage between musket and bow follow the example of sword and axe; the former have higher damage per second [DPS], the latter higher damage per hit [DPH].
The differing advantages of longer aiming (power for a bow vs accuracy for a musket), the added explicit loading step, the second load, and the limited enchantment selection as well as the lack of tipped/enchanted loads also help make this a distinct weapon.
As an alternative to the bayoneted version (which would likely overlap the functions of the spear – which weapon is oft considered a badly needed addition) – the musket might be given a damage, cooldown, etc. similar to a wooden shovel; far better than one's fist, but by no means a weapon of choice.
WRT enchantments: I can understand why infiniity was considered too powerful (and Curse of Binding perhaps too restrictive), but Flame also seems a bit overpowered. Perhaps making it mutually exclusive with Punch (if not also Power) might lessen its utility and could be justified as incendiary rounds tend to lack mass.
Should a way be sought to circumstantially weaken the musket vs bows, disallowing its use while in water or in the rain would leave bows a circumstatial advantage as sniping weapons under some conditions. [I am aware of the RW limitations of wet bowstrings, but MC has long disregarded this particular fact.]
As depicted, it is unclear whether the 3x3 grid shown is needed to load a musket or whether the 2x2 player crafting grid will suffice: Suggest the latter.
The recipes for crafting and loading a musket strike me as backwards; I would prefer LR mirror patterns also work.
While not relevant to the proposal, the weapon depicted is almost certainly a matchlock based on the lever trigger, tiller shape, and the visible parts of the action (no battery or frizzon). Should it be desired, an even more limited version of the musket based on this earlier technology could be added with the substitution of "Match" (crafted from string and gunpowder) for the flint and steel.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"Why does everything have to be so stoopid?" Harvey Pekar (from American Splendor)
WARNING: I have an extemely "grindy" playstyle; YMMV — if this doesn't seem fun to you, mine what you can from it & bin the rest.
While I'm far from sold that firearms are a needed addition, this proposal is the most reasonable I have yet seen...
That this creates a second long range weapon that is functionaly distinct from the bow is a strong point in its favor.
The differences in speed and damage between musket and bow follow the example of sword and axe; the former have higher damage per second [DPS], the latter higher damage per hit [DPH]. Right. This is exactly what I was going for; the same dynamic as the melee tools.
The differing advantages of longer aiming (power for a bow vs accuracy for a musket), the added explicit loading step, the second load, and the limited enchantment selection as well as the lack of tipped/enchanted loads also help make this a distinct weapon.
As an alternative to the bayoneted version (which would likely overlap the functions of the spear – which weapon is oft considered a badly needed addition) – the musket might be given a damage, cooldown, etc. similar to a wooden shovel; far better than one's fist, but by no means a weapon of choice. I was thinking a superior range and around 2 hearts' damage, but a very low swing speed and inability to crit. The idea is that you shoot the monster or player and rush in with the bayonet to finish them off (8 + 2 damage); the bayonet would probably just be an extra iron ingot or two on top, not a sword, so it's an alternative to crafting both. I know that arquebuses and other matchlocks most certainly [i]didn't[/i] have these, but I don't feel like it's heresy to mix and match a few features.
WRT enchantments: I can understand why infiniity was considered too powerful (and Curse of Binding perhaps too restrictive), but Flame also seems a bit overpowered. Perhaps making it mutually exclusive with Punch (if not also Power) might lessen its utility and could be justified as incendiary rounds tend to lack mass. That sounds good.
Should a way be sought to circumstantially weaken the musket vs bows, disallowing its use while in water or in the rain would leave bows a circumstatial advantage as sniping weapons under some conditions. [I am aware of the RW limitations of wet bowstrings, but MC has long disregarded this particular fact.] I wouldn't like to not be able to use it in rain (as random "screw you your weapon is useless now" things out of the player's control is not good game design generally), but not being able to fire underwater would make sense.
As depicted, it is unclear whether the 3x3 grid shown is needed to load a musket or whether the 2x2 player crafting grid will suffice: Suggest the latter. Right. I will pare down that shape a little to make it explicit that that's all you need. It's shapeless crafting anyways.
The recipes for crafting and loading a musket strike me as backwards; I would prefer LR mirror patterns also work. I will do this.
While not relevant to the proposal, the weapon depicted is almost certainly a matchlock based on the lever trigger, tiller shape, and the visible parts of the action (no battery or frizzon). Should it be desired, an even more limited version of the musket based on this earlier technology could be added with the substitution of "Match" (crafted from string and gunpowder) for the flint and steel. Exactly- it's more of what you'd see Portuguese arquebusiers tote, rather than French line infantry. The flintlock-style action implied by Flint and Steel is meant to increase the Iron cost of the weapon, as well as give said item another use; consider it similar to how Warhammer Fantasy's "handguns" are arquebus-like but still have flintlock actions.
Responses in bold. I will go ahead and add some new stuff to the OP soon, including suggestions and tweaks from various people.
When I saw this, I was doubtful and honestly thought, "no way."
You bring up a good point with TnT. However, still, Minecraft has always had an element of medieval fantasy, like the middle ages if they had magic. Swords and bows are obviously medieval. Potions and tridents are much more magical. Guns, though? I'm not entirely convinced. Still, it helps that you're talking about muskets and not AK-47s.
Ignoring that, let's look at game balance. I initially thought this would be OP and unskilled. A weapon with a very fast projectile and high damage? Might as well add a sniper rifle into the game. But the inaccuracy and reloading time you mentioned are key. A player can't just turn around and shoot to deal a million points of damage, and with the slow reload, it certainly fulfills a different niche than the bow. But because it's so slow, it would require more of a camper playstyle which, in my opinion, would be pretty boring and encourage the wrong type of gaming. With muskets, you'd have players hiding in a corner with an aimed gun waiting for someone to come so they can fire and immediately switch to their swords to finish them off.
How do you plan on making its aiming look like? Like other gun games (quick zoom in when aiming, quick zoom out when un-aimed)? Will there be a scope you can aim through, or just a sight to look down? With extra damage, I assume there'll be extra knockback? What about knockback on the user themself too?
When I saw this, I was doubtful and honestly thought, "no way." Most people think that when they see a gun suggestion, because most gun suggestions are either "lol add musket that do 15 hearts pls" or "lol add revolver".
You bring up a good point with TnT. However, still, Minecraft has always had an element of medieval fantasy, like the middle ages if they had magic. Swords and bows are obviously medieval. Potions and tridents are much more magical. Guns, though? I'm not entirely convinced. Still, it helps that you're talking about muskets and not AK-47s. The first arquebuses- the matchlock guns upon which the Musket's based- came around in 1450. The full set of Gothic heavy plate- I.E. the archetypical "knightly armor"- fully developed by 1535, mostly in response to musket fire. So really, muskets are more "medieval" than full Iron Armor if anything.
Ignoring that, let's look at game balance. I initially thought this would be OP and unskilled. A weapon with a very fast projectile and high damage? Might as well add a sniper rifle into the game. But the inaccuracy and reloading time you mentioned are key. A player can't just turn around and shoot to deal a million points of damage, and with the slow reload, it certainly fulfills a different niche than the bow. But because it's so slow, it would require more of a camper playstyle which, in my opinion, would be pretty boring and encourage the wrong type of gaming. With muskets, you'd have players hiding in a corner with an aimed gun waiting for someone to come so they can fire and immediately switch to their swords to finish them off. There's no such thing as "wrong type of gaming" unless it's blatantly unfair to other types. Muskets, strategically, can turn the tide of battle, but only when they're used well, such as the aforementioned corner strategy. That can be easily counteracted by using a Shield- causing the Musket to lose its armor piercing power once it penetrates, or simply neutralizing a player camping with Buckshot. The Musket player then has to commit to melee or run, since he has no time to craft some new ammo into the gun (hence why I put this system, instead of RMB-holding). Since he invested more resources into his gun than his armor, he likely will not win the melee against someone who went full armor + sword. He could instead win by flanking, sniping, or guerilla warfare, these roles being things the Musket is good at.
How do you plan on making its aiming look like? Like other gun games (quick zoom in when aiming, quick zoom out when un-aimed)? Will there be a scope you can aim through, or just a sight to look down? With extra damage, I assume there'll be extra knockback? What about knockback on the user themself too? Just like the Bow- screen zooms a bit as you hold down RMB. I like to keep things simple. Extra knockback seems good, so I will add that.
edit: ooh it's an Engie main >promptly creates Minisentry suggestion
When I saw this, I was doubtful and honestly thought, "no way." Most people think that when they see a gun suggestion, because most gun suggestions are either "lol add musket that do 15 hearts pls" or "lol add revolver".
lol add machine guns xd
You bring up a good point with TnT. However, still, Minecraft has always had an element of medieval fantasy, like the middle ages if they had magic. Swords and bows are obviously medieval. Potions and tridents are much more magical. Guns, though? I'm not entirely convinced. Still, it helps that you're talking about muskets and not AK-47s. The first arquebuses- the matchlock guns upon which the Musket's based- came around in 1450. The full set of Gothic heavy plate- I.E. the archetypical "knightly armor"- fully developed by 1535, mostly in response to musket fire. So really, muskets are more "medieval" than full Iron Armor if anything.
You know your musket history, I'll give you that. That does make sense, as long as we limit it to primitive muskets.
Ignoring that, let's look at game balance. I initially thought this would be OP and unskilled. A weapon with a very fast projectile and high damage? Might as well add a sniper rifle into the game. But the inaccuracy and reloading time you mentioned are key. A player can't just turn around and shoot to deal a million points of damage, and with the slow reload, it certainly fulfills a different niche than the bow. But because it's so slow, it would require more of a camper playstyle which, in my opinion, would be pretty boring and encourage the wrong type of gaming. With muskets, you'd have players hiding in a corner with an aimed gun waiting for someone to come so they can fire and immediately switch to their swords to finish them off. There's no such thing as "wrong type of gaming" unless it's blatantly unfair to other types. Muskets, strategically, can turn the tide of battle, but only when they're used well, such as the aforementioned corner strategy. That can be easily counteracted by using a Shield- causing the Musket to lose its armor piercing power once it penetrates, or simply neutralizing a player camping with Buckshot. The Musket player then has to commit to melee or run, since he has no time to craft some new ammo into the gun (hence why I put this system, instead of RMB-holding). Since he invested more resources into his gun than his armor, he likely will not win the melee against someone who went full armor + sword. He could instead win by flanking, sniping, or guerilla warfare, these roles being things the Musket is good at.
This brings up another question: how big is the smoke and light? Will it obscure vision?
The shield tactic does make sense, and at that point it'd be no different from a camper with a bow, which already exists in the game.
How do you plan on making its aiming look like? Like other gun games (quick zoom in when aiming, quick zoom out when un-aimed)? Will there be a scope you can aim through, or just a sight to look down? With extra damage, I assume there'll be extra knockback? What about knockback on the user themself too? Just like the Bow- screen zooms a bit as you hold down RMB. I like to keep things simple. Extra knockback seems good, so I will add that.
darn i accidentally suggested extra knockback So will it be on the user themself too?
edit: ooh it's an Engie main >promptly creates Minisentry suggestion
Hey steam, thanks for making this thread. I myself have been waiting for Minecraft to implement some sort of firearms for like um... 3 years now. (I'm getting so old...) Your efforts only raises the chance for that to happen, through your explanation of how guns could be justified in Minecraft, thank you.
However, I have also seen a few flaws in your idea of a musket. If you're talking about a musket in the late 1700's, it's going to be very inefficient and inaccurate. That's why they used linear warfare Napoleon's age, where soldiers would dress up and stand in a line and shoot each other like men. This type of weapon would be close to useless in Minecraft, as hitting mobs would be a challenge, even from a few blocks away. Also, the best of the best soldiers serving Napoleon could only get 3 shot fired in one minute. There was also a good chance of misfiring before percussion caps were invented. If you wanna upgrade the rifles to the ones used in the American Civil War (Around 3 Shots/min) when they had good rifling and proper bullets, it would be fine, but there is a big problem. The American Civil War is 1861-1865. Ben Henry already made the first lever action rifle (As fast as you can flip the lever) in 1860. Right after the Civil War ended, another conflict in Europe flared up between Austria and Prussia. The Prussians got their hands on early bolt actions (Common in sniper rifles nowadays) . So yes, you can't make the weapon too modern without having a near future reasonable upgrade, while also carrying the risk of it being too useless if it's too old.
Another flaw I noticed is that the Ammunition is too expensive. 5 ingots for 4 bullets? It's so expensive. I think that 1 iron or gold nugget should be reasonable.
Introduction
With the introduction of tridents in the Update Aquatic, Minecraft’s combat field looks to be receiving new interest from Mojang again. Currently, we have four basic categories of weapon: melee (swords, axes, tridents, etc.), area-of-effect (harming potions and TNT) and ranged (bows, with a very small element of tridents). With the wide variety of melee and AoE tools available for combat, I think it’s high time we get another newcomer; something that can fill niches currently left empty by the Bow.
Meet the Musket.
Wait, what? Guns?
Yeah.
“But that doesn’t fit at all! Isn’t Minecraft a game of medieval fantasy?”
Nope. We’ve got things like TNT (invented 1863), jukeboxes (invented in the 1890s), furnace minecarts (invented 1803), chocolate-chip cookies (invented 1937), pumpkin pie (invented between 1620-1690), and daylight sensors (invented in the 1950s). To quantify any sort of tech level for Minecraft is an impossible job.
But what Minecraft does have is a theme. It’s a world of adventure, wonder, and exploration. A world like ours before we knew precisely what lay at the borders of the maps. Certainly, I wouldn’t like automatic rifles, phones, or cars any more than you would. But what better tool to defend yourself with than the very muskets that the great explorers carried during their voyages?
“That sounds reasonable, but I’m worried about the rating. Wouldn’t it not be family friendly anymore if people were blasting each other with muskets?”
Nope. Minecraft’s rated Everyone 10+. That means you can have fantasy, cartoon, or realistic but mild violence, mild strong language, and even minimal suggestive themes. Really, a musket- which has a “boom”, a cloud of smoke, and your target flashing red as they’re hit- is no different than a sword in terms of violence- and it’s certainly less than a bow, which leaves arrows poking out of your foe in a macabre fashion. With all that in mind, it's hard to believe that an old musket would do anything different; after all, the fact that you can commit arson, bomb buildings, and set animals on fire in Minecraft has never gone an inch toward swaying its ratings.
Behavior
Now that we’ve established why it’d fit, let’s establish what it’d do.
Note: In the 3rd recipe, the Clay stands in for the Musket Ball.
The Musket itself has 251 units of durability, just like any other iron tool. It uses Musket Balls for ammo, which are crafted with iron ingots in batches of 4. To use the Musket, you have to first load it. (You can tell if a Musket’s loaded or not by looking at its tooltip.) That involves crafting an empty Musket with a Musket Ball and Gunpowder. This’ll return you a loaded Musket. The unloaded Musket's arm is lowered, but a loaded Musket is cocked back; if your eyes are sharp enough you can tell whether another person's Musket is loaded or not that way.
When you’re ready to use the Musket, you can aim with RMB, just like a Bow. While the Musket won’t become more powerful by aiming longer, unlike the Bow, its accuracy will improve; just clicking will get you an accurate range of around 5 blocks, but aiming for 3 seconds or more will give you 50 blocks. When you fire, the Musket pushes out a cloud of smoke particles (like a much smaller version of a TNT blast), makes a big *BOOM*, and puts out a quick flash of light, particularly noticeable at night.
The Musket’s shot travels two times faster than an arrow, leaves a tiny trail of smoke particles as it flies, travels nearly flat (hitting the ground at 50 blocks from the horizontal), and can’t be picked up after it lands, unlike an arrow. Firing the Musket uses 1 durability point just like any other weapon. It cannot deal critical hits.
The Musket deals 8 hearts of damage as a standard. This makes it strong enough to kill a Spider in one shot, Skeletons and Zombies with two, and Illagers with three. However, it also has another, special property: 50% of the armor of an enemy player will be ignored. This means that an Iron Armored enemy player, for example, will take 7 hearts (6.88 damage) from a Musket shot, instead of 4.5 (4.48 damage) like he normally would.
Shields are a special case; a Musket can always penetrate a Shield fully, but will not ignore the player’s armor itself then (so using a Shield and Iron Armor will mean you take the normal 4.5 hearts of damage instead of 7 hearts). A player whose armor has been pierced will emit sparks when they are hit and a *CLANG* noise. The spark particles are bright yellow particles similar to the embers Lava gives off, and vanish after a second or so.
There is one more kind of special ammo available to the Musket: Buckshot.
Crafted with Gravel instead of Iron Ingots, Buckshot radically changes how the Musket’s shot works. Buckshot doesn’t ignore any armor or shields, and has a terrible range; just 10 blocks at full accuracy. In return, it’s more powerful: buckshot emits a spread of six small shots each dealing 2 hearts of damage, which can deliver a total of 12 hearts if every single pellet connects at point blank range.
The Musket can get Mending, Unbreaking, Punch, Curse of Vanishing, and Flame for its enchantments, and can get the Power enchantment up to level II (compared to V for the bow).
Uses and Tactics
A lot of suggestions often put out their cool new weapon, but then they totally fail to describe exactly what you’d do with it.
Pros:
Cons:
So what is the Musket overall? It’s a good sniper weapon (well, given the usual ranges of Minecraft combat… you still will have a hard time hitting somebody 100 blocks away), easier to aim with, and quite effective at hurting heavily armored mobs or players. In return, you’d better have a plan once you’ve fired; standing still, your attention focused on reloading, will probably ruin you in a PvP fight.
Let’s divide combat into PvP and PvE here, and talk some tactics you could use with this:
PvE Tactics
PvP Tactics
Closing
Well, that was a doozy, wasn’t it? Here’s what I hope is a useful and unique suggestion for a ranged weapon that fills niches the Bow doesn’t cover. I’m perfectly happy to respond to anyone’s suggestions, questions, comments, or just their two cents; but let’s try to keep this intellectual, please. Given that guns tend to be an inflammatory topic in Minecraft’s community, I would highly appreciate it if you applied For The Critics to your responses if you choose to critically evaluate it. I will respond fairly and to the best of my ability for the most part, but one word/sentence responses and “i don’t like it because i don’t like it” type answers will either be ignored or just laughed at.
With all that in mind, I thank you for reading, and I hope you have a good day!
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Introduction: Would tridents also be classified as a ranged weapon
Guns?!?: Very nice points. I would also like to note that cookies were invented in 1937 and pumpkin pies 1620-1692 and also most importantly, redstone comparators were invented in 2168.
Behavior: I like the idea of loading muskets; very creative and never used before. The smoke and clang particles should be gray squares similiar to that of the ink blast squid feature in the upcoming snapshot. Also make the crafting recipie only give 4 balls to fit the arrows (not necessary just nitty gritty) because of iron and creeper farms. Also, you don't have to make them but there should be a seperate texture for a loaded and unloaded musket similiar to when a bow texture changes as its bein used. Yes shotgun is my favorite weapon! Always choose them before anything else. What exactly is that item that is used to craft the buckshot (can't see).
Full Support
Responses in bold. Thanks for the support!
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Responses in bold.
We're doing a mod project, check it out:
I'd like to point out that the world of Minecraft isn't equivalent to our world, and that the level of technology hasn't necessarily come in the same order as ours. It's really more about what fits in with the style of the game.
I honestly just don't see why we need muskets.
Check out my suggestions! Here is one of them:
Right- that's the argument I was making. There's no real way to quantify the tech level, so what's more fitting with the theme (adventure, exploration, etc.) is how one should decide what would be nice to have and what wouldn't be. Given that that sort of wild, "let's travel the world" feel came into mass prominence around the 1400s-1500s (i.e. during the musket's rise to prominence), I feel like there's no problem with it fitting in.
As for the gameplay reasons on "why bother making one", it has some things the Bow doesn't:
The Bow has a superior fire rate (better for countering multiple weak mobs at medium range, or one after the other), it's cheaper (available earlier and its ammo is dropped by some of the most common monsters in the game), and is easily shootable up to medium range. In a one-on-one engagement at 20 blocks, a musket-using player can severely damage an archer, but will then suffer a repeated hail of arrows, unable to reload unless they find a safe spot or manage to quickly do so before they get charged/skewered with more arrows. In comparison, said musketeer can horribly wound a charging melee player and then has the upper hand in the resulting combat, or alternatively can drive someone off and then snipe them in the back as they're fleeing much more easily than with a Bow.
Some people have expressed their dissatisfaction at the cumbersome nature of reloading, though, so I have considered replacing it with a 5 second RMB-holding process (similar to what's used in Balkon's Weapon and other mods). If you haven't already, you can vote in the poll.
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I have voted in the poll for crafting. I think the reason why I fully supported it was because of the crafting. Making it craftable wouldn't be useless because a musket is more of a tool for trench warfare. It makes it scary and exciting becaus you are vunerable. It is appropriate given the damage and accuracy.
I don't want to take muskets too far but maybe you could add some more special types of shots. A gold musket ball would be much faster than the iron but at the same time, less damaging. Crafting a musket w/a fire charge and gunpoder will make it shoot out small explosives.
A gold ball could maybe deal enhanced damage against certain creatures (such as zombies or skeletons; basically undead), mirroring the fact that many hunters in fantasy use things like silver musket balls or whatnot for dealing with stranger creatures. A firework crafted with the Musket could make it fire said firework out and deal an explosion on impact.
I'm considering adding a variant of the Musket with a bayonet, which would have a slower swinging speed and slightly less damage but a long reach. This would give the standard Musket some more utility, as you could go in and melee an enemy with it alone, and if you're really good, stay just out of their melee range while poking with yours.
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I'm not asking why you should make a musket if it were added, I'm asking why the musket needs to be added. Nothing should be added for the sake of being added.
Check out my suggestions! Here is one of them:
Ah. My mistake.
The Bow leaves two niches currently untouched:
It additionally has three problems:
The Musket solves this without rendering the Bow useless. Its three main roles are:
The Musket, as a result, adds diversity to ranged combat and nicely complements the Bow in the niches it misses. Though it's not as good for medium-range fighting or fighting unarmored players/numerous loosely-spaced mobs, it can be used for both longer-ranged fighting and close-ranged blasting depending on the ammo you load, encouraging tactical thinking and planning what you use for what fights. That's why it would be overall good for the game and worth adding.
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There are tons of mods. why not use them? also, in my opinion i think that this would kind of ruin minecraft.
Don't ask why, but I like cheese.
I am a potato, by the way.
Would be an interesting weapon to use in combat. It would also add an extra layer of strategy and planning. Although fighting regular mobs isn't exactly too strategic, it would give a leg up in PvP, in close quarters and in a long range firefight. I feel it fits the time minecraft technology fits in very well, and i don't think it would feel too out of place. Especially considering there are weirder things. Like the nether, the end, golems, whatever zombie pigmen are, etc.
Full Support
Gifs are cool beans
The undead thing is a great idea!
Everything in Minecraft has a mod. This isn't a valid arguement. You state that this would ruin minecraft, but don't explain why. If your post is useless and doesn't contribute whatsoever, then please don't post.
While I'm far from sold that firearms are a needed addition, this proposal is the most reasonable I have yet seen...
That this creates a second long range weapon that is functionaly distinct from the bow is a strong point in its favor.
The differences in speed and damage between musket and bow follow the example of sword and axe; the former have higher damage per second [DPS], the latter higher damage per hit [DPH].
The differing advantages of longer aiming (power for a bow vs accuracy for a musket), the added explicit loading step, the second load, and the limited enchantment selection as well as the lack of tipped/enchanted loads also help make this a distinct weapon.
For an interesting historical comparison see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arquebus#Comparison_to_bows
As an alternative to the bayoneted version (which would likely overlap the functions of the spear – which weapon is oft considered a badly needed addition) – the musket might be given a damage, cooldown, etc. similar to a wooden shovel; far better than one's fist, but by no means a weapon of choice.
WRT enchantments: I can understand why infiniity was considered too powerful (and Curse of Binding perhaps too restrictive), but Flame also seems a bit overpowered. Perhaps making it mutually exclusive with Punch (if not also Power) might lessen its utility and could be justified as incendiary rounds tend to lack mass.
Should a way be sought to circumstantially weaken the musket vs bows, disallowing its use while in water or in the rain would leave bows a circumstatial advantage as sniping weapons under some conditions. [I am aware of the RW limitations of wet bowstrings, but MC has long disregarded this particular fact.]
As depicted, it is unclear whether the 3x3 grid shown is needed to load a musket or whether the 2x2 player crafting grid will suffice: Suggest the latter.
The recipes for crafting and loading a musket strike me as backwards; I would prefer LR mirror patterns also work.
While not relevant to the proposal, the weapon depicted is almost certainly a matchlock based on the lever trigger, tiller shape, and the visible parts of the action (no battery or frizzon). Should it be desired, an even more limited version of the musket based on this earlier technology could be added with the substitution of "Match" (crafted from string and gunpowder) for the flint and steel.
Responses in bold. I will go ahead and add some new stuff to the OP soon, including suggestions and tweaks from various people.
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Can you explain why you feel that it would "ruin" Minecraft? One sentence isn't enough for me to fix anything or improve the suggestion at all.
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Good suggestion.
When I saw this, I was doubtful and honestly thought, "no way."
You bring up a good point with TnT. However, still, Minecraft has always had an element of medieval fantasy, like the middle ages if they had magic. Swords and bows are obviously medieval. Potions and tridents are much more magical. Guns, though? I'm not entirely convinced. Still, it helps that you're talking about muskets and not AK-47s.
Ignoring that, let's look at game balance. I initially thought this would be OP and unskilled. A weapon with a very fast projectile and high damage? Might as well add a sniper rifle into the game. But the inaccuracy and reloading time you mentioned are key. A player can't just turn around and shoot to deal a million points of damage, and with the slow reload, it certainly fulfills a different niche than the bow. But because it's so slow, it would require more of a camper playstyle which, in my opinion, would be pretty boring and encourage the wrong type of gaming. With muskets, you'd have players hiding in a corner with an aimed gun waiting for someone to come so they can fire and immediately switch to their swords to finish them off.
How do you plan on making its aiming look like? Like other gun games (quick zoom in when aiming, quick zoom out when un-aimed)? Will there be a scope you can aim through, or just a sight to look down? With extra damage, I assume there'll be extra knockback? What about knockback on the user themself too?
edit: ooh it's an Engie main
Quote me if you're replying to my comment please.
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Collection of two WIP maps (Quad SB and Advanced Village) [MinecraftForum thread]
Responses in bold.
We're doing a mod project, check it out:
Quote me if you're replying to my comment please.
Check out my maps!
Vampire and Hunter PVP - multiplayer PvP map:
Custom vanilla mobs showcase map:
Collection of two WIP maps (Quad SB and Advanced Village) [MinecraftForum thread]
Hey steam, thanks for making this thread. I myself have been waiting for Minecraft to implement some sort of firearms for like um... 3 years now. (I'm getting so old...) Your efforts only raises the chance for that to happen, through your explanation of how guns could be justified in Minecraft, thank you.
However, I have also seen a few flaws in your idea of a musket. If you're talking about a musket in the late 1700's, it's going to be very inefficient and inaccurate. That's why they used linear warfare Napoleon's age, where soldiers would dress up and stand in a line and shoot each other like men. This type of weapon would be close to useless in Minecraft, as hitting mobs would be a challenge, even from a few blocks away. Also, the best of the best soldiers serving Napoleon could only get 3 shot fired in one minute. There was also a good chance of misfiring before percussion caps were invented. If you wanna upgrade the rifles to the ones used in the American Civil War (Around 3 Shots/min) when they had good rifling and proper bullets, it would be fine, but there is a big problem. The American Civil War is 1861-1865. Ben Henry already made the first lever action rifle (As fast as you can flip the lever) in 1860. Right after the Civil War ended, another conflict in Europe flared up between Austria and Prussia. The Prussians got their hands on early bolt actions (Common in sniper rifles nowadays) . So yes, you can't make the weapon too modern without having a near future reasonable upgrade, while also carrying the risk of it being too useless if it's too old.
Another flaw I noticed is that the Ammunition is too expensive. 5 ingots for 4 bullets? It's so expensive. I think that 1 iron or gold nugget should be reasonable.