I enjoy the farming aspect of Minecraft and would like to see it further expanded, especially in ways that add flavor. To that end I have two ideas:
--New Mushroom Farming Method: Right now, farming mushrooms is not especially practical unless one grows giant mushrooms. I'd like to see an option to cultivate mushrooms more like other crops: a way of growing ordinary-sized mushrooms which is faster and more reliable than their current random spread. Here is my idea: in real life, a method for farming mushrooms is inducing them to grow on specially treated wood. Here's my idea: add a crafting recipe for "inoculated log" which takes a log, four mushrooms, and water (in bottle or bucket). Inoculated logs would look like rotting wood, and would be placeable. If placed in a sufficiently low light environment mushrooms would sometimes sprout on the log.
(This has the advantage of altering the existing game very little. For survival play, this does not upset the ordinary curve, as inoculated logs will generally be harder to obtain than a number of other food sources. But they could provide a new option for certain survival challenges and the like.)
--Beehives: Beehives would be naturally occurring, forming either on the ground or in trees in the appropriate biomes--which would be those which naturally feature flowers. A beehive would be a single block, would make a buzzing noise noticeable from nearby, and it would generate bees. (It would be fun to have bees be mobs like bats, but if that were too intensive a particle effect would do.) Bumping into or striking a beehive would generate a swarm of bees status effect which would take damage over time for a minute and could be removed by submerging oneself in water. Hives could be prevented from producing swarms by building a fire so that smoke is present in any block adjacent to the hive (bellow or on any side).
Hives would have two states, full and empty, which would be subtly different visually. Using an empty jar on a full hive produces a jar of honey (like milking a cow) and makes the hive empty. Hives refill at a rate determined by the number of flowers within a fifteen block radius of the hive (similar to the mechanics of an enchanting table).
Beehives can not be obtained except with silk-touch tools. Breaking one normally produces 3-4 pieces of comb. Using sheers on a full hive produces 1 comb and empties the hive which will then take longer than usual to become full again. 5 comb can be crafted into a new hive.
There are all sorts of ways to plug honey and comb into crafting. Honey will feature in cooking and potion making. Comb could be used to make wax by melting it in a furnace. Wax is a versatile substance, and in-game it could be used for any of the following, though none is an essential part of the idea:
Candles - these would be crafted from string and wax with the option to add dye for color. They would be as bright as a lantern, but wouldn't melt snow, and could be placed on non-solid blocks. (Christmas tree with red candles anybody?)
Treating logs (see above) - in real life wax is sometimes used in this process, so it could be part of the recipe.
Wax block - Aside from being just one more block, I can think of some interesting functions wax blocks might have like changing texture when the block is walked on, or melting in the presence of heat or redstone charge.
Redstone paste - people have been asking for a better way to run redstone signals vertically for a while. Mix redstone with wax and let the resultant paste adhere to vertical surfaces. Voila!
Regular (ie small) mushrooms can already be farmed, the process is just not very efficient in terms of either space needed or food retruned.
Mushrooms [red and brown behave the same] will spread in areas with "light levels below 13 and not directly underneath the sky"; the main constraint is that "[t]hey will spread only if there are fewer than 5 mushrooms of the same type in 9×9×3 [9x9, 3 high] area".
Bees, Hives, Honey, Beeswax:
This ought be in its own thread with the uses for honey/honeycomb [Note all the usual arguments against new foods are likely to apply] and beeswax (if any) detailed as the hive itself is unlikely to be seen as having sufficient utility to merit addition.
Without these, the hives seem rather like a noise producing cactus with glowstone/sea lantern procurement rules…
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.
Regular (ie small) mushrooms can already be farmed, the process is just not very efficient in terms of either space needed or food retruned.
Mushrooms [red and brown behave the same] will spread in areas with "light levels below 13 and not directly underneath the sky"; the main constraint is that "[t]hey will spread only if there are fewer than 5 mushrooms of the same type in 9×9×3 [9x9, 3 high] area".
Ah, for as long as I've been playing, I somehow did not know this. That's an oversight on my part. I still like my idea and think it worthwhile, but I'll fix my post to reflect facts.
This ought be in its own thread with the uses for honey/honeycomb [Note all the usual arguments against new foods are likely to apply] and beeswax (if any) detailed as the hive itself is unlikely to be seen as having sufficient utility to merit addition.
Without these, the hives seem rather like a noise producing cactus with glowstone/sea lantern procurement rules…
Indeed, the normal arguments against new foods would apply. In fact, the game already includes many more foods than there is good mechanical reasons for. Red berries, for example, add nothing of actual use in the way of new food. I do not think this is a good reason not to include more food options. (And, judging from the berries, beats, and etc, neither do the devs.) This does, however, seem like a great reason to fix the food system up. That's been asked for so many times I don't need to to rehears the reasoning.
I'm not sure what you mean by "utility"--but sweet berry bushes also seem to lack it. Per your reductive description, bushes are just a cactus-like cobweb that spawns like a flower. That doesn't seem to render them pointless: they add to ambiance and immersion, make the world more diverse, and provide new things for players like me to seek out and cultivate. And they can be given important interactions with existing systems (as when the berries are used to attract foxes, even though other foods could have easily done this job). If the "utility" you're asking for isn't present in features being added to the game right now, then I'm not sure why new ideas need to have it.
Mushrooms can already be farmed.Just bone meal the mushrooms so they grow into huge mushrooms, cut down the mushroom, repeat. Has a surprisingly high yield.
Mushrooms can already be farmed.Just bone meal the mushrooms so they grow into huge mushrooms, cut down the mushroom, repeat. Has a surprisingly high yield.
Yeah, I knew about the giant mushrooms. That was why I said, "Right now, farming mushrooms is not especially practical unless one grows giant mushrooms. I'd like to see an option to cultivate mushrooms more like other crops"
It isn't that I want more mushrooms, it's that I'd like a more agricultural method of farming them.
what if you could make a sticky potion using bees wax or honey which would allow you to stik on to vertical walls
Sure! I mean, as far as I'm concerned, there are tons of options for things to do with wax, some more obvious than others. I suppose I should stick some in to the original post. I just didn't feel like this idea needed to be committed to one use or another.
Yeah, I knew about the giant mushrooms. That was why I said, "Right now, farming mushrooms is not especially practical unless one grows giant mushrooms. I'd like to see an option to cultivate mushrooms more like other crops"
It isn't that I want more mushrooms, it's that I'd like a more agricultural method of farming them.
Right now, growing mushrooms is just like growing trees. It's already a well-used method. It also has a very high yield (20ish out for every mushroom in).
Right now, growing mushrooms is just like growing trees. It's already a well-used method. It also has a very high yield (20ish out for every mushroom in).
You're right. Perhaps this idea is superfluous, all things considered. Still, here's how it feels to me: it's like the cultivation of everything else is rather realistic (after Minecraft's fashion), but cultivation of mushrooms is done by fairy story magic! It does work well, and I have no complaint with fantasy elements in Minecraft, but it feels funny that this is the one crop that you can't farm in a down-to-earth way...
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McNubberson
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Mushrooms.
I personally think the mushrooms are perfect the way they are. You cannot cultivate mushrooms perfectly, they are a wild and random thing really. You would have to have a mushroom box, and the perfect conditions for them to grow in a specific way. Which kind of defeats the purpose of "like other crops." Spores go where spores go.
Beehives.
I can somewhat support this. The only thing I am not on board with is silk touching the hives and the wax. Particles for bees I think would be best. It would be much like the hanging sand particles, only reversed really. I do not think they need to be physical in anyway. As for gathering honey, I suggest glass bottle. 1 Hive equals 1 Bottle. You destroy the hive you get a comb. 3 combs and 6 planks makes a bee colony box. The color of the honey in bottle would obviously be gold, when used with redstone dust, enchanted gold.
P P P
C C C
P P P
(Think like bookshelves)
From each box, you can gather 3 bottles from in a certain period of time. Shortest time slot allowed I think would be 1 day cycle. What you would do with it from there. your call I suppose. I think in it's natural form, if you were to drink it like a potion, ) No instant health, 5 seconds of full saturation (because it is a food) before it ticks down (which will give you a bit of regen because saturation does this) and cures status affects (good and bad) due to honey's natural healing abilities. Redstone dust doubles to 10 seconds saturation. I would suggest this be found in flower biomes personally, but it is what it is.
Wouldn't treating logs with wax be counterproductive if the goal is to grow mushrooms, it sounds more like a way to preserve the logs.
It more or less is…
Parts of the OP appear to be based on IRL shiitake cultivation which often uses a wax to seal the innoculation sites on the logs used for growing the fungus from contamination by unwanted wild species.
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.
Parts of the OP appear to be based on IRL shiitake cultivation which often uses a wax to seal the innoculation sites on the logs used for growing the fungus from contamination by unwanted wild species.
Yes, ScotsMiser, you are correct. The idea is based on actual fungus cultivation, and that can include the use of wax to seal certain areas.
(McNubberson, this would also be what I'd say to your point about mushrooms being wild and unpredictable: they do tend to be. But actual farmers have figured out ways around this--and there are already ways around it in game.)
I can somewhat support this. The only thing I am not on board with is silk touching the hives and the wax.
You dislike them being obtainable with silk touch? I had reservations about that too. It seems too easy. But the game is pretty consistent about allowing it. If an exception could be justified, this seems like the place.
As for gathering honey, I suggest glass bottle. 1 Hive equals 1 Bottle.
Yup! That's the idea.
You've expanded this out with further cultivation possibilities. That could be fun too. But I'd be content if it were limited to hives.
And yes, there are many options for what to do with honey. Obviously, like anything else, it can be incorporated into alchemy with new potion recipes. But also, I'd hope that the food system will someday be made more sensible offering some sort of incentive for more elaborate cooking, and then honey (along with berries, coco, milk, and etc.) could have a perfectly good purpose just as an ingredient.
(McNubberson, this would also be what I'd say to your point about mushrooms being wild and unpredictable: they do tend to be. But actual farmers have figured out ways around this--and there are already ways around it in game.) Your main point with the cultivation was so it was like other crops. Other crops as of right now, is plant it, and pick it. Which is why I made the statement.
You dislike them being obtainable with silk touch? I had reservations about that too. It seems too easy. But the game is pretty consistent about allowing it. If an exception could be justified, this seems like the place. This is the very reason why at first, I was with it. But it shouldn't be there simply because something else is that way. So no silk touch. It also allows a mechanic to where if you do not have a looting sword, you may not be able to get anything, thus continue the search. Put that with the idea of putting in in Flower Biomes (Because it makes sense, plus makes it a hunt for the many things you could do with it). It would essentially stop the loads of hives/boxes just sitting around doing nothing and cranking stuff out.
Yup! That's the idea.
You've expanded this out with further cultivation possibilities. That could be fun too. But I'd be content if it were limited to hives. It was so it would add a useful function for everyone, not just the limited part of the community that favors mushrooms. Each crop in MC has this with maybe the exception of Carrots and melons with potions/breeding. However, then we add bone meal and it all goes to hell so... *shrug*
And yes, there are many options for what to do with honey. Obviously, like anything else, it can be incorporated into alchemy with new potion recipes. But also, I'd hope that the food system will someday be made more sensible offering some sort of incentive for more elaborate cooking, and then honey (along with berries, coco, milk, and etc.) could have a perfectly good purpose just as an ingredient. Sure. But as listed it changed nothing to do with food, thus gave it an easier time to actually be implemented, and if this became a successful thing, could be expanded upon later. *Shrug* It's just to get the idea in there.
I enjoy the farming aspect of Minecraft and would like to see it further expanded, especially in ways that add flavor. To that end I have two ideas:
--New Mushroom Farming Method: Right now, farming mushrooms is not especially practical unless one grows giant mushrooms. I'd like to see an option to cultivate mushrooms more like other crops: a way of growing ordinary-sized mushrooms which is faster and more reliable than their current random spread. Here is my idea: in real life, a method for farming mushrooms is inducing them to grow on specially treated wood. Here's my idea: add a crafting recipe for "inoculated log" which takes a log, four mushrooms, and water (in bottle or bucket). Inoculated logs would look like rotting wood, and would be placeable. If placed in a sufficiently low light environment mushrooms would sometimes sprout on the log.
(This has the advantage of altering the existing game very little. For survival play, this does not upset the ordinary curve, as inoculated logs will generally be harder to obtain than a number of other food sources. But they could provide a new option for certain survival challenges and the like.)
--Beehives: Beehives would be naturally occurring, forming either on the ground or in trees in the appropriate biomes--which would be those which naturally feature flowers. A beehive would be a single block, would make a buzzing noise noticeable from nearby, and it would generate bees. (It would be fun to have bees be mobs like bats, but if that were too intensive a particle effect would do.) Bumping into or striking a beehive would generate a swarm of bees status effect which would take damage over time for a minute and could be removed by submerging oneself in water. Hives could be prevented from producing swarms by building a fire so that smoke is present in any block adjacent to the hive (bellow or on any side).
Hives would have two states, full and empty, which would be subtly different visually. Using an empty jar on a full hive produces a jar of honey (like milking a cow) and makes the hive empty. Hives refill at a rate determined by the number of flowers within a fifteen block radius of the hive (similar to the mechanics of an enchanting table).
Beehives can not be obtained except with silk-touch tools. Breaking one normally produces 3-4 pieces of comb. Using sheers on a full hive produces 1 comb and empties the hive which will then take longer than usual to become full again. 5 comb can be crafted into a new hive.
There are all sorts of ways to plug honey and comb into crafting. Honey will feature in cooking and potion making. Comb could be used to make wax by melting it in a furnace. Wax is a versatile substance, and in-game it could be used for any of the following, though none is an essential part of the idea:
Mushrooms:
Regular (ie small) mushrooms can already be farmed, the process is just not very efficient in terms of either space needed or food retruned.
Mushrooms [red and brown behave the same] will spread in areas with "light levels below 13 and not directly underneath the sky"; the main constraint is that "[t]hey will spread only if there are fewer than 5 mushrooms of the same type in 9×9×3 [9x9, 3 high] area".
Bees, Hives, Honey, Beeswax:
This ought be in its own thread with the uses for honey/honeycomb [Note all the usual arguments against new foods are likely to apply] and beeswax (if any) detailed as the hive itself is unlikely to be seen as having sufficient utility to merit addition.
Without these, the hives seem rather like a noise producing cactus with glowstone/sea lantern procurement rules…
Ah, for as long as I've been playing, I somehow did not know this. That's an oversight on my part. I still like my idea and think it worthwhile, but I'll fix my post to reflect facts.
Indeed, the normal arguments against new foods would apply. In fact, the game already includes many more foods than there is good mechanical reasons for. Red berries, for example, add nothing of actual use in the way of new food. I do not think this is a good reason not to include more food options. (And, judging from the berries, beats, and etc, neither do the devs.) This does, however, seem like a great reason to fix the food system up. That's been asked for so many times I don't need to to rehears the reasoning.
I'm not sure what you mean by "utility"--but sweet berry bushes also seem to lack it. Per your reductive description, bushes are just a cactus-like cobweb that spawns like a flower. That doesn't seem to render them pointless: they add to ambiance and immersion, make the world more diverse, and provide new things for players like me to seek out and cultivate. And they can be given important interactions with existing systems (as when the berries are used to attract foxes, even though other foods could have easily done this job). If the "utility" you're asking for isn't present in features being added to the game right now, then I'm not sure why new ideas need to have it.
Mushrooms can already be farmed.Just bone meal the mushrooms so they grow into huge mushrooms, cut down the mushroom, repeat. Has a surprisingly high yield.
My suggestions: Enhancements - Throwable Fire Charges - On Phantoms and Elytra. Also check out The Minecraftian Language. This signature is not here to waste your space.
Yeah, I knew about the giant mushrooms. That was why I said, "Right now, farming mushrooms is not especially practical unless one grows giant mushrooms. I'd like to see an option to cultivate mushrooms more like other crops"
It isn't that I want more mushrooms, it's that I'd like a more agricultural method of farming them.
what if you could make a sticky potion using bees wax or honey which would allow you to stik on to vertical walls
Sure! I mean, as far as I'm concerned, there are tons of options for things to do with wax, some more obvious than others. I suppose I should stick some in to the original post. I just didn't feel like this idea needed to be committed to one use or another.
Right now, growing mushrooms is just like growing trees. It's already a well-used method. It also has a very high yield (20ish out for every mushroom in).
My suggestions: Enhancements - Throwable Fire Charges - On Phantoms and Elytra. Also check out The Minecraftian Language. This signature is not here to waste your space.
You're right. Perhaps this idea is superfluous, all things considered. Still, here's how it feels to me: it's like the cultivation of everything else is rather realistic (after Minecraft's fashion), but cultivation of mushrooms is done by fairy story magic! It does work well, and I have no complaint with fantasy elements in Minecraft, but it feels funny that this is the one crop that you can't farm in a down-to-earth way...
Just a thought.
Wouldn't treating logs with wax be counterproductive if the goal is to grow mushrooms, it sounds more like a way to preserve the logs.
Just testing.
Mushrooms.
I personally think the mushrooms are perfect the way they are. You cannot cultivate mushrooms perfectly, they are a wild and random thing really. You would have to have a mushroom box, and the perfect conditions for them to grow in a specific way. Which kind of defeats the purpose of "like other crops." Spores go where spores go.
Beehives.
I can somewhat support this. The only thing I am not on board with is silk touching the hives and the wax. Particles for bees I think would be best. It would be much like the hanging sand particles, only reversed really. I do not think they need to be physical in anyway. As for gathering honey, I suggest glass bottle. 1 Hive equals 1 Bottle. You destroy the hive you get a comb. 3 combs and 6 planks makes a bee colony box. The color of the honey in bottle would obviously be gold, when used with redstone dust, enchanted gold.
P P P
C C C
P P P
(Think like bookshelves)
From each box, you can gather 3 bottles from in a certain period of time. Shortest time slot allowed I think would be 1 day cycle. What you would do with it from there. your call I suppose. I think in it's natural form, if you were to drink it like a potion, ) No instant health, 5 seconds of full saturation (because it is a food) before it ticks down (which will give you a bit of regen because saturation does this) and cures status affects (good and bad) due to honey's natural healing abilities. Redstone dust doubles to 10 seconds saturation. I would suggest this be found in flower biomes personally, but it is what it is.
It more or less is…
Parts of the OP appear to be based on IRL shiitake cultivation which often uses a wax to seal the innoculation sites on the logs used for growing the fungus from contamination by unwanted wild species.
Yes, ScotsMiser, you are correct. The idea is based on actual fungus cultivation, and that can include the use of wax to seal certain areas.
(McNubberson, this would also be what I'd say to your point about mushrooms being wild and unpredictable: they do tend to be. But actual farmers have figured out ways around this--and there are already ways around it in game.)
You dislike them being obtainable with silk touch? I had reservations about that too. It seems too easy. But the game is pretty consistent about allowing it. If an exception could be justified, this seems like the place.
Yup! That's the idea.
You've expanded this out with further cultivation possibilities. That could be fun too. But I'd be content if it were limited to hives.
And yes, there are many options for what to do with honey. Obviously, like anything else, it can be incorporated into alchemy with new potion recipes. But also, I'd hope that the food system will someday be made more sensible offering some sort of incentive for more elaborate cooking, and then honey (along with berries, coco, milk, and etc.) could have a perfectly good purpose just as an ingredient.