At the core of it, the torch eating monster (Henceforth known as the shadowbeast, because I like the name) is a hostile mob like any other. It spawns only in light levels of less than 7 and it has health and damage capability roughly equivalent to that of a zombie.
But the shadowbeast has the terrifying habit of when there's nothing around to murder (for example, you) it likes to target any torches within reach. This isn't so bad for your safe house. There's multiple things you can do to protect your light. Remove any last shadowy corners, put the torches behind glass, put the torches up out of reach, learn to use lava and fire as lighting (or if they get implemented, use lanterns), etc, etc. But that cave you casually slapped up torches in and assumed it was now reasonably safe forever? Not so much.
I've thought long about whether this would be a fun or just an annoying addition to Minecraft. And really it could go either way. My first thought to downplaying the annoyance factor would be that the shadowbeast would only spawn on the Hard difficulty. Easy and Normal are there for the player who likes the extra spice of running from monsters, but playing on Hard is basically saying "C'mon Mincraft, let's see what you got."
The shadowbeast drops torches of course. Probably not as many as it's eaten, if one of them has been playing havoc in one of your caverns for long enough, but at least you get something back.
However, I could see these shadow-things as being quite the annoyance, sir.
Possibly, though there are so many ways to protect torches I thought the annoyance factor would be small. A two meter deep hole in the side of a cavern wall with a torch in the far end and covered by glass would provide light while being immune from the monster.
Light is vital to safety in minecraft. I thought a monster that destroys the very thing that keeps you safe would add an extra element of danger to spice things up, and hopefully not be too unfair or annoying. Creepers, in my opinion, have much more of an annoyance factor than my idea, and they've become the mascot of the game.
Quote from Kwickgamer »
Meh, an ok idea, it would help if you added more detail
My suggestion was more on the behavior of the monster, rather than the monster itself. I'd be fine if zombies suddenly started showing an unusual hatred of torches. It would make them more of a threat.
But... if I were to be creative and come with an appearance for them, I would make them humanoid in form, but jet black. There would be a few hints of dark gray here and there to give them definition and detail, and glowing eyes much like spiders, but the dark form would fit well with their name, make them hard to see in the darkness they love so much, and give them that extra element of creepiness.
The Meaning of Life, the Universe, and Everything.
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Seamus_Donohue
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If implemented, there would need to be a built-in spawn control toggle to disable different kinds of monsters specifically, regardless of difficulty setting.
But the shadowbeast has the terrifying habit of when there's nothing around to murder (for example, you) it likes to target any torches within reach. This isn't so bad for your safe house. There's multiple things you can do to protect your light. Remove any last shadowy corners, put the torches behind glass, put the torches up out of reach, learn to use lava and fire as lighting (or if they get implemented, use lanterns), etc, etc. But that cave you casually slapped up torches in and assumed it was now reasonably safe forever? Not so much.
I've thought long about whether this would be a fun or just an annoying addition to Minecraft. And really it could go either way. My first thought to downplaying the annoyance factor would be that the shadowbeast would only spawn on the Hard difficulty. Easy and Normal are there for the player who likes the extra spice of running from monsters, but playing on Hard is basically saying "C'mon Mincraft, let's see what you got."
The shadowbeast drops torches of course. Probably not as many as it's eaten, if one of them has been playing havoc in one of your caverns for long enough, but at least you get something back.
Creepers, I'm looking at you.
>:|
harhar, I fenced up my town so no :SSSS:s could get in. I like creepers when they don't explode in my face.
However, I could see these shadow-things as being quite the annoyance, sir.
-how tall is this thing?
-whats it look like?
etc.
Possibly, though there are so many ways to protect torches I thought the annoyance factor would be small. A two meter deep hole in the side of a cavern wall with a torch in the far end and covered by glass would provide light while being immune from the monster.
Light is vital to safety in minecraft. I thought a monster that destroys the very thing that keeps you safe would add an extra element of danger to spice things up, and hopefully not be too unfair or annoying. Creepers, in my opinion, have much more of an annoyance factor than my idea, and they've become the mascot of the game.
My suggestion was more on the behavior of the monster, rather than the monster itself. I'd be fine if zombies suddenly started showing an unusual hatred of torches. It would make them more of a threat.
But... if I were to be creative and come with an appearance for them, I would make them humanoid in form, but jet black. There would be a few hints of dark gray here and there to give them definition and detail, and glowing eyes much like spiders, but the dark form would fit well with their name, make them hard to see in the darkness they love so much, and give them that extra element of creepiness.