Just a revision of an old thread I did on making biomes more specialized and unique. I've whittled it to the two more-detailed biomes (desert and tundra) but left in a few details for the rest - mostly ore distribution. Since the old thread got no response, a lot has been trimmed on account of being trivial and meh.
- Ore generation would require some likely very significant changes. Possible or not, I'm sure it is somehow. Feasible or not, I have no idea.
- Some biomes have been combined or else flat-out removed for this suggestion.
Anyway...
Desert
The desert would remain mostly resourceless to provide a unique challenge. It would be devoid of ALL ore, trees, stone, etcetera. Sand and cacti is all you get here. It would contain a new hostile mob in the form of the scorpion. The scorpion would have six hearts of health and attack with a stinger. Damage of the attack itself would be two hearts per sting, with an added effect of poison. Poison would take 0.5 hearts away every second for 6 seconds, for a total of 3 extra hearts of damage.
Upon death, they would drop poison, which could be crafted with a sword or arrows. Poisoned blades would do the same DPS as a scorpion's sting, for a total of 3 extra hearts of damage, with a cooldown period to prevent abuse. Poisoned arrows would simply do one extra heart of damage. As a non-combat use, it could be used on a tree to kill all trees within a certain radius - essentially a more controlled version of clearing by fire. It could also be used in SMP to poison food, kill wheat fields, etc., either to destroy resources in a war-style SMP game or else damage enemy players.
If thirst is ever implemented, it should accumulate considerably faster in a desert biome, necessitating use of waterskins crafted by placing leather in a bowl pattern, or else adding water portability as a function of bowls (or just using water buckets, but the waterskin makes for a good atmosphere).
Note: I am debating having lapis abundant here. Egyptians loved the stuff.
Plains/Savanna
Amongst the current ore distribution, diamond will be heavily abundant in the plains. (Think Africa)
Rainforest
The rainforest would be a much larger area than other forests and redwood would be the only tree type here. Redwood leaves would be craftable into a topiary block like so:
which will be a specific leaf block for building purposes: It will not wilt like regular leaves. Rain, sans lightning, will be VERY abundant here. Near constant. Mushrooms and iron will be abundant here. Contrary to reality, animals won't be common here.
Forest
Spruce/birch (I think those are the white ones...) trees will be more abundant here than anywhere else. Wolves will have a considerably higher spawn rate here. Ore generation here will as it currently is in-game, with no change. Also, for the specific tree abundance to matter, items crafted with it should be similarly-colored as the wood they're made of.
Swamp
Swamps would mostly have mud in place of dirt: Looks like slightly darker dirt, with a slowing effect similar to soulsand but not as extreme. Instead of a particular ore abundance, swamps will have very little ore but offer earthworms. Digging with a hoe will provide a chance to find 3 to 5 at a time. "Plant" them on untilled land and all grass or dirt in a given (not yet determined) radius will become instantly tilled, saving on the work of tilling farmland. This would be mostly helpful to farmers.
Taiga
In the taiga, the ground would begin in a layer two snow blocks deep, followed by the current tissue-thin snow layer, followed by usual terrain. This biome would have an abundance of coal (real taiga is oil-abundant, but coal will suffice) while other ores would be rarer here. If hypothermia were added, wool "armor" would be a definite supply need for warmth.
Tundra
Instead of the tissue-thin snow layer all snowy areas currently have, tundra would have a layer of snow blocks 5-10 blocks deep. Snow here would not melt. Following that would be dirt and ice down to the gold layer. Gold would maintain its current rarity in every other biome while, in the tundra, it would be considerably more common. Maybe even iron-ore common. The tundra will provide utterly nothing more in the way of ores, leaving it completely specialized for the likes of gold diggers.
After the rock layers containing the gold, there would be five layers of a new block: Permafrost. This will look like a solid ice block, possibly colored a bit differently, instead of just frozen soil. Why? Because reality sucks. It will be unmineable, instead collected by a chisel-like item and dropping an ice block that can be used for building. It will also give off a slight heat level, making igloo-style shelter useful to avoid hypothermia during long stays in the tundra. Ordinary ice will remain as unharvestable sheets.
The tundra will only spawn one mob (aside from the standard monsters at night): Polar bears. They will be an uncommon hostile mob, with 8 hearts of health. They will attack via swiping their claws at the player, inflicting 3 hearts' worth of damage with each successful strike. They will drop meat same as pigs. If hypothermia is ever added (realism mode), a tundra should have a more severe and/or rapid effect than taiga, so maybe the bears could drop pelt pieces craftable into a fur armor, as a secondary tier to wool armor.
Note: The tissue-thin snow layer caused by weather would become meltable in sunlight under this system.
Dilemma: What about redstone? Even distribution through all biomes? Same as it is now? Maybe relocated to the Nether, what with it being a magical material?
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Quote from yoshi9048 »
If this thread were a girlfriend, it'd do everything but anal.
- Ore generation would require some likely very significant changes. Possible or not, I'm sure it is somehow. Feasible or not, I have no idea.
- Some biomes have been combined or else flat-out removed for this suggestion.
Anyway...
Desert
The desert would remain mostly resourceless to provide a unique challenge. It would be devoid of ALL ore, trees, stone, etcetera. Sand and cacti is all you get here. It would contain a new hostile mob in the form of the scorpion. The scorpion would have six hearts of health and attack with a stinger. Damage of the attack itself would be two hearts per sting, with an added effect of poison. Poison would take 0.5 hearts away every second for 6 seconds, for a total of 3 extra hearts of damage.
Upon death, they would drop poison, which could be crafted with a sword or arrows. Poisoned blades would do the same DPS as a scorpion's sting, for a total of 3 extra hearts of damage, with a cooldown period to prevent abuse. Poisoned arrows would simply do one extra heart of damage. As a non-combat use, it could be used on a tree to kill all trees within a certain radius - essentially a more controlled version of clearing by fire. It could also be used in SMP to poison food, kill wheat fields, etc., either to destroy resources in a war-style SMP game or else damage enemy players.
If thirst is ever implemented, it should accumulate considerably faster in a desert biome, necessitating use of waterskins crafted by placing leather in a bowl pattern, or else adding water portability as a function of bowls (or just using water buckets, but the waterskin makes for a good atmosphere).
Note: I am debating having lapis abundant here. Egyptians loved the stuff.
Plains/Savanna
Amongst the current ore distribution, diamond will be heavily abundant in the plains. (Think Africa)
Rainforest
The rainforest would be a much larger area than other forests and redwood would be the only tree type here. Redwood leaves would be craftable into a topiary block like so:
which will be a specific leaf block for building purposes: It will not wilt like regular leaves. Rain, sans lightning, will be VERY abundant here. Near constant. Mushrooms and iron will be abundant here. Contrary to reality, animals won't be common here.
Forest
Spruce/birch (I think those are the white ones...) trees will be more abundant here than anywhere else. Wolves will have a considerably higher spawn rate here. Ore generation here will as it currently is in-game, with no change. Also, for the specific tree abundance to matter, items crafted with it should be similarly-colored as the wood they're made of.
Swamp
Swamps would mostly have mud in place of dirt: Looks like slightly darker dirt, with a slowing effect similar to soulsand but not as extreme. Instead of a particular ore abundance, swamps will have very little ore but offer earthworms. Digging with a hoe will provide a chance to find 3 to 5 at a time. "Plant" them on untilled land and all grass or dirt in a given (not yet determined) radius will become instantly tilled, saving on the work of tilling farmland. This would be mostly helpful to farmers.
Taiga
In the taiga, the ground would begin in a layer two snow blocks deep, followed by the current tissue-thin snow layer, followed by usual terrain. This biome would have an abundance of coal (real taiga is oil-abundant, but coal will suffice) while other ores would be rarer here. If hypothermia were added, wool "armor" would be a definite supply need for warmth.
Tundra
Instead of the tissue-thin snow layer all snowy areas currently have, tundra would have a layer of snow blocks 5-10 blocks deep. Snow here would not melt. Following that would be dirt and ice down to the gold layer. Gold would maintain its current rarity in every other biome while, in the tundra, it would be considerably more common. Maybe even iron-ore common. The tundra will provide utterly nothing more in the way of ores, leaving it completely specialized for the likes of gold diggers.
After the rock layers containing the gold, there would be five layers of a new block: Permafrost. This will look like a solid ice block, possibly colored a bit differently, instead of just frozen soil. Why? Because reality sucks. It will be unmineable, instead collected by a chisel-like item and dropping an ice block that can be used for building. It will also give off a slight heat level, making igloo-style shelter useful to avoid hypothermia during long stays in the tundra. Ordinary ice will remain as unharvestable sheets.
The tundra will only spawn one mob (aside from the standard monsters at night): Polar bears. They will be an uncommon hostile mob, with 8 hearts of health. They will attack via swiping their claws at the player, inflicting 3 hearts' worth of damage with each successful strike. They will drop meat same as pigs. If hypothermia is ever added (realism mode), a tundra should have a more severe and/or rapid effect than taiga, so maybe the bears could drop pelt pieces craftable into a fur armor, as a secondary tier to wool armor.
Note: The tissue-thin snow layer caused by weather would become meltable in sunlight under this system.
Dilemma: What about redstone? Even distribution through all biomes? Same as it is now? Maybe relocated to the Nether, what with it being a magical material?
Now we have much use for the tundra! (and similar cold climate biomes, frozen oceans, glaciers, etc)