Now if you keep up with Notch's tweets you'll know that he released a teaser picture for what might be a Hardcore mode coming either in 1.9 or in the final release. Whether this tweet was serious (because he then released a picture of a "Super Hardocore Mode") or not, I feel that Minecraft has been missing a healthy level of challenge. While a Hardcore mode has been suggested before, mine shall attempt to be more in-depth, offering more than just one or two changes to gameplay.
HARDCORE MODE
Simple Changes
These things have been suggested in the past, and I am under no illusion that they are terrible or should not be included.
World Saves: When you die in Hardcore, the save you were playing on will be deleted permanently. Now of course you could probably back the save up or even do this in Minecraft manually, but for those of us who are just too lazy to go to such lengths, this gives hardcore mode a true penalty for dying.
Hunger Meter: You thought it was difficult to keep your hunger meter full before? Well, in Hardcore it becomes even more difficult. If you chose not to eat anything ever, your hunger meter would be completely depleted by the end of the first night. That means that you have to kill a lot of pigs, chickens, and cows to keep yourself alive.
Damage Increases: Creepers still 1-hit K.O, but some new things will give cause for greater concern. Ghast fireballs can 1-hit K.O, cave spiders' poison will deplete all the way unless you drink a bucket of milk (which I will keep as the "cure" unless Mojang does something towards that).
Now, on to the major changes!
Mob Behavioral Changes
With Hardcore mode, mobs will start to act differently, making things more challenging for you and adding some fun, too. So let's get started.
: Zombies now spawn in large groups of at least 5, and if one becomes aggro'd against you, all other zombies within a 20-block radius will move in to attack, too. Zombies also have the ability to break open doors and dig through dirt, sand, and gravel blocks to get to you. The damage dealt by zombies increases from 3.5 (in Hard mode) to 4.5 (in Hardcore mode). So while they can't 2-hit you, a group of them can easily kill you.
: Spiders will no longer become neutral when exposed to daylight, instead remaining hostile to the player even during the day. Spiders' speed increases slightly so that they are slightly faster than the player (without leaping). Cobwebs no longer effect them, though this will unlikely change a whole lot since cobwebs only appear around cave spiders.
: Cave spiders' poison can now kill the player entirely unless they have a bucket of milk, which serves as a cure for the poison. Additionally, cave spiders deal 1 heart of direct damage with each attack; if not slain, they can easily take down an unwary player.
: Skeletons spawn in groups of 2-3, and, like the zombie, all skeletons within a 20-block radius will pursue the player if even one begins to attack or is attacked. Their rate of fire increases, as well. Some skeletons might spawn wearing iron armor, which will in fact give them a defensive buff as it would if a player were wearing that armor. To recompensate for the increase in deadliness, arrows the skeleton fires can now be picked up. When a skeleton dies six arrows explode outward from it, which can kill any nearby players or mobs (much like in Survival Test).
: Creepers become exceptionally deadly, capable of detecting the player through 3-blocks. This means that if a creeper is wandering about your house, it can see you and will attempt to attack you. The range for which it can begin the timer to explode also increases to 2 blocks, outside the range of weapons.
: Endermen recieve major buffs with Hardcore mode, and become a much more viable threat to the player. To begin with, Endermen are no longer effected by the sun or lava, remaining alive even during the day. Their damage increases from 3.5 hearts to 4.5 hearts; however, if the Enderman is holding a block its attack increases to 5 hearts, making them capable of 2-hit K.O.'ing a player. If a player looks at an Enderman then hides inside a structure or behind a wall, the Enderman will teleport to the wall and begin destroying it, picking up the blocks and placing them out of the way.
: Ghasts spawn much more commonly in the Nether (with Zombie-Pigmen becoming less common), and their fireballs will 1-hit kill a player if it hits them directly. Ghasts can also see the player through transparent blocks, meaning that glass is no longer good protection from them. Cobblestone structures, however, will still be a good method of protecting oneself from Ghasts, as their fireballs will not cause further destruction than in other game modes.
: Wolves become hostile at night; while they will return to being neutral during the day, this adds a bit more difficulty. Additionally, attacking your tamed wolf will instantly make it hostile (there seems to be a bug currently where wolves will SOMETIMES do this in vanilla Minecraft, but not always, so I felt the need to state it here). Wild wolves will do 2.5 hearts of damage to the player, while a tamed wolf will do 4 hearts regularly (both to player and other mobs).
: Personally I think that slimes are fine the way they are currently for Hardcore mode, not because they are difficult, but because they are so rare and could be a bit of a relief for players.
: Mad cows will be a variation on regular cows that spawn more commonly than the old cows. They will be exactly the same as the friendly, stupid current cows except for one thing: if you attack a mad cow, all other mad cows within a 20-block radius will go to attack you. Their attacks only deal 1/2 heart of damage, so it isn't significant... but it's hilariously terrifying. :tongue.gif:
Overall: Overall, hostile mobs will be like passive mobs in that they are attracted to light; while they may not spawn in high light levels, they will move towards light. This means that a player may end up with a crowd of zombies, creepers, and sheep outside their house.
For now, this is all I've got. If you have further suggestions/helpful critiques, please feel free to state them! :smile.gif:
Nice ideas, however I have to point out that the cave spider is not poisonous it is venomous. You are right to use milk as a cure though because you could say the cave spider's venom is an acid, whilst milk is an alkali. Naturally the two substances cancel each other out to make a neutral and thus harmless PH 7 solution. I know it is a venom rather than a poison because currently a bite does not drain your health until death; it only drains half your health. That means the Venom could be corroding and eroding away your skin much like the camel spider does; picture here: http://www.buckstix.com/images/CAMELS2.JPGNot for the faint hearted.
But pushing that aside, yes nice ideas and well done.
oO Ew.
I decided to go with milk as a cure just 'cause I remembered seeing Jeb tweet somewhere that they were going to make that the cure for the venom. Though your scientific reasoning works quite nicely. :wink.gif:
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Curse PremiumThese things have been suggested in the past, and I am under no illusion that they are terrible or should not be included.
World Saves: When you die in Hardcore, the save you were playing on will be deleted permanently. Now of course you could probably back the save up or even do this in Minecraft manually, but for those of us who are just too lazy to go to such lengths, this gives hardcore mode a true penalty for dying.
Hunger Meter: You thought it was difficult to keep your hunger meter full before? Well, in Hardcore it becomes even more difficult. If you chose not to eat anything ever, your hunger meter would be completely depleted by the end of the first night. That means that you have to kill a lot of pigs, chickens, and cows to keep yourself alive.
Damage Increases: Creepers still 1-hit K.O, but some new things will give cause for greater concern. Ghast fireballs can 1-hit K.O, cave spiders' poison will deplete all the way unless you drink a bucket of milk (which I will keep as the "cure" unless Mojang does something towards that).
Now, on to the major changes!
With Hardcore mode, mobs will start to act differently, making things more challenging for you and adding some fun, too. So let's get started.
Overall: Overall, hostile mobs will be like passive mobs in that they are attracted to light; while they may not spawn in high light levels, they will move towards light. This means that a player may end up with a crowd of zombies, creepers, and sheep outside their house.
For now, this is all I've got. If you have further suggestions/helpful critiques, please feel free to state them! :smile.gif:
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Curse PremiumDid you even read the post?
Other than that I have one thing to add.
Attacking a cow should aggro all cows in a 50 block radius.
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Curse Premiumlol
Mad cows? That's so insane I might just add it.
Edit: added. Not exactly as you put it... but I think it's close enough. :wink.gif:
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Curse PremiumoO Ew.
I decided to go with milk as a cure just 'cause I remembered seeing Jeb tweet somewhere that they were going to make that the cure for the venom. Though your scientific reasoning works quite nicely. :wink.gif:
Teacher, gamer, and writer.
Check out my writing!
Creator of "The Wizard Gandy" Minecraft map series.