Obviously the end point of minecraft is to create a sandbox building game, with an aspect of survival. As far as 1.8 is concerned... the whole "survival" part still just seems too easy. I'll put it on hard mode, and STILL, by the time night falls, I'll have collected about 50 pounds of beef to keep me alive and well for the foreseeable lifetime, and have built a home that will keep me safe. Now the only way I can die is by hugging a creeper, or by falling into a crevice.
So, what I suggest is a system where survival needs to be constantly attended to, not just occasionally. I have a few recommendations, but my first would be that food can rot. Give it its own health/damage bar, and have meat be able to last maybe two or three days. Then it turns to "rotted meat" or simply disappears from your inventory. This way, people have to keep foraging for food, instead of being able to stock up. Plants like wheat or mushrooms can have a longer lifespan than meat.
Other possible additions to make survival more... survival-y. Maybe just use some on hard difficulty.
-Monsters can break through dirt/sand to get you (so if you build like a shanty hut, they can tear it down. Use some proper cobblestone!)
-Monsters will kill wild animals. (so ideally you create a farm--on harder difficulties, there will be less livestock, hence making it harder to survive)
-this is risky, so i don't know: creepers will explode within 2 blocks of you. That means a wall one block thick will not protect you from a creeper explosion anymore. this will require more meticulous work maintaining and fortifying your castle/tower/mansion/crackhouse.
-Spiders crawl up walls more often. They only time I ever see them doing it is when they're chasing a player. But if they just naturally do it, that means you may walk out of your house one day to have a spider attack you from your own roof. Now, I think this already happens, but it would be nice to make it more frequent. Be scared to leave your own doorway.
-spawn more dungeons, some relatively easy to find, so players are always risking their lives for some loot.
One more suggestion, actually in the sake of making the game a little easier. There needs to be creeper repellant! Make it hard to make--enderpearls cooked in lava, or something ridiculous. But that way a little anti-creeper beacon can be put near your doorway so you know you wont get your house blown up when you are leaving.
I think a number of these suggestions would make the game a little more enjoyable for the survival game freak like myself. Hell, if i had it my way, insane cannibals would hunt you in packs while you tried to build your cute little hut. But i can't see notch actually using that.
Most of my other ideas were just speculative, sort of discussion starters.
Its really the food thing that I want to focus on.
I'm sorry, but you have trouble finding food? REALLY?! I just run to a field and massacre animals for about five minutes and have tons of food. I'm not on 1.9--are there less animals than 1.8?
Well, fair enough. I suppose I don't spend a ton of time on the game, so I haven't needed that much food before.
to alter my suggestion, make it take a long time for meat to rot, but still have the effect. This way, players can still keep the food for a long time, but they are always thinking about it in the back of their minds. This will heighten the anxiety of game play and make it feel more like survival mode, even if your food really isn't in danger of going away for about 15 to 20 minecraft days. Make use of the animal breeding system!
But i agree--survival vs exploration mode would be very nice.
Yeah i was thinking of that... couldn't really figure out a way to implement it. The only issue with that is if its too easy to preserve food, then it is a needless step. But smelting a bucket of water for salt would be cool.
So, what I suggest is a system where survival needs to be constantly attended to, not just occasionally. I have a few recommendations, but my first would be that food can rot. Give it its own health/damage bar, and have meat be able to last maybe two or three days. Then it turns to "rotted meat" or simply disappears from your inventory. This way, people have to keep foraging for food, instead of being able to stock up. Plants like wheat or mushrooms can have a longer lifespan than meat.
Other possible additions to make survival more... survival-y. Maybe just use some on hard difficulty.
-Monsters can break through dirt/sand to get you (so if you build like a shanty hut, they can tear it down. Use some proper cobblestone!)
-Monsters will kill wild animals. (so ideally you create a farm--on harder difficulties, there will be less livestock, hence making it harder to survive)
-this is risky, so i don't know: creepers will explode within 2 blocks of you. That means a wall one block thick will not protect you from a creeper explosion anymore. this will require more meticulous work maintaining and fortifying your castle/tower/mansion/crackhouse.
-Spiders crawl up walls more often. They only time I ever see them doing it is when they're chasing a player. But if they just naturally do it, that means you may walk out of your house one day to have a spider attack you from your own roof. Now, I think this already happens, but it would be nice to make it more frequent. Be scared to leave your own doorway.
-spawn more dungeons, some relatively easy to find, so players are always risking their lives for some loot.
One more suggestion, actually in the sake of making the game a little easier. There needs to be creeper repellant! Make it hard to make--enderpearls cooked in lava, or something ridiculous. But that way a little anti-creeper beacon can be put near your doorway so you know you wont get your house blown up when you are leaving.
I think a number of these suggestions would make the game a little more enjoyable for the survival game freak like myself. Hell, if i had it my way, insane cannibals would hunt you in packs while you tried to build your cute little hut. But i can't see notch actually using that.
And more dungeons would ruin the fun of trying to find them. Sorry if you cant find any, look harder-they are everywhere
EDIT: Have you tried hardcore? Its on the new minecraft release since "Hard" isnt hard enough for you
Its really the food thing that I want to focus on.
I'm sorry, but you have trouble finding food? REALLY?! I just run to a field and massacre animals for about five minutes and have tons of food. I'm not on 1.9--are there less animals than 1.8?
to alter my suggestion, make it take a long time for meat to rot, but still have the effect. This way, players can still keep the food for a long time, but they are always thinking about it in the back of their minds. This will heighten the anxiety of game play and make it feel more like survival mode, even if your food really isn't in danger of going away for about 15 to 20 minecraft days. Make use of the animal breeding system!
But i agree--survival vs exploration mode would be very nice.
Adding something extremely annoying doesn't make the game hard, just, well, annoying.