With the addition of powered minecart tracks powered minecarts have become useless! With this idea, i seek to remedy this situation. Powered minecarts would undergo a basic model change, so that they have a lever tucked in on one side beside the furnace, (which would of course be thinner and shifted to the left), also it would have a smokestack of some sort.
The powered minecart would act more like a furnace, in the way that it has a GUI, and the fuel doesn't start cooking the instant you put it in. you would put the coal in, and then flip the lever in the direction you want the minecart to go, and it would go in that direction. if it runs over an unpowered powered minecart track it would stop, and the fuel it was burning would pause burning (but stay at the same level it was at when it stopped), and when the powered minecart track is activated it would continue in that direction. If it runs over a powered powered minecart track it would get a large speed boost and flames would come out of the smokestack. Powered minecarts would also have the ability to pull other minecarts of any type (up to 3?) and take fuel from adjacent storage minecarts. Having a powered minecart pull another powered minecart while both are powered it would increase their pulling capacity. This would be additive (ie you could chain multiple powered minecarts together and make a really long train). Also with Notch trying to add the zipline mod into minecraft, maybe powered minecarts could be crafted with a zipline crossbar and become a powered cable car (wich could of course carry 1 player).
Another idea is that cable cars can attach themselves to cables which would be like a minecart track except it doesn't have to be placed on or under a block, it would be crafted like this:
where is string. they would act similarly to minecart tracks in the way that if one is placed 1 block away diagonally it will become slanted and connect to that block.
The powered minecart would act more like a furnace, in the way that it has a GUI, and the fuel doesn't start cooking the instant you put it in. you would put the coal in, and then flip the lever in the direction you want the minecart to go, and it would go in that direction. if it runs over an unpowered powered minecart track it would stop, and the fuel it was burning would pause burning (but stay at the same level it was at when it stopped), and when the powered minecart track is activated it would continue in that direction. If it runs over a powered powered minecart track it would get a large speed boost and flames would come out of the smokestack. Powered minecarts would also have the ability to pull other minecarts of any type (up to 3?) and take fuel from adjacent storage minecarts. Having a powered minecart pull another powered minecart while both are powered it would increase their pulling capacity. This would be additive (ie you could chain multiple powered minecarts together and make a really long train). Also with Notch trying to add the zipline mod into minecraft, maybe powered minecarts could be crafted with a zipline crossbar and become a powered cable car (wich could of course carry 1 player).
where