So, if the new snapshot contains writable books, why not make a special "survival guide" book spawn in the bonus chests? One would always spawn in the bonus chest, and would be titled "Standard Survival Guide" (or, it could just spawn in your inventory when you start like how bricks and glass do in PE). It would be incredibly helpful to newbies, assuming they have enough common sense to loot the chest and read the book.
The book would contain the following pages with the following text:
Page 1: Introduction
It is crucial to find some way to defend yourself before night falls. While everything may seem merry and jolly during the day, the world falls to the mercy of night creatures as soon as the sun sets. This book is intended to help anyone not only survive, but thrive in the land.
You probably already know a few things about moving around the world, but here is a full explanation of how to move, run, jump, and throw stuff. Just press the key and you will do the action; it's quite simple.
Moving the mouse: Changes where you are looking; your mouse is locked in the center of the screen (it's the crosshair).
WASD: Move forward, left, right, or backwards respectively.
Double Tap W: Sprint. Don't use this too often, as you get hungry faster.
Q: Throw the thing that you are holding.
E: Inventory.
Left click: Attack or mine. If you are breaking a block (mining), make sure to hold down the left mouse button; repeated clicking does not work.
Scrolling: Changes what is selected in your hotbar.
Right click: Preforms a special action based on what you are holding. For an example, if you hold a sword, you will block; if you hold a snowball or a bow, you will throw the snowball or shoot an arrow (if you have one). It also changes if you right click on certain blocks;
F3 (or "FN f3" if it does not work): Displays a bunch of information, most notably your coordinates. This is your location: moving horizontally will change the X and Z values, and moving vertically will change the Y value.
F5: Changes your point of view. Pressing it once changes the view to third person, pressing a second time changes the 3rd person view so that you are looking at your face, and pressing a third time reverts your view back to 1st perso.
Page 2: The Basics of your character
Now that you know how to move (pretty pathetic that you have to learn how to walk as an adult, huh?) you must know more about your character, Steve. In the center of the screen is a basic crosshair; this is just your mouse. The screen will always be centered on the crosshair, and moving the mouse moves the screen.
On the bottom of the screen, there are a few things.
First, there is a small black bar with 9 squares in it (they may be containing things, including this book). One of the squares is highlighted. This is your hotbar. Anything in your hotbar can be accessed quickly and easily by scrolling with the mouse wheel or pressing any of the number keys (1-9). When you do this, you will find yourself holding whatever is in that slot. Then, you can use the item. Basically, if you are holding it, you are using it.
Next, a very thin black bar (if you killed anything a small bit of it will be green). This is your EXP bar. Most of the time, this will go unused--Minecraft does not have a traditional RPG leveling system. Killing anything will cause it to drop small orbs that change colors (from green to yellow); picking them up will increase the amount of green stuff in the bar. Filling the bar will add a number above it. While at first it may seem useless, levels do have a use; you just have to figure it out on your own. And no, hoarding them will do no good until you discover what it is.
Above the EXP bar on the left are 10 hearts. This is, obviously, your health meter. As you take damage, whether from falling, drowning, or monsters, the hearts will start to turn black. When all of them are black, you are dead (don't let that happen). When you die, you drop everything you are carrying on you. You can regain health when your hunger meter is full (more on that in just a second) or by drinking certain potions.
Above the EXP bar on the right are 10 chicken legs--this is your hunger meter. The more active you are (running, sprinting, jumping, etc) the more it goes down. When it is full, missing half a leg, or missing a full leg, you will regain health steadily. When three legs are left, you cannot sprint. If all the legs are gone, you will begin to starve and take damage. You can regain it by eating; hold some food (if it's meat, it can be raw; cooked is better if you can get it) and hold down the right mouse button. Nom nom nom.
I like the idea of having a book guide on how to survive your first night in Minecraft. It would be very useful to new Minecraftians who don't know much about the game. I like it
The book would contain the following pages with the following text:
Page 1: Introduction
You probably already know a few things about moving around the world, but here is a full explanation of how to move, run, jump, and throw stuff. Just press the key and you will do the action; it's quite simple.
Moving the mouse: Changes where you are looking; your mouse is locked in the center of the screen (it's the crosshair).
WASD: Move forward, left, right, or backwards respectively.
Double Tap W: Sprint. Don't use this too often, as you get hungry faster.
Q: Throw the thing that you are holding.
E: Inventory.
Left click: Attack or mine. If you are breaking a block (mining), make sure to hold down the left mouse button; repeated clicking does not work.
Scrolling: Changes what is selected in your hotbar.
Right click: Preforms a special action based on what you are holding. For an example, if you hold a sword, you will block; if you hold a snowball or a bow, you will throw the snowball or shoot an arrow (if you have one). It also changes if you right click on certain blocks;
F3 (or "FN f3" if it does not work): Displays a bunch of information, most notably your coordinates. This is your location: moving horizontally will change the X and Z values, and moving vertically will change the Y value.
F5: Changes your point of view. Pressing it once changes the view to third person, pressing a second time changes the 3rd person view so that you are looking at your face, and pressing a third time reverts your view back to 1st perso.
Page 2: The Basics of your character
Now that you know how to move (pretty pathetic that you have to learn how to walk as an adult, huh?) you must know more about your character, Steve. In the center of the screen is a basic crosshair; this is just your mouse. The screen will always be centered on the crosshair, and moving the mouse moves the screen.
On the bottom of the screen, there are a few things.
First, there is a small black bar with 9 squares in it (they may be containing things, including this book). One of the squares is highlighted. This is your hotbar. Anything in your hotbar can be accessed quickly and easily by scrolling with the mouse wheel or pressing any of the number keys (1-9). When you do this, you will find yourself holding whatever is in that slot. Then, you can use the item. Basically, if you are holding it, you are using it.
Next, a very thin black bar (if you killed anything a small bit of it will be green). This is your EXP bar. Most of the time, this will go unused--Minecraft does not have a traditional RPG leveling system. Killing anything will cause it to drop small orbs that change colors (from green to yellow); picking them up will increase the amount of green stuff in the bar. Filling the bar will add a number above it. While at first it may seem useless, levels do have a use; you just have to figure it out on your own. And no, hoarding them will do no good until you discover what it is.
Above the EXP bar on the left are 10 hearts. This is, obviously, your health meter. As you take damage, whether from falling, drowning, or monsters, the hearts will start to turn black. When all of them are black, you are dead (don't let that happen). When you die, you drop everything you are carrying on you. You can regain health when your hunger meter is full (more on that in just a second) or by drinking certain potions.
Above the EXP bar on the right are 10 chicken legs--this is your hunger meter. The more active you are (running, sprinting, jumping, etc) the more it goes down. When it is full, missing half a leg, or missing a full leg, you will regain health steadily. When three legs are left, you cannot sprint. If all the legs are gone, you will begin to starve and take damage. You can regain it by eating; hold some food (if it's meat, it can be raw; cooked is better if you can get it) and hold down the right mouse button. Nom nom nom.
[And yes, i'm still working on the book.]