I've brought up expanding the possibilities of ocean detailing from the use of scuba suits to the generation of underwater terrain and I figure I should gather it all here, as well as open it up for brainstorming by others who wish to pitch in their two cents. The ocean biome is vast, but pretty sterile and plain. With limited underwater depth you can travel, no mobs of any sort save squids, and massive distance to cross oceans are currently nothing but obstacles. Let's change that.
Quote from On Terrain/Biomes »
The ocean is not a single expanse of flatness covered in water. Using either traditional means or 4D Biome generation the following terrains can be produced for underwater adventures.
Continental Shelf: This terrain is generated next to any beaches and shoreline. It is a fairly shallow (for the ocean anyway) part which has a strong amount of sand, clay, and gravel, and some patches of normal stone. They are transition biomes between the shore and underwater plains. Corel Reefs and Seaweed (see below) spawn here. Light penetrates fairly well here.
Underwater Plain: Effectively what we have now, underwater planes are vast expanses that dominate most of the ocean. No real changes here, terrain-wise. Light has difficulty penetrating these depths.
Abyssal Trench: Deep trenches similar to the trenches seen on the surface, these can go all the way down to bedrock and often have lava flows near its base (cooled off, of course, until some poor fool breaks the obsidian/cobblestone they find down there. Light does not penetrate these depths, bring some Underwater Flares. Composed mostly of stone and cobblestone/obsidian from lava/water mixing,
Underwater Hills: Hilly terrain, but underwater and effectively similar to the plains in composition.
Underwater Mountains/Islands: The extreme form of Underwater Hills, these mountains are high enough where they may form sand and dirt capped islands. If volcanoes or palm trees (separate ideas not directly discussed here) were added, this is a prime spot for them to generate in. Unlike the edges of most landmasses, they are not particularly lined with continental shelf, instead just falling into the depths at the slope of their mountain.
Underwater Canyon: The canyon idea has been discussed elsewhere, but its perfectly applicable to underwater terrain. Go build an underwater city between two great sea cliffs or something.
Quote from On Mobs »
We have squids, but thats about it and besides providing ink, they have no purpose. If the scuba suit is introduced and people can start living underwater with less of a time limit on breathing, we can not only introduce more mobs, but introduce hostile mobs. The ocean is a dangerous place after all.
Whale: Whales are rather large and rather rare peaceful mobs which spawn in the ocean at the surface and at medium depths. They have a large amount of hp and moderate armor, and will attack when damaged, dealing a large amount of damage and making whale hunting attempts risky. They provide Oil (see below) when killed.
Jellyfish: Jellyfish are passive but dangerous mobs that float on the surface like lillypads. They don't deal any direct damage, but touching one will poison you. If you kill it, they have a small very chance of producing a slimeball. They typically bloom in groups. (Alternative: Because they are passive and basically unmoving they can easily be 'blocks' akin to lillypads.)
Shark: Sharks are the primary hostile underwater mob to worry about. They dash forward rapidly, strike, and move by. The trick to fighting them is making sure never to end up in front of them lest you end up on the receiving end of their bum rush. Worse, if other sharks are near they will join in in a matter similar to pigmen. Fortunately shark parks aren't too common, but they are a sight to behold.
Giant Enemy Crab: Where is it's bloody weak point!?!? Actually this is just crab, the pig of the seas. They are nonhostile and walk on the floor of the ocean and the ocean shelves. If killed, they provide Crab Meat, an edible item, but eating crab meat raw has a chance of inflicting hunger (or poison), similar to rotten flesh.
Seahorse: The seahorse isn't really a mob so much as a random entity effect. They are tiny sprites which sometimes appear around Coral Reefs and Seaweed. I plan to introduce a similar idea for the surface in the form of butterflies. They aren't solid, basically being an effect akin to a torch's smoke or snow, but are there mostly for atmosphere.
Quote from On Possible Block/Item Expansions »
Oil: Oil is a new liquid, glossy black in color, which flows between water and lava in terms of speed. It is opaque, slows the player as in water, and provides the "flammable" status for a time after you've been soaked in it, making it so burn times are doubled. Oil is also flammable, and will quickly burn up to its source block and destroy it, killing the oil source. When contacting lava, oil ignites and is destroyed at its source. When contacting water, oil overlaps it. If oil appears underwater, it will immediately go upward (as if gravity is reversed) until it reaches the surface of the water.
A bucket of oil can be used as a fuel source, less effective than lava but more effective than coal. It can also be refined into other items such as Oil can be found while mining, and especially in ocean, desert, and swamp biomes. You can also get as a drop from whales, who drop a Sack of Oil, effectively a one-use bucket.
Living Sponge: Living Sponge spawns on continental shelves and comes in various shades and colors (four types seems nice, similar to four types of wood). They have a rough, spongy appearance and are of the soft variety. They drop sponge fragments which can be assembled into the normal, water-repulsive/absorbent Sponge already in the game files, but not in the game proper. With silk touch, you can gather the Living Sponges directly and use them as colorful building blocks.
Seaweed: Grown like sugar cane, but to arbitrary heights and only underwater, seaweed is a primary plant type found on continental shelves. They sometimes spawn Seahorses (see above) and provide cover for animal. Seaweed is used in cooking, and can also be eaten directly for a single bit of hunger.
Crab Meat: Harvested from crabs, crab meat heals two bits of hunger but has a change to inflict hunger (or poison), much like rotten flesh. You can cook it (making Cooked Crab), or use it as an ingredient, to remove its poisonous properties.
Quote from Other Effects/Recipes »
Sponge Fragment: Part of a Living Sponge, used to make sponges (4 sponge fragments) and underwater torches (see below).
Underwater Flare: The ocean is a dark place, and Jackolanterns illuminate a laughably small area in the water. Underwater flares can only be used underwater, but illuminate as much as a torch would on the surface. They are created with a torch + sponge fragment.
Sushi: Created by combining seaweed, crab meat, and wheat. Sushi provides 3 and a half bits of hunger.
Help make the ocean an interesting place. What can you make?
Regardless of my light source the space illuminated underwater is some where between jack and all
Air supplies mean you can only stay under for long enough to shovel a clay deposit, and thats in rivers which are much shallower
I hate building under water because anything larger than a garden shed requires that I spend an hour draining all the water
I can't really think of anything that needs to be added to this, though i will say I'm not usually supportive of a bunch of new mobs, but i like the crabs.
P.S. If I come across as snarky in this post its because I spontaneously started channeling my inner Yahtzee
Help make the ocean an interesting place. What can you make?
As it is I never do anything in the water because
- Regardless of my light source the space illuminated underwater is some where between jack and all
- Air supplies mean you can only stay under for long enough to shovel a clay deposit, and thats in rivers which are much shallower
- I hate building under water because anything larger than a garden shed requires that I spend an hour draining all the water
I can't really think of anything that needs to be added to this, though i will say I'm not usually supportive of a bunch of new mobs, but i like the crabs.P.S. If I come across as snarky in this post its because I spontaneously started channeling my inner Yahtzee
Also, why would whales be hostile?
They aren't. They only become hostile when attacked. Kind of like trying to harvest golems for iron.