(Skip this if you want to read the idea, this is for those who want a good read or something of the sort.)
Hello guys, long time no see.
I have been away from Minecraft for a while, but recently I played it and I was happy to see that the new update was out already (please excuse my knowledge on internet time, I don't keep track of it I just take in the info that I stumble upon.) and I enjoyed the logs being able to be horizontally placed. Sure it's a bit tricky to get it right in tight spaces, but being able to do so really made a difference.
Not to honk my own horn but I think I have good enough knowledge on Minecraft I can "feel" the creative possibilities on stuff. When I placed that horizontal log for the first time, dozens of constructions before would look ugly without the logs entered my mind.
Here is a theory: Having something new to see and interact with opens up possibilities in your mind.
My first thought then was: [i]"Moar items Moar mobs Moar blocks Moar transports...[/i]" Yes I could've easily thought of a glowing block that could shoot thunder at the pull of a lever but years of forum experience and my good sense of creativity held me back from just going here and talk about a cannon that uses obsidian as ammunition or something of the like. I kept on playing, until I noticed something.
I saw the environment, or rather the biomes. I was playing on Creative with Big Biomes on, you see. Anyway, I noticed the area I was building on "felt" right. I flew up and saw it was slightly depressed, with the surroundings higher than it. It was unique and unexpected, but a wonderful surprise nonetheless. I was set on pursuing this idea so I closed Minecraft and got here, but once again experience kept me in check so I looked around to see if there were recent ideas that was close to mine: Nope.
What I did find was this sentence that really rang true with my idea. This was from Aioni and his Treant thread, check it out, the artwork's awesome and the concept is great.
Quote from Aioni »
][/i]
[i]When I play Minecraft, I like its power of immersion into an unusual land but certain landscapes are just so static that they start to become tedious and mind numbing.[/i]
And so we are here. Thank you for reading all that, now on to the suggestion.
The Randomness Factor
Let's say you went to a forest biome and you saw rows upon rows of trees. now let's say after a long walk you notice the land getting bigger and bigger and eventually you ended up on a tall piece of land. You move a few blocks closer and [i]voila[/i], this appears!
Now imagine that valley to have a village in it, or the river replaced with waterfalls coming from the sides. Or hey, a ravine! Maybe exaggerate it, minimize the valley's size and deepen the depression, see?
That is just a possibility. This is the first part of the idea: Randomness factor.
I remember back in alpha where chests didn't work and we had to stack our blocks to avoid losing them. Well at that time me and my friend were walking and enjoying the awesome scenery placed before us when the same scenario above happened to us.
We found a frickin HUGE valley that was SO deep. It was a huge mountain, mind you, and the land looked like a meteor fell or something. It was amazing and I can remember it up to now where years have already passed. We built our secret base there and with the Runecraft mod, connected it to our island getaway.
Sadly the server admin reset the world and stuff, so yeah, all that is gone [i]but[/i] I can still remember the feeling of pure surprise and the thrill of discovering something unique. In our generation such feelings are experienced rarely 'cause many things are just easy to reach, effortless in most cases. Wouldn't it be great to feel that child-like thirst of exploration and the wide-eyed surprise in fulfilling that thirst?
The Randomness factor could variate the generation to mimic what alpha's gen had, but not enough to make things look like really messed up paintings of a five-year old (or a drawing I made, a five-year old and my drawings don't really have a difference) but enough to have surprise to the unsuspecting traveler.
Let me be honest: The current world-gen is too ordered, with biomes and sub-biomes and biomination and stuff. Add a little chaos and unpredictability to the mix and see your forests have spires of stone jutting upwards into the heavens, or your desert having a large waterfall falling down on a jagged pit.
As great as it may be, I also have considered the people who want to build on good, wide spaces or something, not on some alien warzone so maybe add a Randomness factor to how extreme the Randomness factor is and how rare it is.
There is a good chance of finding a simple yet cool variation on your mountains, but with the Randomness everywhere you can't just go and say "Oh, this is gonna be a mountain biome after this plains biome. Let's build here-" And then you stop dead in your tracks when you see the entire Plains biome being flat, with a LARGE, TITANIC, HUGE, JAW-DROPPING chunk of landmass on the horizon, with the mountain being higher than the clouds and is sculpted with patterns and designs no mere mortal can accomplish.
That is a [i]VERY[/i] optimistic piece of my imagination, but with a Randomness factor, that [i]could[/i] be a [i]very rare[/i] possibility but a possibility still, and that enough will motivate people to go search hundreds of blockometers to find such fabled legends.
I really want you guys to see this possible future of the Minecraft we all love and see the possibilities with it. I want people to be motivated to construct a building to rival the landscape. I want servers to construct cities that blends with the surroundings (A city built on the side of a very large mountain perhaps, with farmlands and mines on the lowlands...) or more simple pleasures, like fighting off a horde of zombies as you climb up a mountain to reach a village on its precipice so that the village's Iron Golems can help you ward off the undead.
Motivation is important, and to find your world being beautiful to the awe-inspiring without looking like it came from a sci-fi movie, one can really see our world being like that, and the thirst to conquer and build upon it grows strong.
Biome Variation
Here is a more technical side of the idea. Variations, oh how I love that word. Maybe, along with the randomness factor, biomes could have "preset" generation principles on which it creates different styles of what is, in its core, the same biome.
Let's take the Forest Biome for example. Its main feature is... being a forest or in a more clarified form, it is Minecraft's embodiment of the forests of Earth. Well, the forests of Earth can't be found in a single biome, and Mojang will have to focus on other stuff so a simpler solution is needed. Having small changes upon the biome's generation will turn it into a different type of the same biome.
The forest biome could have less trees, but it would be abundant with animals to give a feel of being a forest in fairy tales. It could also be in another form, being filled with large, tall trees, but having a few animals to give the impression of a silent, eerie forest where assassins, werewolves and epic vampire hunting takes place. With a right balance of both types, it will simulate the feel of a wild forest, like the one in the movie
[i]Bambi[/i] (If you haven't watched it, watch it).
Example on how it would work:
The same could go for other biomes, but with different effects. Deserts could be flat, desolate areas or unpredictable, with unstable sand and tall, wavy sand placements all around. It could be like the Grand Canyon, with large sandstone pillars all around.
The Gist
Here's the idea in one sentence:
Have each biome be more random and unexpected and have several variations on the biome generation of a biome type.
Now let us have a picture, yay! These doesn't need explanation since it's more of a glorified TL;DR than anything.
So I have a question: What's the difference between this and 1.7's/Alpha's level of variety? (not talking about the generator itself, but its possible outcomes)
I totally agree with this. Randomness isnt there in the current terrain genaration. However, variety has to be there like in the old days of Minecraft! But now you are just going to the same looking places/biomes the whole time.
And I wonder why Jeb didn't fix this issue yet, even if there many threads and a lot of supporters asking for it. It's like he/they just ignore the community.
I agree and I am glad we are on the same side of the current situation. Please don't direct hate on Jeb or Mojang, keep in mind that this forum is fan-made, and though it's the central hub for minecrafters around the world, Mojang isn't directly related to the site.
They pay attention on the ones in GetSatisfaction or such, but do they have time sifting through countless ideas, no matter how justified or well-detailed it is? And let us keep in mind of the not so good posts. We cannot expect them to go around the forum looking for ideas when they have their own. Maybe this issue with biomes is tied to personal problems or technical difficulty. He's not ignoring the community, he is just too busy to reply to hundreds of wonderful ideas.
Hey, if I was in his position and I have an entire community that has countless ideas, I would be overwhelmed indeed. That's why we have the admins. I'm pretty sure they know the right time to contact Jeb. Also, if Jeb directly posted here, people will start those "Dear Jeb..." threads and countless rants of people being ignored by him. He can only focus on one thing at a time, and we all clamor for his attention, much more if we know he's looking at the ideas we post.
Let's all keep an open-mind here. Hope this helps you and possibly everyone else understand. Cheers!
So I have a question: What's the difference between this and 1.7's/Alpha's level of variety? (not talking about the generator itself, but its possible outcomes)
Support all the way.
The alpha gen had a very chaotic generation. In a way it was good, as things were very unpredictable, but it also meant having the world look like it came from a sci-fi movie. My proposal is to add a small fraction of that chaos to the current world gen, because right now it's too orderly. Having a large control over the world's build is bad in my opinion, so having the randomness from alpha in a more orderly setting is what we're aiming for.
Let's make an example. With a small grassland biome, the trees and general landscape will easily tell you where you're at, but at the same time it has a sense of uniqueness in it that gives it it's own personality compared to other grasslands. Let's say that specific grassland has spires made of grass and stone. Let's say another grassland has a deep depression or pools of water etc. With the randomness factor added in, things could exaggerate, maybe with floating islands or waterfalls jutting from a tall mountain at the center of the biome. Maybe a really rare appearance would be something of the likes we cannot imagine clearly. With valleys, floating islands, cliffs next to the seashore and so much but still looks like a grassland, with a generally flat landscape.
GREAT idea! I have missed those awesome things too.One special thing I miss the most is That you ALWAYS spawned on a sand beach. It was awesome when you did. I definetly support.
As of now, I almost every time get spawned in or near a jungle (and in the ocean occasionally...). Jungle is boring to explore and uneasy to pass through.
Thank you everyone for the support you have given me! I also await criticism and well disapproval. I dread hate, but I know if I am to improve I must see myself in the eyes of someone who has a different view. I'm waiting for it akin to waiting for the first strike in a war, cautious and alert.
I wish to receive more replies, from simple comments to a disagreement to large detailed criticisms. All your opinions matter to me and I look forward to receiving them.
I'm pretty sure you've said everything a LOT of people have complained about. The terrain really needs a fix. I miss it when you could explore the land to no end because you were excited to see what was there if you kept going. Now if you've seen all the biomes, that's all you're ever gonna see.
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Hello guys, long time no see.
I have been away from Minecraft for a while, but recently I played it and I was happy to see that the new update was out already (please excuse my knowledge on internet time, I don't keep track of it I just take in the info that I stumble upon.) and I enjoyed the logs being able to be horizontally placed. Sure it's a bit tricky to get it right in tight spaces, but being able to do so really made a difference.
Not to honk my own horn but I think I have good enough knowledge on Minecraft I can "feel" the creative possibilities on stuff. When I placed that horizontal log for the first time, dozens of constructions before would look ugly without the logs entered my mind.
Here is a theory: Having something new to see and interact with opens up possibilities in your mind.
My first thought then was: [i]"Moar items Moar mobs Moar blocks Moar transports...[/i]" Yes I could've easily thought of a glowing block that could shoot thunder at the pull of a lever but years of forum experience and my good sense of creativity held me back from just going here and talk about a cannon that uses obsidian as ammunition or something of the like. I kept on playing, until I noticed something.
I saw the environment, or rather the biomes. I was playing on Creative with Big Biomes on, you see. Anyway, I noticed the area I was building on "felt" right. I flew up and saw it was slightly depressed, with the surroundings higher than it. It was unique and unexpected, but a wonderful surprise nonetheless. I was set on pursuing this idea so I closed Minecraft and got here, but once again experience kept me in check so I looked around to see if there were recent ideas that was close to mine: Nope.
What I did find was this sentence that really rang true with my idea. This was from Aioni and his Treant thread, check it out, the artwork's awesome and the concept is great.
And so we are here. Thank you for reading all that, now on to the suggestion.
Now imagine that valley to have a village in it, or the river replaced with waterfalls coming from the sides. Or hey, a ravine! Maybe exaggerate it, minimize the valley's size and deepen the depression, see?
That is just a possibility. This is the first part of the idea: Randomness factor.
I remember back in alpha where chests didn't work and we had to stack our blocks to avoid losing them. Well at that time me and my friend were walking and enjoying the awesome scenery placed before us when the same scenario above happened to us.
We found a frickin HUGE valley that was SO deep. It was a huge mountain, mind you, and the land looked like a meteor fell or something. It was amazing and I can remember it up to now where years have already passed. We built our secret base there and with the Runecraft mod, connected it to our island getaway.
Sadly the server admin reset the world and stuff, so yeah, all that is gone [i]but[/i] I can still remember the feeling of pure surprise and the thrill of discovering something unique. In our generation such feelings are experienced rarely 'cause many things are just easy to reach, effortless in most cases. Wouldn't it be great to feel that child-like thirst of exploration and the wide-eyed surprise in fulfilling that thirst?
The Randomness factor could variate the generation to mimic what alpha's gen had, but not enough to make things look like really messed up paintings of a five-year old (or a drawing I made, a five-year old and my drawings don't really have a difference) but enough to have surprise to the unsuspecting traveler.
Let me be honest: The current world-gen is too ordered, with biomes and sub-biomes and biomination and stuff. Add a little chaos and unpredictability to the mix and see your forests have spires of stone jutting upwards into the heavens, or your desert having a large waterfall falling down on a jagged pit.
As great as it may be, I also have considered the people who want to build on good, wide spaces or something, not on some alien warzone so maybe add a Randomness factor to how extreme the Randomness factor is and how rare it is.
There is a good chance of finding a simple yet cool variation on your mountains, but with the Randomness everywhere you can't just go and say "Oh, this is gonna be a mountain biome after this plains biome. Let's build here-" And then you stop dead in your tracks when you see the entire Plains biome being flat, with a LARGE, TITANIC, HUGE, JAW-DROPPING chunk of landmass on the horizon, with the mountain being higher than the clouds and is sculpted with patterns and designs no mere mortal can accomplish.
That is a [i]VERY[/i] optimistic piece of my imagination, but with a Randomness factor, that [i]could[/i] be a [i]very rare[/i] possibility but a possibility still, and that enough will motivate people to go search hundreds of blockometers to find such fabled legends.
I really want you guys to see this possible future of the Minecraft we all love and see the possibilities with it. I want people to be motivated to construct a building to rival the landscape. I want servers to construct cities that blends with the surroundings (A city built on the side of a very large mountain perhaps, with farmlands and mines on the lowlands...) or more simple pleasures, like fighting off a horde of zombies as you climb up a mountain to reach a village on its precipice so that the village's Iron Golems can help you ward off the undead.
Motivation is important, and to find your world being beautiful to the awe-inspiring without looking like it came from a sci-fi movie, one can really see our world being like that, and the thirst to conquer and build upon it grows strong.
Let's take the Forest Biome for example. Its main feature is... being a forest or in a more clarified form, it is Minecraft's embodiment of the forests of Earth. Well, the forests of Earth can't be found in a single biome, and Mojang will have to focus on other stuff so a simpler solution is needed. Having small changes upon the biome's generation will turn it into a different type of the same biome.
The forest biome could have less trees, but it would be abundant with animals to give a feel of being a forest in fairy tales. It could also be in another form, being filled with large, tall trees, but having a few animals to give the impression of a silent, eerie forest where assassins, werewolves and epic vampire hunting takes place. With a right balance of both types, it will simulate the feel of a wild forest, like the one in the movie
[i]Bambi[/i] (If you haven't watched it, watch it).
Example on how it would work:
The same could go for other biomes, but with different effects. Deserts could be flat, desolate areas or unpredictable, with unstable sand and tall, wavy sand placements all around. It could be like the Grand Canyon, with large sandstone pillars all around.
Have each biome be more random and unexpected and have several variations on the biome generation of a biome type.
Now let us have a picture, yay! These doesn't need explanation since it's more of a glorified TL;DR than anything.
Support all the way.
I agree and I am glad we are on the same side of the current situation. Please don't direct hate on Jeb or Mojang, keep in mind that this forum is fan-made, and though it's the central hub for minecrafters around the world, Mojang isn't directly related to the site.
They pay attention on the ones in GetSatisfaction or such, but do they have time sifting through countless ideas, no matter how justified or well-detailed it is? And let us keep in mind of the not so good posts. We cannot expect them to go around the forum looking for ideas when they have their own. Maybe this issue with biomes is tied to personal problems or technical difficulty. He's not ignoring the community, he is just too busy to reply to hundreds of wonderful ideas.
Hey, if I was in his position and I have an entire community that has countless ideas, I would be overwhelmed indeed. That's why we have the admins. I'm pretty sure they know the right time to contact Jeb. Also, if Jeb directly posted here, people will start those "Dear Jeb..." threads and countless rants of people being ignored by him. He can only focus on one thing at a time, and we all clamor for his attention, much more if we know he's looking at the ideas we post.
Let's all keep an open-mind here. Hope this helps you and possibly everyone else understand. Cheers!
The alpha gen had a very chaotic generation. In a way it was good, as things were very unpredictable, but it also meant having the world look like it came from a sci-fi movie. My proposal is to add a small fraction of that chaos to the current world gen, because right now it's too orderly. Having a large control over the world's build is bad in my opinion, so having the randomness from alpha in a more orderly setting is what we're aiming for.
Let's make an example. With a small grassland biome, the trees and general landscape will easily tell you where you're at, but at the same time it has a sense of uniqueness in it that gives it it's own personality compared to other grasslands. Let's say that specific grassland has spires made of grass and stone. Let's say another grassland has a deep depression or pools of water etc. With the randomness factor added in, things could exaggerate, maybe with floating islands or waterfalls jutting from a tall mountain at the center of the biome. Maybe a really rare appearance would be something of the likes we cannot imagine clearly. With valleys, floating islands, cliffs next to the seashore and so much but still looks like a grassland, with a generally flat landscape.
Thank you everyone for the support you have given me! I also await criticism and well disapproval. I dread hate, but I know if I am to improve I must see myself in the eyes of someone who has a different view. I'm waiting for it akin to waiting for the first strike in a war, cautious and alert.