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I think our porky pals need something new. Since the addition of beef, pork has not been as unique of a meat - in fact, it is now the worst choice of protein. Pigs are harder to tame. Carrots are much rarer than wheat. Cows have much more uses than pigs, making them the prime livestock of the game. But we always had saddles to keep pigs unique...
But now that there are horses, pigs are almost obsolete. Don't get me wrong, I love the idea of horses, but I think that pigs need something else. Something special.

I propose we add a new, unique use for pigs.

This is based off a real use for pigs, but with a Minecraftian twist.

You should be able to tame pigs to cause them to locate the nearest Mushroom Islands.
When tamed, they will have a visible difference (different animation or texture perhaps), and will start to slowly head in the direction of the nearest mushroom biome. Theoretically, using a Potion of Speed would quicken this process.

This is based off the fact that real-life pigs are used for sniffing out truffles.
My original thought was that they would detect mushrooms, but since mushrooms aren't very rare, I decided against that. But then I thought about how rare mushroom islands are (I've never actually seen one in game!). Having something to guide you to them (that isn't something dumb like a shroom-compass) would be great. So, this idea was born.

I think this idea is good because it brings another use to pigs, and iconic animal of Minecraft. It provides an efficient and logical way to easily locate mushroom islands. This idea has character and charm; it is witty and clever. This idea would definitely bring something new to pigs, mushroom islands and of course: Minecraft. If you agree with me, cast a vote or raise this post's reputation!

Also, I need your suggestions for what would put them into 'mushroom mode' and how they would lead you to the island afterwards.
Vote for your favorite options in the poll above. Thank you!


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Instead of taming them, just right click a mushroom on them. When they start moving to the mushroom island, they will have a diffrent tint of pink. To make it balanced, after every 20 blocks of walking, you must feed it another mushroom or they stop walking towards the mushroom island

Quote from Minecrafttime50

Instead of taming them, just right click a mushroom on them. When they start moving to the mushroom island, they will have a diffrent tint of pink. To make it balanced, after every 20 blocks of walking, you must feed it another mushroom or they stop walking towards the mushroom island

Honestly, I think taming pigs with mushrooms sounds reasonable, as it fits with the fact that pigs are not only omnivorous but also love to eat truffles; from what I've read it's not uncommon for truffle hogs to become the pets of the family they work for. Once you tame them, feeding them additional mushrooms could then trigger the search function as suggested in the quote, one for every twenty-block interval. It'll certainly make them more unique regardless of how it's implemented, though, particularly compared to all the typical suggestions around these parts about giving them armor or more unique ways of riding.
Riding... Hmmmm... How 'bout taming pigs, saddling them, and searching for mushroom islands while riding on their backs?

Quote from SkarmorySilver

Honestly, I think taming pigs with mushrooms sounds reasonable, as it fits with the fact that pigs are not only omnivorous but also love to eat truffles; from what I've read it's not uncommon for truffle hogs to become the pets of the family they work for. Once you tame them, feeding them additional mushrooms could then trigger the search function as suggested in the quote, one for every twenty-block interval. It'll certainly make them more unique regardless of how it's implemented, though, particularly compared to all the typical suggestions around these parts about giving them armor or more unique ways of riding.
Riding... Hmmmm... How 'bout taming pigs, saddling them, and searching for mushroom islands while riding on their backs?

Sounds good!
I like the balancing idea too. I'm not sure if 20 blocks is quite right, but it definitely needs limits for an item so common and dispensable.

I disagree that pigs are useless. As I posted in another thread, I prefer pork to beef, and it's my opinion that beef should be removed, and that's my preferred solution to making pigs matter again.

That said, I like this idea. I have some experience with trying to find a mushroom biome in a Large Biomes world, and believe me, it was a lot of work (there's a video in my Let's Play series about it, if you're interested). I think a mushroom-hunting pig mechanic is just what the doctor ordered.

As to how to implement? It seems wrong to feed the pig a mushroom and then expect it to hunt for more mushrooms. Seems to me the thing to do would be to tempt the pig with a mushroom, not let the pig eat it, and then let the pig do its own hunting. Or maybe make a "Mushroom on a Stick" item, that only works while you're riding the pig, and instead of going where you point, the pig heads for the nearest mushroom biome. You need something to block the pig's natural senses though. I would think that your standard mushroom on a stick would simply lead the pig to the nearest mushroom (within a large but finite number of blocks).

To take an example from another part of the game, an ender eye is analogous, and it's pretty expensive, requiring ender pearls and blaze powder. Maybe what we need is a "Magic Mushroom Nose of Porker on a Stick", so now all we need are some ingredients. I'm thinking gunpowder, to block the pig's normal sense of smell. And maybe an ender pearl, because that's really what gives "eyes of ender" their far-seeing magical power.

So Mushroom on a Stick (finds regular mushrooms) = Mushroom + Fishing Rod

Magic Mushroom Nose of Porker = Mushroom + Gunpowder + Ender Pearl

Magic Mushroom Nose of Porker on a Stick = Magic Mushroom Nose of Porker + Fishing Rod

And for the actual use of the item, we'll say a Magic Mushroom Nose of Porker on a Stick only causes the pig to hunt for mushroom biomes when the player right-clicks the pig while riding the pig. And this causes the MMoaS NoPoaS to lose durability, just like using a Carrot on a Stick.

Quote from Spaceboot1

I disagree that pigs are useless. As I posted in another thread, I prefer pork to beef, and it's my opinion that beef should be removed, and that's my preferred solution to making pigs matter again.

That said, I like this idea. I have some experience with trying to find a mushroom biome in a Large Biomes world, and believe me, it was a lot of work (there's a video in my Let's Play series about it, if you're interested). I think a mushroom-hunting pig mechanic is just what the doctor ordered.

As to how to implement? It seems wrong to feed the pig a mushroom and then expect it to hunt for more mushrooms. Seems to me the thing to do would be to tempt the pig with a mushroom, not let the pig eat it, and then let the pig do its own hunting. Or maybe make a "Mushroom on a Stick" item, that only works while you're riding the pig, and instead of going where you point, the pig heads for the nearest mushroom biome. You need something to block the pig's natural senses though. I would think that your standard mushroom on a stick would simply lead the pig to the nearest mushroom (within a large but finite number of blocks).

To take an example from another part of the game, an ender eye is analogous, and it's pretty expensive, requiring ender pearls and blaze powder. Maybe what we need is a "Magic Mushroom on a Stick", so now all we need are some ingredients. I'm thinking gunpowder, to block the pig's normal sense of smell. And maybe an ender pearl, because that's really what gives "eyes of ender" their far-seeing magical power.

So Mushroom on a Stick = Mushroom + Fishing Rod

Magic Mushroom = Mushroom + Gunpowder + Ender Pearl

Magic Mushroom on a Stick = Magic Mushroom + Fishing Rod

And for the actual use of the item, we'll say a Magic Mushroom on a Stick only causes the pig to hunt for mushroom biomes when the player right-clicks the pig while riding the pig. And this causes the MMoaS to lose durability, just like using a Carrot on a Stick.

This sounds like quite a good idea. I'm liking the mushroom on a stick concept.
Perhaps, though, the name 'magic mushroom' isn't the best, because of the easily drawn comparisons with drugs.

either craftable pig saddles or pig armor. The horse has it, so why not?or maybe pigs could eat carrot or potato crops, but I mean, like uber, uber, uber, uber rare. Or eat mushrooms. and if they can't find one, they'll take a nibble out of a giant one, but only in visual. If there is one, that is. Well ,that's my idea.

I don't like the horses, they made pigs pointless and killed the joke of riding pigs.

Maybe instead of using Magic Mushroom as the name, it might be less suggestive to use a name like "Mushroom Eye" or "Mushroom Vision"

Actually, if there's an Eye of Ender, there should be a Nose of Porker, or something...

Feed them mushrooms, they lead you to the elusive Shroom Island. Neat. I support

...And "Nose of Porker" is one of the dumbest things I've ever heard. And kind of cruel too. Give Mr. Piggy his nose back, you monster.

Porcine Tracking
Pigsense
Trufdar

Quote from Minecrafttime50

Instead of taming them, just right click a mushroom on them. When they start moving to the mushroom island, they will have a diffrent tint of pink. To make it balanced, after every 20 blocks of walking, you must feed it another mushroom or they stop walking towards the mushroom island

I am not sure if the 20 blocks thing is a good balancer. Why? Even if the pig stops, you already know where the Mushroom Island is. Plus, mushrooms are not rare.

i think that pigs with saddles on them should find a potato or mushroom in the ground every so often.

Quote from Rex1900Roblox

I am not sure if the 20 blocks thing is a good balancer. Why? Even if the pig stops, you already know where the Mushroom Island is. Plus, mushrooms are not rare.

in one sense you're right. but also you can't just have the pig take off and never stop, because eventually it will exit loaded chunks.

perhaps the game could have the pig travel on straight north-south and east-west lines, with randomly determined switching points, so you can't know when the path will change until the pig gets there:

Quote from Spaceboot1

in one sense you're right. but also you can't just have the pig take off and never stop, because eventually it will exit loaded chunks.

perhaps the game could have the pig travel on straight north-south and east-west lines, with randomly determined switching points, so you can't know when the path will change until the pig gets there:

Should they also be able to walk on the Ocean going there as long as they are in Mushroom-Seeker Mode?
Be at normal walking speed in the water?
Or just be at regular swimming speed?

Quote from Deonyi

ISU Rating

33/37

The idea is original and clear however more detail could be provided. How does the pig guide you? Does it walk towards it, face it or do something else? Perhaps if you put a leash on a pig it will do it although will also be attracted to mushrooms, forcing you to remove them? Like metal detecting.

Result Breakdown

Originality: 5/5
Usefulness and Logic: 3.5/4
Clarity: 2.5/3
Detail: 8/10
Grammar and Spelling: 5/5
Personality: 5/5
Rule-Abiding: 4/4
Total: 33/37

Thank you, sir, I appreciate the rating. This will really help me with future post-making. I will improve the first post as soon as I finalize the method of mushroom-seeking.

Quote from Spaceboot1

in one sense you're right. but also you can't just have the pig take off and never stop, because eventually it will exit loaded chunks.

perhaps the game could have the pig travel on straight north-south and east-west lines, with randomly determined switching points, so you can't know when the path will change until the pig gets there:

I'm liking this idea, it will make it harder to predict, and will also give it a more realistic approach. I mean, truffle hogs in real life don't mindlessly march directly towards the nearest truffle. They will be sniffing around on the ground and searching it out.
However, there will definitely need to be a cap on the length of the lines, because we don't want a massive angle - a long distance away and an equally long distance back. Keep them at like 10-60 blocks, maybe?
Maybe as they walk in the rough zigzag pattern, they should be looking back and forth down at the ground and perhaps have a new animation: their nose wiggling or something (to represent sniffing).


ATTENTION ALL POSTERS: I AM UPDATING THE FIRST POST AND THE POLL WITH NEW, SPECIFIC OPTIONS

Quote from Rex1900Roblox

Should they also be able to walk on the Ocean going there as long as they are in Mushroom-Seeker Mode?
Be at normal walking speed in the water?
Or just be at regular swimming speed?

That's a thing I hadn't thought of. Obviously with mushroom biomes being islands, it's a near guarantee that a big part of this trip will be over water. I don't think they should go quite as fast as walking, but maybe they should get a bit of a boost.

Just daydreaming now, but if only you could put a pig in a boat... well, you can with world edit and command blocks now, but I'm thinking survival.

That's a good idea you were talking about up there, but I think I have a solution to your balancing problem.

I'm sure all of you have tamed wolves before. How about the pigs are turned to 'seek mode' in a similar way to how wolves are tamed? The item you need to feed them would have to be something made with mushrooms, but not as rare as the nose of porker (Enderpearl is too costly and not worth finding a mushroom biome.) Maybe something somewhere along the lines of this:
X
X X
X
This item can be fed to a pig, and have a chance to go into mushroom biome-sniffing mode (Like a wolf has a chance to be tamed), and it won't stop until it hits a body of water. In this case, you need to place down a boat and feed the pig again. This time, it will climb into the boat. You'll have to get behind the boat and push it in the direction the pig indicates my tilting it's head. Maybe there should be a new feature where you can grab the back of the boat and kick-swim it in the direction you choose (I'm thinking that pig-on-boat will need to be it's own, separate entity for this reason, to enable such a feature.)

All in all, I think this process is lengthy enough to prevent it from being super easy to do, but it doesn't consume any valuable resources.