Having made it to the top of the lone stony mountain, I was rewarded with a splendid panorama of the two nearby mountain ranges. Here's a look south at the enormous ring of peaks at the northeastern corner of our current 2x2 map grid.
After gathering some iron, I turned west towards the other mountain range and descended into a forest valley, where I slept through the night.
Come morning, I headed south to fill in the southeasternmost pixels of the new map before making my first "true" crossing north. Along the way, I spotted a pack of pale wolves lingering at the outskirts of a forest. I was certain that this chunk had never been loaded prior to this expedition, though, so I supposed pale wolves could still occasionally replace the new variants.
At the southeastern corner of the map was a steep slope littered with small cracks and cave openings, one of which a zombie had escaped from. I dispatched it with ease.
Here's a closer look at one of the highest peaks of the mountain range I would soon explore. It only reached slightly above cloud level and so turned out to be no match for the Pinnacles, unlike what I had initially thought.
The first crossing north led me up a slope and through a forest pass between the mountain range (left) and standalone mountain (right).
Turning back, I found that another zombie had wandered out from a cave opening. I didn't bother to shoot that one down.
The forest plateau soon gave way to sparse jungle hills, a sign that I was nearing the ocean.
I climbed to the top of one of the hills and, turning west, was rewarded with another brilliant view, this time of the small tree-capped stony mountain from the previous update. I decided to name it "Half Dome Rock," after an iconic real-world landmark.
Eventually, I reached the expected ocean ...
... where I made my first turn west to a bay of sorts, with a tiny jungle island at the center surrounded by a large submerged beach.
Speaking of beaches ... it was also here that I noticed this peculiarity:
An almost entirely landlocked stretch of beach, of both sand and stone, isn't something you'd expect to see every day.
While heading south through the sparse jungle, I spotted two packs of rusty wolves but didn't tame them. Spoiler warning, that would turn out to be a good decision later on.
I soon approached the northern foothills of Half Dome Rock, but not before seeing this magnificent expanse of bamboo jungle to the southwest. I'd definitely never expected to find such a large area of it.
The bamboo jungle was on the other side of a wide river, whose coastal meandering had formed a small stony island.
Continuing on, I began my ascent up Half Dome Rock and, halfway through, had to pass directly in front of this cave opening.
For mapping purposes, though, I didn't have to make it all the way to the top and merely brushed past its eastern side.
And yeah, there was ... this. You always become so used to seeing forest fires after the first few maps.
Now, it was time to face this obstacle course — or in nicer words, delve into the heart of a vast bamboo jungle. Either way, the next few crossings would be slow and challenging to make.
I soon ascended to the top of a ridge, which offered an excellent view of Half Dome Rock to the north as well as the surrounding bamboo jungle, which continued on as far as the eye could see. The forest fire from earlier was still spreading.
Moving on, the ridge led to the western side of the ring of stony peaks, which I hadn't noticed in the valley due to the thick bamboo obstruction.
Looking east into the jungle valley within the ring:
I continued south along the ring, mining any easily accessible iron and emerald ore, and found this to the west:
Yes, the views were wonderful, but what caught my attention was the exposed lush cave. It would provide an easy opportunity to collect more axolotls for the pond at Sunflower Valley or resupply on lush-themed blocks, all without the danger of mobs. It sounded perfect, and I would have the chance to explore it on my next crossing north ... (Spoiler warning, it didn't turn out as expected.)
Looking back into the jungle valley, I spotted a pair of parrots, one blue and one red.
I only bothered making the detour because I didn't have a blue parrot yet. And of course, after taming one parrot, there was no way I wasn't taming the other. Both required less than ten seeds, though; it was a good sign.
Unfortunately, the descent wasn't as peaceful and tranquil. It started with the spawning of a pillager patrol.
They didn't pose a threat, but I was still in a hurry to descend as I didn't want my parrots to be involved in any sort of combat situation. I soon came across a cave opening from which a zombie and skeleton emerged out of the blue. I shot down the zombie, but the skeleton was quick to open fire.
One of its arrows was only pixels away from hitting the blue parrot, which would almost certainly have killed it. Thankfully, I managed to dispatch the monster before any more chaos could ensue.
I soon approached the stony mountain range from the first picture in this update, which signified that I was approaching the southern boundary of the map. With ... another stretch of bamboo jungle to traverse.
And exotic creatures to meet — namely an ocelot and a pair of parrots, one green and one white.
I couldn't let my guard down, though. This place was filled to the brim with pitfalls and sources of mob danger — in the form of ravines and cave openings, unsurprisingly. One of the ravines, which reached deepslate level, led to a lush cave.
As I made a turn west, I spotted more stony peaks in the distance, but they could just be part of an "extension" of the mountain range at the northwestern corner of the northeastern map on the 2x2 map grid (unfortunately, I don't have a name for that one yet). I would find out on my next crossing south.
Heading north, I ascended another hill and was treated to ... you guessed it, more bamboo jungle. It was endless. At least I now had four parrots to keep me company, though to be honest, their monster imitation noises weren't really appreciated.
Here's a final look east at the stony mountain range I had crossed earlier. Notice another exposed patch of clay halfway up the slope. You could even make out the dripleaves!
Speaking of exposed clay, here's the close-up of the lush cave I had spotted from the mountains, which could even be seen on the map (see previous picture). It was only here that I remembered axolotls could only spawn in total darkness, however, and that was slightly disappointing.
There was a small waterfall where a group (or "school") of tropical fish were aimlessly bobbing around, but otherwise nothing of particular interest, so I moved on.
A third of the way through the crossing, I encountered a pair of pandas, one of which was brown. Brown pandas are apparently a rare sight, so I figured I'd show it here. (And, oh yeah, there was a forest fire in the background that I somehow did not notice until looking at this screenshot.)
I then climbed up another small hill, and guess what I found on the other side?
More bamboo jungle!
It went on. And on. It was only until I was around two thirds of the way through the crossing that the meandering river near Half Dome Rock finally came into view beyond the stalks of bamboo. A truly welcome sight — and another parrot to tame.
The next update will cover the remainder of this map, which didn't turn out as significant as that first bit.
Some nice mountainscapes there, especially the first with the spires right after the spoiler tag.
I've always found jungle to be a struggle, due to the sightlines and occasional dayspawning. And the new Bamboo Jungle provides lots of constant obstacles - I feel like a pinball!
Congrats on the parrot collection.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Geographicraft (formerly Climate Control) - Control climate, ocean, and land sizes; stop chunk walls; put modded biomes into Default worlds, and more!
RTG plus - All the beautiful terrain of RTG, plus varied and beautiful trees and forests.
Better Forests Varied and beautiful trees and forests, in modern Minecraft.
I've always found jungle to be a struggle, due to the sightlines and occasional dayspawning. And the new Bamboo Jungle provides lots of constant obstacles - I feel like a pinball!
Yeah, the bamboo jungle crossings were quite a challenge. The hilly terrain also often required me to dig and pillar up (the dense bamboo made it impossible to find a feasible route around) and I was constantly worrying about hitting one of the parrots by accident.
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Episode 44: Double Loop
The second crossing north eventually led me out of the bamboo jungle and towards the banks of the wide, twisting river that flowed into the ocean. Directly ahead was the half-stony, half-jungle island that had formed as a result of one of its U-shaped meanders.
I temporary left my parrots at the riverbank (I would reunite with them on my next crossing south) and sailed along the river, watching the bamboo jungle begin to fade away behind me. The break was truly welcome.
I then weaved around the island, where my parrots had teleported to, and sailed out to the open sea.
Of course, we probably all know by now that modern oceans are jam-packed with structures. This time, it was a shallow, partially exposed ruined portal.
The chest loot wasn't good, but I did take the single obsidian as well as the gold block hidden behind the portal frame.
On my next turn west, I found a stony beach with what seemed like an exposed ocean ruin. The stream of structures really was endless ...
I then sailed back south and made landfall at a sparse jungle, where I reunited with my parrots. According to the map, the area of ocean I had just sailed across was a large bay, and the "wide meandering river" wasn't really a river but also a part of said bay. It was certainly nice seeing this coastal variety.
I spent the rest of the day heading south along the peninsula before treating myself to a brilliant jungle sunset.
Still continuing south the next day, I was surprised to find this ahead:
So it seemed like the mid-northern stony mountain range on our 2x2 map grid was a lot larger than I thought. The mountain ahead was likely part of another ring of mountains that would form a double loop or "figure 8" with the ring I had already mapped.
As I made my way into the bamboo jungle once again, I was ambushed by a skeleton which had more likely been a dayspawn than a cave-opening-escaper. Thankfully, none of my parrots were hit.
I soon began the steep ascent towards the summit. Here's a look back at the swath of bamboo jungle I had traversed.
Now, here's a look west at the mountain peaks I would explore in the next crossing north. For this crossing, I would merely brush past the eastern hills of the range.
Finally, the south revealed another mountain peak, but judging from the map, it was likely part of the same range. It was here that I also noticed a lava flow off one of the mountains, and it had started a small fire.
Near the southern boundary of the map where the pictured mountain peak was located ... they appeared.
Luckily for me, though, it was time to make a western turn, towards the northern ring of the stony mountain range.
From my treetop vantage point, I was rewarded with another lovely view of the bamboo jungle behind me. To the southeast was the temple I had discovered while filling in the northeastern map of the 2x2 grid.
Within the ring itself was a forest valley scattered with ravines.
After turning west, I descended into the valley. This would be the start of the penultimate crossing.
I eventually reached the northernmost peak of the ring and was relieved to find plains and oak forest beyond it. I had finally come to the end of the bamboo jungle; the last part of this map would be a breeze to complete.
Notice the white / light gray pixels on the mountains on the map. Those weren't unfilled pixels but rather strips of calcite, which this mountain range in particular had generated with a lot of.
As I descended, a zombie wearing a chainmail helmet emerged from a tiny cave opening.
Since chainmail armor was uncraftable, I decided to have a go and shoot it down. Unfortunately, the helmet didn't drop.
Speaking of cave openings, I found an enormous one at a stony beach further on.
Beyond it was the expected ocean. And guess what I found at the northern edge of the map?
An upturned, double-chest shipwreck. You may also notice another shipwreck (but a full-sized one) and large cluster of ocean ruins in the background, but I left them. For now, at least.
The first chest I found was the map chest, which contained a buried treasure map that I shoved in my shulker box without even a glance at it.
The treasure chest contained (unsurprisingly) more iron, emeralds, lapis lazuli and an XP bottle which I smashed on the spot to save inventory space.
Here's a closer look of the ocean ruins, which had displaced a considerable amount of kelp. If I ever decided to get myself a trident, this seemed like a fine spot.
I decided to loot the building which had generated on the shore.
The chest loot rewarded me with another Mending fishing rod (not that I needed one), but the real reward for me was the single sea lantern. Those are difficult to find without raiding an ocean monument.
Some suspicious gravel had also spawned as part of the floor, and while I did have a brush in my ender chest, what I didn't have was the energy for archaeology.
Moving on, I made my final turn west, where a snow-capped hill faded into view. After spending the past few days climbing barren stony mountains, the change was welcome. Something to look forward to in the next map!
For now, I made my final crossing south through the plains and up the forest plateau back towards the stony mountain range, at the base of which I stumbled upon this ravine.
Eventually, I made it to the northwestern side of the ring.
The western side, which I would head along for the rest of this crossing, was more of a narrow stony ridge than a series of true mountain peaks. The view of the landscapes below, however, was just as nice.
To the west was the pillager outpost I had raided on my vine-gathering trip in Episode 28. Unfortunately, it seemed like I would have to head straight past it for my next map, but it shouldn't pose a major threat.
On the other side of the river was an unusually small forest biome that had created a thin copse of trees in the middle of the vast plains.
Still heading south, I eventually reached the southern boundary of the map, completing it — and that marked the halfway point of this expedition.
Coming next were two more northern maps. And if I remember correctly, the woodland mansion I found to the north of the 2x2 grid should be included in the very next one ...
I don't believe I've ever found an underwater ruined portal that had part of it above the water yet.
Hearing the mob mimicking noises of parrots never bothered me. Maybe if it happened a whole lot at home then I'd do something to stop it, but not when traveling.
Maybe I say that because I miss all the ambiance and animal options in the older versions I'm playing lately. No wolf variants (in fact, no persistent wolves at all!), no parrots, no village cats, no pandas, no polar bears, no llamas (!), no fish, no frogs, no bees, no goats, and while structures not being littered everywhere is somewhat nice, these ones go too far in the opposite direction (and most of those also don't exist) so there's overall just less villages and others signs of life. Some people preferred that aspect of older Minecraft, but I didn't. I've always been wanting more ambiance of worldly life. Structures are simply a bit too common (which is exposing more and more a flaw they always had, and that's the ability to just overwrite/interrupt other structures, and at least in some cases I'm absolutely shocked there aren't measures in place to prevent this).
When it comes to exploration, my main concern is that the parrots' long-range mimicking noises will distract me from noticing mobs actually close enough to pose a threat. While I can handle combat with those mobs, I prefer to avoid it when travelling with pets just to keep them free from unintended harm. (Unfortunately, disaster strikes in the next update.)
Animal variety and ambience seem to be the kind of stuff that many modern-age players take for granted until they play older versions for the first time, where the difference suddenly feels so significant. Many biomes could do with even more ambience — treetop animals, more birds, etc., but I love what has already been added so far. It's a shame that many dislike these mobs for their lack of utility, with bats being a notorious example.
Many structures definitely feel too common, particularly the ocean ones. The variety is welcome but many structures could benefit from simply being made rarer, in my opinion.
When it comes to exploration, my main concern is that the parrots' long-range mimicking noises will distract me from noticing mobs actually close enough to pose a threat. While I can handle combat with those mobs, I prefer to avoid it when travelling with pets just to keep them free from unintended harm. (Unfortunately, disaster strikes in the next update.)
On the surface and during the daytime, especially if you keep moving and generally keep an eye on your surroundings, there should be very little threat, especially if you're well armored and enchanted like you are.
The parrots mimicking something brings the benefit of warning you something might be an upcoming risk. Many times, yeah, it's underground with no direct access to reach you (and maybe it isn't even trying to pathfind to you in the first place) so it won't amount to anything, but that information should still help warn you. You can't be lulled into a false sense of security and think "it usually doesn't amount to anything so it means nothing".
Animal variety and ambience seem to be the kind of stuff that many modern-age players take for granted until they play older versions for the first time, where the difference suddenly feels so significant. Many biomes could do with even more ambience — treetop animals, more birds, etc., but I love what has already been added so far. It's a shame that many dislike these mobs for their lack of utility, with bats being a notorious example.
You're so on the mark with this more than you realize because it's not even something that applies to newer players only. I started playing in 1.2.5 and going back to 1.6 and 1.8 was a serious culture shock moment. "Wait... was it really like this!?" has basically been me continuous reaction.
And bats are uh... I understand the complaints on that one because apparently they supposedly only "fly randomly" but I swear the frequency at which they fly in front of me when I'm mining or fighting a mob is way (often taking an arrow for a mob) seems way too coincidental. Maybe it's because they perch upside down until you're very close so the chance of them being near you while flying is just higher, but I swear I'll move away some and they are yet always seeming to follow me.
Many structures definitely feel too common, particularly the ocean ones. The variety is welcome but many structures could benefit from simply being made rarer, in my opinion.
I absolutely agree. Structures, and some more than others, are pretty frequent. They don't need to go back to being as infrequent as they were, but reducing them a little bit (even if it was still much closer to to how common they are today rather than how uncommon they used to be) would feel nice. This is one of the rare areas where current terrain generation feels a bit inconsistent with itself; it has a larger scale world yet structures are now littered everywhere as though the scale is smaller. Older worlds had the opposite problem; the world scale was lower yet structures felt much rarer. So one of two things is true; either this much higher structure frequency is intended, or it's an oversight since they simply left the actual values for spawn chances alone but changed the variables that allow those chances to succeed more. I'm not sure which, but while them being more common is nice, it'd feel more perfect in some in particular were toned down. But yeah, go play versions before 1.10 or so, and you'll have the opposite remark about structure frequency, haha.
More importantly with structures, I think they need some sort of priority system to prevent one structure from spawning where another structure already is. In particular, this feels bad with large structures like ancient cities and trial chambers (talk about a mood kill...), and strongholds are another one since they are somewhat rare and important.
To start off the new year, here's the first of the three updates that would cover the two remaining northern maps. The northwesternmost map (which would be covered in the two updates after this one) would likely mark the boundary of the enormous warm climate zone I'd been exploring for a while. For now, though, savanna and jungle would still be common sights.
Looking west from the southeastern corner of this map (the one east of the northwesternmost map) was the pillager outpost I had raided prior to this expedition. Luckily, it didn't seem like either of the first two crossings would take me particularly close to it.
The first crossing north led me along a winding river and then across the plains beyond. Better enjoy this easy terrain while it lasted; it was already ending in the distance.
At the bottom of the slope, I found this wide cave opening; it was the type that hostile mobs loved wandering out from the most. (In fact, a skeleton did emerge as I began my ascent up the hill, but I didn't keep the picture.)
The top of the hill offered a nice view of the expanse of forest and jungle to the east.
To the north was a large lake that would mark the northeastern corner of this map. Notice the exposed ocean ruin from the previous map to the right of the picture.
The frozen "mountain" I discovered in that same map turned out to be half-snowy, half-stony, which wasn't a surprise given the vastness of this warm climate zone. It also seemed to be a standalone mountain, which I'd seen quite a lot of on this expedition.
The slope leading down to the lake was rather steep, so I made my way to the top of a tree and decided to boat off it into said lake. This happened:
I was pretty sure it was related to a Java bug where boats would break on land if they fell from a certain height (e.g. 12 blocks). Maybe instead of breaking in water, they would sink? The issue was fairly insignificant though, and I moved on.
I made my first turn west, towards the stony-frozen mountain, which was dotted with small spruce groves.
The snowline was unusually low, at around y:75. Oddly, the oak forest and frozen peaks weren't separated by a mid-altitude biome in some places, creating this rather peculiar transition.
I ascended the icy slope, trying to keep far from the spruce groves — which were full of powder snow — for the sake of my parrots. This was not the place for them!
I soon began my crossing south, which led me off the mountain and into ... oh great. More jungle.
Fortunately, it soon gave way to a small clearing, beyond which was oak forest. This "break" wouldn't last long, however, for there was still more jungle to the west. At least the parrots would be pleased!
About two-thirds of the way through the crossing, the hill abruptly ended in this small but steep drop. Thankfully, there was a pool of water at my convenience.
At the top of another slope, the forest gave way to the expected savanna. To the east was the northern ring of the "double loop" of mountains.
Towards the end of the crossing, the pillager outpost finally came into view — and it was located on a narrow peninsula created by a sharp river meander.
Thank goodness for that. I had had enough of parrot accidents ...
Making my second turn west, I entered an area dotted with cave openings of various sizes.
I also noticed small patches of stone on the surface, which I initially assumed was part of a dripstone cave system — until the debug screen told me otherwise. They turned out to be micro stony shore biomes instead.
Seeing the cherry grove in the background made me realize that I hadn't found any on this expedition so far (apart from the ones on the local map). Disappointingly, this cherry grove was already on the northwestern map on the 2x2 grid.
Moving on, the next crossing north brought me back to the forest, where I was greeted by a wolf patrol.
Here's another split in the ground I found immediately after the encounter. One of the parrots decided to stand in the way of the picture, as if to warn me that the cave beyond was full of dangers. (And it was probably right.)
After crossing this narrow strip of forest, I was rewarded with more nice and easy terrain.
It wouldn't be like this for my next crossing south, though ...
Just over halfway through this crossing, the half-stony, half-frozen mountain finally faded into view, to the northeast this time. It turned out to be a standalone mountain after all.
While I was crossing its western foothills, I found this small ravine with a small lava flow. Nothing too special, but I figured I would show it anyway.
As I descended the slope once again, the large lake to the north of the mountain finally emerged, indicating I was approaching the northern boundary of the map. Beyond it was more forest hills and plains, but that would be off-limits for this expedition.
To the west was a ruined portal which I regrettably did not explore. (I thought I would encounter it again on my next crossing south but somehow missed / forgot about it as I was crossing over the hill behind. Oh well.)
Early the next day, I was ready to make my next turn west. Here's a final view of the mountain:
Looking back south revealed this odd terrain with a sudden steep drop and floating platform, both of which I had missed during the crossing.
But anyways ... it was once again time to enter the great jungle of mysteries ...
The next update will cover the remainder of this map as well as the start of the next one — the northwesternmost map. After that, I'll complete three more western maps, where I expect to find the cold climate zone.
I ascended the icy slope, trying to keep far from the spruce groves — which were full of powder snow — for the sake of my parrots. This was not the place for them!
I found out the hard way how dangerous that is for them. I stopped to get pictures and lost one.
I still remember when that happened. Travelling with pets and animals sadly almost always puts them at risk. I guess the best thing you can do in the case of powder snow is to always keep moving to force-teleport them to your side.
Yeah, if you keep moving, they are generally fine because they will either be flying a lot, or if they do end up snow, they won't stay there for long and shouldn't take too much damage (then again, they have little health).
I just happened to be looking for spots to get pictures and didn't notice they were at risk from that until I heard it... and then it was too late.
The rain was back on. But I relished it this time; the gloom sure did suit the atmosphere of this place. From the top of a hill, I looked down at the vast, uninterrupted expanse of jungle to the south, fully aware of what lay ahead ...
It was time to descend into this extensive bamboo obstacle course.
I hadn't gone twenty blocks before disaster struck (and no pictures this time).
I turned around and was dismayed to find a baby zombie behind me. I attacked it, and the monster briefly caught on fire (thanks to the Fire Aspect enchantment on my sword) before the rain put it out, as expected. I slashed at the zombie again. It died, thank goodness. But so did something else.
One of the parrots had flown in the way of my sweeping attack.
Sigh. Another unfortunate bird, gone like that. And that perfectly explained my avoidance of combat when travelling with pets. I solemnly picked up its feathers before continuing on through the darkening jungle.
As if the zombies still hadn't had enough ...one showed up again the next morning just as I was about to cross a river.
I shot it with my bow and watched the thing burn to death, suddenly impatient to leave this place once and for all.
I crossed the pictured river ...
... and again shortly after thanks to its sudden twists and turns ...
... and then yet again as I made my turn west, where the jungle gave way to oak and old growth birch forest.
It wasn't long until I finally found what I had ... expected to find.
No surprises. But it was still an ominous sight. And the next crossing north would bring me even more ominously close to it.
It was my first time being that close to one on a pure survival world. So close that one of my parrots started mimicking vindicator noises. I did attempt to look for the entrance to the mansion so I could block it up and prevent "ambushes" should I return for mapping work in the future, but failed to find it and didn't want to spend any more time doing so.
I soon climbed to the top of a small slope, which revealed the upper rooms of the mansion. Notice the spider spawner (I think?) room on the third floor.
Remember Pondside Inn at Sunflower Valley? Well, this was Lakeside Mansion!
Honestly, the mansion did seem to be in a pretty "nice" area with all the forest and river variety around.
The final crossing north led me back through the stretch of bamboo jungle, which contained little of interest apart from this small stony mountain to the west — but that would be for the next map.
It wasn't long before said jungle unexpectedly gave way to a mix of oak forest and sparse jungle.
At its outskirts, I managed to find and tame a blue parrot. Still, no other parrot could ever make up for the one that had perished in the zombie fight.
Continuing north, a wide river confluence eventually faded into view. Beyond it was more jungle plateaus.
I also noticed this to my right:
The beginnings of perhaps another major forest fire ...
Since the slope leading down to the river was rather steep, I decided to boat off a tree like I did in the previous update — and this happened again.
It was only a minor inconvenience like last time, so I moved on, although I did soon hear the gurgling of a drowned who thankfully had no trident.
As I sailed around the confluence and climbed over the surrounding hills, trying to fill in the remaining blank pixels on the map, I spotted a cherry grove that was to the north and therefore off-limits for this expedition.
After making a quick pass southwest and then back north, the map was officially complete.
For splitting purposes, the rest of this update would cover the first part of the northwesternmost map, the final map in the far northern row.
I crossed the river for the final time and climbed up the pictured plateau, the top of which hid this large dripstone ravine.
After traversing a thin stretch of forest, I started the new map and zoomed it out. The west revealed an enormous savanna plateau which I would climb on my next crossing north.
Meanwhile, this crossing south led me through some plains back to the river from the previous map.
To the east was the vast bamboo jungle I had spent days trudging through.
Upon making it to the other side of the river, I looked back and noticed that it was part of another confluence. What a complex river system!
I soon entered another expanse of oak forest, where I immediately discovered this large ravine. Remember when I mentioned how they always seemed to contain a lone tree? Well, there you go:
The other half of the ravine was inhabited by a pair of skeletons.
Continuing south, the oak forest transitioned back to jungle, and the small stony mountain I saw earlier emerged to the west (right of the picture). Like Half Dome Rock, it was topped with trees.
Upon closer inspection, I supposed you could call it more of a "ridge" than an actual mountain.
And now ... we enter the bamboo jungle once again. At its outskirts was an azalea tree, which I surprisingly hadn't found many of yet despite the large areas of jungle I'd been exploring recently.
I soon also spotted a pair of parrots, one cyan and one blue. I did have a cyan parrot at my treehouse but hadn't tamed one (that survived) on this trip. So I did just that — and for the blue parrot as well.
As I approached the southeastern corner of the map, I ascended to the top of a small hill which not only offered a view of the woodland mansion to the west but also had a ruined portal (with two gold blocks!).
The chest loot wasn't terrible. I took the iron and fire charges.
Anyways ... this would probably be the last of the woodland mansion for this expedition. From this angle, it was apparent that the dark forest it had spawned in was tiny.
Continuing on, I made my first turn west. The jungle was endless, but at least it wasn't full of bamboo this time.
As I began my crossing north, a small river gradually began to take shape. I would follow until reaching the confluence further north.
I'll leave it here. The next update will have me finishing the remainder of this map — and spoiler alert, there is quite a significant change in scenery ahead.
Reading this thread is bad for me. The thread itself is fine, but being halfway through a 1.8 world and probably having quite a bit to go, and having done 1 .6 world before that, seeing all these views is giving me some sort of separation depression and making me want to get back to my 1.20 world. And when I do that, I need to build a home before exploring a new area, so I have a lot to do before I can explore a current Minecraft world again.
I turned around and was dismayed to find a baby zombie behind me. I attacked it, and the monster briefly caught on fire (thanks to the Fire Aspect enchantment on my sword) before the rain put it out, as expected. I slashed at the zombie again. It died, thank goodness. But so did something else.
One of the parrots had flown in the way of my sweeping attack.
Sigh. Another unfortunate bird, gone like that. And that perfectly explained my avoidance of combat when travelling with pets. I solemnly picked up its feathers before continuing on through the darkening jungle.
When it's raining, you have to be careful for that. It's darker, and some spots can already for spawns as it is, so they become more common with it raining.
It might be odd that I'm giving this suggestion since I default to a sword too, but that experience would have taught me to consider using an axe if I only wanted to deal with one thing and if my sword had sweeping edge on it. Or I'd have just ran.
It might be odd that I'm giving this suggestion since I default to a sword too, but that experience would have taught me to consider using an axe if I only wanted to deal with one thing and if my sword had sweeping edge on it.
I'll keep that in mind. I always switch to my sword by instinct when faced with a melee combat situation and completely forget about the axe ... and then accidents like these can happen.
After following a narrowing river, I trudged up a steep slope to the top of a plateau, where the jungle abruptly gave way to the expected savanna. The land was dominated by llamas and armadillos alike.
To the west was a small but steep crater-like valley dotted with tiny dripstone cave openings. An unusual sight?
The river I had crossed immediately after starting this map winded away to the northeast. I also noticed large patches of exposed stone on the side of the plateau, which likely hinted at an enormous dripstone cave system.
Speaking of dripstone, I found this interesting but forbidding ravine shortly after.
As the sun dipped below the horizon, I made my way towards a ruined portal which I had spotted earlier. It was off the northern edge of the map, but the detour was a short one.
While the loot wasn't anything special, I think it had a gold block. (It's been a long time ...)
Besides that, I only took the iron nuggets.
Making my way south the next day, I spotted a herd of white llamas, the variant which I thought only spawned in windswept hills. Perhaps the brown and cream-colored ones were simply more common in the savanna.
I then turned around and noticed this:
A fall would likely be fatal thanks to the pointed dripstone at the bottom.
Now that I was back on track, it was time to make a western turn. Ahead was a seemingly complex river system winding through the otherwise smooth terrain.
The crossing south led me down the savanna plateau and back into the jungle. To the west was a village (it was a plains village, despite being mostly situated in a savanna biome).
After a sudden incline, I found myself at the top of another plateau, where the trees thinned out. I spotted a small stony mountain (also to the west!); I was almost certain it would be a standalone one like most of the others I'd seen.
Once at the bottom, I had to cross this narrow strip of bamboo jungle. Thank goodness for the open sky beyond ...
I then boated across this large lake, where I found a surface-level cave opening — nothing too special but still interesting enough to show.
On the other side was (unsurprisingly) more jungle. As I tree-hopped my way west, however, I was somewhat surprised to find a stretch of ocean ahead.
That, coupled with the relatively calm savanna terrain to the north, should make the rest of this map a breeze to complete.
Here's looking north at the stony mountain. Before climbing it, I would first need to cross this wide river, part of which was in an ocean biome, hence the beaches.
Looking back east was the jungle I had traversed.
Here's a view of the same area of jungle from atop the stony mountain — where it started raining.
Heading down the stony mountain, the sparse jungle transitioned to plains, a sign that I was approaching the village I had spotted on the previous crossing. This black-and-white cat was the first to welcome me.
I placed down my ender chest, opening it to bring out the few remaining salmon I had left, and ... BOOM!
Lighting struck, thunder crashed and the sky darkened.
I was quick to swipe out my bed and sleep through the storm. Thankfully, no mobs seemed to have spawned by morning.
Back to cat taming! I knew neither of these were of the variant I was looking for but didn't have the heart to let them wander away from their home, lost forever. Whether my parrots liked this, I couldn't tell ... but probably not.
The village itself didn't have any buildings of interest apart from a single cartographer house whose chest contained some paper.
I continued on past the village to a shallow river, where I resupplied on salmon and was greeted by a wandering trader shortly after.
While the trader didn't offer anything of great interest, I did purchase some coral blocks and pale hanging moss (I would unlikely use it but who knows when I would find a pale garden).
After a number of river crossings, it was time for the final crossing south. I climbed to the top of a small hill and — wow. Another village. A savanna one. And you know what that meant ...
Cartographer house looting!
Like most savanna villages, this one had several, as well as two or three standard house chests with extra emeralds.
Of course, the village was also brimming with cats, but none were what I was looking for. So ... I continued on.
To the south was a pair of lakes; one of them had a small forest island at its centre.
The eastern lake was larger and even contained a tiny ocean biome, which explained why it was surrounded by stony beaches.
The hills on the other side of the lakes offered a lovely view back at the island.
Here's yet another lake to the south, barred off from the ocean ahead by a very thin stretch of land.
After crossing it, I spotted a ruined portal off the western edge of the map. Since my next map would take me south, I decided to make the short detour. Was it worth it?
Not only did it lack a gold block, there was no loot chest! Even worse, two of my parrots flew into magma (seriously, why can't they pathfind around it?). Thankfully, they survived. Only just. I still had to remember that seeds couldn't heal them, though.
After that, I sailed west over another stretch of ocean (which was more like a large bay), filling in the remaining pixels.
My arrival at the western boundary concluded not only this map ...
... but the northernmost row of maps on the 4x4 grid. The next stage of this expedition would be to fill in the three remaining western maps.
Can ruined portals actually spawn without a chest (and I mean, are they supposed to be able to lack one), or is it just sometimes really well hidden or missing because it's buried? I've noticed almost all of them have one which makes me think all of them should, but I have come across some that seem to lack one, and most of those seem to be partially buried ones.
I tend to have any dogs following me sit when I check a portal, since I'm terrified it will end up in lava or on magma blocks. I sometimes wonder if my teleporting dog experience back in 1.2.5 left me so reluctant to ever trust them. The AI in this game can unpredictable at times, and it doesn't help that I've been bouncing between game versions and it throws me off on what to expect with that since the AI has probably changed a lot over the years. I noticed in 1.6, when I would be in bed, any dogs I had nearby would occasionally look above the bed? Almost like that's where my player was? If you're unaware, animals will randomly look at you at times, and somewhere between 1.10 to 1.12, the view/angle while in bed was changed so maybe the game did something strange and put you above the bed in older versions? Regardless of what it was, it felt almost creepy in a way.
Savanna villages do seem to have a lot of cartography buildings.
Can ruined portals actually spawn without a chest (and I mean, are they supposed to be able to lack one), or is it just sometimes really well hidden or missing because it's buried? I've noticed almost all of them have one which makes me think all of them should, but I have come across some that seem to lack one, and most of those seem to be partially buried ones.
All ruined portals are supposed to generate with a chest under normal circumstances, but I did read on the Wiki that they won't have one if the terrain somehow manages to "override" or replace it — whether this is a bug or intentional design, it's hard to tell. That was the first ruined portal I have found without a chest, and it was on a hillside and slightly buried, which may explain the cause.
It seems like the only way to heal them is with splash potions of healing like you can do with every other non-undead mob, but I unfortunately didn't think to bring any for this trip. Being able to heal parrots with seeds makes so much more sense though.
The next map, located immediately south of the far northwestern one, would consist largely of uneventful ocean. This update will consequently also cover the start of the map after, where I expect to find the boundary of the formal cold zone.
Looking east was the large bay that would give way to the aforementioned ocean to the south. On the other side was the expected jungle.
The ocean crossings unsurprisingly brought me past a number of structures, most of which I looted. The first was a full-size — albeit completely submerged — shipwreck.
The treasure chest, which I found first, contained an assortment of ores as well as several XP bottles and smithing templates. I took it all ...
The supply chest, on the other hand, didn't have anything worthy apart from some paper and gunpowder.
The map chest contained more paper, a stash of books and a buried treasure map, which I took but didn't use.
Near the southwestern corner of the map was an underwater ruined portal, which rewarded me with a gold block, fire charge and some obsidian.
As the sun started sinking below the horizon, I realized that the closest land was nearly a thousand blocks away. I wasn't in the mood to fight any trident-wielding drowned, however, so I dived in and enjoyed the night amongst stalks of kelp.
The end of the second crossing brought me back to the jungle coastline ...
... where I met a wandering trader (though it was technically the llama that I noticed first).
The trades were exceptional, but I messed up.
I purchased 12 red sand (which could be used to decorate the badlands-themed doghouse at Sunflower Valley) and two pale oak saplings. And it was only now did I realize: why two?! You needed four to grow a pale oak tree — I couldn't believe I had forgotten that. Thankfully, pale oak wood wasn't on my list of "urgently needed" materials yet.
Continuing on, I spotted what I thought could be a random pile of gravel in the middle of the jungle.
Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be the exposed top of a trail ruin (the terracotta was the giveaway). I did have a brush in my ender chest but didn't want to have to pause exploration and spend days clearing out the whole thing, like last time ...
So I turned and continued on, prepared to make my next crossing south, only to stop again after not even having gone ten blocks.
Disaster nearly struck here. It was only when I climbed to the top of the tree did I see the lavafall. Had I stopped later, one of the parrots would have been pushed into it.
Turning around revealed a second hazard:
The ravine did have exposed lush caves, though, and that was always a treat to see.
But the hazards wouldn't stop. Fire, ravine, and now ... more fire?!
At least it was easy to navigate around. Better leave this place before my parrots engulf themselves in flames!
It was now time for the next ocean crossing, and with it, my second dose of structures. Near the southern edge of the map was another ruined portal with two gold blocks, iron and more obsidian.
Further north was a shipwreck and ocean ruin that had generated adjacently to each other. The drowned inhabiting the ruin had a trident, which I would probably have gone for (along with the shipwreck) if none of the parrots had been with me.
Since drowned from ocean ruins don't despawn, I noted the location for a potential trident-hunting expedition in the future.
Continuing on was an ocean monument, which I miraculously passed without being inflicted with the debuff. Those elder guardians sure felt at peace today — or, more realistically, I was only a block or two too far away.
Here's another view of the coast. The jungle sprawled away to the northeast (behind the pictured bamboo jungle should be where the woodland mansion was roughly located) and was replaced by more temperate forests to the east and south.
The last of the warm zone.
I tamed my final parrot here — a green one, my second one on this expedition (the first one somehow disappeared, and it was only much later that I noticed). I didn't manage to capture a decent close-up screenshot though.
Making my final crossing south, I sailed along a small peninsula of sorts with a single-chest shipwreck.
But sometimes, the size of a shipwreck gives no indication of the treasure it holds:
Regardless, it was time for the final ocean crossing with my party of seven (out of ten) parrots. This had been a good opportunity to try out the new boat-towing mob transportation method but it hadn't crossed my mind then.
As I sailed, the coastline gradually veered away to the east, and I spotted the large plains village from Episode 20.
Eventually, I finally made landfall at a small flower forest at the southeastern corner of the map, completing it.
Time to start the next one!
The first crossing led me south through the flower forest and then across a vast area of uneventful plains that stretched all the way east to the mountains near Sunflower Valley.
Well, uneventful apart from this exposed and unusually shallow mineshaft nestled within a small ravine. I took a shot at the pictured spider, thinking it could be a cave spider (it wasn't) and wanting to take another step towards the Monsters Hunted advancement.
Moving on, around halfway through the crossing, the isolated, snow-topped spruce trees and towering icebergs of the formal cold zone faded into view.
Here we were once again, back to the frozen land of snow and ice. Sure hadn't been here for a while!
I'll leave it here. The remaining three maps (this map, the far southwestern map and the one directly east of that) should cover the remainder of the cold zone's northeastern "quadrant" and be pretty interesting to explore. Perhaps we would discover new biomes to contribute towards the Adventuring Time advancement. Or tame some of the new wolves if we came across a taiga variant. Regardless, it was time to plunge into this winter wonderland.
Episode 43: Half Dome Rock
Having made it to the top of the lone stony mountain, I was rewarded with a splendid panorama of the two nearby mountain ranges. Here's a look south at the enormous ring of peaks at the northeastern corner of our current 2x2 map grid.
After gathering some iron, I turned west towards the other mountain range and descended into a forest valley, where I slept through the night.
Come morning, I headed south to fill in the southeasternmost pixels of the new map before making my first "true" crossing north. Along the way, I spotted a pack of pale wolves lingering at the outskirts of a forest. I was certain that this chunk had never been loaded prior to this expedition, though, so I supposed pale wolves could still occasionally replace the new variants.
At the southeastern corner of the map was a steep slope littered with small cracks and cave openings, one of which a zombie had escaped from. I dispatched it with ease.
Here's a closer look at one of the highest peaks of the mountain range I would soon explore. It only reached slightly above cloud level and so turned out to be no match for the Pinnacles, unlike what I had initially thought.
The first crossing north led me up a slope and through a forest pass between the mountain range (left) and standalone mountain (right).
Turning back, I found that another zombie had wandered out from a cave opening. I didn't bother to shoot that one down.
The forest plateau soon gave way to sparse jungle hills, a sign that I was nearing the ocean.
I climbed to the top of one of the hills and, turning west, was rewarded with another brilliant view, this time of the small tree-capped stony mountain from the previous update. I decided to name it "Half Dome Rock," after an iconic real-world landmark.
Eventually, I reached the expected ocean ...
... where I made my first turn west to a bay of sorts, with a tiny jungle island at the center surrounded by a large submerged beach.
Speaking of beaches ... it was also here that I noticed this peculiarity:
An almost entirely landlocked stretch of beach, of both sand and stone, isn't something you'd expect to see every day.
While heading south through the sparse jungle, I spotted two packs of rusty wolves but didn't tame them. Spoiler warning, that would turn out to be a good decision later on.
I soon approached the northern foothills of Half Dome Rock, but not before seeing this magnificent expanse of bamboo jungle to the southwest. I'd definitely never expected to find such a large area of it.
The bamboo jungle was on the other side of a wide river, whose coastal meandering had formed a small stony island.
Continuing on, I began my ascent up Half Dome Rock and, halfway through, had to pass directly in front of this cave opening.
For mapping purposes, though, I didn't have to make it all the way to the top and merely brushed past its eastern side.
And yeah, there was ... this. You always become so used to seeing forest fires after the first few maps.
Now, it was time to face this obstacle course — or in nicer words, delve into the heart of a vast bamboo jungle. Either way, the next few crossings would be slow and challenging to make.
I soon ascended to the top of a ridge, which offered an excellent view of Half Dome Rock to the north as well as the surrounding bamboo jungle, which continued on as far as the eye could see. The forest fire from earlier was still spreading.
Moving on, the ridge led to the western side of the ring of stony peaks, which I hadn't noticed in the valley due to the thick bamboo obstruction.
Looking east into the jungle valley within the ring:
I continued south along the ring, mining any easily accessible iron and emerald ore, and found this to the west:
Yes, the views were wonderful, but what caught my attention was the exposed lush cave. It would provide an easy opportunity to collect more axolotls for the pond at Sunflower Valley or resupply on lush-themed blocks, all without the danger of mobs. It sounded perfect, and I would have the chance to explore it on my next crossing north ... (Spoiler warning, it didn't turn out as expected.)
Looking back into the jungle valley, I spotted a pair of parrots, one blue and one red.
I only bothered making the detour because I didn't have a blue parrot yet. And of course, after taming one parrot, there was no way I wasn't taming the other. Both required less than ten seeds, though; it was a good sign.
Unfortunately, the descent wasn't as peaceful and tranquil. It started with the spawning of a pillager patrol.
They didn't pose a threat, but I was still in a hurry to descend as I didn't want my parrots to be involved in any sort of combat situation. I soon came across a cave opening from which a zombie and skeleton emerged out of the blue. I shot down the zombie, but the skeleton was quick to open fire.
One of its arrows was only pixels away from hitting the blue parrot, which would almost certainly have killed it. Thankfully, I managed to dispatch the monster before any more chaos could ensue.
I soon approached the stony mountain range from the first picture in this update, which signified that I was approaching the southern boundary of the map. With ... another stretch of bamboo jungle to traverse.
And exotic creatures to meet — namely an ocelot and a pair of parrots, one green and one white.
I couldn't let my guard down, though. This place was filled to the brim with pitfalls and sources of mob danger — in the form of ravines and cave openings, unsurprisingly. One of the ravines, which reached deepslate level, led to a lush cave.
As I made a turn west, I spotted more stony peaks in the distance, but they could just be part of an "extension" of the mountain range at the northwestern corner of the northeastern map on the 2x2 map grid (unfortunately, I don't have a name for that one yet). I would find out on my next crossing south.
Heading north, I ascended another hill and was treated to ... you guessed it, more bamboo jungle. It was endless. At least I now had four parrots to keep me company, though to be honest, their monster imitation noises weren't really appreciated.
Here's a final look east at the stony mountain range I had crossed earlier. Notice another exposed patch of clay halfway up the slope. You could even make out the dripleaves!
Speaking of exposed clay, here's the close-up of the lush cave I had spotted from the mountains, which could even be seen on the map (see previous picture). It was only here that I remembered axolotls could only spawn in total darkness, however, and that was slightly disappointing.
There was a small waterfall where a group (or "school") of tropical fish were aimlessly bobbing around, but otherwise nothing of particular interest, so I moved on.
A third of the way through the crossing, I encountered a pair of pandas, one of which was brown. Brown pandas are apparently a rare sight, so I figured I'd show it here. (And, oh yeah, there was a forest fire in the background that I somehow did not notice until looking at this screenshot.)
I then climbed up another small hill, and guess what I found on the other side?
More bamboo jungle!
It went on. And on. It was only until I was around two thirds of the way through the crossing that the meandering river near Half Dome Rock finally came into view beyond the stalks of bamboo. A truly welcome sight — and another parrot to tame.
The next update will cover the remainder of this map, which didn't turn out as significant as that first bit.
Some nice mountainscapes there, especially the first with the spires right after the spoiler tag.
I've always found jungle to be a struggle, due to the sightlines and occasional dayspawning. And the new Bamboo Jungle provides lots of constant obstacles - I feel like a pinball!
Congrats on the parrot collection.
Geographicraft (formerly Climate Control) - Control climate, ocean, and land sizes; stop chunk walls; put modded biomes into Default worlds, and more!
RTG plus - All the beautiful terrain of RTG, plus varied and beautiful trees and forests.
Better Forests Varied and beautiful trees and forests, in modern Minecraft.
Yeah, the bamboo jungle crossings were quite a challenge. The hilly terrain also often required me to dig and pillar up (the dense bamboo made it impossible to find a feasible route around) and I was constantly worrying about hitting one of the parrots by accident.
-
Episode 44: Double Loop
The second crossing north eventually led me out of the bamboo jungle and towards the banks of the wide, twisting river that flowed into the ocean. Directly ahead was the half-stony, half-jungle island that had formed as a result of one of its U-shaped meanders.
I temporary left my parrots at the riverbank (I would reunite with them on my next crossing south) and sailed along the river, watching the bamboo jungle begin to fade away behind me. The break was truly welcome.
I then weaved around the island, where my parrots had teleported to, and sailed out to the open sea.
Of course, we probably all know by now that modern oceans are jam-packed with structures. This time, it was a shallow, partially exposed ruined portal.
The chest loot wasn't good, but I did take the single obsidian as well as the gold block hidden behind the portal frame.
On my next turn west, I found a stony beach with what seemed like an exposed ocean ruin. The stream of structures really was endless ...
I then sailed back south and made landfall at a sparse jungle, where I reunited with my parrots. According to the map, the area of ocean I had just sailed across was a large bay, and the "wide meandering river" wasn't really a river but also a part of said bay. It was certainly nice seeing this coastal variety.
I spent the rest of the day heading south along the peninsula before treating myself to a brilliant jungle sunset.
Still continuing south the next day, I was surprised to find this ahead:
So it seemed like the mid-northern stony mountain range on our 2x2 map grid was a lot larger than I thought. The mountain ahead was likely part of another ring of mountains that would form a double loop or "figure 8" with the ring I had already mapped.
As I made my way into the bamboo jungle once again, I was ambushed by a skeleton which had more likely been a dayspawn than a cave-opening-escaper. Thankfully, none of my parrots were hit.
I soon began the steep ascent towards the summit. Here's a look back at the swath of bamboo jungle I had traversed.
Now, here's a look west at the mountain peaks I would explore in the next crossing north. For this crossing, I would merely brush past the eastern hills of the range.
Finally, the south revealed another mountain peak, but judging from the map, it was likely part of the same range. It was here that I also noticed a lava flow off one of the mountains, and it had started a small fire.
Near the southern boundary of the map where the pictured mountain peak was located ... they appeared.
Luckily for me, though, it was time to make a western turn, towards the northern ring of the stony mountain range.
From my treetop vantage point, I was rewarded with another lovely view of the bamboo jungle behind me. To the southeast was the temple I had discovered while filling in the northeastern map of the 2x2 grid.
Within the ring itself was a forest valley scattered with ravines.
After turning west, I descended into the valley. This would be the start of the penultimate crossing.
I eventually reached the northernmost peak of the ring and was relieved to find plains and oak forest beyond it. I had finally come to the end of the bamboo jungle; the last part of this map would be a breeze to complete.
Notice the white / light gray pixels on the mountains on the map. Those weren't unfilled pixels but rather strips of calcite, which this mountain range in particular had generated with a lot of.
As I descended, a zombie wearing a chainmail helmet emerged from a tiny cave opening.
Since chainmail armor was uncraftable, I decided to have a go and shoot it down. Unfortunately, the helmet didn't drop.
Speaking of cave openings, I found an enormous one at a stony beach further on.
Beyond it was the expected ocean. And guess what I found at the northern edge of the map?
An upturned, double-chest shipwreck. You may also notice another shipwreck (but a full-sized one) and large cluster of ocean ruins in the background, but I left them. For now, at least.
The first chest I found was the map chest, which contained a buried treasure map that I shoved in my shulker box without even a glance at it.
The treasure chest contained (unsurprisingly) more iron, emeralds, lapis lazuli and an XP bottle which I smashed on the spot to save inventory space.
Here's a closer look of the ocean ruins, which had displaced a considerable amount of kelp. If I ever decided to get myself a trident, this seemed like a fine spot.
I decided to loot the building which had generated on the shore.
The chest loot rewarded me with another Mending fishing rod (not that I needed one), but the real reward for me was the single sea lantern. Those are difficult to find without raiding an ocean monument.
Some suspicious gravel had also spawned as part of the floor, and while I did have a brush in my ender chest, what I didn't have was the energy for archaeology.
Moving on, I made my final turn west, where a snow-capped hill faded into view. After spending the past few days climbing barren stony mountains, the change was welcome. Something to look forward to in the next map!
For now, I made my final crossing south through the plains and up the forest plateau back towards the stony mountain range, at the base of which I stumbled upon this ravine.
Eventually, I made it to the northwestern side of the ring.
The western side, which I would head along for the rest of this crossing, was more of a narrow stony ridge than a series of true mountain peaks. The view of the landscapes below, however, was just as nice.
To the west was the pillager outpost I had raided on my vine-gathering trip in Episode 28. Unfortunately, it seemed like I would have to head straight past it for my next map, but it shouldn't pose a major threat.
On the other side of the river was an unusually small forest biome that had created a thin copse of trees in the middle of the vast plains.
Still heading south, I eventually reached the southern boundary of the map, completing it — and that marked the halfway point of this expedition.
Coming next were two more northern maps. And if I remember correctly, the woodland mansion I found to the north of the 2x2 grid should be included in the very next one ...
I don't believe I've ever found an underwater ruined portal that had part of it above the water yet.
Hearing the mob mimicking noises of parrots never bothered me. Maybe if it happened a whole lot at home then I'd do something to stop it, but not when traveling.
Maybe I say that because I miss all the ambiance and animal options in the older versions I'm playing lately. No wolf variants (in fact, no persistent wolves at all!), no parrots, no village cats, no pandas, no polar bears, no llamas (!), no fish, no frogs, no bees, no goats, and while structures not being littered everywhere is somewhat nice, these ones go too far in the opposite direction (and most of those also don't exist) so there's overall just less villages and others signs of life. Some people preferred that aspect of older Minecraft, but I didn't. I've always been wanting more ambiance of worldly life. Structures are simply a bit too common (which is exposing more and more a flaw they always had, and that's the ability to just overwrite/interrupt other structures, and at least in some cases I'm absolutely shocked there aren't measures in place to prevent this).
When it comes to exploration, my main concern is that the parrots' long-range mimicking noises will distract me from noticing mobs actually close enough to pose a threat. While I can handle combat with those mobs, I prefer to avoid it when travelling with pets just to keep them free from unintended harm. (Unfortunately, disaster strikes in the next update.)
Animal variety and ambience seem to be the kind of stuff that many modern-age players take for granted until they play older versions for the first time, where the difference suddenly feels so significant. Many biomes could do with even more ambience — treetop animals, more birds, etc., but I love what has already been added so far. It's a shame that many dislike these mobs for their lack of utility, with bats being a notorious example.
Many structures definitely feel too common, particularly the ocean ones. The variety is welcome but many structures could benefit from simply being made rarer, in my opinion.
On the surface and during the daytime, especially if you keep moving and generally keep an eye on your surroundings, there should be very little threat, especially if you're well armored and enchanted like you are.
The parrots mimicking something brings the benefit of warning you something might be an upcoming risk. Many times, yeah, it's underground with no direct access to reach you (and maybe it isn't even trying to pathfind to you in the first place) so it won't amount to anything, but that information should still help warn you. You can't be lulled into a false sense of security and think "it usually doesn't amount to anything so it means nothing".
You're so on the mark with this more than you realize because it's not even something that applies to newer players only. I started playing in 1.2.5 and going back to 1.6 and 1.8 was a serious culture shock moment. "Wait... was it really like this!?" has basically been me continuous reaction.
And bats are uh... I understand the complaints on that one because apparently they supposedly only "fly randomly" but I swear the frequency at which they fly in front of me when I'm mining or fighting a mob is way (often taking an arrow for a mob) seems way too coincidental. Maybe it's because they perch upside down until you're very close so the chance of them being near you while flying is just higher, but I swear I'll move away some and they are yet always seeming to follow me.
I absolutely agree. Structures, and some more than others, are pretty frequent. They don't need to go back to being as infrequent as they were, but reducing them a little bit (even if it was still much closer to to how common they are today rather than how uncommon they used to be) would feel nice. This is one of the rare areas where current terrain generation feels a bit inconsistent with itself; it has a larger scale world yet structures are now littered everywhere as though the scale is smaller. Older worlds had the opposite problem; the world scale was lower yet structures felt much rarer. So one of two things is true; either this much higher structure frequency is intended, or it's an oversight since they simply left the actual values for spawn chances alone but changed the variables that allow those chances to succeed more. I'm not sure which, but while them being more common is nice, it'd feel more perfect in some in particular were toned down. But yeah, go play versions before 1.10 or so, and you'll have the opposite remark about structure frequency, haha.
More importantly with structures, I think they need some sort of priority system to prevent one structure from spawning where another structure already is. In particular, this feels bad with large structures like ancient cities and trial chambers (talk about a mood kill...), and strongholds are another one since they are somewhat rare and important.
Episode 45: A Stroll up a Frozen Hill
To start off the new year, here's the first of the three updates that would cover the two remaining northern maps. The northwesternmost map (which would be covered in the two updates after this one) would likely mark the boundary of the enormous warm climate zone I'd been exploring for a while. For now, though, savanna and jungle would still be common sights.
Looking west from the southeastern corner of this map (the one east of the northwesternmost map) was the pillager outpost I had raided prior to this expedition. Luckily, it didn't seem like either of the first two crossings would take me particularly close to it.
The first crossing north led me along a winding river and then across the plains beyond. Better enjoy this easy terrain while it lasted; it was already ending in the distance.
At the bottom of the slope, I found this wide cave opening; it was the type that hostile mobs loved wandering out from the most. (In fact, a skeleton did emerge as I began my ascent up the hill, but I didn't keep the picture.)
The top of the hill offered a nice view of the expanse of forest and jungle to the east.
To the north was a large lake that would mark the northeastern corner of this map. Notice the exposed ocean ruin from the previous map to the right of the picture.
The frozen "mountain" I discovered in that same map turned out to be half-snowy, half-stony, which wasn't a surprise given the vastness of this warm climate zone. It also seemed to be a standalone mountain, which I'd seen quite a lot of on this expedition.
The slope leading down to the lake was rather steep, so I made my way to the top of a tree and decided to boat off it into said lake. This happened:
I was pretty sure it was related to a Java bug where boats would break on land if they fell from a certain height (e.g. 12 blocks). Maybe instead of breaking in water, they would sink? The issue was fairly insignificant though, and I moved on.
I made my first turn west, towards the stony-frozen mountain, which was dotted with small spruce groves.
The snowline was unusually low, at around y:75. Oddly, the oak forest and frozen peaks weren't separated by a mid-altitude biome in some places, creating this rather peculiar transition.
I ascended the icy slope, trying to keep far from the spruce groves — which were full of powder snow — for the sake of my parrots. This was not the place for them!
I soon began my crossing south, which led me off the mountain and into ... oh great. More jungle.
Fortunately, it soon gave way to a small clearing, beyond which was oak forest. This "break" wouldn't last long, however, for there was still more jungle to the west. At least the parrots would be pleased!
About two-thirds of the way through the crossing, the hill abruptly ended in this small but steep drop. Thankfully, there was a pool of water at my convenience.
At the top of another slope, the forest gave way to the expected savanna. To the east was the northern ring of the "double loop" of mountains.
Towards the end of the crossing, the pillager outpost finally came into view — and it was located on a narrow peninsula created by a sharp river meander.
Thank goodness for that. I had had enough of parrot accidents ...
Making my second turn west, I entered an area dotted with cave openings of various sizes.
I also noticed small patches of stone on the surface, which I initially assumed was part of a dripstone cave system — until the debug screen told me otherwise. They turned out to be micro stony shore biomes instead.
Seeing the cherry grove in the background made me realize that I hadn't found any on this expedition so far (apart from the ones on the local map). Disappointingly, this cherry grove was already on the northwestern map on the 2x2 grid.
Moving on, the next crossing north brought me back to the forest, where I was greeted by a wolf patrol.
Here's another split in the ground I found immediately after the encounter. One of the parrots decided to stand in the way of the picture, as if to warn me that the cave beyond was full of dangers. (And it was probably right.)
After crossing this narrow strip of forest, I was rewarded with more nice and easy terrain.
It wouldn't be like this for my next crossing south, though ...
Just over halfway through this crossing, the half-stony, half-frozen mountain finally faded into view, to the northeast this time. It turned out to be a standalone mountain after all.
While I was crossing its western foothills, I found this small ravine with a small lava flow. Nothing too special, but I figured I would show it anyway.
As I descended the slope once again, the large lake to the north of the mountain finally emerged, indicating I was approaching the northern boundary of the map. Beyond it was more forest hills and plains, but that would be off-limits for this expedition.
To the west was a ruined portal which I regrettably did not explore. (I thought I would encounter it again on my next crossing south but somehow missed / forgot about it as I was crossing over the hill behind. Oh well.)
Early the next day, I was ready to make my next turn west. Here's a final view of the mountain:
Looking back south revealed this odd terrain with a sudden steep drop and floating platform, both of which I had missed during the crossing.
But anyways ... it was once again time to enter the great jungle of mysteries ...
The next update will cover the remainder of this map as well as the start of the next one — the northwesternmost map. After that, I'll complete three more western maps, where I expect to find the cold climate zone.
I found out the hard way how dangerous that is for them. I stopped to get pictures and lost one.
Yeah, if you keep moving, they are generally fine because they will either be flying a lot, or if they do end up snow, they won't stay there for long and shouldn't take too much damage (then again, they have little health).
I just happened to be looking for spots to get pictures and didn't notice they were at risk from that until I heard it... and then it was too late.
Episode 46: The Destined Crossing
The rain was back on. But I relished it this time; the gloom sure did suit the atmosphere of this place. From the top of a hill, I looked down at the vast, uninterrupted expanse of jungle to the south, fully aware of what lay ahead ...
It was time to descend into this extensive bamboo obstacle course.
I hadn't gone twenty blocks before disaster struck (and no pictures this time).
I turned around and was dismayed to find a baby zombie behind me. I attacked it, and the monster briefly caught on fire (thanks to the Fire Aspect enchantment on my sword) before the rain put it out, as expected. I slashed at the zombie again. It died, thank goodness. But so did something else.
One of the parrots had flown in the way of my sweeping attack.
Sigh. Another unfortunate bird, gone like that. And that perfectly explained my avoidance of combat when travelling with pets. I solemnly picked up its feathers before continuing on through the darkening jungle.
As if the zombies still hadn't had enough ... one showed up again the next morning just as I was about to cross a river.
I shot it with my bow and watched the thing burn to death, suddenly impatient to leave this place once and for all.
I crossed the pictured river ...
... and again shortly after thanks to its sudden twists and turns ...
... and then yet again as I made my turn west, where the jungle gave way to oak and old growth birch forest.
It wasn't long until I finally found what I had ... expected to find.
No surprises. But it was still an ominous sight. And the next crossing north would bring me even more ominously close to it.
It was my first time being that close to one on a pure survival world. So close that one of my parrots started mimicking vindicator noises. I did attempt to look for the entrance to the mansion so I could block it up and prevent "ambushes" should I return for mapping work in the future, but failed to find it and didn't want to spend any more time doing so.
I soon climbed to the top of a small slope, which revealed the upper rooms of the mansion. Notice the spider spawner (I think?) room on the third floor.
Remember Pondside Inn at Sunflower Valley? Well, this was Lakeside Mansion!
Honestly, the mansion did seem to be in a pretty "nice" area with all the forest and river variety around.
The final crossing north led me back through the stretch of bamboo jungle, which contained little of interest apart from this small stony mountain to the west — but that would be for the next map.
It wasn't long before said jungle unexpectedly gave way to a mix of oak forest and sparse jungle.
At its outskirts, I managed to find and tame a blue parrot. Still, no other parrot could ever make up for the one that had perished in the zombie fight.
Continuing north, a wide river confluence eventually faded into view. Beyond it was more jungle plateaus.
I also noticed this to my right:
The beginnings of perhaps another major forest fire ...
Since the slope leading down to the river was rather steep, I decided to boat off a tree like I did in the previous update — and this happened again.
It was only a minor inconvenience like last time, so I moved on, although I did soon hear the gurgling of a drowned who thankfully had no trident.
As I sailed around the confluence and climbed over the surrounding hills, trying to fill in the remaining blank pixels on the map, I spotted a cherry grove that was to the north and therefore off-limits for this expedition.
After making a quick pass southwest and then back north, the map was officially complete.
For splitting purposes, the rest of this update would cover the first part of the northwesternmost map, the final map in the far northern row.
I crossed the river for the final time and climbed up the pictured plateau, the top of which hid this large dripstone ravine.
After traversing a thin stretch of forest, I started the new map and zoomed it out. The west revealed an enormous savanna plateau which I would climb on my next crossing north.
Meanwhile, this crossing south led me through some plains back to the river from the previous map.
To the east was the vast bamboo jungle I had spent days trudging through.
Upon making it to the other side of the river, I looked back and noticed that it was part of another confluence. What a complex river system!
I soon entered another expanse of oak forest, where I immediately discovered this large ravine. Remember when I mentioned how they always seemed to contain a lone tree? Well, there you go:
The other half of the ravine was inhabited by a pair of skeletons.
Continuing south, the oak forest transitioned back to jungle, and the small stony mountain I saw earlier emerged to the west (right of the picture). Like Half Dome Rock, it was topped with trees.
Upon closer inspection, I supposed you could call it more of a "ridge" than an actual mountain.
And now ... we enter the bamboo jungle once again. At its outskirts was an azalea tree, which I surprisingly hadn't found many of yet despite the large areas of jungle I'd been exploring recently.
I soon also spotted a pair of parrots, one cyan and one blue. I did have a cyan parrot at my treehouse but hadn't tamed one (that survived) on this trip. So I did just that — and for the blue parrot as well.
As I approached the southeastern corner of the map, I ascended to the top of a small hill which not only offered a view of the woodland mansion to the west but also had a ruined portal (with two gold blocks!).
The chest loot wasn't terrible. I took the iron and fire charges.
Anyways ... this would probably be the last of the woodland mansion for this expedition. From this angle, it was apparent that the dark forest it had spawned in was tiny.
Continuing on, I made my first turn west. The jungle was endless, but at least it wasn't full of bamboo this time.
As I began my crossing north, a small river gradually began to take shape. I would follow until reaching the confluence further north.
I'll leave it here. The next update will have me finishing the remainder of this map — and spoiler alert, there is quite a significant change in scenery ahead.
Reading this thread is bad for me. The thread itself is fine, but being halfway through a 1.8 world and probably having quite a bit to go, and having done 1 .6 world before that, seeing all these views is giving me some sort of separation depression and making me want to get back to my 1.20 world. And when I do that, I need to build a home before exploring a new area, so I have a lot to do before I can explore a current Minecraft world again.
When it's raining, you have to be careful for that. It's darker, and some spots can already for spawns as it is, so they become more common with it raining.
It might be odd that I'm giving this suggestion since I default to a sword too, but that experience would have taught me to consider using an axe if I only wanted to deal with one thing and if my sword had sweeping edge on it. Or I'd have just ran.
I'll keep that in mind. I always switch to my sword by instinct when faced with a melee combat situation and completely forget about the axe ... and then accidents like these can happen.
Episode 47: A Tale of Two Villages
After following a narrowing river, I trudged up a steep slope to the top of a plateau, where the jungle abruptly gave way to the expected savanna. The land was dominated by llamas and armadillos alike.
To the west was a small but steep crater-like valley dotted with tiny dripstone cave openings. An unusual sight?
The river I had crossed immediately after starting this map winded away to the northeast. I also noticed large patches of exposed stone on the side of the plateau, which likely hinted at an enormous dripstone cave system.
Speaking of dripstone, I found this interesting but forbidding ravine shortly after.
As the sun dipped below the horizon, I made my way towards a ruined portal which I had spotted earlier. It was off the northern edge of the map, but the detour was a short one.
While the loot wasn't anything special, I think it had a gold block. (It's been a long time ...)
Besides that, I only took the iron nuggets.
Making my way south the next day, I spotted a herd of white llamas, the variant which I thought only spawned in windswept hills. Perhaps the brown and cream-colored ones were simply more common in the savanna.
I then turned around and noticed this:
A fall would likely be fatal thanks to the pointed dripstone at the bottom.
Now that I was back on track, it was time to make a western turn. Ahead was a seemingly complex river system winding through the otherwise smooth terrain.
The crossing south led me down the savanna plateau and back into the jungle. To the west was a village (it was a plains village, despite being mostly situated in a savanna biome).
After a sudden incline, I found myself at the top of another plateau, where the trees thinned out. I spotted a small stony mountain (also to the west!); I was almost certain it would be a standalone one like most of the others I'd seen.
Once at the bottom, I had to cross this narrow strip of bamboo jungle. Thank goodness for the open sky beyond ...
I then boated across this large lake, where I found a surface-level cave opening — nothing too special but still interesting enough to show.
On the other side was (unsurprisingly) more jungle. As I tree-hopped my way west, however, I was somewhat surprised to find a stretch of ocean ahead.
That, coupled with the relatively calm savanna terrain to the north, should make the rest of this map a breeze to complete.
Here's looking north at the stony mountain. Before climbing it, I would first need to cross this wide river, part of which was in an ocean biome, hence the beaches.
Looking back east was the jungle I had traversed.
Here's a view of the same area of jungle from atop the stony mountain — where it started raining.
Heading down the stony mountain, the sparse jungle transitioned to plains, a sign that I was approaching the village I had spotted on the previous crossing. This black-and-white cat was the first to welcome me.
I placed down my ender chest, opening it to bring out the few remaining salmon I had left, and ... BOOM!
Lighting struck, thunder crashed and the sky darkened.
I was quick to swipe out my bed and sleep through the storm. Thankfully, no mobs seemed to have spawned by morning.
Back to cat taming! I knew neither of these were of the variant I was looking for but didn't have the heart to let them wander away from their home, lost forever. Whether my parrots liked this, I couldn't tell ... but probably not.
The village itself didn't have any buildings of interest apart from a single cartographer house whose chest contained some paper.
I continued on past the village to a shallow river, where I resupplied on salmon and was greeted by a wandering trader shortly after.
While the trader didn't offer anything of great interest, I did purchase some coral blocks and pale hanging moss (I would unlikely use it but who knows when I would find a pale garden).
After a number of river crossings, it was time for the final crossing south. I climbed to the top of a small hill and — wow. Another village. A savanna one. And you know what that meant ...
Cartographer house looting!
Like most savanna villages, this one had several, as well as two or three standard house chests with extra emeralds.
Of course, the village was also brimming with cats, but none were what I was looking for. So ... I continued on.
To the south was a pair of lakes; one of them had a small forest island at its centre.
The eastern lake was larger and even contained a tiny ocean biome, which explained why it was surrounded by stony beaches.
The hills on the other side of the lakes offered a lovely view back at the island.
Here's yet another lake to the south, barred off from the ocean ahead by a very thin stretch of land.
After crossing it, I spotted a ruined portal off the western edge of the map. Since my next map would take me south, I decided to make the short detour. Was it worth it?
Not only did it lack a gold block, there was no loot chest! Even worse, two of my parrots flew into magma (seriously, why can't they pathfind around it?). Thankfully, they survived. Only just. I still had to remember that seeds couldn't heal them, though.
After that, I sailed west over another stretch of ocean (which was more like a large bay), filling in the remaining pixels.
My arrival at the western boundary concluded not only this map ...
... but the northernmost row of maps on the 4x4 grid. The next stage of this expedition would be to fill in the three remaining western maps.
Can ruined portals actually spawn without a chest (and I mean, are they supposed to be able to lack one), or is it just sometimes really well hidden or missing because it's buried? I've noticed almost all of them have one which makes me think all of them should, but I have come across some that seem to lack one, and most of those seem to be partially buried ones.
I tend to have any dogs following me sit when I check a portal, since I'm terrified it will end up in lava or on magma blocks. I sometimes wonder if my teleporting dog experience back in 1.2.5 left me so reluctant to ever trust them. The AI in this game can unpredictable at times, and it doesn't help that I've been bouncing between game versions and it throws me off on what to expect with that since the AI has probably changed a lot over the years. I noticed in 1.6, when I would be in bed, any dogs I had nearby would occasionally look above the bed? Almost like that's where my player was? If you're unaware, animals will randomly look at you at times, and somewhere between 1.10 to 1.12, the view/angle while in bed was changed so maybe the game did something strange and put you above the bed in older versions? Regardless of what it was, it felt almost creepy in a way.
Savanna villages do seem to have a lot of cartography buildings.
I've always really liked Savanna ever since it came out, and I love that little valley. Those water features are kind of messy though.
How *do* you heal parrots?
Geographicraft (formerly Climate Control) - Control climate, ocean, and land sizes; stop chunk walls; put modded biomes into Default worlds, and more!
RTG plus - All the beautiful terrain of RTG, plus varied and beautiful trees and forests.
Better Forests Varied and beautiful trees and forests, in modern Minecraft.
All ruined portals are supposed to generate with a chest under normal circumstances, but I did read on the Wiki that they won't have one if the terrain somehow manages to "override" or replace it — whether this is a bug or intentional design, it's hard to tell. That was the first ruined portal I have found without a chest, and it was on a hillside and slightly buried, which may explain the cause.
It seems like the only way to heal them is with splash potions of healing like you can do with every other non-undead mob, but I unfortunately didn't think to bring any for this trip. Being able to heal parrots with seeds makes so much more sense though.
Nice
Cookies
Episode 48: The Last of the Jungle
The next map, located immediately south of the far northwestern one, would consist largely of uneventful ocean. This update will consequently also cover the start of the map after, where I expect to find the boundary of the formal cold zone.
Looking east was the large bay that would give way to the aforementioned ocean to the south. On the other side was the expected jungle.
The ocean crossings unsurprisingly brought me past a number of structures, most of which I looted. The first was a full-size — albeit completely submerged — shipwreck.
The treasure chest, which I found first, contained an assortment of ores as well as several XP bottles and smithing templates. I took it all ...
The supply chest, on the other hand, didn't have anything worthy apart from some paper and gunpowder.
The map chest contained more paper, a stash of books and a buried treasure map, which I took but didn't use.
Near the southwestern corner of the map was an underwater ruined portal, which rewarded me with a gold block, fire charge and some obsidian.
As the sun started sinking below the horizon, I realized that the closest land was nearly a thousand blocks away. I wasn't in the mood to fight any trident-wielding drowned, however, so I dived in and enjoyed the night amongst stalks of kelp.
The end of the second crossing brought me back to the jungle coastline ...
... where I met a wandering trader (though it was technically the llama that I noticed first).
The trades were exceptional, but I messed up.
I purchased 12 red sand (which could be used to decorate the badlands-themed doghouse at Sunflower Valley) and two pale oak saplings. And it was only now did I realize: why two?! You needed four to grow a pale oak tree — I couldn't believe I had forgotten that. Thankfully, pale oak wood wasn't on my list of "urgently needed" materials yet.
Continuing on, I spotted what I thought could be a random pile of gravel in the middle of the jungle.
Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be the exposed top of a trail ruin (the terracotta was the giveaway). I did have a brush in my ender chest but didn't want to have to pause exploration and spend days clearing out the whole thing, like last time ...
So I turned and continued on, prepared to make my next crossing south, only to stop again after not even having gone ten blocks.
Disaster nearly struck here. It was only when I climbed to the top of the tree did I see the lavafall. Had I stopped later, one of the parrots would have been pushed into it.
Turning around revealed a second hazard:
The ravine did have exposed lush caves, though, and that was always a treat to see.
But the hazards wouldn't stop. Fire, ravine, and now ... more fire?!
At least it was easy to navigate around. Better leave this place before my parrots engulf themselves in flames!
It was now time for the next ocean crossing, and with it, my second dose of structures. Near the southern edge of the map was another ruined portal with two gold blocks, iron and more obsidian.
Further north was a shipwreck and ocean ruin that had generated adjacently to each other. The drowned inhabiting the ruin had a trident, which I would probably have gone for (along with the shipwreck) if none of the parrots had been with me.
Since drowned from ocean ruins don't despawn, I noted the location for a potential trident-hunting expedition in the future.
Continuing on was an ocean monument, which I miraculously passed without being inflicted with the debuff. Those elder guardians sure felt at peace today — or, more realistically, I was only a block or two too far away.
Here's another view of the coast. The jungle sprawled away to the northeast (behind the pictured bamboo jungle should be where the woodland mansion was roughly located) and was replaced by more temperate forests to the east and south.
The last of the warm zone.
I tamed my final parrot here — a green one, my second one on this expedition (the first one somehow disappeared, and it was only much later that I noticed). I didn't manage to capture a decent close-up screenshot though.
Making my final crossing south, I sailed along a small peninsula of sorts with a single-chest shipwreck.
But sometimes, the size of a shipwreck gives no indication of the treasure it holds:
Regardless, it was time for the final ocean crossing with my party of seven (out of ten) parrots. This had been a good opportunity to try out the new boat-towing mob transportation method but it hadn't crossed my mind then.
As I sailed, the coastline gradually veered away to the east, and I spotted the large plains village from Episode 20.
Eventually, I finally made landfall at a small flower forest at the southeastern corner of the map, completing it.
Time to start the next one!
The first crossing led me south through the flower forest and then across a vast area of uneventful plains that stretched all the way east to the mountains near Sunflower Valley.
Well, uneventful apart from this exposed and unusually shallow mineshaft nestled within a small ravine. I took a shot at the pictured spider, thinking it could be a cave spider (it wasn't) and wanting to take another step towards the Monsters Hunted advancement.
Moving on, around halfway through the crossing, the isolated, snow-topped spruce trees and towering icebergs of the formal cold zone faded into view.
Here we were once again, back to the frozen land of snow and ice. Sure hadn't been here for a while!
I'll leave it here. The remaining three maps (this map, the far southwestern map and the one directly east of that) should cover the remainder of the cold zone's northeastern "quadrant" and be pretty interesting to explore. Perhaps we would discover new biomes to contribute towards the Adventuring Time advancement. Or tame some of the new wolves if we came across a taiga variant. Regardless, it was time to plunge into this winter wonderland.