Minecraft Forums

Look at this image of a MC 1.6.2 biomes map:



Yes, I know that in 1.7 the very concept of continents will seemingly "go away" to replace the world with a n infinite single super-continent dotred with "ocean lakes" every now and then. I know that.

Yes I can't help but think having separate contienents would be better, and here is just one way to do it.


From what I can see above (and from another image I had showing lots more continents), average continent size in 1.6.2 is about 8k by 8k blocks.

This is huge. For a better understanding of how big it is, I will use the term "map unit" to represent the area of one maximum zoom minecraft map, representing 2048x2048 blocks of explored (or explorable) area. given that fuly mappin one map unit takes littterally hours of efforts, it is not unreasonable to use this a the basis for a "reasonably big area around the player". So a typical 1.6.2 continent covers about 16 map units.

This is too big.

In fact, what seems to be the "default" for many (if not most) players, for worlds that they will play into a lot (and not just a little bit), is that they will fully map the central 2048x2048 blocks around their house (or spawn, anyway both frequently coincide), ergo 1 map unit. And if you think of that map unit as their "home", and surround it with 8 other map units, many players will make "'tendrils of exploration" in most of these map units, but not much more.

So having a continent that is way bigger than tha5t, is not only useless, but actually a detterrent to exploration. It works similarly to the humongous abandoned mineshafts: many players that would want to "fully explore" one of these (continent map or mineshaft) have fun the first time around, but then quickly become dscouraged by the sheer amount of work to complete that one self-appointed task.


I suggest instead that continents are made smaller, much smaller. Average continent size should be no bigger than 4 map units, except on rare exceptions, and you could also find a bit more frequently smaller continents "of only" 1 map unit (that would still be a really, really big island about 2000 blocks wide on average!).

Continents should be found in "groups" or several continents separated most of the time by just enough water to exceed maximum sight range, most of the time not much more, and islands between the continents. The average distance chosen so that when you are halfway between two of the continents in the same group, odds are good that you will be able to see both one shore and an island, or the two shores. That way, a player could explore one continent at a time before going on to the next in his current "group" of continents, and the overall structure would thus allow giving unique landmarks for easy navigation. also, the overall depth and slope of the ocean parts woul tend to "indicate" the direction where the continents are. There would not be a big rising in the elevation of sea bed unless it leads to either an island (and not a stupidingly tiny island with nothing on it, but a true island), or a continent.

Bigger boats that you can enter while riding your horse (allowing some way of carrying horses from one continent to the next) would go a long way towards making that kind of exploration more interesting.

Finally, around your "continental groups", you'd have darker, deeper ocean waters for bigger distances (enough so that it usually will not appear on one of the map units you made to map your entire group of local continents). To prevent "going in a random direction" and traveling for 100 000 blocks without finding anything, all continental groups would follow a more or less "tetris bricks" shape or something, so that there wouldn't be "random pathlines" with zero continents in the way for tends and tends of thousands of blocks.

Every once in a while we'd also get a few super-sized continents those could mainly be formed by some bigger continents simply overlapping in places with neighbouring continents in the same group.

Finally, having continents look less like a fractal mess, and "smoother" at the biggest scales, woud help make land-crossing them not contstantly interrupted by oceans "tendrils", while at the same time would make navigation by boat around continents much easier and less confusing.


In short, take the 1.6.2 map, divide all continental land spacings by 3 (keeping the same biome sizes, and divide water spacing by the same 3 "outside of the continental groups" and by 10 "inside the continental groups", add bigger and more islands "inside the continental groups", and you get a structure that offers more diverse exploration experiences at more than the usual scale.

I need a nice looking pathway to go throughout my city. Anyone got any suggestions?