Minecraft Forums

Quote from Neospector

The Wiki has got to be wrong, or at least, somewhat mistaken; I found a large perfectly amazing beach coastline a week ago.

It is most likely that the beach you saw was merely a large splotch of sand; I've seen many of those myself.

These beaches become apparent as what they really are from an aerial view. I have not seen a single beach generate as it previously did in 1.7. If they were really meant to be so, I would think those "beaches" really look like actual ones and not a bunch of disconnected swaths of sand dotting the coastline.

EDIT: Is this what you saw? Notice how the underwater bedding crosses onto shore:

Quote from Neospector

They didn't, you just can't find them.

Popular to contrary belief, beaches do not generate in the current 1.0.0 release nor did they generate in either Beta 1.8 or 1.9.

Those "beaches" you see are merely the coastal outcroppings of those horrendous underwater splotches which compose the underwater bedding.

EDIT: To further support my case, take this excerpt from the wiki:

Beaches do not generate as of 1.0.0.

That can be found here: http://www.minecraftwiki.net/wiki/Generated_structures#Beaches

Quote from Purple_Lamplight

Your wrong, theres actually 14, not my fault you cant count.

Don't be so harsh if he miscounted the number of pumpkins there were.

And I would not be so quick as to say he cannot count, your grammar isn't immaculate either.

Quote from RandomGuy5040

/signed.
However, an important fact to note: beaches occur in real life due to the tide's rise and fall. Tides only occur on large bodies of water due to the fact a small amount of water isn't "pulled" enough by the moon. So, this means the new biome code can be used to an advantage here: set the transition block of Ocean -> any other biome to Sand!

Also, the river is considered a biome. No. Rivers are a feature, not a biome! A river should start at the top of a mountain, and eventually link to the nearest Ocean(s), splitting into a delta at the ocean end.

This leads to the issue of clay: it's become fairly common due to the splotchy seafloor generation. Clay should generate as a type of beach, just like gravel.

To make biomes more interesting and useful, each one should have different resources to gather and common ones should appear in different amounts.
So, let's say clay and iron spawn more often in Swamps, gold and lava spawns more in Deserts, coal spawns more in Forests, and the treacherous Mountains spawn more diamonds - along with dungeons, monsters, and anything else dangerous.

The Plains are the most even terrain, with even spreading of ore, but Testificate villages spawn there more often as well (especially near rivers). Any more ideas on features for biomes?

I agree that having beaches for Ocean biome transitions would almost absolutely solve the problem and it does seem like an extremely simple fix as well. Of course, it is always to nice to see an inland beach lining a lake even it does not seem very realistic. I would say gravel beaches could realistically form along lakes, due to receding waterlines and the such.

Rivers are a biome because of the generation problems it presents when it isn't one. In fact, villages will eventually be made into their own biomes to solve the generation problems it has. In response to another of your suggestions, clay beaches does seem to be an appealing option, especially to those who like building brick structures. Again, perhaps they can generate along lakes.

And concerning your issue with biomes, either Jeb or Notch stated that more reasons to visit a specific biome will eventually be added.

Quote from Altoid2

Ah yes, the classic "everybody hates change for sake of hating change" stereotype. Most people will either hate a change for reason(s) x, or like a change for reason(s) y.

Perhaps I should revise my statement? I meant no disrespect, but I did not note that people will dislike change for no particular reason. I simply stated that people will oppose change; perhaps it was the use of the word: "everyone?"

In any case I agree with you, people don't hate a change without their reasons. But people will hate because of the inconveniences that change does bring.

Short answer: Yes.

Of course, change will always be fervently opposed by everyone, despite it being quickly accepted and forgotten about shortly. Won't matter who brings it about, whether it be Notch or Jeb.

I will quite honestly admit that I normally dislike the introduction and removal of various features in Minecraft, it is jarring and rather inconvenient. However, I will not actually protest change unless there is some legitimacy to a particular complaint concerning it.

Quote from Shmeepazoid

I don't really like threads like this but you did have a great arguement and I now support this 100%. I think that beach biomes will come back though.

I'm glad to hear that you think that way. A ton of other annoying threads simply complain about features that aren't really terrible, but the issues concerning beaches and underwater bedding should be pretty obvious, even without any argumentation.

And I do believe beaches will eventually return as well, but I'm not sure if Jeb will fix the current underwater bedding since it doesn't seem as important. It is though, and it needs to be dealt with accordingly.

Quote from lexman6

I played around with some of the terrain generation to see what could be done

Ice plains biome with increased bumpy-ness and pine trees

-snip-

Mountain biome with trees

-snip-

Forest biome with increased bumpy-ness

-snip-

It seems all biomes use the same terrain bumpy-ness generator just with different values. Give an ice plains biome mountain biome values and it will have the same look.

I think for a full fix of the terrain generator requires reworking the entire code for it.

Your topography mod is impressive, but just as you said, to address all of the issues of the terrain generator, a complete rework of the code appears to be required. The main major fixes should be in topography (done with the mod above), coastal/underwater geology, tree density, and better biome transitions (not only with swamps, but with biomes in general with intermediate biomes like the previous generator).

Quote from TDWP_FTW

The majority of people playing on older versions seem to use the argument of "I don't like potions/enchanting/the end/other new feature."

How many topics is it going to take to knock some sense into people and get them to realize that they don't have to utilize those features? Even if you don't want to accept that you don't have to use those features, just please stop creating these threads.

And the majority of people also use equally invalid arguments such as "If you don't like it, don't use it." As much I am also tired of complaint threads offering no legitimate argument, I cannot stand people who use the aforementioned and just as illogical argument!

People like yourself have to realize that those who use older versions of Minecraft often do so because of features that they cannot escape. One very, very prominent example being the new terrain generation. Can one not use that? Many people wish to switch to a different generator, but they can't! And how about nerfed weapon and tool damages, and how about the buffs for hostile mobs? Of course a person who does not like using enchantments will obviously avoid them, but that only places them in a large disadvantage.

And I find it very irksome that people use that same argument and many others as well, just because a person has an honest opinion! If one does not like the recent updates, then that's them. You don't have to use an argument like that, OP is using 1.4_01, of course he's not using potions.

@OP, I use a combination of Beta 1.7.3, 1.0.0 (for mod support), and the weekly builds as well. I do think that all of the features like potion brewing, enchanting, and the such are very nifty features. However, I still continue to use 1.7.3 mainly because of the older terrain generator and features like passive mob spawning. In my opinion, it was around that version Minecraft was most polished and balanced in terms of gameplay.

Quote from Wickedshot

I want beaches and improved underwater geology, but I don't think reverting to the old generator is a solution.

I'd like to see sandy beaches and gravel beaches become ocean adjacent biomes with other interesting features like shipwrecks and palm trees to make them more atmospheric.

I like all the clay in oceans and swamp water now, makes collecting it more interesting and gives more of a purpose to the aqua affinity and respiration enchantments.

I never said it was necessary to revert to the older terrain generator. I simply said that beaches and the older method of underwater bedding generation should be re-added. It would probably be easier to do that anyway. Of course, if you are implying that the old method of generating such features should not be re-added and instead be supplanted by a new, better generation algorithm, I would agree to that.

Clay generation and swamp water should not be the only reason to use enchantments such as the ones you noted, since it's the lack of content in the ocean biome and other bodies of water that makes such enchantments pointless. And underwater clay generation could still be a feature even if the underwater geology and beaches were changed/re-added; I'm perfectly fine with it as long as it's more randomized and not in those horrendous patterns that keep glaring at me in-game.

EDIT: I also want to note that I will update the signature list continuously so I'll likely not do "signatures updated" sort of posts...

I added two signatures that anyone can use to help spread word of this topic! Feel free to use them and if anyone would like to contribute signatures of their own, please do so!

Quote from Catmando

I actually am working on a very large project. Unfortunately, it's scale is literally of this work just so I could get some detail on it and it still looks mediocre. Besides that, there are things you can make in Minecraft that aren't about aesthetic appeal. Redstone creations, for example. I can't use redstone, but if I become bored of Minecraft's building entirely I think I learn for the sake of continuing to play this game.

The fact that your project is as large as it is in an attempt to attain some feeble semblance of detail, mediocre, as you say, only further emphasizes my previous point. Why bother adding any detail at all to a structure when you imply it is all but unattainable? Trying to construct something even larger to fit "detail" in as you are doing only makes the problem worse. Why even put more time into the construction of a project such as yours if it is still going to appear to be "mediocre?"

I was also going to mention Redstone in my previous post, but I felt it was beyond the purview of your topic. And it is, which makes me question why you would mention a game mechanic like Redstone. The topic has nothing to do with any other game feature than the pure building of structures. Concerning a thread like this one, Redstone is irrelevant. Surely you must realize that it has no place among architecture or aesthetics?

Again, why would you bother making anything of any aesthetic value if it's pointless to do so?

Quote from Fatalysm

Not that I want to stamp what I said earlier. But i generated a world, no seed or anything. Spawned next to these.

Terrain = not boring.

Yeah, that is awesome. But the point is that every seed is like that. That's how its boring and that's the point of this whole thread. Every biome looks exactly the same.

Terrain = not unique = boring.

I do think armor is rather overpowered at the moment. Still, I'd rather have this than what we used to have. Perhaps somewhere in the middle would be nice? In any case, you think just plain iron armor makes you invincible, just think of full diamond with high-level enchantments. One could probably sleep in a pit of creepers and live to see the light of day relatively unscathed.

Try "Boot LEG!" without the quotes. It will spawn you on a large forested island with various animals. It also has a few ravines underneath the island, some stretching down to bedrock level, as well as an abandoned mineshaft.

It is an awesome seed in my opinion and I hope to eventually use it as a future survival seed. Enjoy it!