*Letters, Birds and Wax stamps*
This suggestion includes six new items, one new mob, and two drastic changes.
All items have something to do with communication, and are used to write letters.
I will reply on questions, and look at your suggestions,
so I can keep changing the suggestion whenever needed.
I would like the following things added to the game:
NEW ITEMS:
Paper and Quill
This item is used to write letters in Minecraft,
and it is very similar to the Book and Quill.
It is crafted by combining Paper, Ink sac and feather,
No matter the order of the items.
Right clicking with the item in your hand gives you a GUI,
which is similar to the one of the Book and Quill.
One difference is that the Paper and Quill’s GUI shows only one page,
where the Book and Quill shows a complete book.
Another difference is that the Letter and Quill has a button “Finish” instead of “Sign”
and that instead of a “Title” you can fill in an “Addressee” (The person you write to).
Letter
After finishing your writing, the Paper and Quill turns into a Letter.
This item is no more than a piece of paper which you can read.
A letter can’t be crafted, and can only be obtained by finishing a Paper and Quill.
You should also be able to copy letters,
just by combining Paper and Quill and a finished Letter in a crafting table,
no matter the order of items.
Just like this you should be able to copy books,
by combining Book and Quill and a finished book in a crafting table,
no matter the order of items.
Scrolling over this item gives you some information:
First line: Letter
Second line: From Notch
Third line: For Dyzalonius (If “Dyzalonius” would be his addressee)
Wax
This item is used to make Sealed letters with so called “Wax stamps”,
which I will explain later on in this suggestion.
It can be created by smelting sugarcane in a furnace.
Maybe later on wax can get another use,
but I can’t think of one having something to do with this.
Sealed Letter
A Sealed letter is very similar to a normal one, but then it is sealed. :3
Sealed means that there is a Wax stamp on the letter,
which can be useful if you don’t want to spread your news to everyone.
This item can be crafted by combining a Letter and a piece of Wax in a crafting table,
No matter the order of the items.
Now when you open the letter you will first get the letter GUI,
But this time you will be asked to break the seal (which can’t be undone).
After breaking this seal, you can read it like it is a normal letter,
and the name changes to “Unsealed Letter”.
The name can’t be simply changed to Letter again,
because then nobody would know there was a seal on there,
then it could have been a normal letter.
Scrolling over this item gives you some information:
First line: Sealed Letter
Second line: From Gandalf
Third line: For Dyzalonius (If “Dyzalonius” would be his Addressee)
Unsealed Letter
This item is no different than the normal Letter,
The only difference is his name, and his image.
The image suggests that this is/was a Sealed Letter,
and the name is a good indicator that the seal has been broken.
You can’t craft this item as it can only be obtained by breaking a Sealed Letter.
Scrolling over this item gives the same information as with a normal Letter,
but then with a different name of course.
Bird post
The Bird post is used to let tamed birds sit on,
and to let birds travel to other Bird posts when you want them to.
It can be crafted by putting a stick on a fence, in that order.
Right clicking the floor with this item will place the item,
which really isn’t more than a stick on a fence.
If you place the item, a GUI will popup similar to the one of a sign,
which will ask you to name the post.
If there is a bird sitting on the Bird post, and you right click the bird, then the bird will come off.
If there is a bird sitting on the Bird post, and you right click the Bird post itself,
you are trying to send the bird away to another Bird post:
Another GUI will popup which asks you to fill in the name of a Bird post, or some coordinates.
(when you do this, the bird goes to the Bird post closest to these coordinates.)
(dont know this for sure)
This can be very handy, when you want to send Letters to people,
because if you right click a bird with a Letter/Sealed Letter/Unsealed Letter,
the bird will have the Letter in a little pocket around his leg,
which can be obtained by right clicking the bird again.
The arrow points at the place where the bird should sit.
NEW MOB:
Bird
As is explained earlier, the bird is a mob that can bring letters around.
Apart from that it has wings; it behaves a lot like a cat:
It is very shy, and won’t come close to people,
unless you stand still holding seeds (they love seeds).
If you hold seeds, the bird will come close,
after which you can give him the seeds, and tame him.
Tamed birds follow you around until you tell them not to, right clicking them will let them sit,
and right clicking again will let him fly again (not that high, like two blocks high).
If a bird follows you, and you right click a Bird post, the bird will sit on that,
after which you can use the bird to send messages (go back to “Bird post” for more info).
If birds send messages, they should make a sound when they arrived.
Also, birds that travel from post to post, should not be prevented from arriving,
as this would make this communication form to unreliable.
Some people asked if they should be hunted by ocelots or bats,
I say no, because this also makes this communication form to unreliable.
Birds should have path finding AI which should guide them to other Bird posts,
if bird posts aren't reachable, people should not be able to find it when they look for this bird post,
trying to send a message.
I haven’t thought about the birds health, or whatsoever.
I think that the bird should look like the bird from Mo’s creatures,
and then in different colors.
I don’t really know yet.
This is a bird from Mo's Creatures, this is what the bird should look like
(just all colors)
BIG GAME CHANGES:
Distance related chat
I guess I will have to explain this:
When I stand in my house in Minecraft, and someone else stands a thousand blocks away,
he should not be able to see what I type in chat. And when we stand together in my house,
he should be able to see that. There should be like 2 chat options:
Normal & Whisper:
Normal to just speak to other people in a certain radius (In approximately 64 blocks).
Whisper to really whisper to other people who are close (In approximately 8 blocks).
You should be able to switch between those two options with a hotkey,
also should this be seen on your screen in the lower left-hand corner,
with a letter: N or W, so you know if you are talking out loud or not)
Explanation in some detail:
If I use chat, I type text, for now lets call that text "sound".
So when I say something in chat, i produce a sound.
From where I stand (source of the sound), the sound has a strength of 64.
(If this strength is 0, people won't read your chat.)
If the sound has to reach through a block, this strength goes down, for example:
If I stand 8 blocks away from someone, without any obstacles between that person and me,
the strength goes down by 8 (8 x 1 air = 8). He will hear me.
If I stand 8 blocks away from someone in a cave, with only stone between him and me,
the strength goes down faster, by 64 (8 x 8 stone = 64). He will not hear me, the strength is 0.
Sound will always look for the shortest way, which may be through blocks.
But the strength of the sound decreases faster through solid blocks
than through air/water/lava/slabs/stairs/etc.
Through solid blocks, sound decreases with 8 per block,
and through unsolid blocks, sound decreases with 1 per block.
This will make Minecraft a bit more realistic (I am not saying that is always better),
and that stimulates people to send letters to each other.
This also lets Minecraft be even more like the Middle Ages,
which Minecraft is certainly going to look like.
This also has some disadvantages for certain servers,
which could be solved by adding an option in Server Properties, asking the Owner to enable or disable distance related chat (default = true)
It is just as easy as it sounds; I would like to add a Microphone option to the game,
to chat with other people in multiplayer.
this also works with the Distance related chat, but now it works a bit different:
With normal chat, you can’t see someone his chat when you are 65 "strength" away,
and when you are 64 "strength" away you can.
With Microphone chat, this should be smooth.
Explanation is some detail:
Instead of having the sudden difference between READ chat, and DON'T READ chat,
there is a smooth transition, so standing next to someone gives a louder sound than when you stand very far away from someone (but still in a 64 strength radius).
This should also be depending on the strength of your sound:
Standing next to someone (64 strength), should have 110% volume.
Standing far away (0 strength), should have 10% volume.
And standing even further away (>0 strength), should have 0% volume.
Per strength the volume should go up with 1,5625%,
And the volume should start at 10% when at 0 strength.
With this major change to the game
there should also be an option or command to mute people who annoy you,
so people don’t rage quit because someone plays a song on the background.
Though, you should still be able to see thát they are chatting,
so you know he is still muted by you.
When you mute someone, you only mute his microphone chat, not his normal chat.
That is important, so people don’t get fully ignored.
Please let me know if you like or dislike this suggestion,
and also why or why not, so I know where to focus on.
All suggestions are welcome!
Please contribute by making pictures.
If anyone would make a mod containing this,
I would be grateful, let me know!
Thanks for reading
please give +1 reputation,
give support, and comment!
Dyzalonius
OUR SUPPORT:
Axillarymees (+1)
Bijuu546 (+1)
Quote from Bijuu546
I like it! Support.
But instead of adding bird post, I'd rather give a sign this feature. So birds can sit on signs. This way it is really easy to program it, cause a bird would fly to the closest sign with certain word on it (it may be anything, not only the name of addressee. What do you think about it?)
Malloon (+1)
Quote from Malloon
I've got a bit more time now, so I'll make a better comment than my last one.
What I meant was that, if people are 1000 blocks away from each other and they have something important to say, it is just frustrating to send a bird and wonder if the other person got it, or just didn't reply, or the bird got killed etc. I would just prefer to send a message outside of the game, because that is faster and less frustrating. And what I meant with the online thing was that people would have to wait even longer for an answer. But now that I think about it, this could actually be the best way to send a message to someone who isn't online, without having to walk all the way. So..... 1/2 Support. I'm on the fence now.
The problem I see with this is that the other bird posts may be underground or somewhere inaccessible, where the bird couldn't possibly have got to them. Without loaded chunks is isn't possible to check, either. If it works by teleporting the bird from post to post, we may as well have some sort of ender messaging mojo service and be done with it.
I think this is a good idea; One that I had myself a few months back, but I couldn't be bothered to post it (before you say anything about me being lazy in that regard, change your signature and you may).
It should be worked out a bit more, I think, because it creates a major gameplay change. My idea was this: "Sound" travels to each other player within the correct radius in two ways.
1. The shortest path there is, even if this means going through blocks.
2. Through the shortest path in the air.
The sound that arrives is 1+2. Now, sound diminishes as it travels, -1 for every block of air it passes through and most transparent blocks, such as stairs, half slabs, repeaters etc., -2 for every wood or glass block, -4 for dirt and stone, etc. I'll post some pictures if it is unclear what I mean.
If the sound, which had started out with a strength of 64, reaches another player with a strength of 48-33, one third of the letters are replaced with a space, or a dash, or something which is appropriate.; If it reaches a player with the strength of 32-17, two thirds of the letters are replaced by the same symbol and if it reaches a player with a strength of 16-1, all of it is unintelegable.
In whisper mode you also start with a strength of 64, but sound is decreased much more strongly. -4 in air, -8 in wood or glass, -16 in stone etc. This means people within four block can hear you well, people 5-8 blocks away from you can only understand 2/3rds of it, people 9-12 blocks away can only understand 1/3 of it and people 13-16 blocks away can't understand any of it, but may choose to ask:
"What are you whispering about?"
There could also be a shout and an lip-movement: The shout makes air only decrease it by 1/2, etc. and the lip-movement makes air decrease it by 16, etc.
The microphone thing would work in a similar way, except it would be making the sound quieter.
Anyway, if this were added, I would fully support birds.
Quote from Malloon
Full support.
I just though that with the chat, you could, for the most part, guess what was said. This replicates the real world, as you can't always here everything, or sound is muffled through a cave wall, etc. But I guess it could become annoying, especially if you can't know where the speakers are.
SkarmorySilver (+1)
Quote from SkarmorySilver
Support, if only because it's a reasonable purpose for birds as a mob. That and the fact that I love birds~
Maybe the birds make a sound that a letter is delivered. But bats shouldn't hunt birds, the small ones primarily eat insects. Ocelots, though...
Maybe the individual perches may have their locations stored for you to use. When you right click the bird on the perch you could open an interface indicating which perch the bird will fly to. The pathfinding AI should also avoid caves, probably avoiding any solid blocks entirely while airborne.
The birds could also have different random colors and patterns like horses, so you can invoke color coding for your convenience in multiplayer servers.
Minecraftdeas (+1)
Link (+1)
Clayxros (+1)
Quote from clayxros
Warning, I'm going into critic mode!
[CRITIC MODE ACTIVATED]
The idea in itself is really good. The birds can't make you fly, they add some much-needed Aesthetics to Minecraft, and things get more interesting. The only part that bothers me is the "limited chat radius" idea. I like how people can hear you wherever you are, it comes in handy. Plus, alot of servers have that. It only makes things complicated frankly. Also, you must consider that, other than birds flying around, the letter thing would only be used in Multiplayer. I do like this though, because I can, for instance, send a letter to a miniature base I have far away. When i arrive there, i can look at the letter I sent and see what I have to do there, or if I need to collect something from that area. This idea as a communication/memo tool has a lot of promise, and I support it. I will not, however, support the limited range chat part. that is all.
P.S. I'm adding this topic to my Aesthetic Mobs thread, since this has birds in the exact context I'd like.
Fabianzzz (+1)
Mark227 (+1)
Packerdan (+1)
Quote from Packerdan
I really like the Letters and Birds, although the chat visibility is a definite no. I play on servers that are 10's of thousands of blocks diameter, and not being able to talk to people unless they're right next to me would ruin the game for me. Now the birds could still send the sealed letters, stuff you don't want on public chat and want players to have a log of (Co-ordinates to your house, or mob farm, etc.) Also I think the sealed letter should only be openable at first by the sender and the receiver.
Overall I think this is a very nice, well thought out suggestion!
Wind2011 (+1)
Quote from wind2011
I like the letters and birds idea, birds would add something to the sky. There could also be mailboxes, witch the letters are stored in.
Skua (+1)
Quote from Skua
Yep. I just like the RPG feel and concept of your suggestion thats all. Think it deserves attention by members of Mojang. Simple, really.
JamieGre (+1)
Vadagar (+1)
Quote from vadagar
nice
Killer13307 (+1)
Quote from killer13307
On lan games when you open the server you should be able to the chat from normal (how it is now) to it having sound (how you suggested). I support.
JSX (+1)
Quote from JSX
Absolutely supported, all of it. From the main draw to the system for distance-restricted chat, all of it seems fitting to the Minecraft "theme". It's place would probably be best on the harder/more realisticly inclined spectrum of survival servers and roleplaying servers, and the distance-restricted chat would also be useful for adding some dynamics to PvP just imagine some clan discussing thier attack plans, thinking they are safe from others hearing them, not knowing of a hidden spy overhearing their discussion.
Mr_Simba (+1)
Quote from Mr_Simba
This is adorable. Support.
This may have been said already (most likely), but maybe add one slot for adding an item into the letter for sending too. This would be awesome on servers, especially PVP. You could see someone's bird and try to intercept it to shoot it down. So good for RP.
Azreef (+1)
Miopic (+1)
Enosphorous (+1)
Quote from Enosphorous
I love this idea - it'd sure make SMP a lot more fun if you could send birds with messages to friends.
My friends would probably kill the bird though. ;p
(Head to usage to find out more...)
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For all others looking on here, I suggest you try to apply, steampunk is a very good theme to roleplay in. It's original and fun.
Wait why am I writing this, I have my own roleplay server...
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2nd: Give more info about the server, vanilla, screenies, etc, etc.
3rd: I love Mindcrack, but there are like 100+ servers like this.
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Edit: Unpauses "Sound of Madness" by Shinedown. Much better.
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Cassie gets a point.
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-Dear OP,
I wish you could get a set of tweezers, because it appears you have many splinters stuck right in your , and I would like to remove them so you can stop being such a judgmental person which does not bother to look on the creative side of things, only the combat side, much like many others who hate minecraft.