That's a quite logical proposal for increasing the verisimilitude of gunpowder production, introduces some potentially interesting new resources and mechanics, and doesn't add anything overpowered (in fact, sulfur seems to be non-renewable as described – which is likely underpowered).
The first issue is that many won't see gunpowder production as a pressing issue: ghast, creeper, and witch farms all generate gunpowder in good amounts if well designed. Witch farms are almost always location limited to witch huts (unless a channeling trident and villager breeder is used), while ghast and creeper farms tend to be somewhat laggy due to the more productive designs being based on flying sweepers and cats in minecarts, respectively. Nonetheless, elytra (thus rockets) are generally considered late game and the only other large scale use I envision for gunpowder would be TNT mining without TNT-duplication. [The last strikes me as a rather niche use.]
"[C]omposting organic matter" needs more detail: is there any change to the list of compostable items (ie adding fish, or changing percentages)?
Dirt is already renewable (most easily via the moss block cycle), but 4 compost >> 1 dirt does not seem overpowered and offers a more accessible alternative.
Crafting compost into brown dye is somewhat problematic as it removes the major use of cocoa beans [I've never run into anyone who makes cookies in quantity.]
The range of the repel effect of burning sulfur and any conditions – such as pursuing a targeted mob/player – that would obviate the repulsion needs detail.
Also the details of how sulfur is mined (breaking times etc.) although it appears that sulfur drops as a block rather than converting to items.
Sulfur also seems like it ought be renewable — perhaps growing in layers (as bedrock snow) on dripstone blocks next to lava?
Having compost and bonemeal equally effective seems like a missed opportunity, although which sould be 'better' (in terms of gameplay opportunites) is not clear to me. [Possibly this could be handled by giving compost variant chances to act, some of which might be better and some worse than bonemealdepending on the thing to which it is applied.]
- I agree, if Sulfur were introduced, it should have some unique uses too, instead of exclusively being used as a gunpowder substitute.
- I don't see the brown dye thing as a problem. Frankly, I think Cocoa beans just need more uses as it is. (They're really interesting to farm... but inexplicably only appear in two recipes, neither of them very useful.)
I like the idea. Admittedly, it seems a little niche, but it could still be a neat addition. I'm not sure about Sulfur being found around Lava pools in the Overworld/Nether, if only because it would require tweaking existing terrain generation. (Though I could see it possible in the Overworld as part of the Wild Update- maybe adding some sort of new sulfuric cave type where the stuff can be mined?)
I'm not especially concerned about compost- again, it would be nice for the composter to have a dedicated item, but I don't think it's such an important issue to necessitate any serious changes.
...Sulfur as you suggest it could be really interesting- the ability to mine an explosive material that could be used to produce or as a substitute for gunpowder would be game-changing. Maybe, to make things more interesting through- what if Sulfur burns up on contact with fire? Essentially, when fire, a torch, an explosion, or a flaming mob/player comes into contact with sulfur, the sulfur quickly disintegrates, and the disintegration spreads to adjacent sulfur blocks. This could be a really interesting trap mechanic, and would necessitate caution when mining this new material.
I like the idea of a new Illager structure featuring the Illusioner. However, I don't think the mining fatigue concept is a good idea- Minecraft is all about being able to build and destroy the world around you, and while mining fatigue would be really convenient for new, more challenging dungeons, it doesn't seem like an entirely fair mechanic. I'd rather see mechanics that naturally encourage players to be careful; such as better traps for temples, silverfish infestations in strongholds, etc.
I also like the general idea of the structure; it would be cool to see various rare materials found inside, or something unique to the illusioners. (Maybe, like the barriers you suggest, some sort of invisible material that can only becomes visible when impacted by something, powered by redstone, or using a specific enchantment?) However, maybe instead of the structure always spawning an illusioner, there could be ruined outposts that have a chance of having a secret Illusioner area, similar to how the Igloos have a chance of having a secret lab. Or just a new structure entirely, so long as it isn't redundant with the existing mansion or outposts.
...And of course, the Illusioner could provide more challenge to the mansion, or higher level raids.
I like the idea- the Deep Dark definitely needs new mechanics to make it more worth searching out. While I like the general idea of grubs/nests that could be propagated, and could play a part in the Deep Dark ecosystem, I think they might have to have a better application than finding ores. It's an interesting application, but especially with the larger caves, ore isn't that difficult to find; by the time you're able to set up an ore sensor rig using Skulk, you'd probably be more than well equipped enough to just go caving.
I don't think the Grubs should alert the Warden; partly because I just personally think their relationship should be more symbiotic, but also in a game mechanic sense that it could get chaotic if these things could randomly summon the warden- hence, their noises shouldn't be detected by the skulk. They could still summon it, but not intentionally. A fall, for example, but not their movement noises.
...OR, perhaps the Grubs are summoned by proximity to the nest? Or by skulk signals? In this manner, if their noises could summon the warden, getting too close to their nests could become another hazard.
It also seems like a cool idea that these nests could gradually expand the skulk if a nest generates in such a way that kills the grubs- especially if the grubs drop a fair amount of EXP, causing skulk to expand when the chunks are loaded. Not sure about the Grubs only surviving on Skulk. Maybe they're more dangerous on Skulk, or could burrow into it like Silverfish in stone?
...As for my ideas about alternative mechanics to ore detection, maybe one or more of the following?
Nests summon Grubs when other entities are near- they have a cooldown, but can summon them pretty quickly, making the nest itself a decent weapon- bearing in mind that they attack you as well. Grubs are initially hostile, but can be captured and released using bottles. When released, they attack other nearby creatures, including the player if no other entities are nearby.
...And going off of that, different types of potions could be used on the Grub, which would then absorb the potion effect, rather than being affected by it. Then, whenever the grub attacks, it bestows the potion effect on its target- potion Grubs could still be kept in bottles. In this manner the process could be fully automated. (A mechanism to brew splash potions, which are applied to grubs from nests, which are then put in bottles by dispensers.) These could make considerable weapons, as the grubs would seek out their target, prioritizing (and distracting) enemy players or creatures.
Grubs can somehow be used to automate block breaking, but occasionally convert stuff into Skulk instead of harvesting it? Or maybe they can exclusively break skulk blocks under certain conditions, allowing you to make tunnels by first converting the material into skulk?
I guess they could have something to do with making bottles of enchanting? Or some sort of special drop? I guess I'm kind of grasping at straws at this point...
Here's a look at the Scoreboard- this being the fourth, extremely messy looking version. It, uh, mostly works... when finished, each player will have a life counter that ranges from 1-7, (which goes down upon death, and can also be controlled manually from the control room), and a 'combo counter' that gradually increases to 7, (at about 90 seconds per level), and resets whenever the player dies. The Combo counters can be toggled on and off.
At this point, I think I've finally got a working system- just have to hook up the indicators for the life counters at this point.
PVP Arenas are cool. Procedural Generation is cool. I hope you can see where this is going...
Awhile ago, I decided make a procedurally generated PVP Arena: that is, a machine that assembles an arena out of pre-built tiles. I went into this without having ever done a serious creative project before, without much former knowledge of command/structure blocks, and without much knowledge of even basic redstone to boot- so, all things considered, it seems to be shaping up nicely! This project has been a great learning experience for me, and while there's certainly things I'd do differently in hindsight, it seems to be shaping up nicely.
At this point, the arena itself is fully functional; there's just a few small features I'm still working on, and of course a lot of decoration to do before I can call it complete. However, since the project is this far along, I figured it would be cool to put it out here, with the eventual goal of posting the finished map. The Arena has/will have the following features:
2 Different Arenas; a large and small version. The Large Arena is about 80*80m, while the small one is 48*48m. (5*5 chunks and 3*3 chunks respectively.
4 Different Arena types: Overgrown, Molten, Aquatic, and End. Each Arena type has a unique aesthetic, unique mechanics, and randomly arranged tiles. In addition to edge, start, and center tiles, each arena section is randomly chosen from 8 different tiles, which are then randomly rotated by the machine. The tiles can be modified with relative ease within the world.
Functional enemy spawners inset into each arena tile. Each section of spawners can be enabled or disabled from the control room.
God, Baby, & Mayhem modes, each of which imposes status effects on the players.
Ability to rain pigs and/or explosives from the heavens, for no clearly explicable reason.
Awesome Lava Moats that break whenever the Aquatic Arena is loaded.
System to manually fix said Lava Moats because I'm too lazy to implement an actual solution.
CQC Practice ring, complete with randomized turrets and enemy spawners.
Target range, complete with a randomized targets and a combo system.
Test Area, for loading and modifying tiles.
Scoreboard with life and endurance trackers; which can be reset or modified manually from the control room. (Currently in progress- it turns out making this thing work is a lot harder than it looks...)
And (Possibly), the ability to save and load arena layouts of your choice.
I'll be adding the world download and more screenshots once the project is finished. In the meantime, check out some early looks at a couple of arenas the system generated. Some arenas have different connected systems- like the bridges and launch pads in the End Arena, and a network of tunnels in the Overgrown arena. Keep in mind that each of these things was assembled by the arena machinery!
Just to be purely evil, I'm thinking Creepers for the spawner rooms in the Desert Temple. I've been considering using lava for pitfall traps of some sort- (there's no other way to make them a threat otherwise), with the main trouble being that the noise makes it super obvious there's a lava trap nearby. (Thusfar, where I have been using lava, I'm using it with dispensers.)
I've been focusing mainly on the Desert temple, and most of the catacomb rooms and halls are finished- I also got a somewhat more efficient randomizer circuit working to arrange the rooms. Before this, I was using a comparator-dispenser circuit that only had 2 outcomes- meaning every single room needed a combination of multiple circuits to generate properly. This new circuit uses a dispenser and an item sorting system to allow for nine different outcomes in a single 10*10 circuit.
Admittedly, I've been a bit distracted with another similar project, (using procedural generation for a PVP arena), which is much closer to finished. I might have to make a separate thread for it... As for the maze idea, one thought I had was using this method of procedural generation to make a dungeon crawler game- essentially to build Spelunky... in Minecraft, using randomized structure blocks. I definitely want to finish this thing, (and the arena) first, but It's an idea I'll definitely consider in the future.
Lately, I've been working on some biome based retextures of the classic Steve Skin. Each one has a fairly simple base, with exterior garments based off of the villager skins for each biome. (Including the unusued Jungle and Swamp variants.) I've linked a render of the full set below, (from hottest to coldest biome, incidentally), because I still can't figure out how to insert images directly into a post.
If you want to download any of these, you can check them out on my Skindex profile.
LOD Rendering would certainly be an interesting addition- while I'm far from privy to the technical details, I can see something like this being added to the game in the future. Emphasis on in the future- right now, Mojang seems more concerned with improving existing aspects of the game than making big changes to its fundamental systems. So no, I don't think it's coming soon, but these mods certainly act as proof of concept.
As for the idea itself, I don't see a problem adding it, so long as it's a configurable thing like other graphics options. I'm not sure if it's technically feasible at the moment, but it certainly seems like a likely addition... eventually.
Some more depth in the armor and combat system could be nice, but I feel like it needs to expand upon the existing system rather than completely rework it- it would just disenfranchise too many players. (Hence, adding new equipment or mechanics to better balance the system... or just to add cool new options for players to use, such as the Trident.) And this is true of most of the additions Mojang seems to consider: things that expand upon the world, rather than fundamentally change it.
2009 ~ An obscure Swedish game developer by the name of Markus came across the idea largely by accident; drawing inspiration from the voxel-based system off 'Infiniminer,' another Indie Game centered around combat, he created what would ultimately become 'Cave Game.' Originally intended as an RPG of some sort, Perrson posted videos of the game's development, and took feedback from forums in the development process. He eventually quit his job to focus full time on the game as sales increased, and hired more programmers, creating the beginnings of Mojang Studio. Updates to the game were free, and from the start, development was focused on community feedback and trying new ideas. Origins such as this would prove crucial, as the game almost unknowingly began to pioneer new territory.
In 2011, the beta version of Minecraft released. Around the same time, Jens Bergensten, a Mojang Employee, became the lead creative director of the game. Minecraft was eventually acquired by Microsoft for an enormous sum of money; but continued to develop under Mojang's direction.
Growing to become one of the most influential games of the twenty first century, Minecraft pioneered the idea of an open world game; a medium in which players could do whatever they pleased. Regular updates continued to keep gameplay engaging, and continued to attract more and more new players. In 2013, 'The Update that Changed the World' brought new biomes and world generation to the game. Beginning in 2018, Mojang set about updating existing areas of the game, with the 'Update Aquatic,' 'Village and Pillage Update,' and 'Nether Update' all bringing needed improvements to existing areas of the game.
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2021 ~ Minecraft celebrates its tenth anniversary, marking it as one of the oldest games still in active development, (rather than, say, a franchise; sporting both the indie game vibe, and the support of a multi-million dollar studio). The game is still going strong, and indeed, has seen a recent uptick in popularity. With the 'Caves and Cliffs' updates in 2021, and the subsequent 'Wild Update' in 2022, Mojang enhances begins the process of enhancing the biomes themselves, bringing more life and grandeur to everyone's favorite voxelated worlds.
...Walking amongst these places feels strange for older players; for those who have been with the game since its infancy. It's still Minecraft, obviously, but the game itself has changed and matured alongside them. The world is still familiar... but also distinctly different from what it once was. It feels both a familiar place to return to, as well as a place changing and evolving with time.
From 2023 to 2035, Minecraft continues to receive regular updates. Archeology is added to the game, alongside long-awaited new combat mechanics, and a much-needed revamp of many naturally generated structures. Over the course of the next few updates, different biomes are improved in turn.
At long last, the aptly named 'End Update.' (Affectionately termed 'The Update to End all Updates'), drops on all platforms. Mojang declares that this will be the last major content update to the game: in short, that with this, Minecraft is nearing the end of three decades worth of development. They assure the community that this does not mean the end of all future updates; merely that future updates likely won't be so intent on fundamentally changing the game, and will focus more on its technical capacities, modding capabilities, and other such areas.
True to its word, the End Update is fairly long in coming, but is a stunning final update, dramatically overhauling the barren third dimension, while still retaining its strange, ethereal atmosphere; adding a variety of new biomes, creatures, and game mechanics. It remains a dangerous and transcendent place... but also a beautiful and serene domain, beyond the comfortable familiarity of the Overworld, and savage ferocity of the Nether.
Those who played Minecraft as young people have children of their own now; they have lived to pass down the game to their own offspring. And why not? It remains a versatile sandbox of possibilities- and though many have tried to emulate it since, Minecraft remains the original- one of the first games to not merely question the linear style, but to throw it out almost entirely.
For these older players, traveling to the new End is a surreal experience. Minecraft is supposedly complete- and they have been with it from the beginning. Now, in this strange, floating domain, is its finale recognized. Parity has been achieved; all three realms have been overhauled, combining the old with the new. They feel uncertain... but strangely at peace.
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2050 ~ Over the next thirty years, Minecraft sees the full potential of new technological advances... and takes advantage of the gradual shift towards VR games: In particular, the style of Open world game it helped propagate. These days, the vast majority of major games are at least partly, if not entirely sandbox, open world experiences in a similar vein. Especially with the immersive nature of VR headsets, players increasingly are leaving behind linear games in favor of ones that grant them more initiative: games that serve as worlds to explore, rather than stories to live out.
Mojang continues to studiously update the game; albeit without adding much in the way of new content; focusing on smaller community suggestions, technical upgrades, bugfixes, and the like. Render distance becomes a thing of the past; Cubic chunk systems allow players to reach new heights. The game now features built in developer resource packs, allowing for far more realistic, (or stylized) visuals than ever before... however, most players still prefer the traditional look of the game, in spite of all the upgrades it has undergone. Nostalgia is a powerful thing.
Perhaps most crucial in the continued popularity of the game, (If not the raging popularity it once boasted during its early days), is, (firstly), its eventual full-blown move to VR systems, and the dramatically increased capacities of public servers. This era sees a sort of Minecraftian renaissance: while plenty of other, newer games boast for more complicated, intricate, Massively Multiplayer worlds; Minecraft still holds claim to being the first, and still holds sway over a considerable player base. Servers now host thousands of players at any given time, as they push the boundaries of the game: previous servers are dwarfed by these new centers of player activity, and Mojang implements more features intended to aid in multiplayer interactions.
With the game now almost exclusively played in first or third person via. a headset, many of these new players, introduced to the game by their old-fashioned parents, have little idea of what it was once like, and are soley accustomed to the modern version of the game; complete with fancier graphics, bustling, sprawling cities, and the immersion offered by VR. Only the older players recall what it was like, some almost forty years ago; to walk alone in an endless world of limitless possibility. To view this world through a screen, and, upon finishing the game, to commune with its gods.
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2111 ~ Minecraft celebrates its one hundredth anniversary, sparking a brief renewal of interest in the game, which has gradually seen decreasing popularity over the past decades- though its longevity still remains a phenomenal feat: its servers still by far the oldest in the Virtual realm, and its player base, while decreasing, still multitudes larger than it originally was. The festivities are celebrated over countless well-established servers- both the large, new domains of the renaissance, and some of the particularly ancient worlds that transferred into VR from the earliest versions of the game. These older servers, generally maintained by very small groups of players, see a sudden and dramatic increase in activity during the celebration, as interested tourists arrive to explore historic places- terrain generated before various updates; locations maintained for literal decades, enormous monuments gradually assembled over the years... the celebration lasts quite some time, and marks one of Minecraft's last big moments in the spotlight in a fitting fashion.
...And by no means does Minecraft abruptly disappear, or gradually fade. Indeed, the game remains strong, and an important piece of history. Games are now regarded as by far the most consumed (and most important) artistic medium, and historians acknowledge Minecraft as by far the most crucial turning point in the idea of 'games as art,' as well as the tendency towards more modern, open-world styles of gameplay. However, unlike old literature, which might seem dreadfully outdated; Minecraft is a world, simultaneously a work of art, and a place one can visit.
However, it is no longer the biggest game in the world, even if it is still acknowledged as by far the oldest still active. Many people still make frequent visits to this historic realm- some even prefer its simplicity to the far more elaborate, complex new recreations VR has to offer. Indeed, nearly every user visits some part of Minecraft at some point or another- there's no reason not to, as the game is now largely free to play- though its developers still accept donations towards historical maintenance. It is seen much in the way its original players might see a classic novel- interesting, masterful even, reminiscent of a simpler time- but not preferable to a more contemporary, action-packed story. People still dwell here, and a dedicated cult following still wanders increasingly abandoned worlds, living in the remains of lost servers and forgotten cities.
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2300 ~ As humans colonize other worlds, they take their recreations, their headsets with them. Minecraft is played for the first time on an alien planet. As sentient AI, bred from deep-learning processes, finally gain civil rights, it is inevitable that these strange, self-aware algorithms begin to explore the vast domains humanity has created for itself in VR- it is inevitable that a sentient machine plays Minecraft. With new neural rigs, VR is more alluring than ever, and there exists a growing divide between those who crave the virtual world, and those who insist on living in the real one. Even with modern advances in medical technology, everyone who was alive to play the original versions of Minecraft is long dead.
With the aid of the Sentients; humanity is now capable of transferring their minds completely into the Virtual World; digitizing their consciousnesses and living as gods in VR. Some eagerly defy death; others refuse, and begin to abstain from VR entirely. These new immortals initially act as one would expect ordinary people to act, having suddenly obtained god-like powers. Living exclusively in VR, they have no need to eat, or sleep. They can experience every feeling imaginable, can go anywhere, be anything. It is the fullest recognition of the internet; of humanity itself: they have beaten death, and now live in an environment they are in complete and total control of.
Rapidly, these beings begin to change. No longer bound by death, they are no longer mortals... they can experience things we cannot imagine, can replicate their minds, tamper with their own psyches. Build entire worlds down to the smallest detail, live entire lives in a role of their choosing. Imagine, if you will, a roleplaying game in which you are the main character- with your memories of the real world blocked off, you live an entire life convinced that the world you find yourself in is real, a lucid dream that lasts a lifetime. Imagine, for example, a hardcore world that you live through.
Some of these beings lead entire lives in Minecraft, for the novelty of it. They lead lives in fantasy worlds, and far flung futures; in abstract worlds, and in historical depictions of Earth. They lead lives of joy, and pain, and heroics, and obscurity.
Even this begins to bore them.
In the depths of their world, Minecraft remains- one place of many increasingly muddled domains. Its inhabitants are no longer quite players- they are literal gods. Some come to build inconceivable designs, others to descend in mortal form into a world of blocks that is, for all purposes, as real as anything else.
...And here, the gods of VR begin to realize their error. If the world is utterly at their whims, then what even is reality? In defying all restraints, have they lost what it means to be human? Once, they were a mind in a body- a mind capable of observing and thinking and influencing, while existing within the world. Now, they find themselves completely untethered- and ungrounded.
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???? ~ Millenia pass. The inhabitants of VR would no longer be recognizable to their primitive ancestors outside the simulation, in the same manner that a human city would be incomprehensible to an ant. Their minds have endured so long, been shaped so extensively, have become so vast, and mutated, and evolving, that they no longer resemble anything coherent to mere mortals. They no longer care about the outside world- they understand it in abstract terms. Their thoughts are vast and unknowable, their intentions as confused as the realm they inhabit; a chaotic, colorful ocean of mutated code, incomprehensible thoughts, unknowable powers, forgotten relics, intertwining webs of information and light, churning seas of confusion. They did not become immortal; because ultimately, immortality and death are identical. They became the primordial chaos of the Universe, out of which new order might emerge through random chance. The dreamtime had begun once more.
Amidst all this, fragments of one of the oldest dreams remains; blocks, and worlds made from blocks- lonely worlds inhabited by a single living soul; vast, colorful cities built by hundreds. Humans dreamt from the moment their sentience arose from the chaos; they reached for greater and greater power, seeking to become separate from the Universe, to retain what was ultimately a transitory state indefinitely- but in doing so, they returned to the greater chaos, nonetheless.
Nothing lasts forever- like Minecraft, it evolves, and changes constantly- order rises here, an island in the sea- only to sink back again; only for others to emerge. People. Worlds. Games. We shape it. We are a part of it. We return to it. We are the players.
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(And yes, that dog you left in your single player world in 2015 is still sitting there, waiting for you, unaware that its owners have transcended into pure chaos and become one with the universe. You really ought to take better care of your pets.)
(In the future, when anyone asks you where you think Minecraft is headed, just start rambling about the inevitable immortality of humankind within simulations, and the metaphysical implications of attaining godhood. The Combat Update might at least be a bit more divisive, but believe me, if you act like this, people will think you're really intelligent, and just stop asking.)
(A big thanks to C418's 'Cookie Clicker' soundtrack for inspiring this bit. If you think that sounds absurd, check it out for yourself.)
Discouraging players from drilling through structures is definitely a priority; The Ocean Temple achieves this through Mining Fatigue. For the Desert Temple, I'm trying to make the volatility the biggest threat- some rooms have hidden mines that are relatively harmless on their own, but combined, run the risk of blowing up the whole temple. (As so many of the traps involve explosives, there's always the risk of a chain reaction.)
As for the Jungle Temple, silverfish seem a good idea, considering both the building material, and the abundance of tripwire traps will make disturbing silverfish a considerable threat.
(I'm currently working on some 'Mosaic Traps' for the Desert Temple- found in some of the lower chambers and hallways. These are a variation on the Desert temple's hidden room; they feature patterns made of glazed terracotta and are a bit like mine sweeper; the color of the mosaic shows how many observer mines are directly adjacent. Players could either memorize different patterns, or learn how the patterns work. (Upsetting them without caution runs the risk of both killing the player, and destroying any loot hidden beneath the floor.)
(If you're curious, brown means no adjacent mines, yellow means one, orange two, and red three.)
At first: So many people hide things behind paintings, it becomes too obvious for paintings to be used in this manner; literally everyone checks behind paintings.
And then: So many people start trapping their paintings, no one looks behind paintings anymore, making paintings the perfect place to hide things again.
And then: People become extremely confused and just get fed up with paintings in general.
Personally, I'd rather see some improvements to the Birch or Flower forests along these lines than an entirely new biome. (And Mojang does have more of a habit of enhancing existing parts of the game than adding wildly new ones.) The aesthetic is an interesting idea... but again, I think the birch forest is already close enough to this sort of design to have some slight improvements to bring it even closer.
(I mean, the Dark Oak forest is a bunch of short, closely packed trees; the birch forest is a bunch of more scattered, taller trees. Need I say any more?)
I wouldn't be surprised if the upcoming Wild Update added new content along these lines to Birch forests. (Maybe the Allays have some sort of mechanic that makes the Birch Forest a friendlier place to be?) I should probably mention I'm also sort of biased here- the Tall Birch forest is my favorite biome, at least in terms of pure aesthetics. I recently finished an outpost on a picturesque little island surrounded by towering hills of tall birch trees... yeah, at the risk of getting off topic, I simply adore 1.18 terrain...
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- I agree, if Sulfur were introduced, it should have some unique uses too, instead of exclusively being used as a gunpowder substitute.
- I don't see the brown dye thing as a problem. Frankly, I think Cocoa beans just need more uses as it is. (They're really interesting to farm... but inexplicably only appear in two recipes, neither of them very useful.)
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Yes, I'd like to see more uses for glow berries- maybe a special food type or potion that requires them. You've got to be a bit more specific though.
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I like the idea. Admittedly, it seems a little niche, but it could still be a neat addition. I'm not sure about Sulfur being found around Lava pools in the Overworld/Nether, if only because it would require tweaking existing terrain generation. (Though I could see it possible in the Overworld as part of the Wild Update- maybe adding some sort of new sulfuric cave type where the stuff can be mined?)
I'm not especially concerned about compost- again, it would be nice for the composter to have a dedicated item, but I don't think it's such an important issue to necessitate any serious changes.
...Sulfur as you suggest it could be really interesting- the ability to mine an explosive material that could be used to produce or as a substitute for gunpowder would be game-changing. Maybe, to make things more interesting through- what if Sulfur burns up on contact with fire? Essentially, when fire, a torch, an explosion, or a flaming mob/player comes into contact with sulfur, the sulfur quickly disintegrates, and the disintegration spreads to adjacent sulfur blocks. This could be a really interesting trap mechanic, and would necessitate caution when mining this new material.
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I like the idea of a new Illager structure featuring the Illusioner. However, I don't think the mining fatigue concept is a good idea- Minecraft is all about being able to build and destroy the world around you, and while mining fatigue would be really convenient for new, more challenging dungeons, it doesn't seem like an entirely fair mechanic. I'd rather see mechanics that naturally encourage players to be careful; such as better traps for temples, silverfish infestations in strongholds, etc.
I also like the general idea of the structure; it would be cool to see various rare materials found inside, or something unique to the illusioners. (Maybe, like the barriers you suggest, some sort of invisible material that can only becomes visible when impacted by something, powered by redstone, or using a specific enchantment?) However, maybe instead of the structure always spawning an illusioner, there could be ruined outposts that have a chance of having a secret Illusioner area, similar to how the Igloos have a chance of having a secret lab. Or just a new structure entirely, so long as it isn't redundant with the existing mansion or outposts.
...And of course, the Illusioner could provide more challenge to the mansion, or higher level raids.
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I like the idea- the Deep Dark definitely needs new mechanics to make it more worth searching out. While I like the general idea of grubs/nests that could be propagated, and could play a part in the Deep Dark ecosystem, I think they might have to have a better application than finding ores. It's an interesting application, but especially with the larger caves, ore isn't that difficult to find; by the time you're able to set up an ore sensor rig using Skulk, you'd probably be more than well equipped enough to just go caving.
I don't think the Grubs should alert the Warden; partly because I just personally think their relationship should be more symbiotic, but also in a game mechanic sense that it could get chaotic if these things could randomly summon the warden- hence, their noises shouldn't be detected by the skulk. They could still summon it, but not intentionally. A fall, for example, but not their movement noises.
...OR, perhaps the Grubs are summoned by proximity to the nest? Or by skulk signals? In this manner, if their noises could summon the warden, getting too close to their nests could become another hazard.
It also seems like a cool idea that these nests could gradually expand the skulk if a nest generates in such a way that kills the grubs- especially if the grubs drop a fair amount of EXP, causing skulk to expand when the chunks are loaded. Not sure about the Grubs only surviving on Skulk. Maybe they're more dangerous on Skulk, or could burrow into it like Silverfish in stone?
...As for my ideas about alternative mechanics to ore detection, maybe one or more of the following?
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Here's a look at the Scoreboard- this being the fourth, extremely messy looking version. It, uh, mostly works... when finished, each player will have a life counter that ranges from 1-7, (which goes down upon death, and can also be controlled manually from the control room), and a 'combo counter' that gradually increases to 7, (at about 90 seconds per level), and resets whenever the player dies. The Combo counters can be toggled on and off.
At this point, I think I've finally got a working system- just have to hook up the indicators for the life counters at this point.
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PVP Arenas are cool. Procedural Generation is cool. I hope you can see where this is going...
Awhile ago, I decided make a procedurally generated PVP Arena: that is, a machine that assembles an arena out of pre-built tiles. I went into this without having ever done a serious creative project before, without much former knowledge of command/structure blocks, and without much knowledge of even basic redstone to boot- so, all things considered, it seems to be shaping up nicely! This project has been a great learning experience for me, and while there's certainly things I'd do differently in hindsight, it seems to be shaping up nicely.
At this point, the arena itself is fully functional; there's just a few small features I'm still working on, and of course a lot of decoration to do before I can call it complete. However, since the project is this far along, I figured it would be cool to put it out here, with the eventual goal of posting the finished map. The Arena has/will have the following features:
I'll be adding the world download and more screenshots once the project is finished. In the meantime, check out some early looks at a couple of arenas the system generated. Some arenas have different connected systems- like the bridges and launch pads in the End Arena, and a network of tunnels in the Overgrown arena. Keep in mind that each of these things was assembled by the arena machinery!
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Just to be purely evil, I'm thinking Creepers for the spawner rooms in the Desert Temple. I've been considering using lava for pitfall traps of some sort- (there's no other way to make them a threat otherwise), with the main trouble being that the noise makes it super obvious there's a lava trap nearby. (Thusfar, where I have been using lava, I'm using it with dispensers.)
I've been focusing mainly on the Desert temple, and most of the catacomb rooms and halls are finished- I also got a somewhat more efficient randomizer circuit working to arrange the rooms. Before this, I was using a comparator-dispenser circuit that only had 2 outcomes- meaning every single room needed a combination of multiple circuits to generate properly. This new circuit uses a dispenser and an item sorting system to allow for nine different outcomes in a single 10*10 circuit.
Admittedly, I've been a bit distracted with another similar project, (using procedural generation for a PVP arena), which is much closer to finished. I might have to make a separate thread for it... As for the maze idea, one thought I had was using this method of procedural generation to make a dungeon crawler game- essentially to build Spelunky... in Minecraft, using randomized structure blocks. I definitely want to finish this thing, (and the arena) first, but It's an idea I'll definitely consider in the future.
1
Lately, I've been working on some biome based retextures of the classic Steve Skin. Each one has a fairly simple base, with exterior garments based off of the villager skins for each biome. (Including the unusued Jungle and Swamp variants.) I've linked a render of the full set below, (from hottest to coldest biome, incidentally), because I still can't figure out how to insert images directly into a post.
If you want to download any of these, you can check them out on my Skindex profile.
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LOD Rendering would certainly be an interesting addition- while I'm far from privy to the technical details, I can see something like this being added to the game in the future. Emphasis on in the future- right now, Mojang seems more concerned with improving existing aspects of the game than making big changes to its fundamental systems. So no, I don't think it's coming soon, but these mods certainly act as proof of concept.
As for the idea itself, I don't see a problem adding it, so long as it's a configurable thing like other graphics options. I'm not sure if it's technically feasible at the moment, but it certainly seems like a likely addition... eventually.
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Some more depth in the armor and combat system could be nice, but I feel like it needs to expand upon the existing system rather than completely rework it- it would just disenfranchise too many players. (Hence, adding new equipment or mechanics to better balance the system... or just to add cool new options for players to use, such as the Trident.) And this is true of most of the additions Mojang seems to consider: things that expand upon the world, rather than fundamentally change it.
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2009 ~ An obscure Swedish game developer by the name of Markus came across the idea largely by accident; drawing inspiration from the voxel-based system off 'Infiniminer,' another Indie Game centered around combat, he created what would ultimately become 'Cave Game.' Originally intended as an RPG of some sort, Perrson posted videos of the game's development, and took feedback from forums in the development process. He eventually quit his job to focus full time on the game as sales increased, and hired more programmers, creating the beginnings of Mojang Studio. Updates to the game were free, and from the start, development was focused on community feedback and trying new ideas. Origins such as this would prove crucial, as the game almost unknowingly began to pioneer new territory.
In 2011, the beta version of Minecraft released. Around the same time, Jens Bergensten, a Mojang Employee, became the lead creative director of the game. Minecraft was eventually acquired by Microsoft for an enormous sum of money; but continued to develop under Mojang's direction.
Growing to become one of the most influential games of the twenty first century, Minecraft pioneered the idea of an open world game; a medium in which players could do whatever they pleased. Regular updates continued to keep gameplay engaging, and continued to attract more and more new players. In 2013, 'The Update that Changed the World' brought new biomes and world generation to the game. Beginning in 2018, Mojang set about updating existing areas of the game, with the 'Update Aquatic,' 'Village and Pillage Update,' and 'Nether Update' all bringing needed improvements to existing areas of the game.
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2021 ~ Minecraft celebrates its tenth anniversary, marking it as one of the oldest games still in active development, (rather than, say, a franchise; sporting both the indie game vibe, and the support of a multi-million dollar studio). The game is still going strong, and indeed, has seen a recent uptick in popularity. With the 'Caves and Cliffs' updates in 2021, and the subsequent 'Wild Update' in 2022, Mojang enhances begins the process of enhancing the biomes themselves, bringing more life and grandeur to everyone's favorite voxelated worlds.
...Walking amongst these places feels strange for older players; for those who have been with the game since its infancy. It's still Minecraft, obviously, but the game itself has changed and matured alongside them. The world is still familiar... but also distinctly different from what it once was. It feels both a familiar place to return to, as well as a place changing and evolving with time.
From 2023 to 2035, Minecraft continues to receive regular updates. Archeology is added to the game, alongside long-awaited new combat mechanics, and a much-needed revamp of many naturally generated structures. Over the course of the next few updates, different biomes are improved in turn.
At long last, the aptly named 'End Update.' (Affectionately termed 'The Update to End all Updates'), drops on all platforms. Mojang declares that this will be the last major content update to the game: in short, that with this, Minecraft is nearing the end of three decades worth of development. They assure the community that this does not mean the end of all future updates; merely that future updates likely won't be so intent on fundamentally changing the game, and will focus more on its technical capacities, modding capabilities, and other such areas.
True to its word, the End Update is fairly long in coming, but is a stunning final update, dramatically overhauling the barren third dimension, while still retaining its strange, ethereal atmosphere; adding a variety of new biomes, creatures, and game mechanics. It remains a dangerous and transcendent place... but also a beautiful and serene domain, beyond the comfortable familiarity of the Overworld, and savage ferocity of the Nether.
Those who played Minecraft as young people have children of their own now; they have lived to pass down the game to their own offspring. And why not? It remains a versatile sandbox of possibilities- and though many have tried to emulate it since, Minecraft remains the original- one of the first games to not merely question the linear style, but to throw it out almost entirely.
For these older players, traveling to the new End is a surreal experience. Minecraft is supposedly complete- and they have been with it from the beginning. Now, in this strange, floating domain, is its finale recognized. Parity has been achieved; all three realms have been overhauled, combining the old with the new. They feel uncertain... but strangely at peace.
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2050 ~ Over the next thirty years, Minecraft sees the full potential of new technological advances... and takes advantage of the gradual shift towards VR games: In particular, the style of Open world game it helped propagate. These days, the vast majority of major games are at least partly, if not entirely sandbox, open world experiences in a similar vein. Especially with the immersive nature of VR headsets, players increasingly are leaving behind linear games in favor of ones that grant them more initiative: games that serve as worlds to explore, rather than stories to live out.
Mojang continues to studiously update the game; albeit without adding much in the way of new content; focusing on smaller community suggestions, technical upgrades, bugfixes, and the like. Render distance becomes a thing of the past; Cubic chunk systems allow players to reach new heights. The game now features built in developer resource packs, allowing for far more realistic, (or stylized) visuals than ever before... however, most players still prefer the traditional look of the game, in spite of all the upgrades it has undergone. Nostalgia is a powerful thing.
Perhaps most crucial in the continued popularity of the game, (If not the raging popularity it once boasted during its early days), is, (firstly), its eventual full-blown move to VR systems, and the dramatically increased capacities of public servers. This era sees a sort of Minecraftian renaissance: while plenty of other, newer games boast for more complicated, intricate, Massively Multiplayer worlds; Minecraft still holds claim to being the first, and still holds sway over a considerable player base. Servers now host thousands of players at any given time, as they push the boundaries of the game: previous servers are dwarfed by these new centers of player activity, and Mojang implements more features intended to aid in multiplayer interactions.
With the game now almost exclusively played in first or third person via. a headset, many of these new players, introduced to the game by their old-fashioned parents, have little idea of what it was once like, and are soley accustomed to the modern version of the game; complete with fancier graphics, bustling, sprawling cities, and the immersion offered by VR. Only the older players recall what it was like, some almost forty years ago; to walk alone in an endless world of limitless possibility. To view this world through a screen, and, upon finishing the game, to commune with its gods.
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2111 ~ Minecraft celebrates its one hundredth anniversary, sparking a brief renewal of interest in the game, which has gradually seen decreasing popularity over the past decades- though its longevity still remains a phenomenal feat: its servers still by far the oldest in the Virtual realm, and its player base, while decreasing, still multitudes larger than it originally was. The festivities are celebrated over countless well-established servers- both the large, new domains of the renaissance, and some of the particularly ancient worlds that transferred into VR from the earliest versions of the game. These older servers, generally maintained by very small groups of players, see a sudden and dramatic increase in activity during the celebration, as interested tourists arrive to explore historic places- terrain generated before various updates; locations maintained for literal decades, enormous monuments gradually assembled over the years... the celebration lasts quite some time, and marks one of Minecraft's last big moments in the spotlight in a fitting fashion.
...And by no means does Minecraft abruptly disappear, or gradually fade. Indeed, the game remains strong, and an important piece of history. Games are now regarded as by far the most consumed (and most important) artistic medium, and historians acknowledge Minecraft as by far the most crucial turning point in the idea of 'games as art,' as well as the tendency towards more modern, open-world styles of gameplay. However, unlike old literature, which might seem dreadfully outdated; Minecraft is a world, simultaneously a work of art, and a place one can visit.
However, it is no longer the biggest game in the world, even if it is still acknowledged as by far the oldest still active. Many people still make frequent visits to this historic realm- some even prefer its simplicity to the far more elaborate, complex new recreations VR has to offer. Indeed, nearly every user visits some part of Minecraft at some point or another- there's no reason not to, as the game is now largely free to play- though its developers still accept donations towards historical maintenance. It is seen much in the way its original players might see a classic novel- interesting, masterful even, reminiscent of a simpler time- but not preferable to a more contemporary, action-packed story. People still dwell here, and a dedicated cult following still wanders increasingly abandoned worlds, living in the remains of lost servers and forgotten cities.
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2300 ~ As humans colonize other worlds, they take their recreations, their headsets with them. Minecraft is played for the first time on an alien planet. As sentient AI, bred from deep-learning processes, finally gain civil rights, it is inevitable that these strange, self-aware algorithms begin to explore the vast domains humanity has created for itself in VR- it is inevitable that a sentient machine plays Minecraft. With new neural rigs, VR is more alluring than ever, and there exists a growing divide between those who crave the virtual world, and those who insist on living in the real one. Even with modern advances in medical technology, everyone who was alive to play the original versions of Minecraft is long dead.
With the aid of the Sentients; humanity is now capable of transferring their minds completely into the Virtual World; digitizing their consciousnesses and living as gods in VR. Some eagerly defy death; others refuse, and begin to abstain from VR entirely. These new immortals initially act as one would expect ordinary people to act, having suddenly obtained god-like powers. Living exclusively in VR, they have no need to eat, or sleep. They can experience every feeling imaginable, can go anywhere, be anything. It is the fullest recognition of the internet; of humanity itself: they have beaten death, and now live in an environment they are in complete and total control of.
Rapidly, these beings begin to change. No longer bound by death, they are no longer mortals... they can experience things we cannot imagine, can replicate their minds, tamper with their own psyches. Build entire worlds down to the smallest detail, live entire lives in a role of their choosing. Imagine, if you will, a roleplaying game in which you are the main character- with your memories of the real world blocked off, you live an entire life convinced that the world you find yourself in is real, a lucid dream that lasts a lifetime. Imagine, for example, a hardcore world that you live through.
Some of these beings lead entire lives in Minecraft, for the novelty of it. They lead lives in fantasy worlds, and far flung futures; in abstract worlds, and in historical depictions of Earth. They lead lives of joy, and pain, and heroics, and obscurity.
Even this begins to bore them.
In the depths of their world, Minecraft remains- one place of many increasingly muddled domains. Its inhabitants are no longer quite players- they are literal gods. Some come to build inconceivable designs, others to descend in mortal form into a world of blocks that is, for all purposes, as real as anything else.
...And here, the gods of VR begin to realize their error. If the world is utterly at their whims, then what even is reality? In defying all restraints, have they lost what it means to be human? Once, they were a mind in a body- a mind capable of observing and thinking and influencing, while existing within the world. Now, they find themselves completely untethered- and ungrounded.
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???? ~ Millenia pass. The inhabitants of VR would no longer be recognizable to their primitive ancestors outside the simulation, in the same manner that a human city would be incomprehensible to an ant. Their minds have endured so long, been shaped so extensively, have become so vast, and mutated, and evolving, that they no longer resemble anything coherent to mere mortals. They no longer care about the outside world- they understand it in abstract terms. Their thoughts are vast and unknowable, their intentions as confused as the realm they inhabit; a chaotic, colorful ocean of mutated code, incomprehensible thoughts, unknowable powers, forgotten relics, intertwining webs of information and light, churning seas of confusion. They did not become immortal; because ultimately, immortality and death are identical. They became the primordial chaos of the Universe, out of which new order might emerge through random chance. The dreamtime had begun once more.
Amidst all this, fragments of one of the oldest dreams remains; blocks, and worlds made from blocks- lonely worlds inhabited by a single living soul; vast, colorful cities built by hundreds. Humans dreamt from the moment their sentience arose from the chaos; they reached for greater and greater power, seeking to become separate from the Universe, to retain what was ultimately a transitory state indefinitely- but in doing so, they returned to the greater chaos, nonetheless.
Nothing lasts forever- like Minecraft, it evolves, and changes constantly- order rises here, an island in the sea- only to sink back again; only for others to emerge. People. Worlds. Games. We shape it. We are a part of it. We return to it. We are the players.
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(And yes, that dog you left in your single player world in 2015 is still sitting there, waiting for you, unaware that its owners have transcended into pure chaos and become one with the universe. You really ought to take better care of your pets.)
(In the future, when anyone asks you where you think Minecraft is headed, just start rambling about the inevitable immortality of humankind within simulations, and the metaphysical implications of attaining godhood. The Combat Update might at least be a bit more divisive, but believe me, if you act like this, people will think you're really intelligent, and just stop asking.)
(A big thanks to C418's 'Cookie Clicker' soundtrack for inspiring this bit. If you think that sounds absurd, check it out for yourself.)
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Discouraging players from drilling through structures is definitely a priority; The Ocean Temple achieves this through Mining Fatigue. For the Desert Temple, I'm trying to make the volatility the biggest threat- some rooms have hidden mines that are relatively harmless on their own, but combined, run the risk of blowing up the whole temple. (As so many of the traps involve explosives, there's always the risk of a chain reaction.)
As for the Jungle Temple, silverfish seem a good idea, considering both the building material, and the abundance of tripwire traps will make disturbing silverfish a considerable threat.
(I'm currently working on some 'Mosaic Traps' for the Desert Temple- found in some of the lower chambers and hallways. These are a variation on the Desert temple's hidden room; they feature patterns made of glazed terracotta and are a bit like mine sweeper; the color of the mosaic shows how many observer mines are directly adjacent. Players could either memorize different patterns, or learn how the patterns work. (Upsetting them without caution runs the risk of both killing the player, and destroying any loot hidden beneath the floor.)
(If you're curious, brown means no adjacent mines, yellow means one, orange two, and red three.)
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At first: So many people hide things behind paintings, it becomes too obvious for paintings to be used in this manner; literally everyone checks behind paintings.
And then: So many people start trapping their paintings, no one looks behind paintings anymore, making paintings the perfect place to hide things again.
And then: People become extremely confused and just get fed up with paintings in general.
2
Personally, I'd rather see some improvements to the Birch or Flower forests along these lines than an entirely new biome. (And Mojang does have more of a habit of enhancing existing parts of the game than adding wildly new ones.) The aesthetic is an interesting idea... but again, I think the birch forest is already close enough to this sort of design to have some slight improvements to bring it even closer.
(I mean, the Dark Oak forest is a bunch of short, closely packed trees; the birch forest is a bunch of more scattered, taller trees. Need I say any more?)
I wouldn't be surprised if the upcoming Wild Update added new content along these lines to Birch forests. (Maybe the Allays have some sort of mechanic that makes the Birch Forest a friendlier place to be?) I should probably mention I'm also sort of biased here- the Tall Birch forest is my favorite biome, at least in terms of pure aesthetics. I recently finished an outpost on a picturesque little island surrounded by towering hills of tall birch trees... yeah, at the risk of getting off topic, I simply adore 1.18 terrain...