We all keep mentioning the upcoming 1.3 update, so let's talk about it here! Oh man, all the new stuff that's going to be added just blows my mind.
One thing that I'm really thrilled about is writable books. I hope they'll be editable, or that there will be an editable kind of book by the time it comes out, but if not, that's okay.
I've always loved the creative potential of the game, and since I enjoy writing and making up characters and little stories, the books will be fun.
For this project, I want to write little biographies of characters that will populate my towns, starting with Merris. I enjoy humor so some silliness will sneak its way in.
Directions to various areas might be a good idea. History of the towns, a list of merchandise along with prices in the shops, dialogue from various characters...
Other than the books, I'm pretty excited about everything. Jungle ruins and desert temples and sandstone stairs and emeralds and villager trading and new enchantment system and mined ores dropping xp...
I will admit that I don't like the cocoa bean plants. The way they latch onto the side of a tree makes them look like parasites. Maybe that fits a jungle though...hmmm. I suppose it'll be fun to live on chocolate chip cookies (and milk! darn you cave spiders).
I think I've rambled on long enough. 1.3 update discussion, go!
Books are definitely one thing I'm looking forward to, also. They're going to add a lot to adventure maps, I think, if the creators decide to use them. They're like signs, only awesomer. Haha.
The thing I'm anticipating the most is the jungle ruins and desert temples. I don't know much about them, but they sound so awesome and seem like they're going to add a lot to Minecraft, even though it is such a small addition.
One thing I haven't heard about in a while is the new Modding API. Does anyone know anything about the progress, or am I just slow at getting information and it's really old news about it being implemented/trashed? Haha.
You could very well be right, Wartower. I mean, I've heard literally nothing on the forums, YouTube, or anywhere else about it. *Shrug. I wonder if Zyrandar has heard anything about it. Hmmmmmmm. (I hope he answers this because it'll be awkward if he doesn't. Haha.)
Modding API will be added in 1.4 .. I think at the moment Mojang are just working on the whole Client/Server splicing and of course all those other little things they're working on :) As a poet and Short Story writer, I'm really looking forward to the new books: @daydrifter --- I believe that most books will be re-editable, however - if you give the book a name and then "Sign" it; the book will be considered "finished" and you wont be able to edit it again. So make sure your completely satisfied with the result. Perhaps they'll change the functionality of these editable books at a later stage = I do hope so. The new Jungle ruins are amazing - using the new "tripwires" to set of traps. The desert temples are cool too - just watch out for the TNT at the bottom! And Sandstone stairs! Who HASN'T wanted these? However, the new Desert villages need ... something. Don't get me wrong I like variety and I always thought that NPC Villages in the desert looked .... wrong somehow. But the new Villages look .. well. .. bland. Okay so they take advantage of every Sandstone block [Sandstone, Decorative, Smooth - I believe they'll have new names] plus the stairs and half slabs.. but we're talking about Sand coloured blocks being placed onto .. .well. .. . sand. There's a danger you could just .... walk right by it!!!! They need a little more colour I think. Previous NPC Villages use cobblestone, planks, logs, stairs of various types and stone slabs... there's variety, in other words, with the textures used in the construction. Desert NPC Villages have variety in the block types too - it's just that the blocks are all the same colour!! haha! I shouldn't complain, I DO think they're awesome.
Some Speculation: I don't think they'll be adding anything else new to the patch: Just bug fixing and working on the coding. After that, they'll start work on the Mod API - although what that will entail I'm not sure: It'll make adding mods easier [although it isn't THAT hard right now in my opinion] but what else: Will it allow a total n00b [i.e. me] to make his/her own mods easier. Perhaps someone with better programming knowledge could answer that!
You know, I agree with the desert villages needing more color. Hm. I guess redecorating the desert villages in 1.3 could be something to do. Magenta wool everywhere! Ha, no.
I've heard that the Modding API will be in 1.4, too. Right now, mods seem easy to install on a PC. I could never figure out how to mod a Mac since it's a lot different, so the MOD API might be a lot better for Mac users who aren't very computer savvy, like me.
I'm still going to hope that stairs in all wood plank colors get added in 1.3. Going to cross my fingers!
:O Wooden Stairs in all four colours? Nice idea daydrifter! Glass stairs too? haha! that's going a little too far maybe :P Actually regarding the new desert villages; I was thinking that Spruce Logs [Not the planks, the "uncut" wood] would go really well with Sandstone: I've used both those two materials in the past and I love the contrast between the yellowy sandstone and the dark brown of spruce trees.
Call me a bad person for wanting everything, but I want all of the wooden items to be available in the four wooden colors. Wouldn't be too hard, either, from a programming standpoint. Just some copies, pastes, and renames. Artistically, it could take a while, though. Haha.
Oh yes - Wooden Fences in all four types! Wooden Doors in all four types! Wooden Boats in all four types! And add Marble to the game! And improve The End! And! And! Erm .. sorry about that... got carried away a little!
Oh man, everything in all four wood types would be too much! I'd love it!! The Wayukian TP makes the ash planks white so, white fences and white wood doors! I want that so much.
You know what be even more awesome? The ability to customize the item with multiple colors. Like a boat with oak siding but a birch floor. Or a door with pine/spruce sides and an oak center. My life would be complete at that point, just sayin'.
Marble would be sooo awesome, too! I could finally have some nice countertops. =]
Ooh, so many options. If you could customize that many details I think it'd take me like an hour to craft a single thing, since I'd be playing with all the options so long.
Beds that match the color(s) of the wool you used to craft them would be nice!
The "multi-wood" idea is fantastic! I love it! I think the game also needs: Proper flags. I'm just saying. [Flag pole : 1 pole piece is crafted with 3 iron ingots in a column. 3 of these pieces makes a flag pole. Flags made from Wool [of course] and string. Oooh.. maybe have a special 5x5 crafting table just for flags] The coloured beds idea is nice too - I don't know why but the very first bed I make when I start a new MC world or Super Hostile map always uses 2 white wool and one other colour, usually grey!! Moving waterwheels and windmills. oh ... I could go on all day!!! haha! back to digging methinks!!!!
Ooooh, flags and multi-colored beds are awesome ideas! Waterwheels that are compatible with redstone, maybe? Windmills can't since there's no wind in Minecraft (yet, hopefully). Five by five crafting tables? Why not a six by six crafted with four three by three crafting tables? Or would that be a little too big? Haha. Ooooooh! A way to combine crafting table room by setting crafting tables next to each other would be cool.
This is a little out there, but what do you guys think about ambient sounds like birds chirping or wind blowing through leaves? I would like them to a point, but if they were going on all the time, I think it would somehow ruin the lonely feeling.
Well. .. we can pretend there's wind in Minecraft :P I was mostly thinking of the "effect" rather then the "cause" [see what I did there?] haha! On topic: your "ambient sounds" is a nice idea. I believe "Matmos" already does that. I tried it myself, but I found the sounds REALLY annoying after a while!
Additional: Creeper Spawners. Come on! You know you want Creeper Dungeons!!!!
Nope, but it did make me think about the toughness of making realistic wind very hard due to the temperature differences having to be implemented. Hahaha. Maybe the effect of wind can be good enough.
Yeahh, I've seen Matmos, and I think that where I got the idea, but like you said, having it played a lot would get annoying. Maybe having the ambient overworld sounds like that only play as often as ambient cave sounds would be better. Comments? =)
Creeper spawners! Ugh, no. Hahaha. In Luclin's Hardcore playthrough, he has a mod that introduces Creeper Spawners, and they seem quite terrifying. Hahaha.
I would love to have more atmosphere. Perhaps the bird chirping would be occasional, and happen only in areas with a lot of trees like forests and jungles. Flags and flagpoles would be great, along with moving wheels. Wind could depend on the biome you're in, and always blow the same direction, going with the clouds.
You guys have such awesome ideas!
Creeper dungeons would be great. In fact, I think all mobs should have spawner dungeons. Even ghasts. Because I need more reasons to be terrified of the game. XD
Oh @t_gilbert1 - yeah - have those "ambient sounds" you mentioned play more sporadically would be better than them playing all the time.
Female Villagers! Just .. because.. :P [ just .. don't make 'em like Lara Croft Mojang!!]
All passive mobs [Sheep, Cows, Mooshrooms, Pigs, Chickens] will breed independently in the wild without needing Wheat... although you can still breed them that way if you want [actually I'm not sure that'll work.... more thought needed... animal husbandry isn't my forte :P]
LOUD NOISES! (only other quote I can recall from that guy in The Legend of Ron Burgundy)
Well, to be fair, you don't really know what's under those villagers' robes...just because both male and female look the same doesn't mean that they're all dudes.
But I think female and male counterparts of all breedable mobs would be nice. I agree Zyrandar, if Mojang does include female villagers, please no lady lumps so enormous they lag the game!
@t_gilbert. Yup, Lamb. I meant lamb. That'll teach me to post at 11pm when I'm tired and should be in bed :P Yeah - the villager breeding part. I kinda meant for aesthetics :P) On the subject of Spawners - anyone remember when Silk Touch allowed you to collect them? I'd love to be able to rearrange spawners -- -you could make the ultimate Mob trap. As long as you're within range of course.
I agree that shears should be used to collect cobwebs, but only cobwebs. Or you shouldn't be able to enchant shears (like now). Maybe silk touch on an axe?
And not on spawners. I could collect 16 spawners together, and do this massive mob trap. Way OP.
I was just speculating.. and you have to be fairly close to a spawner to "activate" it... you wouldn't be able to put THAT many spawners in one area without limiting the area in which monsters can spawn. I was more thinking about Harmony - my AMCWAS world. Back when I started digging out that Hexagonal "Central Hub" I found 3 or 4 various spawners - all quite close to the surface. Unfortunately - I wanted to clear away EVERYTHING .. including the spawners. It would have been nice to move them to a different location close by - I wasn't really thinking about making some kind of crazy OP spawner trap.
Also - i mentioned putting Silk Touch on Shears as that's the best way [currently] of collecting string from cobwebs. It just made more sense to allow Shears to collect Cobwebs [with Silk Touch] than use another tool such as an axe or pickaxe - don't know if that made sense, but surely you can see what I mean. Using an Axe to collect Cobwebs seems counter-productive to me. I don't know. I'm rambling.
On topic: Zombies actually say "Braiiiiiiiiiiins!!!" rather than or in addition too that horrible groaning they make :P
Well, to be fair, you don't really know what's under those villagers' robes...just because both male and female look the same doesn't mean that they're all dudes.
I suppose, but unless they're all hermaphodites, two villagers that are supposed to be bros will breed. It's unavoidable right now. Any sort of difference between male and female villagers would greatly reduce the weirdness I find in the whole thing. Haha.
I agree that rearranging spawners would be way overpowered. That doesn't mean I don't want it, though. =) And eventually, the amount of spawners you have will reduce the amount of spawns available due to the blocks they will be taking up and the range you'll have to be at to have the all active. So they'll still be somewhat controlled. Somewhat. =P Haha.
How about Silk Touch on a sword? I've always wanted a creeper in my inventory. =]
