Flower's Dev Diary (Week Of March 18th)

[FlowerChild]

I'm wondering if HHC is going to lead to some specialization on multiplayer servers -- where a small group of players makes food for everyone else. Seems like it would be a lot more efficient that way, where you have some players mining and building and others focusing just on growing food and cooking.

It would certainly be nice, but I don't get the impression it goes far enough to really warrant it. That level of collaboration and coordination is a lot of work in itself, probably far more so than just creating your own farms.

It's an interesting point though, as it's one of the reasons I think that I object to vMC's homogenous gruel design policy at present. If you get every resource from every activity, then not only does it cut down on diversity of gameplay in SSP, but it also throws the potential for specialized roles right out the window in SMP.

Anyways, it's just bad mojo overall, but the above is yet another argument against it.

[Detritus]

I'm wondering if HHC is going to lead to some specialization on multiplayer servers -- where a small group of players makes food for everyone else. Seems like it would be a lot more efficient that way, where you have some players mining and building and others focusing just on growing food and cooking.

It would certainly be nice, but I don't get the impression it goes far enough to really warrant it. That level of collaboration and coordination is a lot of work in itself, probably far more so than just creating your own farms.

It's an interesting point though, as it's one of the reasons I think that I object to vMC's homogenous gruel design policy at present. If you get every resource from every activity, then not only does it cut down on diversity of gameplay in SSP, but it also throws the potential for specialized roles right out the window in SMP.

Anyways, it's just bad mojo overall, but the above is yet another argument against it.

I seriously love the concept of having a town where the people actually are forced to collaborate, and there are perks for actually collaborating. With the way BTW is set up at the moment, it would be a beautiful thing, because there are many many different sections of the tech tree, that would be what consumes the entire life of a person in the medieval time that the mod feels like it's set in. One person would usually run a mill, and that would be all they ever did, creating flower and bread and other grain products. Then you'd have specialised farmers, like dairy farmers, and plant farmers, and pig farmers and such stuff. There are people who would be potters, and also blacksmiths. Unfortunately, it's so difficult to sustain such a set up, with people dropping in and out of the server periodically, and people playing at different times. If this was to be done, it would require a complete restructure of the game, which isn't worth yours or Mojang's time...

[Six]

I seriously love the concept of having a town where the people actually are forced to collaborate, and there are perks for actually collaborating. With the way BTW is set up at the moment, it would be a beautiful thing, because there are many many different sections of the tech tree, that would be what consumes the entire life of a person in the medieval time that the mod feels like it's set in. One person would usually run a mill, and that would be all they ever did, creating flower and bread and other grain products. Then you'd have specialised farmers, like dairy farmers, and plant farmers, and pig farmers and such stuff. There are people who would be potters, and also blacksmiths. Unfortunately, it's so difficult to sustain such a set up, with people dropping in and out of the server periodically, and people playing at different times. If this was to be done, it would require a complete restructure of the game, which isn't worth yours or Mojang's time...

I have to say in my wanderings on the official server, there have been moments where I have been like "Huh, there are a lot of sheep in this plains biome. I could totally just settle down here, farm all wool colours and trade it out for everything else I need". Then I look at how much of my map is still unfilled and carry on.

[FlowerChild]

I seriously love the concept of having a town where the people actually are forced to collaborate, and there are perks for actually collaborating. With the way BTW is set up at the moment, it would be a beautiful thing, because there are many many different sections of the tech tree, that would be what consumes the entire life of a person in the medieval time that the mod feels like it's set in. One person would usually run a mill, and that would be all they ever did, creating flower and bread and other grain products. Then you'd have specialised farmers, like dairy farmers, and plant farmers, and pig farmers and such stuff. There are people who would be potters, and also blacksmiths. Unfortunately, it's so difficult to sustain such a set up, with people dropping in and out of the server periodically, and people playing at different times. If this was to be done, it would require a complete restructure of the game, which isn't worth yours or Mojang's time...

Beyond that, many of those roles are simply not interesting enough to warrant a gameplay experience on their own.

Do you really think anyone really wants to spend their recreation hours just milling flour?

I think the only way for this kind of thing to really be viable is if a game presents so many varied tasks that specialization becomes a natural play style for people to gravitate towards. I don't think forcing it on anyone would make for very much fun.

[Chomamonka]

With the new HC changes there has been a massive focus (as always) on bringing more difficulty to MC I for one am not entirely sure that minecraft will ever be as challenging as we wish it was. So here is hoping RTH is able to capture that element again. :)

[Mud]

wouldn't the idea of a structured, collaborative community go against the concept of anarchy play?

[Sarudak]

No it wouldn't. In fact it would make anarchy play much more interesting if you were forced to trade with others to be successful. I would like to see how an anarchy minecraft society would evolve under such constraints.

[SterlingRed]

No it wouldn't. In fact it would make anarchy play much more interesting if you were forced to trade with others to be successful. I would like to see how an anarchy minecraft society would evolve under such constraints.

Whitefall from Firefly. :-) Would be so much fun to have to trade like that.

[MrPlatypus]

Oh, but to address the elephant in the room: 1.5. Yeah, there it is...that plump bastard.

This line made me laugh so hard. Anyways, I'm really enjoying HCH, as it has made my tame minecraft life a little more challenging and has given me motivation to make some automatic farms. Overall, I think we can all agree that it provides a huge improvement to the survival experience and makes combat alot more intense. Also, I look forward to how you tweak the villages and nomadic stage. Good luck!

[Habsnorre]

A brief update on my play through.

I actually decided to start a new world (gasp!) for this one, as there are a few variables I want to start tweaking that are specific to that state. As most of you know, this is an exceedingly rare thing for me to do :)

Anyways, spawned in a jungle. Killed some pigs. Found some melons. Found some mushrooms. Dug down. Found some caves. Explored. Got enough iron for a full set of tools and armor. Dug down to bedrock. Surfaced a few times over the course of this to find some more pigs, take a look around, and convert a tall jungle tree into a landmark by climbing it, defoliating it, and placing torches around the top, in case I ever get lost.

So far, I suspect I've gone a couple of in-game weeks without any issue, dying, or even feeling close to death. Honestly, I also don't feel the pressure to run off and find a village either, as I seem to be doing fine just the way I am.

I've certainly taken a few notes along the way about subtle tweaks I want to make, but it's definitely not feeling overly challenging at the moment. Far from really. I feel a stronger sense of purpose, somewhat of urgency, and have been more nervous with mobs, but those are the main things.

So yeah..."pffft" to anyone complaining about the difficulty ;)

Oh yeah, and pro-tip: use the cobble you dig out as you dig down to bedrock to make stairs back up. Big energy saver there.

Lol, have had the exact same experience. In my 2nd try in a single player world since HCH. I also spawned in a jungle and am living on pigs. Have done some branch mining and visited the nether. Now working on a hemp farm. Haven´t even bothered yet with looking for a village, will probably do so when I have my windmill. Chest at mob spawners also have wheat, had totally forgotten about that. Was a pleasant surprise :D

I'm wondering if HHC is going to lead to some specialization on multiplayer servers -- where a small group of players makes food for everyone else. Seems like it would be a lot more efficient that way, where you have some players mining and building and others focusing just on growing food and cooking.

On the "better than solo" server I play on we already have some trade. I for example don't produce any animal products, have imported it all so far. Traded it for carrots and sugar cane. Still have a double chest of stacks (old) of carrots, same goes for potatoes. Pretty sure their value has gone up. So far there has not been as much trading as I hope there one day will be, but honestly I believe that BTW now has so much valuable resources that not trading is just silly.

[FlowerChild]

Oh noes...I can't believe I'm going to say this, but...

I HAVE WORLD RESTART SYNDROME!!!! AAAAAHHHH!!!! :)

Before any of you think I've completely lost it, my play through of the early tech tree yesterday lead to a long list of tweaks, adjustments, and additions I want to make, and that's made me realize I'm going to want to start fresh once again to test them out.

Gave me a good chuckle though considering I've been almost exclusively playing the same world for over two years now, and have started two new ones in the same number of days ;)

EDIT: Actually...it might be two more new worlds, as I'm considering breaking these changes up into two passes, so I can release the first and you guys can try it out, then focus on the 2nd. AHHHHHH!!!!! :)

[Mud]

You found Melons in the jungle?

[FlowerChild]

You found Melons in the jungle?

Pumpkins, and it was in a neighboring forest biome not too far away.

[JakeZKAM]

Oh noes...I can't believe I'm going to say this, but...

I HAVE WORLD RESTART SYNDROME!!!! AAAAAHHHH!!!! :)

Before any of you think I've completely lost it, my play through of the early tech tree yesterday lead to a long list of tweaks, adjustments, and additions I want to make, and that's made me realize I'm going to want to start fresh once again to test them out.

Gave me a good chuckle though considering I've been almost exclusively playing the same world for over two years now, and have started two new ones in the same number of days ;)

EDIT: Actually...it might be two more new worlds, as I'm considering breaking these changes up into two passes, so I can release the first and you guys can try it out, then focus on the 2nd. AHHHHHH!!!!! :)

* Salivates in anticipation* anything that makes you of all people want to start a new world must truly be something special :D

[FlowerChild]

* Salivates in anticipation* anything that makes you of all people want to start a new world must truly be something special :D

Well, keep in mind it's not so much "want to play a new world", as much as "want to perfect the early game balance".

These are throw-away worlds for me as a result, and I will likely just return to my main world once I'm done with this process. I just finally accepted that I can't fully balance the new world experience without creating a new world, as my "build a nether-rail to nowhere" method of starting fresh in the past just wasn't cutting it due to features like Hardcore Spawn and such (along with some others I am working on now) not functioning in the same way when I do that.

More and more about BTW is designed around the fact that original spawn is "special", and that's just not something I can duplicate through my usual method.

It's a bit sad for me, as I love having all the remnants of my previous play in a single world, but I'll cope ;)

[jorgebonafe]

:'( You were all nostalgic, waving goodbye to your world, getting ready for the big voyage, but it seems it keeps calling you back, huh?

[FlowerChild]

:'( You were all nostalgic, waving goodbye to your world, getting ready for the big voyage, but it seems it keeps calling you back, huh?

...and that was just short of a year ago. I released that video for the mod's first anniversary and we're approaching its second :(

That was all thanks to the continual promises and delays on the extended blockIDs/mod API. But, in the end, I think it's all for the best as it's motivated me to move onto bigger and better things ;)

[FlowerChild]

Bah! Of course on my 2nd play-through I'd stumble across a desert temple which would nuke my carefully tweaked balance! :)

Hehe...but no, I'm exceedingly pleased with how this most recent bout of balancing is turning out, and it's getting to the point where I'm having a heck of a lot of fun in the early game.

More game changing refinements incoming! ;)

[dawnraider]

Man it is great to hear that more great stuff is coming out, even if it is just tweaks anxd minor changes. Keep up the awesome work!

[FlowerChild]

Man it is great to hear that more great stuff is coming out, even if it is just tweaks anxd minor changes. Keep up the awesome work!

Minor changes perhaps. Major impact on gameplay: check :)

[dawnraider]

Indeed. Some of the minor features have given the most fun, such as HCB, HCM, and especially HCH.

[Thalarctia]

Man it is great to hear that more great stuff is coming out, even if it is just tweaks anxd minor changes. Keep up the awesome work!

Minor changes perhaps. Major impact on gameplay: check :)

By the sounds of it, seems like a good idea for me to hold on a bit longer before doing a video on HCH - Wouldnt want my information to get outdated by the time the video is done uploading :)

[STrRedWolf]

I would agree with you, but for the past few months every new world I generate has been ether one of two things (using default settings):

An island with but one tree and no other resources.

Or an ocean.

REPEATEDLY.

Me thinks vMC's random number generators are borked.

[MrPlatypus]

Indeed. Some of the minor features have given the most fun, such as HCB, HCM, and especially HCH.

Couldn't agree more. It's when all the subtle, seemingly insignificant features come together, that you get an amazing experience.

[Marasambala]

I would agree with you, but for the past few months every new world I generate has been ether one of two things (using default settings):

An island with but one tree and no other resources.

Or an ocean.

REPEATEDLY.

Me thinks vMC's random number generators are borked.

I discovered a while back that if you start a new world and don't like the spawn. If you delete it and start a new one, it is actually the same world with a different seed and different spawn point. I discovered this because after exploring a bit in several worlds in a row looking for that perfect spot, I started seeing the same interesting mountain formation. After that, I started going straight to 0,0. Sure enough, each time 0,0 was the exact same spot. If you refrain from deleting your previous world, the following one will be new. This was several vanilla versions ago, obviously before HC info. Not sure if it's still true, but it sure sounds lilke that might be what you are seeing.

Let's take this to off-topic if you want to discuss further.