"Anniversary Update" Speculation

[The Phoenixian]

Even assuming it's a new world... There's gotta be something pretty crazy going on there if he's using 30 block ids... I mean the nether only uses a half dozen and the end of course only uses 2. I think 30 block ids is more than how many the main world uses for naturally generated blocks!

Eh, I don't think the End and Nether are good things to look at for how many block ID's a proper world will use. Even with Better than Wolves making use of every unique block the Nether has --- with the exception of nether wart and brick --- resource wise it's just pitiful and The End is downright laughable.

If FC is generating a new world I would expect there to be between five and ten new block IDs for resources (Although it does depend somewhat on whether this is intended to become a replacement for main or a complementary world to it; If it is a replacement, I would expect more block IDs)

Even with ~ 20 left over I don't think the changes will come as one solitary item but more likely as numerous smaller additions. We have things like the true purpose of soap, steel, and leather that might be added, the hints of a new tier of mechanical power that have been dropped, prerequisite tools to ascend to that point and possibly specialized machines. (FC has said that the only thing that's kept him from releasing a Loom in the past was the block ID limit and we have more tools like that which have been suggested by others in the past such as hammer mills and hydraulic presses, all of which may consume multiple IDs if they are used as multiblock systems.)

[001010]

Keep in mind that it is very possible that he may even use some vanilla/current mod blocks in this new dimension. If one of his complaints about the Aether Mod was that it had a Aether version of each block, I could see him using current blocks in his dimension.

It certainly does not seem like Flower's style to texture and code a new block rather than just use another block that would be almost the same.

Then again, this dimension might be so unlike anything else that none of the vanilla/current mod blocks come close to what would be required for the dimension.

[FlowerChild]

If one of his complaints about the Aether Mod was that it had a Aether version of each block, I could see him using current blocks in his dimension.

Ah, but the reason why that was one of my complaints was because of the limited number of Block IDs available.

Playing devil's advocate is fun :)

[walker_boh_65]

Playing devil's advocate is fun :)

For whom may I ask. ;)

[weldaSB]

wow, FlowerChild. You are really good at deception. your advocating for the devil has me stuck weather to believe you in that it its a new dimension, or that you are just toying with us and it will be a new era in the current world. Either way, I know that because this is FlowerChild, it will be an entirely new idea and be completely amazing.

[Konzy5]

Maybe Flowerchild is making all the tech levels to make a rocket ship and the new dimension is space (i remember hearing something about FC eventually making a spaceship in the future)

[Ribky]

All I know is I'm looking forward to the update. In fact... I have sworn off Minecraft, beer, coffee and cigarettes until it is released. I will now continue to sit in lotus position and wait for enlightenment.

The thought of a new dimension shall help me attain Nirvana. The Buddhist way... not the Cobain way.

[morvelaira]

All I know is I'm looking forward to the update. In fact... I have sworn off Minecraft, beer, coffee and cigarettes until it is released. I will now continue to sit in lotus position and wait for enlightenment.

The thought of a new dimension shall help me attain Nirvana. The Buddhist way... not the Cobain way.

Firstly... you're kidding, right? xD

Secondly, I hope it would help you /Approach/ Nirvana... as in, Approaching Nirvana... the group that does all the good Minecraft music... *stretches for the pun*

[The Phoenixian]

Keep in mind that it is very possible that he may even use some vanilla/current mod blocks in this new dimension. If one of his complaints about the Aether Mod was that it had a Aether version of each block, I could see him using current blocks in his dimension.

It certainly does not seem like Flower's style to texture and code a new block rather than just use another block that would be almost the same.

Then again, this dimension might be so unlike anything else that none of the vanilla/current mod blocks come close to what would be required for the dimension.

Actually I was thinking it was more likely than not that FC used at least some Minecraft standard blocks in the new dimension. From what I can see, there are are a few trade offs involved in what and whether to replace.

*Protects systems requiring the new blocks from changes made by Mojang
*Potentially breaks comparability with vanilla minecraft systems and other mods; The first is notably a pro in cases like Ice where Vanilla behavior is detrimental to BTW behavior and the second is not a great concern for FC as I recall.
*Requires work for potentially unnecessary features
*If gone to the fullest extent, Can be used to separate vanilla MC from the new world la the Aether, Not sure about FC's opinions on making the player start over from scratch and/or separating world's like that and can't find his opinions on the Aether mod. (Although it occurs to me that there are other, simpler, and better ways to do separate worlds at least --- especially those that add the puzzle of "Now you need to find a way to make a permanent link back home" rather than permanent isolation between the worlds, for starting over from scratch, again, at least "forget everything you knew about minecraft" would make sense if FC replaced punching trees, among other things.)

But this post shall move away from that tangent and on to a more amusing one for now.

If it's a new dimension, what features do you think it would have? Cavernous like the nether? Sky Islands like the end and Aether? Alternate surface world a La Twilight forest? Something strange like the old far lands or a vast Atlantian realm? (okay, maybe not that last one)

Personally I can also see the anvil format being put to full use to allow and enhancement, or even combination, of the nether, sky and surface ideas, especially with Biomes affecting height.


And in the spirit of the old "Design Philosophy" thread, which I am still reading through, If it's not a new dimension, or not just a new dimension, What do you think FC has added and how would iterations on the "systems that have been in planning for a while but needed to be implemented together"[paraphrased] he mentioned a while ago occur(if present)? (I've already shown some of my ideas in my last and first post in this thread and will take some time to advance my thoughts.)

[Donzaffi]

Perhaps is a new dimension parralel like the vanilla one, but without the mechanichs of vanilla that make the game to easy like bonemail etc. and its harder very hard, and you can never return back to normal world

[The great randomo]

What if it doesn't make a portal to a new dimension, but changed the one we already have? it could change the world into a different 'dimension', so that FC can change what is and isn't in the world. I assume side effects would also happen.

[Sandrew]

That would be quite contradictory to his usual "don't fuck with existing worlds" approach.

[embirrim]

That would be quite contradictory to his usual "don't fuck with existing worlds" approach.

Quite the contrary. A new dimension would F people's worlds. Altering the existing one's mechanics, not changing the terrain generation and basic core gameplay... Quite consistent with usual stuff.

[Sarudak]

That would be quite contradictory to his usual "don't fuck with existing worlds" approach.

Quite the contrary. A new dimension would F people's worlds. Altering the existing one's mechanics, not changing the terrain generation and basic core gameplay... Quite consistent with usual stuff.

How would a new dimension hurt people's worlds at all? Assuming there were some way back.

[fallendice]

Everything I have seen up to this point on the topic of adding more danger to the game seems to center on danger to the player. To be honest, after a certain point, losing a set of armor, and nicely enchanted tools may suck, but it's not really a reason to play with more care. I wonder if the danger FC refers to has more to do with objects and creations. Although he did say he doesn't like the idea of just hiding in a hole either. It just seems that adding more dangerous mobs in a new area, or the existing one is too simplistic of a way to increase the dificulty level of the game.

I also think that by infering to the fact that this update, or the future of this mod is aimed at multiplayer gameplay, we might all have to leave our creations behind to start over. This could also imply more danger if pvp, or group control of areas is important for the new world. I wonder if it's even possible to create portals from single player worlds after the smp/sp combination into multiplayer worlds where the new update features are available. It might also explain the need to leave all items behind, as you might lose all items going through the portal to ensure the two worlds remain seperated including new items and such. This new world could have the new features he wishes, and not be forced to include future Minecraft updates.

[Poppycocks]

Dunno, corrupting your current world into a more dangerous version of itself is too little bang for too much buck. There's another consideration. It was said that FC's getting into code he never touched before.

Terrain generation is one of the possibilities, couple that with how he responded to the "Make the end useful" suggestion ("Using a dimension with a choke point entrance makes for interesting anarchy play"), with his "don't fuck with peoples gameworlds" AND "I like to keep anarchy play considerations at the back of my mind when designing" quite a clear winner of the dimension idea.

There's also other clues which I think lead to that conclusion.

[Shmooooo]

A world transformation that turns vanilla blocks into "corrupted" versions might also make sense and account for the new block IDs. I am not entirely comfortable with the idea of a new dimension for the reasons already presented; most saliently, I think, because it would not Minecraft harder. It would create a hard "Minecraft 2" and relegate the original Minecraft to being a slog to reach it.

If I had to guess - and by that I mean bluntly state what I'd personally prefer - upon activation of the mystery structure, evil forces of doom will be released therefrom, and it will be the player's ever-toughening burden to hold them back while at the same time exploiting high level demonic bounty in order to advance order, civilization and aesthetic achievement to unprecedented levels.

Such evil forces need not be only monsters. For instance, a spreading corruption of some sort or even evil weather like in Dwarf Fortress could be fun and fundamentally challenging mechanics to deal with.

[Poppycocks]

A world transformation that turns vanilla blocks into "corrupted" versions might also make sense and account for the new block IDs. I am not entirely comfortable with the idea of a new dimension for the reasons already presented; most saliently, I think, because it would not Minecraft harder. It would create a hard "Minecraft 2" and relegate the original Minecraft to being a slog to reach it.

If I had to guess - and by that I mean bluntly state what I'd personally prefer - upon activation of the mystery structure, evil forces of doom will be released therefrom, and it will be the player's ever-toughening burden to hold them back while at the same time exploiting high level demonic bounty in order to advance order, civilization and aesthetic achievement to unprecedented levels.

Such evil forces need not be only monsters. For instance, a spreading corruption of some sort or even evil weather like in Dwarf Fortress could be fun and fundamentally challenging mechanics to deal with.

Hot damn, that DOES sound pretty good.

[Arandia]

Just to throw out a suggestion for the steel-box-thing ('portal') that hasn't been considered yet. Maybe it's a novel way of introducing a better multiplayer system to the game, one that bypasses both the current multiplayer and all of FC's expressed dislike for the current multiplayer in one single shot.

Basically, the portal is a gateway to visit other people's worlds directly. Once you activate it (and provided you give other people the IP address), other players can come and visit your single-player world using their portal. The opposite applies. Possibly with a mechanism for seeing which other worlds are online at the time that have an open invitation. Extra block ID's etc used for the other half of the expansion, which is fundamentally unrelated to this.

[Rawny]

SOLD!

This...

Everything I have seen up to this point on the topic of adding more danger to the game seems to center on danger to the player. To be honest, after a certain point, losing a set of armor, and nicely enchanted tools may suck, but it's not really a reason to play with more care. I wonder if the danger FC refers to has more to do with objects and creations. Although he did say he doesn't like the idea of just hiding in a hole either. It just seems that adding more dangerous mobs in a new area, or the existing one is too simplistic of a way to increase the dificulty level of the game.

I also think that by infering to the fact that this update, or the future of this mod is aimed at multiplayer gameplay, we might all have to leave our creations behind to start over. This could also imply more danger if pvp, or group control of areas is important for the new world. I wonder if it's even possible to create portals from single player worlds after the smp/sp combination into multiplayer worlds where the new update features are available. It might also explain the need to leave all items behind, as you might lose all items going through the portal to ensure the two worlds remain seperated including new items and such. This new world could have the new features he wishes, and not be forced to include future Minecraft updates.

plus this...

I'm not sure if I've talked about this before, but for many years in my career I was considered a "multiplayer specialist" both in programming and design.

equals a win in my book. I vote this.

Why wouldn't a SPECIALIST be able to do this. Im a programmer by trade and I know EVERYTHING can be done. Sure we say it can't sometimes but that's just cus it would be too stupid complex and long to put that dot over that 'I'.

[BrynEM]

All I can tell is that FC is going to add some very cool stuff and there is no way we can guess what it is.

[BinoAl]

All I can tell is that FC is going to add some very cool stuff and there is no way we can guess what it is.

Lol. That's true for just about every update :p

[Svartwolf]

well, first thing first, hello everyone, i'm long time lurker first time poster, so be gentle :s

second, mmm interesting to see BTW more smp oriented, since i feel that mp is the most fun way to play vanilla minecraft. just a question though, what do you understand for "anarchy server"? is no moderators, no rules, everything goes except cheating? if thats so then it will be even more fun (though I prefer at the same time using something like "factions", but looks like the idea of teams of players fighting a king of the hill is something FC wants to achieve) i wanted to suggest this mod for our server once its avaiable for MP, and looking that it will try to expand on the ruthless unforgiving pvp of our society, it will be even more interesting :D.

if is a new dimension though, i hope that it's something very alien and outlandish :=

[ivyn]

I am very scared that flowerchild may be looking at this thread adding all of the evil ideas just to troll us.

On a serious topic, I hope that it is a new dimension.

[Flesh_Engine]

Imo it's a good way to crowdsource ideas in a way that empowers people instead :)