"Anniversary Update" Speculation

[BinoAl]

Well, we still have an unknown amount of time until the release is available, but until then, we should be trying like hell to figure something out :) Most of the direct evidence has been seen/read by everybody, but just to recap:

General Knowledge:
-It will require a significant number of item IDs
-It will be a large departure from standard minecraft play
-It involves an unknown device made of sfs blocks, obsidian, and diamond blocks
-FC removed his armor before utilizing the device
-FC said it will add a true sense of danger to the game

Concerning the device shown:
-It will require a LOT of soulforged steel, nearly a stack of soulforged steel blocks
-It involves a strange structure, which seems to be 2 5x5 layers with sfs on the outside, obsidian on the inside ring, and a diamond block in the direct middle.

If anyone can remember any other specifics, Ill add them to the op. Now, interpretations I remember seeing from the thread were:

-The device needs to be built at your original spawn
-This was believed because in the video, FC seems to be progressing backward through his world, showing seemingly older and older buildings
-However, the mod is made with anarchy SMP in mind, and having to build such a device at spawn would be an absolutely ludicrous feat in a populated anarchy server

-You will leave your world behind
-Said because steve seems to be "waving goodbye" to his world, and because the device seems to be some sort of portal
-The mod in general is very focused on developing your world, and pulling us away from all that work wouldn't be something FC would do

[Sarudak]

I think it's a teleporter to another dimension....

[Catox]

I'm pretty sure FC told us this future update will be meant to add some sense of danger or risk to the game.

At the end of the teaser, the video blacked out but we could hear a combination of Storm / portal sounds, and a very frightening growling beast.

I think :
- FC may not have been saying goodbye to his world but simply showing us how the sky was shiny and blue before he activated the device (and then we could hear storm)
- it's NOT a teleporter to an other dimension
- more likely some sort of catalyser of something.

[Eriottosan]

A few people still believe that the contraption is a troll. Maybe it is. Or perhaps it spawns a troll so FC can troll us in game ;).

Personally, I'm not going near whatever is on the other side/comes out of that thing unless I'm fully laiden with sfs equiptment and a comp bow ...

Forgive me if I'm wrong, but I was under the impression that one of the 'diamond' blocks was a lens?

[Sarudak]

Why do you assume it's not a teleporter?

[Catox]

If I read FC's way of thinking correctly, I'd say he didn't use enough of existing dimensions to add a new one already.

He did say he may be interested in doing something with the end though... but somehow I don't think that's it either.

I don't know, it doesn't seem to me that the "sense of danger" FC talked about would just be concerning Steve body, or would be a End dimension copy where you can go but not come back from. I think this danger is something that could touch what we did build already.

Which reminds me of a detail in the video : FC dropped his stuff in a chest upon which there was a cobblestone bloc, as if the chest was protected by what may come down from the sky.

[Dextralus]

I could have sworn that there was another portal structure visible in the distance at some point in the video, but given the time since viewing I'm more inclined now to attribute that to a desire to find something.

A less ornate interpretation of the dropping of items into the chests is that you can't lose them through your own folly in a distant world if you're not carrying them. Or that they won't be any protection to you there. The latter seems awfully unlikely. Chests are not, to my knowlege, safe from any real-world dangers except errant pistons and the whims of Endermen.

[kaos78414]

FC did drop a hint in IRC a while back. A single line of code, which if I remember correctly was the block ID for something: fcHomePortal.

But that serves only to confuzzle me more. haha

[The Phoenixian]

Alas, I have never seen this video and only know the device from it's recreations. :( Still I suppose I can join in anyways.

So let's start with an obviously wrong, but fun, hypothesis.

It's a steam engine, one which eschews such petty and boring things as "boiling water" in favor of the pressure that comes from loosing four thousand and ninety six souls in a confined space --- under the theory that the redstone is forcing the souls our of the steel. (I mean, if becoming an industrialist makes you slowly go evil, you might as well skip the "slowly" part, right?)

Then a, slightly, more sane one.

2: As above with the redstone forcing the souls out but unleashes said souls into the environment either A: changing the environment a la Thaumcraft 2's "Taint" or B: allowing for vastly more dangerous --- but also vastly more valuable --- monsters to spawn. (If eight souls in a hopper spawn a ghast, what do several thousand make?)

And back to crazy.

3: It alters Steve so he becomes more powerful and capable of, well whatever the new content is, but in doing so also draws the attention of "contenders for the throne": Other beings who crave crave the same power he does and see him as no longer being some insignificant factor and now as something to be taken seriously. (Some time back I think FC mentioned something about the world of Minecraft acting as a soul harvester for the Enderdragon and Steve acting as a being who is working to supplant it. So this is based off that.)

[walker_boh_65]

Don't forget the FC removed all of his armor before entering the device.

[Panda]

I think it takes you somewhere, fc mentioned over 30 block ids were gonna be used.

Also dont forget your most reliable content finder, me : ), the troll. lol

[Calcifire3691]

Don't forget the FC removed all of his armor before entering the device.

well we can't very well travel unprotected though time and space with clothes on can we?

I need your clothes, your boots and your motorcycle!

(honestly, I think it's just an excuse for time travellers to get naked without getting funny looks)

[MoRmEnGiL]

I think it is quite reasonable to assume it is a different world we're talking about, either a new dimension you can go to, or one you can summon stuff from.

[SterlingRed]

What looked like lightning rods were on top of near by buildings.

[Ulfengaard]

What looked like lightning rods were on top of near by buildings.

Power sources?

[BinoAl]

What looked like lightning rods were on top of near by buildings.

Power sources?

He has said in the past that he likes the idea of using weather as a requirement for progression, there could be something to it

[Sarudak]

Guys. 30 block ids? What could it reasonably be besides another dimension? And with 30 block Ids obviously one as fleshed out as the overworld!

[Itamarcu]

-FC removed his armor before entering
-FC said it will add a true sense of danger to the game

...Unprotected sex?

[Dextralus]

Speculation in the now-locked thread begins on this page. And here are my speculation notes from that thread...

Spoiler

Show

* 0:31 Our attention is directed to an enormous vine-covered mob-trap here and at 0:50
* 0:47 I'm awfully curious about what this seemingly half-built building could possibly be
* 0:59 What an odd tree
* 1:08 Directs our attention to what seems to be the destination of a rail line in the distance... There seems to be something on the top of that hill
* 1:30 A very odd structure - a cone of sand below some sort of circular platform
* 1:33 Curious ruins - is FC emphasizing a need to keep this new contraption far away from civilization? But why then the storage chamber almost directly below it? Curiouser and curiouser
* 1:53 FC doesn't give 3 spaces above his rails
* 2:02 looks out the window at something in the water.
* 2:10 Unbelievable use of solid wood blocks as tables. Actually I'm guessing this is a fairly old area of the world because earlier there was a tree with ladders every other block.
* 2:15 a change in the draw-distance? Perhaps my eyes fool me... Or are we being directed to things far away?
* 2:20 looks at a structure quite far in the distance that appears to also have two flat platforms, but they seem much larger than what's been built here. Note that there is a rail line connecting these two structures
* EDIT: 2:34 - another rail line leading off into the distance...
* 3:15 - 3:18 We are directed towards the horizon... Hmm, what could possibly lie out in those two directions?


Oh of course, and how could I forget - tortured bellowing soulbeast... and a wolf? Curiouser and curiouser

Okay, watching the video again, I came up with some other discussion points:

* The compass seems to be set to the bed in that brick house
* The items: he brings with him a stack of swiftness potions and a lot of steak in addition to some standard arms and armor. The boots have fire protection on them...
* But then: why take them all off before turning it on? Are they useless for the dangers that lie ahead? That seems unlikely. Is the risk of losing those items so great that it's better to press on unprepared?
* Perhaps that precious armor cannot be recovered from the belly of whatever beast we are about to welcome into our worlds
* The sign at 2:34 beside the pumpkin - can anyone read that?
* Hiss at standard Steve skin

PS. I seem to recall those single-block towers were topped with a lens. I thought they were part of a long-distance signal transmission system... But it's been a while.

[HavokSCOUT]

Ghast Spawner. 'Nuff said. :P
I'd be thinking of real-world items/processes that use steel or other hardened substances for production, like cars. Simply an example, as I think FC would be more likely to shove a dog up his left nostril than add something like a car. The steam power seems like a feasible idea, except that FC has consistently put himself against the idea. Although, he usually denies ideas that he wants to add someday, so we can't really rule anything out. Sounds like a proper mystery to me.

[Elevatator]

Is there a way to watch the video? Because I want to create my own minds.

I'm pretty sure Fc reads this thread and laughs about how wrong we are

[FlowerChild]

Is there a way to watch the video? Because I want to create my own minds.

I'm pretty sure Fc reads this thread and laughs about how wrong we are

I do enjoy reading these speculation threads, yes :)

No way to watch the vid unfortunately. It's gone by by. But that only adds to the mystery ;)

[Kazuya Mishima]

I was on MCF when FC made the announcement http://www.minecraftforum.net/topic/253 ... __13393654 and left us with a video for part of teh soundtrack to Mad Max 3.

Anyway he refers to a "set of features" so I'm wondering I'm not sure the SFS portal thing is necessarily the only system. IF the mad max 3 reference has any relevance i would speculate it might be a methane driven engine or chemical energy transformation. FC hinted to over-driving your windmills and i imagine a methane engine might free us from waiting for inclement weather by allowing us to overdrive our engines. I imagine you will need a lot of wolves for this though.

Also i remember hearing lighting strikes after teh fade out in the FC teaser video which might suggest weather manipulation and creation of a lighting storm. That along with the previously mentioned lighting rod would be a cool mechanic for some frankenstein-esque stuff(creating the bloodwood sapling).

Lets just hope it isn't the Mad Max 3 pedophile oasis or Captain Walkers Sonic record with an exclusive FC music track.

[Sarudak]

I seriously can't believe it's anything other than a new world/place/dimension.

There's several things that support this.

30 Block Ids says to me that he's either adding a huge new game mechanic system (like steam) or a new dimension. The only other thing I could think of is a huge aesthetic update but if that were true then this could only be a huge troll which I'm assuming it's not for my own sanity.

In the initial announcement he stated that "In celebration of this I've decided to finally take the plunge and implement a set of features that I've been planning for a long time now, but which really need to be released together so that they can be properly experienced." The fact that they NEED to be released together is very meaningful. The only thing that i can think of that would absolutely NEED to be released together would be a new dimension because of world gen. We already know that FC is willing to release incomplete systems. For example hafts on release had no use. Steel and tanned leather still don't have their primary intended use according to FC. Nether Sludge to clay is another example. The only reason things would need to be released together is for the world gen reason or some kind of complex interacting game mechanic system that would break existing builds with future updates.

Another telling point is that FC stated that we need half a stack of steel blocks to get started with the new content. That in itself doesn't say that much. But later on he also stated that we if we have a half stack of blocks we're good and we don't need to be stockpiling a massive amount beyond that. Why is that significant? Because if it were a new complex interacting system made from SFS one would expect a gradient cost where more materials allows for more participation such as with the mechanical power system. The way it was stated treats it more as a kind of entry cost. This is consistent with the construct shown in the video. Which to me indicates that the construct shown in the video is something we will need only one of which would be consistent with some kind of portal or even some kind of world altering device. However a world altering device (change mechanics cause new mobs to spawn) would not require 30 new block IDs.

Next point. FC stated in the noobish observations on dwarf fortress thread that
'I do consider MC to be sorely lacking in threat and challenge (which is something I've brought up many times in the past), and that only seems to be getting worse with time. It's a bit of a spoiler, but one I mentioned briefly on Ren's stream awhile back, that this big April 10th release is actually oriented towards bringing some of that challenge back to MC, and I think my recent experiences with DF definitely acted as a source of motivation to dust off a number of my plans in that regard and get moving on them.'
I would expect dangers to come from mobs of some kind. And this seems like it would be consistent with the dangerous growling sounds at the end of the teaser video.

FC also stated in the same thread
I think I just came up with a new catch-phrase for this release too:

"Forget everything you knew about Minecraft"
Which is consistent with the idea of going to a new dimension or doing something world altering to the existing one.

The only conclusion that seems consistent with all these facts is that FC has created a new dimension for us to explore full of new wonders and extreme dangers. I'm very interested to see this but my confidence level that I'm correct is quite high. Given that I'm more curious on what the eureka part duex feature was. :)

[walker_boh_65]

The only thing that gives me reason to believe that this is not a new dimension coming is FC's reaction to the Aether way back when. He complained that all the hype about the Aether was that is added 30 new block ID's to create a floating Minecraft, and that's it. It had "Aether stone, ores, dirt, and sand" and a few dungeons, the best part of the mod if they weren't all over the place. (Or at least something along those lines if my memory serves me well).

The only way I could EVER see FC adding a dimension is if it is NOTHING remotely like the over world. NOTHING we have ever even considered, then I might believe that FC would do that.