Vanilla Minecraft News Discussion

[Gears]

Honestly 1.4.6 will get quite a bit of praise from me, but that will soon simmer back down to my grumbling about mojang's design choices shortly after new years.

Granted, this whole update was entirely unnecessary, but the fireworks and 3D items actually look nice. As for the enchantment books, I don't like them but there could be a use for them somewhere in the terms of adventure maps.

[STrRedWolf]

From the Mojang blog posts:

http://www.mojang.com/2012/12/minecraft ... ot-12w49a/

“What’s this? This doesn’t sound like a redstone update at all!”, you say. “Indeed,” we say. Thing is, we* suddenly decided we wanted to make sure that you have fireworks for New Year’s Eve, so we’re working in several parallel branches of the code now. One is for the 1.5 “Redstone Update,” and one is now for a 1.4.6 patch update. This update will be out before Christmas, and 1.5 will wait until January (or possibly February).

http://www.mojang.com/2012/12/minecraft ... e-release/

We intend to release 1.4.6 on Thursday, December 20!

[FlowerChild]

Because as everyone knows, a version update is precisely what I need right now ;)

[walker_boh_65]

Because as everyone knows, a version update is precisely what I need right now ;)

Well, it could be a way to prove to Lex that your "inefficient and academically wrong" code is faster and simple to update, therefore negating him bashing you for that for a while.

[FlowerChild]

Well, it could be a way to prove to Lex that your "inefficient and academically wrong" code is faster and simple to update, therefore negating him bashing you for that for a while.

No way in hell that's going to happen. I believe they've already updated to the new version in advance while I haven't even looked at the 1.4.6 code and likely won't until it's actually released and the corresponding version of ML is out.

My comments on how long it took them to update to 1.3 seem to have lit a fire under their ass since to try and prove me wrong ;)

[cpw]

Yes. We pushed the forge update on Monday. Our policy is to maximize developer changeover time by getting FML and Forge out as quickly as possible after a pre-release. It has been since 1.3. 1.3 missed for reasons documented elsewhere, not all under our control.

Every FML and Forge release since then has been on or the day after the pre-releases by Mojang. There are versions of forge for Minecraft's that never existed in the wild as a result, but it has never been considered time wasted - our work was very influential in killing 1.4.4 for example.

This will continue into the future as well. There will be snapshot releases of Forge prior to 1.5, making the 1.5 update itself likely very simple, and we are looking to become completely "shipped minecraft code free" (not providing ANY base classes, patched or otherwise), at the request of Mojang, in a somewhat similar time frame. The 1.5 update, with the change to texture loading (a miniature part of the rendering update) will hopefully kill the sprite index problem of ModLoader permanently, by the way, which is excellent news for ModLoader mods, since they will no long be looking at the terrain.png file worrying about the lack of indices left.

Further forward, the 1.6 update, assuming it's the complete rendering update, is likely to be the most painful update, well, ever. Every rendering hook in Forge and FML (and ModLoader) will need to be either rebuilt or discarded. Likely many hooks will go away never to return (in case you're not aware, the Minecraft engine is being rewritten to use GLSL shaders). It is highly probable that many mods without good rendering abstractions will suffer very very badly. This rendering update, in my opinion, is the last major gate to the API as a real thing, by the way.

Having not inspected the BtW code, I don't know how this will affect you, but I sincerely hope you will be able to continue.

I thought you might appreciate the heads up on where I think things are going.

The 1.4.6 update itself is relatively simple- mostly just a change to how EntityItem syncs it's data from server to client. It's actually a good change, but watch out for the stone :)

[FlowerChild]

Having not inspected the BtW code, I don't know how this will affect you, but I sincerely hope you will be able to continue.

Nah, I doubt that will be a big deal. BTW's rendering code is pretty straightforward, and given BTW wasn't AT ALL SMP compatible pre 1.3, I'm pretty certain that one was a lot harder on me than 1.5 will be.

I'm not really interested in general Forge news given I have no interest in using the Forge (and far less interest in doing so than I had a week ago with it now being at "it'll be a cold day in hell" levels), but thanks for the info regardless.

[Rawny]

My opinion on vMC news is that there shouldn't be much at all. They have the best game, its groundbreaking (pun included) and in a class of its own. Who cares about presents and fireworks and witches and even villages and ruins. They should develop the crap out of the engine, sandboxyness, improve these hook things and make certain their game MUST be purchased and let the community develop the zounds of flavored mods, big and small, from adding random witch huts, and sparkles, to a whole flavor like BTW, made easy DL and 'install', customizable to everyone's tastes.

They talked a lil about this at the con but in my book their wasting time on thingies that don't bring extra enjoyment. ("A firework! Ssssssspow! OooOOOooooo!)x7 bored now.

They shouldn't be doing shit except for system and openness improvements. Am I crazy? Am I the only one that thinks like this? I get annoyed each release but as always... One more block one more block.

[DigitalAristotle217]

They shouldn't be doing shit except for system and openness improvements. Am I crazy? Am I the only one that thinks like this? I get annoyed each release but as always... One more block one more block.

No you're not crazy at all. The thing is: they don't necessarily need to rely on improving the engine as much with people being so addicted haha.

Honestly 1.4.6 will get quite a bit of praise from me, but that will soon simmer back down to my grumbling about mojang's design choices shortly after new years.

Granted, this whole update was entirely unnecessary, but the fireworks and 3D items actually look nice. As for the enchantment books, I don't like them but there could be a use for them somewhere in the terms of adventure maps.

Oh I'm right there with you. I disagree that fireworks are "pretty" as they literally provide nothing for me. Once you experiment for 2 secs with them it's over. (Maybe multiplayer will make better use of them?)
But I am actually pretty excited for this 3D item thing. My dung farm works by dropping meat down to my dogs, and I can never see if they ate it or not because I'm standing above them. It's a functional use with major aesthetic benefits that didn't take long to code (I guess?). I believe they are getting better with each updating having a functional use, an "OH PRETTY" use, and the 3rd random use factor.

[Mr_Hosed]

I just wish fireworks had an in-game effect, like maybe temporary beacon effects or something... but now that they've declared it done, I guess that wish will be unfulfilled... why am I going to spend a diamond on some sparkly crap that does nothing?

[DigitalAristotle217]

I just wish fireworks had an in-game effect, like maybe temporary beacon effects or something... but now that they've declared it done, I guess that wish will be unfulfilled... why am I going to spend a diamond on some sparkly crap that does nothing?

It was my understanding you didn't HAVE to use a diamond on it. Only if you want a pretty effect. And it's not supposed to be a survival feature as much as it is an SMP aesthetic addition.

[Katalliaan]

While I do agree that they should just work on improving the engine and leave features and gameplay to modders, the problem lies in the "purists" who refuse to use mods - they'll complain if Mojang stops adding new things for them. It's not like ARMA, which has a solid game with some mods that are big enough to drive sales. I highly doubt that many people would see someone playing BTW or FTB or [insert-mod-here] and have that be the deciding factor of a purchase.

[deathzaplin]

personally i really like the idea of enchantment books but their implementation seems wrong, the idea of getting the enchantment on a book (encouraging cow and reed farms) then applying that enchantment to a tool is cool but the original method of enchantment still remains and it doesn't make much sense. e.g why can i enchant silk touch swords and shears with a book but not normally? in my opinion they should have ripped out the original enchantment method and then i think this would have been one of my favorite recent vanilla features

[Ozziie]

1.4.6 is here!

Changelog on Reddit:

Spoiler

Show

1.4.6 Changelog:
Gameplay

Added Thorns enchant
Armor enchant
3 tiers
Deals damage to attackers depending on tier
Wears armor out quicker

Improved some enchants
Fire Protection now extinguishes fire more quickly
Blast Protection now reduces explosion recoil
Protection no longer is as good as all specific Protection enchants combined

Added Touchscreen Mode setting
Mainly for inventories
You can drag and drop items - Press long to halve the stack before dragging

Added & changed many minor things
Made item drops and framed items render in 3D when using fancy graphics
Added tool highlight when switching items in the hotbar - After switching, its name shortly appears above the hotbar - options.txt:heldItemTooltips
Right-clicking while sneaking now uses the held item instead of the selected block
Dropping items while holding ctrl now drops the whole stack
Added a default resolution setting - options.txt: overrideWidth:0 & overrideHeight:0
Added a warning for users playing Minecraft on soon unsupported systems (PowerPCs and Java 5)
Death messages now appear in server log files

Fixed many bugs
Fixed passive mob spawn eggs not depleting when used on a mob
Fixed minecarts and falling entities flickering
Fixed using number keys on smelted items in furnaces not giving experience
Fixed boats always getting placed in the same orientation
Fixed switching between dimensions resetting the selected hotbar slot
Fixed leaves obtained using Silk Touch having the wrong tooltip and data value
Fixed /enchant not accepting Protection enchant id
Fixed the level up sound not playing
Fixed F3+B displaying invisible entities' hitboxes
Fixed the Wither's projectiles sometimes destroying the Nether Star
Fixed mobs being able to trample farmland when the mobGriefing gamerule is set to false
Fixed endermen not teleporting away when set on fire
Fixed endermen still being set on fire when hit with a flaming arrow
Fixed endermen not opening their mouth when attacked by other mobs
Fixed arrows shot at endermen disappearing
Fixed animals on fire not running away
Fixed staying under water in Creative still causing the drowning effects
Fixed animals appearing to walk through fences in SP
Fixed some items with multi-layer textures rendering both layers separately when on the ground
Fixed tools differing only in damage not being swappable in the inventory
Fixed some Z-Fighting with the beacon
Fixed a graphical issue in the trading GUI
Fixed /say not showing the text in the original purple color
Fixed Pick Block giving double slabs
Fixed minecarts not travelling through Nether portals
Fixed lightning not flashing
Fixed FallingSand spawners failing to save properly and causing crashes
Fixed the blocks in lowest layer of the map not being recognized by beacons
Fixed enchants not showing in item frames and on the ground
Fixed mobs walking slowly for a short while after being hit
Fixed chests becoming out of sync when a user right-clicks it twice quickly
Fixed flaming arrows not catching on fire immediately
Fixed zombies sometimes stopping their attack
Fixed /xp -1L not working to remove partial xp bars when between level 0 and 1
Fixed the cursor being positioned wrongly in fullscreen mode

World Generation

Added enchanted books to village and dungeon chests

Blocks & Items

Mob spawners
Can now spawn differently configured mobs with different spawn chances

Added Nether Brick Slabs


Enchanted books
Enchant books to receive a single enchant on them
Can be applied to items using anvils, consuming the book - Enchants can be applied to any item in Creative
Sold by villagers and found in dungeon and village chests
Can now be found in loot chests and by trading with villagers
Unbreaking can be applied to anything with durability
Efficiency and Silk Touch can be applied to shears, allowing the harvesting of cobwebs
Sharpness, Smite and Bane of Arthropods can be applied to axes

Firework Star
Used to create Firework Rockets
Combine gunpowder with dyes to get a Firework Star with those colors used for the sparkles
Also add glowstone, a fire charge, a diamond, a gold nugget, feather or a mob head to make the firework twinkling, big, trailing, star-shaped, bursting or creeper-shaped
Craft a Firework Star with dye to change the color the sparkles fade to

Firework Rocket
Non-destructive, rise up in the air and create colorful patterns when shot by dispensers or placed by players
Combine paper with gunpowder to get a Firework Rocket
Also add a Firework Star to add effects or gunpowder to increase the flight duration

Bow
A sound indicates when you hit a player with an arrow
Arrows now render from farther away

Mobs

Skeletons, Zombies & Zombie Pigmen
The armor and enchants they spawn with now are even harder on harder difficulties

[FlowerChild]

Yup, I already checked on it this morning. MC wiki changelog can be found here:

http://www.minecraftwiki.net/wiki/Version_history

That's the place I always check as I find it tends to include much more info than any other source, and is generally accurate.

The new MCP is also out, which means that BTW just needs ML to be updated before I can start in on what should be a quick process. For now, I'll just continue working on the stuff I already was.

[Chomamonka]

While I do agree that they should just work on improving the engine and leave features and gameplay to modders, the problem lies in the "purists" who refuse to use mods - they'll complain if Mojang stops adding new things for them. It's not like ARMA, which has a solid game with some mods that are big enough to drive sales. I highly doubt that many people would see someone playing BTW or FTB or [insert-mod-here] and have that be the deciding factor of a purchase.

I have long considered myself a purist. In reponse this I have to say that I am sick of Mojang adding new things. It has really sullied the game IMO it's just not pure anymore, It's starting to feel like a crappy "ohh shiny" mod. That is why I started playing better than wolves; It really is more "vanilla" than vanilla.

[Ulfengaard]

That is why I started playing better than wolves; It really is more "vanilla" than vanilla.

Oooo. Good MCF thread splash...

I agree with you, by the way. My gameplay centers around BTW features, not emeralds or enchanvilibrams.

[abominare]

That is why I started playing better than wolves; It really is more "vanilla" than vanilla.

Oooo. Good MCF thread splash...

I agree with you, by the way. My gameplay centers around BTW features, not emeralds or enchanvilibrams.

I feel dirty for saying this, but I'm actually starting to like vMC enchanting-anvil interactions more. The breakdown in btw's system is I largely have zero reason to fight mobs. While vmc ends up largely being a randomized game of gain levels make random enchantment hope for the best, I at least have a reason to go gain levels and subsequently use them because I CAN keep winning enchantments through the use of the anvil.

Additionally, this creates an ore sink, something that MC desperately needs more of. With BTW I simply melt down and remake the item only losing the most trivial of ingredients like wood. However I lose the enchantment, and on demand ones are incredibly rare unless I make a mob farm, then its pointless because I now have zero need to actually fight a monster. Even still, when I'm simply going to have to replace a heavily used item frequently (lol mattlock on netherbrick) I can't find the will power to bother with it.

Amusingly I do like villagers being a source of enchantment, even more so if they were the sole origin of enchantments because it would give them and their currency a much more valued level in MC spurring exploration and construction to protect and travel between towns.

Like most of the post Notch additions I generally feel like if some one would play connect the dots many of them are fantastic, unfortunately they all seem to exist in a vacuum, one devoid of even minecraft fundamentals.

[Ulfengaard]

My main problem with the enchanvilibram is not that it is a bad idea in general. I've always felt like the enchantment system was haphazard and asked too much of the player on a dice roll. Hence, I've really enjoyed how BTW modifies this aspect of the gameplay.

No, my problem is that it feels too much like a magic block (pun unintended). I would rather have seen a block which actually makes sense within the Minecraft universe. I would never think to plonk a book down on an anvil. In short, this system doesn't belong on that block. It belongs on some other, more thematically appropriate, block. And, said block should have a thematically appropriate cost.

[abominare]

My main problem with the enchanvilibram is not that it is a bad idea in general. I've always felt like the enchantment system was haphazard and asked too much of the player on a dice roll. Hence, I've really enjoyed how BTW modifies this aspect of the gameplay.

No, my problem is that it feels too much like a magic block (pun unintended). I would rather have seen a block which actually makes sense within the Minecraft universe. I would never think to plonk a book down on an anvil. In short, this system doesn't belong on that block. It belongs on some other, more thematically appropriate, block. And, said block should have a thematically appropriate cost.

Would you agree then that the better route is to maintain the anvil as a source of repair and expand the enchantment table GUI so have the place to put weapon and enchantment book that the anvil currently has? Even better, have books list a corresponding level requirement to zap out of the player to use imbue the item?

The random enchant part reminds me a lot about playing d1 and d2 growing up, so Im used to having to sort through and grind out junk for the one item, and even more importantly its an ore sink.

Think of it this way, the silliest thing to automate in BTW is soul forge steel. After the stack you need to make your first and last set of steel items, the only need beyond the occasional couple pieces for random blocks is if you're so damn vain you need to build a building out of steel blocks.

I ironically spend less time dealing with mining in BTW than I do in "power mods" like IC2 that infamously double my output to begin with and allow to me automate mining.

[dawnraider]

The whole thing of automating steel comes from the challenge, not need. On another note, I consider myself a purist. BTW is not a mod, vMC is.

[devak]

I am beginning to like vMC enchanting more and more. Especially since the enchant grinding is now located in books, not in expensive tools.

However, the way it's all organized is weird.

An enchanting table already has a book in it's model, and it's used for enchanting. It makes sense that you would (similar to the Infernal enchanter) have two slots. One with a tool icon, one with a book icon. The book icon is where you pluck your book (duh). It gets enchanted. the enchanted book can now be returned to the inventory, or it can be kept in the slot and a tool can be enchanted.


But now? why on earth would i put a book on an anvil?

In fact, why does the anvil even exist? the renaming might as well have been part of the Enchantment system (So not every random item would be renamable).

[thekyz]

ML is up to 1.4.6

"Everything updated for 1.4.6."

http://www.minecraftforum.net/topic/754 ... s-updated/

[FlowerChild]

Word. I'll grab that in the morning.

[Mikko_blu]

Good god.
I do support for the MCF, and we get alot of posts that fireworks don't show up (they didn't add color.) and if they aren't crafted with a star on SMP, It kicks you off with a "end of stream" error.
It seems to me, like quite the bug to miss.