RenewaBlock: SkyBlock-style map for Better With Renewables

[Warr1024]

RenewaBlock is a SkyBlock-style custom map that is designed to take advantage of the features of the Better With Renewables add-on to deliver a more hardcore experience.

More info will be forthcoming as I have time, and as RenewaBlock and BWR continue to evolve. For now, a quick summary is included in the Screenshots gallery below.

Current Known Issues:

• There is no way to get to the End yet, which makes gunpowder, dynamite, mining charges, gravel, sand, and clay very difficult to sustain. Creating End Portals is on the BWR to-do list.
• The number of Villagers on the sand island is very unforgiving, and if one walks through the fence to his death, you'll either have to cheat a replacement, or start over.
• The Spawner in the nether currently necessary, but will hopefully be going away when a replacement source of Moss Stone is added into BWR.

Screenshots: http://imgur.com/a/ANGtn
Download (Dev Version): https://gitorious.org/bwr/renewablock/a ... all/master
Gitorious Repository: https://gitorious.org/bwr/renewablock

Special thanks to destin_eternal, our first known early adopter and tester. Special thanks to casinodoug, creator of the BTW skyblock map, which was this inspiration for this map.

[destineternel]

It's been fun & frustrating to play on to say the least. I think I have about 50 real life hours into it so far and still have a ton of stuff to work on.

Just thought I'd post a screenshot of my current progress.

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[DaveYanakov]

Dude, this map is hard.

[Warr1024]

As requested, pictures of our own world (Benanov, DaveYanakov, and myself, so far).

http://imgur.com/a/iGg3e

EDIT: New pictures 2013-01-20
EDIT: ...and more pictures on 2013-01-22

[destineternel]

After many hours of plant and animal x-breeding this is where I am at in my Renewablock world.

http://imgur.com/a/8IgYp

[ExpHP]

Rather than posting pictures, I'm just going to leave this here.



And this.

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[17:59]<@Benanov> ExpHP: You will *know* you've connected to a BWR server. They are *very* chatty on connect
[18:00] * Warr1024 (~warr@70.88.114.105) has joined #btw
[18:00] * ChanServ sets mode: +o Warr1024
[18:00] <Noir> speaking of which
[18:00] <Noir> warr you should probably run now
[18:00] <@Warr1024> oh?
[18:00] * @Warr1024 runs
[18:00] <Noir> i think exp is going to throttle you 
[18:00] <ExpHP> I actually broke down and started looking at the source code to see whether it was plants that checked or fertilized dirt
[18:00] <ExpHP> ITS THAT FUCKER
[18:00] <ExpHP> WARR
[18:00] <Noir> yup.
[18:00] <@Warr1024> it's the dirt.
[18:01] <ExpHP> I WAS GOING TO MURDER YOU but then I realized that I just forgot to install the addon
[18:01] <@Warr1024> ExpHP: I think I may have to quote that on the RenewaBlock OP as a warning to anyone else getting frustrated...

[Psion]

Thanks for making this! A quick question on the map though... is there a way to make it so you spawn on the dirt? I spent like a few dozen tries falling into the void instead of spawning on the dirt island before giving up, setting my mode to creative, and flying onto it before switching back. lol

[Warr1024]

Thanks for making this! A quick question on the map though... is there a way to make it so you spawn on the dirt? I spent like a few dozen tries falling into the void instead of spawning on the dirt island before giving up, setting my mode to creative, and flying onto it before switching back. lol

The spawn area is 20x20, so it would require 400 dirt to ensure you have solid ground to land on, which is way more dirt than in the entire RenewaBlock world. Turning on/off HC spawn will not make a measurable difference, since there isn't enough ground in the world for HC spawn to find a spawn point, so it will just fall back on softcore.

When I start out in a new block, I usually have pretty much the same experience you do. This generally only happens once, at the very beginning, since one of your first tasks is to build a cobble platform below your block.

[Psion]

Alright, just checking if that was normal. ty for the reply. XD Had to restart twice due to derpiness and turning my lava source block into an obsidian... <_<;

[Psion]

Man, this maps haaard. I screwed up and a creeper blew up almost all my log blocks, and so im down to like 4 stone hoes left hoping to breed a sapling before i run out of wood and get screwed. Everything I've tried so far seems to result in more wheat though D:. Trying red and yellow flowers, tall grass, hemp, and wheat. Only other thing i've made is apparently tall grass on a grass block, though I'm not sure how I managed that one.

Is it similar to hardcore sheep where it's only a low chance of a mutant being produced, and a high chance of parent offspring being made? or is it like a recipe, where for example, red rose + hemp + wheat = tall grass always? And do plants diagonally adjacent contribute to the mutant, or is it only the 4 directly adjacent squares?

And regarding luring animals, do you need to be 25 blocks away or further from the food, similar to hostiles? or within 25 so that the items show up on your screen? or does it not matter? <_<;

[Benanov]

Is it similar to hardcore sheep where it's only a low chance of a mutant being produced, and a high chance of parent offspring being made? or is it like a recipe, where for example, red rose + hemp + wheat = tall grass always? And do plants diagonally adjacent contribute to the mutant, or is it only the 4 directly adjacent squares?

And regarding luring animals, do you need to be 25 blocks away or further from the food, similar to hostiles? or within 25 so that the items show up on your screen? or does it not matter? <_<;

It's dissimilar to hardcore sheep, where there's some color mixing rules in place (if you breed light blue & black, you get dark blue quite readily.)

It's not a recipe per se. Each plant has its own "result set"; crossing two plants will yield a combined result set...and the game chooses a random item within that set. The items have a particular weight; weights are cumulative.

We're working on tweaking this a bit for 0.26. Warr & I had some good discussion today in-person about this, and there will be a risky way to increase the probability of a mutation (so you will get new species more often, but there'll be a rather interesting element of risk to it.)

For now, maximize the number of spaces you're cross-breeding, and I'd use a lot of yellow flowers.

Plants placed on the x/z diagonals *do* contribute.

As for animals, iirc it only checks for other animals and it shouldn't matter where you stand.

[Psion]

Sweet, thanks for the response. Was driving me nuts that I couldn't get any saplings and the only sheep I spawned immediately fell to its doom in the void. XD

::Edit:: Another stupid question... do the flowers need to be on grass, tilled farmland, bare dirt, or does it matter? lol

[Benanov]

Sweet, thanks for the response. Was driving me nuts that I couldn't get any saplings and the only sheep I spawned immediately fell to its doom in the void. XD

::Edit:: Another stupid question... do the flowers need to be on grass, tilled farmland, bare dirt, or does it matter? lol

They just have to be placed; what they're on doesn't matter. I typically leave them grass, so that I can spread grass more readily when I need to repurpose the farm.

Here's the one strategy for renewablock that most people are overlooking:

Paralellize your operations but serialize your resources.

If you split your dirt into two parts and use half for a tree farm and half for plant xb, you'll get a small tree farm and a slow plant xb operation. If you instead focus almost all of your dirt into a tree farm and stockpile lumber, you can stop once you hit maybe a full single chest of logs, then put *all* of your dirt back into plant XB, you'll have more chances to get mutations.

All the while, your mob trap is producing output - you're eating the flesh and eyes, grinding the bones and skulls, compressing string down into wool for sale, tossing the nitre over the side, and stockpiling shovels, swords, and bows / arrows, the last of which you'll probably use to shoot a golem every time it pops up. None of this requires your dirt, so you can do it no matter what you are growing.

As soon as you get "enough" plant diversity to start a good trading scheme, drop your XB farm and focus on cash crops or animal spawning - and maybe push for a windmill for your mill, so you can stop clicking that damn crank. If you were able to unlock a charcoal buy, smelt some of those logs, you're going to make it rain.

[embirrim]

Paralellize your operations but serialize your resources.

I've been playing on Splee's skyblock and yes, this is great advice. And it makes you sound very wise =)
Couple questions. I was told xbreeding works in a area of effect, is this just horizontal or also vertical? Also, does having more tilled fertilized farmland increase the chances, or having more plants? Ergo, should I fill it up with plants and leave a few places with tilled soil, or just make sure every tilled farmland is "connected" to all different types of plants?

[Warr1024]

Paralellize your operations but serialize your resources.

This isn't absolutely necessary, since many operations perform linearly relative to the resources allocated to them, but it will save player sanity, if multitasking drives you nuts. There are also some economies of scale in avoiding fencepost conditions, e.g. where you have odd leftover resources that don't fit in your layouts.

I was told xbreeding works in a area of effect, is this just horizontal or also vertical?

3x3 horizontal only.

Also, does having more tilled fertilized farmland increase the chances, or having more plants? Ergo, should I fill it up with plants and leave a few places with tilled soil, or just make sure every tilled farmland is "connected" to all different types of plants?

My own theory is that more open farmland is best, but it's an ongoing topic of debate. Much of the README is left intentionally vague to encourage experimenting. If you discover that some layouts work better than others, feel free to share with us.

[Benanov]

I've been playing on Splee's skyblock and yes, this is great advice. And it makes you sound very wise =)
Couple questions. I was told xbreeding works in a area of effect, is this just horizontal or also vertical? Also, does having more tilled fertilized farmland increase the chances, or having more plants? Ergo, should I fill it up with plants and leave a few places with tilled soil, or just make sure every tilled farmland is "connected" to all different types of plants?

Each piece of farmland has its own chance to cross-breed; the reason I say "maximize the amount of farmland" is that you get more chances for it to happen. There isn't any interaction between farmland.

There's are four plants that I can think of (not fungus) that can be planted on something that isn't dirt, and none are not starting plants in skyblock; half are at the end of tech trees, and some require specialized builds to even attempt. (Vines, Cocoa, Cactus, Lilypads). So you're going to need to use dirt for your source plants, too.

There might be some +1/-1 Y checks for certain edge cases (vines and lilypads; lilypads are a bitch to get right) but I have always done my farms on the same Y.

[embirrim]

My own theory is that more open farmland is best, but it's an ongoing topic of debate. Much of the README is left intentionally vague to encourage experimenting. If you discover that some layouts work better than others, feel free to share with us.

I was given a xbreeding tree picture by littleodietube, and I am using it for reference. I believe it came from benanov, but I don't know if I can post it here. Anyway you probably know what it is. I am currently using a checkerboard-like pattern, with each farmland having 4 different plants connected to it. So far I've got red flowers, oak, potatoes, and hemp. I am aiming for, respectively, the tiny christmas tree shrub, birch, carrots and whatever comes from hemp, reeds I hope. I think it is working ok this way.

[Psion]

Does anyone know if tall grass counts as a potential breeding donor? still haven't managed to grow a sapling... orz lol

[Benanov]

Does anyone know if tall grass counts as a potential breeding donor? still haven't managed to grow a sapling... orz lol

Tall grass counts, and is the "root" of all plants. It is also always in the resultset (you can always just get a crappy weed.)

[Psion]

I see... Well, it's a relief that even if i lose all my grass blocks, I can just use my other seeds to get a new one.

I'm afraid I'm going to have to throw in the towel on crossbreeding a sapling though. :( i've spent over a dozen hours trying to breed a sapling to get some wood and continue my tech tree, but to no avail. Is anyone able to post (in spoilers) which plants and how many of each i need to get a sapling? The other plants I can figure out in due time, but this one's aggravating me because I can't do anything but watch my plants grow until I get a source of wood! >.<

[Benanov]

I see... Well, it's a relief that even if i lose all my grass blocks, I can just use my other seeds to get a new one.

This is how we got grass blocks on Wasteland; the mechanic is well-tested. :)

I'm afraid I'm going to have to throw in the towel on crossbreeding a sapling though. :( i've spent over a dozen hours trying to breed a sapling to get some wood and continue my tech tree, but to no avail. Is anyone able to post (in spoilers) which plants and how many of each i need to get a sapling? The other plants I can figure out in due time, but this one's aggravating me because I can't do anything but watch my plants grow until I get a source of wood! >.<

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Oak saplings are descended from Dandelions, so make sure every square you're cross-breeding is adjacent to at least one Dandelion. To also increase your chances, don't add too many flowers - you get better chances from cross-breeds with 2 or 3 adjacent plants rather than dumping 8 around it.

We are looking at rebalancing the chances. Right now it's 1/31 per plant for descendants, and we're looking to change it to 1/20 based on problems people are having.

Also, don't beat yourself up too much. If you've xb'd up a storm and still no saplings...it's SMP, and I'm assuming it's your personal server. If you /give yourself one just to enjoy the rest of the game we won't hold it against you.

[gftweek]

Ah, that explains why I was having trouble getting saplings, I had convinced myself that they must be bred from sugar cane and pumpkins for some reason. Unfortunately I gave up cross-breeding saplings at around the 20 hour mark and cheated one in.

Now I just have to figure out how to get carrots or try and get a second sheep. You hinted at one point the animal spawning on long grass checks for other animals, was that just the 15 neutral mob limit thing or will a second animal of the same type not spawn on long grass if there is one too close? I got a sheep on my third try, but haven't had any luck for at least a stack of food now trying for a second.

[Pfilson]

Now I just have to figure out how to get carrots or try and get a second sheep. You hinted at one point the animal spawning on long grass checks for other animals, was that just the 15 neutral mob limit thing or will a second animal of the same type not spawn on long grass if there is one too close? I got a sheep on my third try, but haven't had any luck for at least a stack of food now trying for a second.

I'm having the same luck with you on carrots. heh.. But for animals. there are only two types that can be lured and there can be no other animal entity within 28 blocks +/- 5 of the spot.

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The two animals eat different foods.

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They are Sheeps and Pigs

[gftweek]

I'm having the same luck with you on carrots. heh.. But for animals. there are only two types that can be lured and there can be no other animal entity within 28 blocks +/- 5 of the spot.

Ah, I was wondering if the animal I had was too close, and thought that animal cross-breeding would mean that I'd need two different ones to get anywhere, hence the carrots, although I did waste a few seeds before finding out they wouldn't work.

Carrots are the only remaining crop plant I need, after that I just need to get the other sapling types, cacti, lily pads, vines, fungi and nether wart to complete the set, but I'm not sure if I will be able to get the last 2-3 without visiting the nether first. Redstone seems to be my great limiting factor in tech advancement.

The tree farming focus was definitely a good idea, I'm getting logs at a great rate now rather than when I was trying to do everything at once.

I think I need to kill off some villagers in order to increase the number of items I can sell, as the remaining achievable trades (need some cows/pigs to do any of the others) I have all seem to be purchases only and I'm not increasing my emerald stash that way, plus no village needs that many butchers!

[Psion]

Awesome, thanks for the tips on crossbreeding. I stuck to 2-3 plants per square this time and made off with a fern plant, a sapling, and a pumpkin. :D Now I can FINALLY start working on stuff lol.

by the way, awesome job on both the add-on and the map. This is probably the map i've played the longest ever, because I just tend to not have enough challenge, and most skyblocks are just same thing as normal minecraft, but harder. This add-on has added both challenge to old content and tons of new content as well. :)

::edit:: I just noticed under the respiration thread about squids, and realized there's only one source block here. FC was mentioning he might make hardcore squids a non configurable option, so is there any plans on making squids farmable with renewablock, or a way to "create" water source blocks for high cost? <_<;