Minecraft Beta 1.7 – Adventure Update

So Notch has been working hard on the Minecraft Beta 1.7 Adventure Update in his spare time in between appearing at the E3 Gaming convention.

I have been following the Mojang team on twitter and have complied some of the key points and features that are due in the next update. They have been trying to keep most of the adventure aspects of the update a secret but some of their twitter notes have included some useful information.

“Secret Minecraft stuff!!! @jeb_ just did a very scary monster!!!!” ( quote source )

This could be interesting, finally seeing a new monster on in the game. I for one am looking forward to what Jeb has come up with here. As much as I love creepers, spiders, zombies and the lot I would love to see a new monster added into the mix.

“Remember how many chunk updates there are when the sun sets or rises in Minecraft? In 1.7 there are zero.” (quote source )

Along with the most recent update the 1.7 update will also have a number of bug fixes which is good to see. Notch still has access to a list of bugs that people have found in the game and I would not be surprised to see a few more bugs removed from this list.

“Added Minecraft shears. Has uses on sheep, leaves, tnt and a fourth thing, which will remain secret for now.” ( quote source )

Now this is quite big news, finally we have a way to diffuse TNT as there was no way to do this previously. As for using them on sheep now I imagine it will replace the punching of the sheep to get their wool, but we will have to wait and see.

“All animals will be more persistent “soon,” so re-growth of wool will be necessary“ ( quote source )

This sounds interesting as it does make sense for this feature to be added along with the shears, it will be fascinating to see it in effect.

“Heh ok… Time for the piston mod. It’s incredible how much more dull something is when there’s little room left for my own creativity” ( quote source )

This is big news, finally we have confirmation that the piston mod is on its way to us. He does say it will probably be in the 1.7 Minecraft update but we will have to wait and see. It will be great to have pistons part of the game and not require any mods. Their are numerous ways to use them in maps and especially in adventure style maps.

“And now, my post-e3 vacation starts! (And if that annoys you, that was a typo. I meant to say “crunch time”) ( quote source )

“2.5 million sales! That’s as much as Diablo 1 and FarCry, according to Wikipedia.”  ( quote source )

It is very impressive to see that now Minecraft has sold over 2.5 million copies worldwide and is contending with some of the biggest games out there. This should be quite motivating for Notch and the team to continue to produce a high standard of features, fixes and updates to their already impressive game.

So there are definitely some big features and items in this next update, I am pretty excited for this and to see what direction the Mojang team will take going forward. I cant wait for more information on the adventure update features as it unfolds.

Happy Minecrafting – Anthony.