Hello, I'm N8thanH, and welcome back to Across the Map! Minecraft 1.9, as revealed to be the Combat Update by an Easter Egg [small secret in a program] in an April Fool's snapshot, is currently in the works! This is exciting news; in my opinion, combat is definitely one of the weaker aspects of the game. Today, I'm going to discuss what we know is coming, and what this means for Minecraft's gameplay.


It was recently stated sword blocking has been removed, at least at the time being. The reason for that is so that the current dual-wielding system can work its magic. As the system works right now, right-clicking uses the function of the object in your main hand as usual. But, if it has no right-click function, then the the item in the off-hand is used instead. To replace sword-blocking, we're getting shields. I think that makes a lot of sense, but I'm sure a lot of Minecrafters will miss sword-blocking, including myself. A lot of players use it as an unspoken signal. It just looks like a friendly gesture.


I think that the shields have a lot of potential. It'd be great if we could move faster than we can with sword blocking right now, but maybe with a short animation of the character putting down the shield when you can't do anything. I think it'd be good to have some ending lag on other actions, too. A lot of fighting games use ending lag as a way for competitors to get a chance to hit the person experiencing it. Spam-clicking is a big issue in Minecraft, and there really should be a way to punish people doing that. Having their weapon bounce away if they strike your shield would be excellent.


Personally, I think that the amount of knock-back in the game is a flaw in combat. I think having a little is healthy, but it needs to be mostly horizontal. The way most fights go at present (trust me, I know from experience) is that one person takes a hit, and the other gets knocked into the air. If the person getting hit doesn't get launched far enough, the hit player can often return the hit immediately. But, if the person getting hit does get hit out of range, they have to predict their opponent's next movement (which isn't hard at all), dodge it, and try to hit their opponent. This repeats until one person dies.


I think that players taking hits should just be knocked a little bit and receive a little bit of stun; just enough so that the other player has a chance to prepare his next move, and the one that was hit isn't at a disadvantage. On another note, it would be great if arrow knock-back was influenced by the amount you charge it.


Most mobs are defenseless if you hit them, walk up, and hit them again. The exception is creepers, which will blow up in your face if you don't kill them quickly. Instead, you just have to sprint-hit them out of their fuse range, and then hit them again. Monsters need to be smarter about evading your attacks (or at least more resistant). Before they updated the mob AI, skeletons and creepers used to strafe around you clockwise. Mind you, they'd often fall off cliffs trying to do that. At least it was a start. Developer Dinnerbone posted a video of  work-in-progress animation work on skeletons. Perhaps there will be more work done on mobs.


This far, in the way of weaponry, we have been promised the shield, a quiver, which uses a sprite that's been in the game for years, and several different types of arrows. The one we know the most about is one with a golden tip. As indicated by a tool-tip seen in a video, it's a "Spectral Arrow." Dinnerbone has stated that "Spectral arrows are utility, not very good at hurting." As far as we can guess, they could do anything, but the name implies they're ghost-related. Jeb, the lead developer of Minecraft, has tweeted that he's working on a new dungeon "with blocks and mobs, very different from the other dungeons." My theory is that ghosts might be coming, and Spectral Arrows are the only things that will hurt them. Kind of like Pols' Voices in the Legend of Zelda, except yelling at them if you have a microphone won't kill them.


Screenshots have been released containing several other types of arrows, but we don't know anything about them yet. Having different options for players to choose from could lead to the rise of new strategies, and a more advanced level of play. In other words, Minecraft could develop a metagame! However, I think there still needs to be a consequence to using strong armor materials, and some new types of unique melee [close-range] weapons.


Various screenshots of a strange, dark psychedelic-patterned block have been posted, with all of them containing subtle, but strange effects.

The strange effects can be seen at the very edge of these screenshots. Notice the colors of the block behind the experience orb-like lights in the top screenshot.

Searge, another developer of Minecraft, asked the following on twitter: "How about a block that players can't get, can't be found in the world, but it's effect to the world is visible and exciting?" It's unknown if this relates to the strange, darkly-colored block also shown by him. It's possible that it's only of interest to mapmakers, whom continue to be blessed with more and more features.

Personally, I've always wished more people were interested in Survival Mode. I'll admit that when I first saw a video on Minecraft, I thought it'd be a game about trying to survive monsters that become increasingly more dangerous, so you'd have to do your best to keep becoming more efficient. I still think that would be awesome. In a way, it's in the game, but it only affects how likely monsters are to spawn with armor, the spawn rate of slimes in swamps, and the chances of spiders spawning with potion effects (on Hard difficulty).

I've noticed my friends getting bored with no adventures to go on. I think I can speak on behalf of them that Minecraft needs more ongoing goals in survival. One thought I had: anyone can craft empty books and an enchantment table, but what if you had to find an enchanted book for a certain enchantment in a dungeon in order for the enchantment table to bestow it? Like, once you find Efficiency, you can use it. Maybe you'd need multiple for higher levels? (I'm sure people playing Ultra Hardcore and other sports wouldn't appreciate it.) I think personal quests like that would be awesome.


Well, that's all for today. For now, we'll just have to keep an eye out for new information, and wait for the first snapshot. As always, I appreciate your thoughts and opinions, and thanks for reading!
I'll see you all next post. Until then!

Hello, I'm N8thanH, and welcome back to Across the Map. I apologize for being absent a few weeks at a time, but today, I have lots to show you guys! There has been lots going on around Bluesun Village, the town on our private server. So, for today, I thought I'd show you guys what's been going on.

Fire-Cat and ThunderrrCat have been doing a lot of the work around the village, and they made a new renovation shop together. It's quite a modern-looking build.




I especially love their basement workspace. The entrance is right behind the desk.


They even have stalls and a special exit for their work mules. I bred one a long time ago, and I guess Fire-Cat took an interest in using one. I could use a workshop like the one they have. I don't have a place to put my mule. But, I did make space beneath my shop.

They even managed to incorporate Granite, AKA Block Impossible.

The mule exit is just off to the side of the store.

They've also helped with a bunch of improvements to the main areas of town, such as a new plaza by the community center, a new Nether portal entrance, and a little fountain area in front of our old hotel.

I helped out a bunch with the portal and town plaza. :D




They even renovated the outhouse/Lgamerross' former slot machine. Unbelievable. 0_o


Of course, I've been doing things, too. I made a couple of boat docks next to Lgamerross' old house. It's to the far left in the above photo. I wish he'd play with us again. I don't think he plays Minecraft anymore.


I did a little modification to the redstone circuitry for these docks. They're exactly like the one I showed you during my redstone gadget post, except there is a small redstone line that locks the side of the memory cell/RS-NOR latch that's closest to the button.


Caution: REDSTONE TALK BELOW! You may skip it if you don't like redstone!
 The lock runs from the dot of redstone under the pressure plate; the one that makes the water disappear. (Note that there is a repeater in that dark space.) Because of the torch, when that redstone dot is being powered, the torch is off, and you can activate the opposite side (by pushing the button). But, that dot turns off when the memory cell is flipped by doing so and the torch turns on, and the redstone on the far right can't activate anymore. In other words, activating the right side locks the right side.

Because the line on the far right is constantly being powered, nothing on that line will get powered, including that dispenser linked to the repeater on the far right, since dispensers must go from not being powered at all to being powered. But, as soon as the dot is powered again by hitting a pressure plate, the lock is disabled., and you are free to re-power it again to fire the dispenser.

Okay. I'm done being a redstone geek, now.

So, what does this new little lock circuit do? Well, it allows you to dispense multiple boats. Sometimes, the boats go back into the hoppers, so that helps. Overall, it makes this device a lot more friendly to my crazies. They love my little circuits for a reason.


 If I ever do a tutorial, I will include the lock. I most likely will sometime. Maybe after I get my LP going again. I have footage that I recorded a few months ago. I digress...

I also made a little boardwalk on the other side of the lake, since we are now getting some residents around there. These houses were built by the Cats. (I thought they were a renovation buisness. ._. ) The one on the top is Noah's house. (He told me I could use his real name.) Mintz' is on the right in this photo.

Oops. I left my texture pack on for this one. Ah,well. Enjoy this little demo. Any opinions? I'm thinking the pack may be too bright. It looks fine to me, but my screen is kind of blue-ish.

Let's go to Noah's first. Here are some screenshots from around the house. I will caption where each one is, but I don't feel like giving a detailed tour, since this isn't a building showcase. Maybe another time. I don't really know.

A more clear (and less dark) view of the house. The Cats seem to have developed a modern house style.

Fire-Cat came up with that blanket trick a while ago. It looks cool.

The verdict was that the boys wouldn't appreciate one of their typical kitchens, so they came up with more effective work spaces.

Hallway, second floor. The staircase is just right of the kitchen.

Bedroom, first door down the hallway.

Second door down the hallway: The... office.

At the end of the hallway, there is a staircase. It leads into the attic, which is here.

Next is Mintz's house. His was actually built first. He did have a house before, but the Cats offered to build him a bigger one. There are now some stands that we're renting out to people where his old house was.



I'll give you guys some glimpses of the house, now. The whole house is only one floor except for the attic and basement, but I don't know if they count as bungalows.

This is the entrance. Truth be told, this room could just as easily be at the back of the house.

His awesome workroom, to the right of the hallway.

The bedroom. On the left of the hallway.

The basement. The staircase the end of the hallway.

Like Noah, Mintz also got a workroom in the attic. There is a ladder to get up here just across the hallway from the stairs.

 Mintz wanted me to showcase me a bit on here, so I thought I'd show off what else he's been up to with us: a drained underwater temple. We raided it a long time ago, and we've used the sponges to drain it. He said he wants to turn it into a hotel of sorts, so we've been contributing to it.

This is the grand entryway.

The front desk. A lot of this place is still empty.

The staircase to the second floor.

This is the supply closet I created. :D

This area will be the shopping area.

The central area where the gold was is still flooded.

This is the questboard. I suppose I should mention that this place is called the Adventure Hub.

All our hotel rooms are at the top. Hurray for special treatment! :D

The top exit. It can be swum out of.

 In other news, Mintz has decided to turn the treehouse club he built into a fight club.



I almost forgot to mention that ThunderrrCat had her own house redone. I'll run through it as usual. Her house is pretty interesting in terms of layout. It sort of has a cozy feel.

ThunderrrCat lives just outside of town.

The staircase is to the right of the kitchen. (Left if you're looking from the point of view from the screenshot above this one.

This is her bedroom. It's just by the railing of the staircase.

I'm not sure what this space is, to be honest.

Well, that's all that I have to show you guys today. As always, I appreciate your comments, feedback, and suggestions, and thanks for stopping by!

 I'll see you all next post. Until then!