What do Twilight, Harry Potter, and Minecraft have in common? No, it's not that people want to make out with all the monsters - they've all eventually had parts of them split into two.
The upcoming Caves and Cliffs update for Minecraft was due this Summer, and it's still coming - but only the first part. In a decision Mojang are calling "difficult" due to the ambition of the extra content, which includes new blocks, new terrain generation, and new mobs, they have decided to split it, so that they can deliver some of it on time while taking extra time on the rest of it. The second part of the update will arrive "around the holiday season".
"The first part of the Caves & Cliffs Update will focus on some cute and fun mobs, cool items, and new blocks such as: Goat, Axolotl, Crystals + Spyglass + Geodes + Tinted Glass, Copper + Lightning Rod, Glow Squid + Glow Ink, Powder Snow, Lush Cave Blocks, Dripstone Cave Blocks, Deepslate + Ore Variants, Glow Lichen, and Multiplayer Sleeping Rule (Java only)."
"We know this news is disappointing to many of you, but there are several reasons for this change," the Mojang blog reads today. The staff blog post notes that they intend to deliver "the most polished experience possible," and the technical challenges that come with revamping the world generation alone require much more consideration and bug testing.
However, it's not just the extra time that it takes to test for, find, and fix bugs. "We also prioritise our team's health," the blog post says, stating that they didn't want the team to work long hours, and that the pandemic means working from home, which has affected morale and the ability to work as a team. "Because our workflow is so complex and collaborative, not having the option to walk up to someone and ask for help makes everything take longer."
Most of the big questions are answered in a separate FAQ on the website, if there's anything else you want to know.
[source minecraft.net]
Comments 22
So just... the caves update and the cliffs update?
@Noid no. More like the blocks update that are used for the generation and then later the actual update that adds the new caves and cliffs generation and the new endgame boss.
Is the moral of the story to read the Minecraft book then as being split into 2 parts usually ruins the pacing?
@darkswabber New endgame boss? They're adding a new boss akin to the Ender Dragon and Wither?
I really need to get back into Minecraft ...
@VoidofLight yeah, the warden or something. Also a new endgame area, the great dark.
This is very anti-consumer of them to break a promise. How can you say people working from home is the problem if everyone has been working from home for a year? They knew about that when they promised the release date, and now it's an excuse for a delay? Nintendo should not allow this, but Nintendo will do whatever is best for itself and Mojang.
@Minecraft_Master so you rather have them crunch themselves and get mental health issues and physical health issues so you can play the update earlier?
Delays happen, if they prevent crunch it’s 100% worth it, nothing anti-consumer about it. Anti consumer would be making the update paid.
Also nintendo has 0 influence over mojang, nintendo can’t punish for devs and publishers not doing what they promised.
@Minecraft_Master being pro-worker is not being anti-consumer! It's a free update, and I'd much rather the team was happy and healthy so that they can continue to make Minecraft even better.
@darkswabber I thought the Warden is mostly just a very very strong mob, and not an actual boss.
@Minecraft_Master You do realize Minecraft's not even a Nintendo game right? Plus, the update is still coming, this changes nothing at all, other than when it releases. I don't think "Breaking a promise" is anti-consumer when said promise is an update launch window. It'd be "breaking a promise" if they said that the game won't have micro-transactions, then it gains them.. but with minecraft, you don't have to worry about that.
@VoidofLight ah that could be the case too. Might’ve confused it as a boss mob due to it’s strength.
Bad news for Big Mods on Java, because if this big update is split into 2 then Big Mods loses only chance to climb out from 1.12.2 version and end up stuck in that version for longer again.
Edit: just watched a bit of announcement, and looks like first part will come at planned time and second part will come at later time then planned, so there is still hope for Big Mods to finally catch up.
Is non-Java Minecraft any good? The last time I looked at it, it took forever to load and you have to restart the system to close it.
Hey, I'm kinda new to this but I was wondering how new block types affect currently generated chunks. My thinking is like if it's the seed that's being used to calculate everything, even features in the future, then currently generated chunks may have a chance to generate some of the new blocks as well (i.e. copper, cobalt, etc.). Does that sound correct? Or is everything about the chunk locked in as soon as it's generated?
Basically, on one of my worlds I was planning to hollow out the mesa I built my house on and I was hoping to collect some of the new resources.
@ok1 Ah, that's too bad then. I suppose I could just copy the seed and start a new world. Even though it's my first world, I didn't spend a lot of time there before I started messing with seeds. I could rebuild it better at a fraction of the time now.
@ok1 My little brother plays it on Switch and I noticed how long it takes to boot up. And the times it frequently crashes.
Minecraft being written in Java and not C#, it sucks. But that's about the only thing Bedrock has the advantage of; not being coded in Java.
As much as I’d love for the update to be released all at once this split is for the best.
@SNEED - Minecraft just doesn't run incredibly well on the Switch, never has. Bedrock Edition runs a lot better on Windows or even a phone, and the system certainly doesn't need to be restarted to exit the game.
Some of the basic game differences between Java and Bedrock is the coding language, as you already mentioned, as a result Bedrock runs better on low-spec systems. Bedrock Edition has much more officially supported modding, which makes up for its lower capabilities within the command block engine. It also supports ray-tracing, which if you have the GPU for it is genuinely a sight to behold, with the right RTX textures.
So in a way, a lot of the fundamental game differences do come down to the coding language, Java is more customizable so there's more mods, well Bedrock is a bit more grounded, which is why the mod support is much more official, cuz it would be a lot harder to do unofficially. It's also grounded in the sense that it'll be easier to be built upon, in fact it probably will be the version of the game supported long into the future.
So yeah, in the end it just comes down to personal preference. I've messed with both a great deal and end up preferring Bedrock Edition (mostly due to built-in ray-tracing and a more straightforward command system) but it's really a matter of personal preference. If you've never tried Bedrock Edition I'd give it a try, especially if you've got an RTX card or a really high-end AMD card. I hope that clarifies. 😁
@VoidofLight @darkswabber - The devs have described the Warden as an environmental hazard more than anything, it's incredibly powerful (is able to kill you in two hits with full Netherite armor) so it can come across as a boss, but they've said that they're not even sure yet if they'll have it drop anything when killed, as they mean for players to try to avoid it rather than try to attack it at all. I hope that clarifies. 😁
@ok1 I wouldn't call my system beefy. Ryzen 3 3100 and RX580 are mid-range, 1080p is where it's best suited. Most servers tend to be performance-optimized.
@FlaviusFire I've looked at Minecraft RTX, the shaders that're available in Java do a great job without taxing the system much. SEUS and Vertigo look good, but there are many shaders available depending on which you like more.
@SNEED Late, but it's generally worse, at least on Switch. It's not very well optimized (granted, Java isn't great either, but at least OptiFine is an option there), has a fairly clunky UI, dabbles in microtransactions, et cetera. Java is generally seen as the better version though Bedrock is serviceable and better on some other platforms
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