The Alchemist on 12/10/2011 at 02:07

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I joined Godcraft ($15 bucks!), I'll take pictures soon as my application is processed.

The Alchemist on 12/10/2011 at 07:32

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Yeah, it's a way to keep griefers out but also its made them a small fortune. They have about 10k members so that means they've made about 100k now... not including monthly VIP subscriptions.

The server is impressive however:

CPU: Intel Xeon Quad-Core Sandy Bridge E3-1270 @ 3.4ghz
Operating System: CentOS 6.0 - 64-BIT
Java: Java™ Platform, 7
Network: Intel PRO/1000 NIC @ 1000mbit
RAM/Memory: 16GB DDR3
Raid Card: Adaptec 5405Z RAID Card with Battery Backup Unit
Primary Hard Drive: 4x WD Caviar RE4 500GB HDDs in RAID-10
Backup: Offsite Backup
DDOS Protection Service: - (Hardware Based): Network-Level & Server-Level

And also, I can confirm that the lag I have on BH's server is specific to his server, this massive server gives me no lag. =/ Sorry BH.

Anywho, it's a 16000x16000 world, fully rendered. It handles 50+ players no problem (I havent seen more than 50 on at a time). There are constant projects that you can volunteer to work for, you get paid in diamonds, which you can use to purchase things in the market. It feels like an MMO honestly. I made the mistake of WALKING to Moria, took me like an hour.

I'll be posting some screenshots soon, then I'm walking over to the collosseum. In the mean time, take a look at the (http://map.godcraft.com) map.

The Alchemist on 14/10/2011 at 12:35

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Hey hey, go easy on him. He said he heard we could build houses on slut valley. Sounded legit. The water wall is kinda cool, anywho.

And since no one else is mentioning it, I will:

1.9 Pre 4 -

The End / Enderdragons yada yada, pointless so far.

Things that matter:

Enchantments: They work now. Actually pretty useful. Much less difficult to obtain than alchemy... despite being much more advantageous, other than needing EXP. The enchantment table is stronger depending on how many bookshelves are near it. If you basically surround the enchantment table with books you can enchant up to level 47. Higher level enchantments are stronger and also double or triple enchant. Dropping a weapon no longer destroys the enchantment. Here are some key enchantment effects:

Knockback. Like Diablo! Knocks enemies far away. Good against creepers and throwing mobs into lava/off cliffs. Much further knock back than sprinting attack.

Fire Attribute. My favorite, basically makes sword fire element. Sets mobs on fire. Useful, but haphazard as walking mobs on fire can set shit on fire... Skeletons seem particularly weak to fire.

Smite makes it stronger against the undead. Sharp makes it do more damage overall. I believe theres a poison enchantment but I havent seen it personally. A lvl 47 enchantment awarded me a Sharp IV Fire Element III Diamond Sword. Theres also an enchantment specific for arachnids.

Enchanting armor is like godmode. There is rebreather enchantment for helmets usually which allows for extended diving. There are Explosion / Projectile / Overall protection buffs. However, I found having completely enchanted diamond armor, even if only level 1 enchantment with spell of Protection I, you are invincible. I stood in lava and did not burn, however the armor deteriorates. It took a good minute or two before my helmet melted, and I started to take slight damage, but the rest of my armor still had a good bit of time left. I imagine a Protection V enchantment is pretty godlike. Of course its costly, exp wise. Hardcore mode just might be less scary! There is also Featherflight enchantment for boots. Fall from higher with less damage etc. Gold seems to enchant stronger than diamond, but pound for pound a diamond sword + enchantments seems more effective, especially considering the fragility of gold. However, there is an Unbreaking enchantment which basically gives you a percentage chance of not receiving damage to the tool/armor/weapon. I enchanted a diamond pickaxe with high level enchantment, I got an Efficiency V Fortune III Unbreaking III Pickaxe, which basically breaks cobble in one hit, like in creative mode. It takes very little damage from use, and the Fortune enchantment means that any block that doesnt drop itself, IE: diamond block, coal, will drop more. With Fortune 3 I was getting about 3x the normal drop rate. This is especially awesome for diamond hunting, however wood breaks into wood so you dont get extra, iron ore and gold ore break into their respecting ores, so they dont get boosted either. I thought this was unbalanced at first but I realize its good this way, iron is common anywho, its nice we get a diamond boost.

Cant enchant bows/arrows unfortunately. Can enchant axe similar to pick axe. I didnt try hoes however I can imagine there are gardening based enchantments?

Also the enchantments all have their respective particle effects/glow effects.

Potion recipes have been expanded. Netherwart is no longer the only base item. However, the really cool thing about potions now is that if you add gunpowder to them, you turn it into a throwing flask, which does area of effect attacks. I havent found a downside to throwing potions so they are much superior to regular potions in the sense that if you have a throwing potion for Strength, you can buff yourself and any friends in the AOE. However this would also buff enemies, if they were near. But seeing as potions have a slight "drinking" delay anyway, you're better off making throwing potions and getting said distance required not to buff mobs/enemies. This effectively turns negative potions into very good weapons. Imagine a high level instant damage flask. Seeing as you can spam throw them, thats pretty deadly... assuming you're not in the radius. I imagine explosive resistance armor probably protects you from this.

Another cool features is that you can put throwing flasks in dispensers and trigger them for the AOE attack. Some interesting traps can be made with that. :)

Aside from that, Eye of Endermen are in, they will float in the direction of stronghold, then fall to the ground, so you can continue doing this till you find said stronghold. They also repair that portal to the End, but theres not much use for that yet. I mean you can go to "The End", but theres not much there. Chests are more common in dungeons etc and often contain better items, diamonds / golden apples etc.

I'm sure I forgot a bunch of stuff but I listed what was most important.

Oh! Sun and Moon are round now. Moon goes through phases. Lunar eclipse = dark dark night. I imagine something interesting will happen on full moons too.

Also, rain seems to bring thunder more often, if not always. And it thunders a lot. Scared the shit out of me first time, I thought the world was in rapture.

Here are some screenshots of the items I was able to make while testing. Nevermind the cheatery.

http://img685.imageshack.us/img685/2375/20111014083706.jpg
http://img36.imageshack.us/img36/6037/20111014083710.jpg
http://img51.imageshack.us/img51/362/20111014083716.jpg
http://img189.imageshack.us/img189/2875/20111014083726.jpg

The Alchemist on 15/10/2011 at 06:20

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Sword combat is tricky in first person, period.

The only games I've seen get it right are Thief and Dark Messiah, both of which had the following elements:

Weapon charge-up: Charging your attack should do more damage, a la bow.
Attack deflection penalties: Blocked attacks or missed attacks should have a reattach time penalty.
Attack direction: Movement should determine weather its a slash, stab, or slice.

And also blocking would be better if it had some penalty. Instead of doing half damage, a blocked attack should do very little to no damage, but cause some sort of knockback/time delay and heavily damage sword/shield.

With this, they effectively make combat in Minecraft fun and complex enough for pvp, especially considering everything else that is in place.



Edit: I just heard something really cool:

"Silk Touch is possibly the cheapest enchant atm, with it, you can pick up Monster Spawners, and I'm wishing I could see if I could get animals to spawn there."

Minion21g on 16/10/2011 at 19:02

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I wasn't finished with my work yet, but I wanted to build an observatory on the hill. I thought you wanted people building in town after you shooed me out of the forest outside town. Forgive me if I'm receiving mixed signals.