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News
New Minecraft Map Format, “Anvil”
Jeb and Jon have been working on a new map format for Minecraft named “Anvil” (it’s just a name). The purpose of the new format is to prepare for modding, especially to allow for more block types, but also to improve other areas of the game (such as map height). The changes are:
- Maximum build height has been increased to 256 (was 128)
- Empty sections of the world are not loaded into memory
- Block ids have been increased to 4096 (was 256) by adding a 4 bit data layer (similar to how meta data is stored)
- Block ordering have been changed from x/z/y to y/z/x in order to improve compression
- Packets for sending chunks have been updated (a full 128-high chunk is smaller than the old format, and a chunk with lots of empty space is much smaller)
- Biomes are saved per x/z column, which means they can be altered by tools
The next snapshot, and Minecraft 1.2, will automatically convert worlds to the new format. The files of the current format (“McRegion”) will remain in your save folder, if you need to restore them for some reason.
Jeb has prepared a converter (with source code) for tool makers that wants to be prepared. You do not need to use this to convert your maps! It’s only for reference!
Download the converter+source here
Some info:
- The 16x128x16 “Blocks”, “Data”, “SkyLight” and “BlockLight” tags are removed
- A “Sections” tag has been added with up to 16 compound tags
- Each section has 16x16x16 “Blocks”, “Data”, “SkyLight” and “BlockLight” tags
- Each section has a “Y” integer tag saying which section it is (note that some Y positions can be skipped). 0 is at the bottom of the world and 15 is the topmost section
- Each section also has a “AddBlocks” tag, which is a DataLayer byte array just like “Data”. The “AddBlocks” tag is not included in the converter since the old format never had block ids above 255. This extra tag is created whenever a block requires it, so the getTile() method needs to check if the array exists and then combine it with the default block data. In other words, blockId = (addBlock << 8) + baseId.
- Each chunk has a 16×16 byte array with biome ids called “Biomes”. If this array is missing it will be filled when the game starts. The converter doesn’t include any biome sources, though (it had too many dependencies to be included).
- Note that the old format is XZY and the new format is YZX (see the difference between DataLayer and OldDataLayer).
- The new format uses the extension “.mca” instead of “.mcr” (the old format is kept for safety, with the level.dat backed up as “level.dat_mcr”)
Finally, a shoutout to Robinton’s hard work on his mods:http://www.minecraft...robintons-mods/
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Minecraft Snapshot 12w07b
Here’s the development snapshot of week 7, 2012!
List of changes:
- Added new world file format called “Anvil” (256 max height and 4096 block IDs*)
- Multi-player light calculations do no longer cause affected blocks to be transmitted to the clients, instead the clients will recalculate the light on their own
- Villagers will repopulate villages based on how many houses there are available
- Some nights in villages will be worse than others…
- Added a redstone-controlled light source
- Decreased chance for the rare mob drops
- All animals use the new AI system now
* The game can’t use the full range of IDs yet because there are still some assumptions that IDs above 256 are items.
Update! New version number is 12w07b, fixing the following problems:
- Crash bug corrupting levels when spawning mobs above the 255th block
- Sheep animation is correct in SMP
Get the snapshot here:
NOTE: This snapshot will convert the maps you load to the new file format. If you want to revert to the old format, you need to replace the “level.dat” file with the file called “level.dat_mcr”. The new format will write world regions to files called “*.mca”, so your original regions will remain as “*.mcr”.
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Minecraft 1.1 Update
- Bow Enchantments
- Golden Apple recipe
- New language translations.
- Slightly smoothed color transitions between biomes
- Reduced brewing time to 20 seconds
- Added spawn eggs to creative (the colors of the eggs even look like the mobs)
- Added world type options (currently only super-flat and default)
- Removed collision box from ladders
- Sheep eat grass and regain their wool
Plus many bug fixes!
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Minecraft Pocket Edition for Andriod gets an up...
aron from mojang updated the Android version of Minecraft – Pocket Edition last night to 0.1.3. This update includes better support for Android tablets, performance improvements (5-30% depending on device and settings) and a few bug fixes. Updates are listed below:
- Minor version 0.1.3 (compatible with iOS 0.1.2+)
- + Better tablet support, less oversized ingame UI elements
- + Performance improvements, especially in Non-Fancy graphics mode
- + Added cactuses to deserts
- + Added Turn Sensitivity setting
- + Improvements in network chunk loading
- + More sounds in J-version
- Fixed a crash bug when connecting to some iOS server maps
- Blocks placed on snow were added incorrectly in multiplayer
Check it out by following this this link!
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Bashcraft: Legend of Hobo- Episode 5 "Jungl...
Nov 26 2011 11:36 PM | Balthasarx in News
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Minecraft Plants vs Zombies (No Mods)
Minecrafter Disco_ has uploaded a Plants vs Zombies map for Minecraft that requires no Mods to play.
Instructions:
- Play in Easy mode
- Purchase flowers with gold by dropping gold in each feeding well. This will active the flower for 5mins.
- Game is over when your house health reaches zero
DOWNLOAD HERE: http://www.planetmin...mbies-playable/
TEXTURE PACK HERE: http://www.planetmin..._pack/ocd-pack/
Check it out and let us know what you think!
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Official Minecon Trailer
This is the Official Minecon Trailer made by HAT Films. The Yogscast and Ephixa are also involved as well as over 300 of viewers out there. Watch to see if you're in there and enjoy!
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C418 gives out free album!
C418 has made his album Seven Years of Server Data avalible for free download! Grab it via the link below.
Download: http://c418.bandcamp...-of-server-data
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