I haven't played Minecraft in a long while, so in the past few days I started playing again. As usual, many gameplay tweaks were waiting for me.
The first and most important one (for me) was the way the map items work. Previously, you had to hold the map on the surface as you walk for it to fill up. Now, the map is instantly complete, though at a closer zoom level. That's because, in conjunction, you can not only duplicate maps, but also update a map to higher zoom levels at the cost of additional paper. This makes a big difference for me since I tend to get lost easily (like in real life), and since I prefer mining I end up hoarding so much valuable stuff that can't be all carried on me that I tend to avoid random travel.
The second, though maybe it's something that was there earlier this year, are domesticated animals. Since the biome where I started was a jungle, there was a family of ocelots around. Using lots of fish I was able to domesticate a kitten. Funnily enough, cats are preprogrammed to ask for attention by trying to stay atop your bed and furniture, rendering them temporarily unusable.
I also noticed many tweaks that affect the difficulty level. The enemies are stronger, even in easy mode, but gives far more experience and loot. The jungle biome has more apples and seeds (even cocoa), though growing wheat is still difficult under all the foliage. Overall, I found the experience far more polished, enough to make biomes more bearable to a player used to those beta maps.
Published on December 24, 2012 at 19:25 EST
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