The Spawn Chunks 285: Bogged Down With Ideas

Jonny, and Joel review the new slimy skeleton variant, the bogged, see through the veil of a ghost block, bring new life to old items, and blend everything together in the Nether in the February Chunk Mail Dispenser.

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FROM: Brenrob
SUBJECT: Helping Builders

Hey Pix, and Joel!

The discussion on quality of life features for builders got me thinking about a unique item to assist the building process, a “ghost” block.

Ghost blocks are a way to prototype your build. They would be a semi-transparent craftable block, available in stair, slab, and full blocks. They would act like an air block, so mobs, and players could pass through it. The player would not be able to place any blocks on ghost blocks except for other ghost blocks. They would be insta-mined, and pop when another block is placed in their location to be collected again.

Some use case examples would be things like testing if a bridge would look better if it was two blocks wide or three blocks wide, or if a room should be 9×10 blocks or 7×10 blocks. 

Ghost blocks would provide a way to easily prototype, and iterate on builds, like a more basic Litematica overlay.

Brenrob died from shame after his email got so long.

FROM: CJ
SUBJECT: Refreshing Old Things

Hi Joel, and Pix,

On Episode 281 you mentioned that you have enjoyed seeing more things getting a bit of a refresh in minor Minecraft updates. I have been enjoying this as well with spider eyes getting a new use in breeding armadillos, decorated pots getting a stack of storage space, and camels eating cactus. I love that cactus, and spider eyes – which have been in the game since Alpha 1.0.6 and 1.0.0 – are getting additional uses. As someone who has been playing the game since before they were added, it’s really nice seeing old items get refreshed 14 years later. 

Are there any specific items in Minecraft that you would like to see refreshed a little bit?

Cheers!

CJ died after choking on a tough rabbit hide as he decided to eat it since bundles have yet to be added in the game.

• Minecraft Items (wiki)

FROM: Sage
SUBJECT: Vaults And Trial Chamber Construction

Hi Joel, and Pix,

The new vault block is a great way to make Trial Chambers enjoyable for more than just the first players who find them, but I think the fact that the Trial Chambers are built largely out of copper runs counter to this idea.

Normally large amounts of oxidized, and waxed copper blocks require plenty of work to obtain, but the Trial Chambers somewhat trivialize those systems. Players who want lots of copper blocks will be incentivized to tear the chambers apart, leaving the combat challenges, and loot rewards intact but not the fun environment they are housed in.

One suggestion I have to fix this would be to add another common stone type for the Trial Chambers to be built out of. Perhaps a nice set of blue stone bricks, like the microcline found in Dwarf Fortress. It could also generate in the world similarly to granite, andesite, and diorite.

Sage died from a bee sting while harvesting wax for his copper blocks

• Dwarf Fortress (SteamPowered.com)

FROM: Hibiscvs
SUBJECT: Nether Structure

Hi Pix, and Joel,

I was listening to Episode 281, and the email about Nether structures piqued my interest. I am that person! I love playing Minecraft as a Nether-only survival challenge! I love the idea of taking on the challenge to thrive in the dying wasteland. I’ve been into it ever since the 1.16 snapshots started coming out but after a couple of weeks playing it, it becomes obvious it has some big flaws.

In response to the episode email, I’d like to add the idea of “transitional biomes”, biomes that are the blend of two existing ones. For example, Crimson Plains would be an intermediary step between Nether Wastes, and Crimson Forests. I feel the current transitions are quite harsh going from a lifeless cavern to a lush, dense forest.

What do you guys think?

Hibiscvs has reached the goal. [Postmortem]