I started up Minecraft, got the ‘Boo’ Update, and went into my world. This is a more recent world so it wasn’t very well carved out. I had it in my mind to do a session of mining. So I load up on my pick axes, my shovels, my bow and tons of arrows, and begin to make my way down.
Before, I had done elaborate mines where I’d have a skyroof from the top to the adminium floor where a ladder would go straight down. This time, I just dug diagonally from my shelter and went quite a ways until I broke into a natural cavern with a lava river and a water river. The cavern wasn’t ‘huge’ as it was long with it snaking all directions. Incredibly, it would go vertical at times. I am so used to going down that it was odd when I would enter a coliseum sized cavern on the bottom and would climb up (with skeletons shooting at me from the top). I had tracked this natural cavern through countless mountains into areas with full lava lakes to underground pools and flowing rivers. Mining via the natural cavern saves me so much time as so many minerals can be seen just by looking at the walls. I found much diamond this way as well as other minerals.
Anyway, I had it in my mind to do a session of mining so I got my gear and went to the furthest end of my snakey natural caverns (which was now right above the adminium floor). I found TONS of iron ore which I had been searching for. I had a very productive session and decided it was time to go back up to store all this fantastic ore I collected and to get a bucket of water. Why a bucket of water? So I could splash it on the lava lakes and get some obsideon (to make the portal).
As I traveled back through my snakey mines, going up, going down, going left and right, right and left, climbing up, climbing down, I was nearing the earlier areas of the mine. At one point, I thought I saw a skeleton walking away from me as he went down a hall and got out of view. I shook my head. That was impossible! I had been mining too long. We all know monsters cannot spawn in well lit areas. Nevertheless, I cautiously snuck around the side and the crack of a bow jolted me. I ran back as the skeleton was hiding near the wall. I took out my bow and arrow and returned. It was a duel as both the skeleton and I flung arrows throughout the cavern. Skeletons are not normally difficult to beat, but they are in large open caverns where you cannot duck behind anything.
Eventually, I backed up too far and fell into a natural shaft (that leads to other natural tunnels I already had lit and explored). Getting a grip of my senses, I look around and stare at how a spider was bouncing around (unknown to my presence) right in the middle of the torch light. It felt very wrong how these monsters were appearing in my mine. But the evil skeleton! I looked up, readied my bow and arrows, and began to make my way back up the shaft. As I reached the top of the shaft, the skeleton looked at me from point blank range. Then he fired, and I died.
As I ran naked from the sandy shore back to my glass enclave (that now took up one side of a mountain), I spotted the warm glowing of my base in the blackness of the night, As I ran, I thought how lucky it was that I died in an earlier area of my twisted mining tunnels. It would be relatively simple to collect all my stuff. As I enter the shaft, I pick up a sword from one of my many chests. I descend.
Everything was gone. The skeleton was gone. My stuff was gone. Even the spider was gone. What in the world? Maybe I didn’t die there. I searched all throughout my mining tunnels but couldn’t find my stuff. Perhaps it disappeared before I could get there? (It would be until much later that I realized this was the fault of a bug.)
Mining with monsters appearing in your mine shafts made me not want to mine anymore! So let’s go exploring. I made a bucket, went back to the ocean and got me a pail of water. Then I went back into the mine to the depths of the vast lava lake. I dumped my bucket of water on the lava and laughed gleefully as it all turned into obsidian. Using the diamond pick I smartly kept in a chest, I got tons of obsidian.
A question arose that I didn’t consider: Where do you make an interdimensional portal into a hellish dimension? You just can’t put it in your living room. So I placed it near my spawn point at the beach. Should a ghast spawn near it, my base was far enough away that the ghast wouldn’t be able to damage it or see it.
I make the portal and get spooked by the creepy noise it was making. But I wasn’t ready to jump in yet. I quickly made a workbench then made a huge chest and placed it beside the portal. I put my diamond items in there and practically everything on me. All I had was a few pickaxes, a sword, and some torches. Now ready, I threw myself into the magical portal. The world got very fuzzy, and I saw what every adventurer sees when he passes out: a loading screen.
When I reappeared, I found myself on a flying island above an ocean of magma. Waterfalls of magma streamed from above. Small puddles of magma fountain around me. It was so close that if I took one step to the right, I would be in magma and instantly die.
But the first thing I saw was a ghast right in my face. I ran. The ghast screamed and I quickly became aware that four ghasts were at my position. I jumped madly up the little mountains of flying island as fireballs rained down behind me. Hearing more strange noise, I turned around and saw an army of zombie pigmen attacking my portal! At least, that is what it looked like. I kept running and eventually the ghasts couldn’t see me anymore so they left me alone.
With my back to the rock, I carefully scooted around being only on a ledge. The screams were terrifying. I looked up and saw a Ghast hovering around and it flew underneath a magma waterfall. As it got hit, it screamed and screamed until its body fell into the magma ocean.
Unfortunately, other ghasts saw me and fireballs came my way. I tried to dodge some, but eventually the ledge broke away, and I fell right into the middle of the magma ocean.
The Core, the hellish place the portal leads, needs some work. First, there isn’t much interesting minerals or items to get down there. But more importantly, it feels like a mess. The reason why the regular world is fun is because it looks like a regular world. There is a sky. There are trees. There are mountains and lakes and caves. I can associate with it. But I cannot associate with flying jellyfish, magma waterfalls from the sky, and zombie pigmen. The fact that 40% of the place is just oceans of magma seems like a waste.
Perhaps a much better idea is if it was an interconnected group of mega dungeons. Another possibility would be if these alternate worlds were used similarly as WoW’s instance dungeons were. Some worlds could be very unique. But it would be an actual dungeon instead of just some moss stone and a generator. In the future, a Minecraft world could branch out to different servers of unique dungeons where it would have unique treasure.
Anyway, aside from the inventory bug it is a fantastic update. I am going to have to re-do my mine now and chop it up into pieces to better protect myself against these aggressive monsters that now spawn in light.
If you think biomes are great, just wait until biome specific monsters! Can you say ‘evil snowmen’?
And to those who have Minecraft but haven’t played the update, take my advice:
Turn off the lights and play the game with headphones. I haven’t seen a game this scary since System Shock 2.
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