I guess everyone who gets sucked into the trap of Minecraft ends up imagining ways to improve the game. I am of course no exception and in the hours I’ve whiled away working on my Big Project™ (or getting pushed into lava streams by skeletons) I’ve come up with a number of them – all but one of which are actually slated for the next update (great minds obviously think alike…).
My one, original idea? Lodestones!
The recipe for a lodestone is…
C = Compass
R = Redstone Dust
? = Either a Diamond, an Iron Ingot, a Gold Ingot, a piece of Coal, a unit of Lapis Lazuli Dye, an Emerald (once launched) or another pile of Redstone Dust
| ? | ||
| R | C | R |
| R |
So what the heck does a lodestone do? Simple. If you’re within 20 blocks (or maybe 15 blocks, or 10 blocks, or whatever) of ore for the particular mineral it was made with, it starts glowing and chiming.
It doesn’t tell you what direction the ore is in – you have to figure that out by moving back and forwards until it stops reacting – it just tells you the ore is nearby. It’s up to you to find it and dig it out.
So that’s my idea. You listening Notch? 😉
It’s a good idea. 🙂
Great idea Denys! Stay tuned for Minecraft 1.2.6 – The Lodestone edition 😉
Notch? Is that really you? I had no idea that you use exactly the same email address as my good friend Ryan! 😉
Great idea as long as it does’t make mining too easy or take away from the serendipity of stumbling on an ore. Perhaps the lodestone needs more effort to craft, like enchanting. Or perhaps it needs recharging periodically. Stay tuned for ‘Minecraft 1.2.6 – The Lodestone edition’!
Good points – I think the main limiting factor would be the range that it works over (if it’s limited to 10 blocks it’ll be much less game-breaking than 20) and the fact that you need to track down at least 1 piece of the desired mineral before you can make one. Oh, and you also need a good supply of redstone and iron to make the compass and upgrade it to a lodestone.