News MC 1.2

1st Official Post

    http://www.mojang.com/2012/02/…necraft-map-format-anvil/


    • 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

    and more...

    I saw this and flipped my lid in IRC.


    HELL YEA!


    As a modder who makes a mod that consumes TONS of BlockIDs even with Metadata this is a GODSEND.

    Quote from Alblaka

    Still remember the convo ending with "No, stop bugging me, cables transmitting energy are totally not possible! Use the batterys."

    Quote from Marc010

    jeb is awesome ^^



    Best Update since 1.7.3
    nobody needs the magic crap that was added in 1.8/1.1 :P


    This.


    I'm not even gay but I'd kiss Carl Manneh on the lips for this announcement. This gives us so much room for activities.

    Quote from Alblaka

    Still remember the convo ending with "No, stop bugging me, cables transmitting energy are totally not possible! Use the batterys."

    Good news and bad news there
    good news: More Block IDs and height to work with (woo! higher tanks of doom!)
    bad news: MCEdit. The original author said he's not updating it anymore.



    by "tank of doom" I mean in buildcraft. I tend to just build tall tanks from bedrock to the build height to store stuff in.

    Quote from Ook

    Good news and bad news there
    good news: More Block IDs and height to work with (woo! higher tanks of doom!)
    bad news: MCEdit. The original author said he's not updating it anymore.



    by "tank of doom" I mean in buildcraft. I tend to just build tall tanks from bedrock to the build height to store stuff in.


    WHAT? No McEdit? 8|


    Although horrible, I'm sure someone will pick up a similar tool for us to use. There may even be one that exists.

    I5 2500K | 4GB Cosair Vengence | Radeon 6850 | Rosewill 600w PSU | GigaByte Z68MA | CM Elite 311 | Dell 19" 720p (upgrading soon!)| Hitachi 500 GB 7200 HDD | LG 24X |Windows 7 (Genuine!)
    Alblaka in a Lightning Rod suggestion thread...[/size]

    Certainly a welcome stepping stone towards native mod support by the looks of things. :)


    Pitty about MCEdit, that's for sure.

    AW HELL YEAH!
    Increased Block IDs, higher worlds, and all around optimization... Whew, I'm so going to upgrade on my appdata install once it's ready.

    By the looks of this snapshot, Jens and the other Mojang employee still have to work out the kinks in it (like the whole game thinking that items are still above 256).


    But it looks promising. Can't wait for the REAL release!


    @beez Yeah, irony at it's finest. Notch leaving the Minecraft project seems to be the best thing that's happened yet.

    Quote from Alblaka

    Studymate of mine coded himself a C++ based tool. It's sort of 10.000x times faster then MCEdit, though it yet lacks the full functionality.


    If he completes it, it will make the day of any map maker. Sounds like a decent program.

    I5 2500K | 4GB Cosair Vengence | Radeon 6850 | Rosewill 600w PSU | GigaByte Z68MA | CM Elite 311 | Dell 19" 720p (upgrading soon!)| Hitachi 500 GB 7200 HDD | LG 24X |Windows 7 (Genuine!)
    Alblaka in a Lightning Rod suggestion thread...[/size]

    Quote from xKillerbees

    Notch leaving Minecraft has been the best thing to happen to Minecraft it appears.

    Never though I would agree with you about something... but this is certainly it, lol...


    However, if meta-data counts as a block ID now, that does make me wonder about the total volume of block ID data you can actually store. also, it begs the question of what will happen to any and all old saves under the 128 world generation format? Personally, I do restart a save each and every update now, but I worry about those who have been on an old world since 1.8...


    Sour about that MC Edit as well. There are some bugs that I have to solve with MCEdit just to reclaim worlds (stupid null block spawnings). Not going to like the idea of losing a world because the properties file decided to poop on ID Resolver and I didn't catch it before hand...

    Would anyone like to try a Slowpoke Tail?! Only 1 Million Yen!


    Quote

    this isn't about arrogance or ego, I have a block that I put a lot of freaking work into


    Every Mod Author, in existence. And yet, you STILL say otherwise.

    Quote from Rick

    But why didnt they made it possible to have 512, 1024 or even endless height? Performance issues because chunks are 16x16 instead of 16x16x16?


    Because there is a mod for that kind of thing (And Performance issues, indeed). If they took 256 as the new height then they plan on doing something (vainilla wise) with it otherwise they could have left it a 128.

    I remember reading a blog post from Notch a while ago about the technical troubles associated with doubling the world height, I'm very glad Jeb and Jon have figured out how to subvert them :D


    Although it appears as if terrain generation is mostly unaffected; it was explicitly described as "build height" that was effected, and apparently the save data has been modified so that empty areas aren't loaded/saved; that last step in particular is only applicable if the empty areas are. . . empty.


    I feel its not all bad though, walking to a new chunk and finding a sheer wall in front of me would be quite the surprise :P