Okay, remember how Notch mentioned there'd be like a map of the overworld, and you select where you want to spawn? This idea, I don't really like. It let's you know where you are and where other areas are right from the start. Along with that, it's not very practical with a world eight time Earth's size. It could have hundreds of thousands of seperate biomes in it, how are they all meant to be mapped out?
My proposal is that you select what type of area you spawn in. possible how large this area is in comparison to other areas, like /indev/'s level generator options, and the rest is down to the level generator. Biomes really only need to be a few square kilometres in size each, if that. Also, here's a list of some possible terrain types.
Plains
Terrain: Pretty standard stuff. Mostly flat grass, occasional small hills. Very few small caves. Almost no cliffs. There could be rivers running through some of the lower areas.
Resources: Average ore, but it'd be harder to find due to the lack of caves. Trees should grow not in groups like they currently do, but just a few scattered randomly across the landscape. Sand and gravel could be found along river banks. Red mushrooms grow here.
Mobs: Pigs, sheep and other livestock animals. Spiders could come out at night, along with maybe some new dangerous animal type. Probably not a fitting area for the undead hordes we know and love hate.
Uses for terrain: Good for building above-ground towns, as there is little in the way. Also great for building planned out underground structures, as there will be few caves to run into and interrupt your nicely planned grand hall of epicness.
Forest
Terrain: Like plains.
Resources: Lots and lots of trees. Both types of mushrooms.
Mobs: Piggies and creepers. Spiders too.
Uses for terrain: Wood collection. Forest towns might be nice.
Jungle
Terrain: Large trees everywhere. Terrain a fair bit rougher than a forest, too.
Resources: Lots and lots of trees. Some ore in cliffs and caves.
Mobs: Wild animals, spiders too. Monkeys which live in trees steal your stuff would be annoying, but might add an extra gameplay element :wink.gif:
Uses for terrain: Treetop forts here would be awesome. Also god for collection of wood.
Mountains
Terrain: Very mountainous. Grass and exposed stone. Possibly the rare volcano. Difficult area to traverse, as there are a lot of cliffs, but traveling underground via large cave networks is an option here.
Resources: Plenty of ore. Trees are rare and sand and gravel are non-existant. Brown mushrooms grow here.
Mobs: Our arachnid friends make the mountains their home. Creepers love the rocky landscapes. Possibly goats for food and wool.
Uses for terrain: Great place to mine, or set up an underground travel network to quickly access another area.
Desert
Terrain: Sand dunes, covered in at least a few metres of sand. An occasional oasis.
Resources: Sand and crap loads of it! Trees at any oasis which you might happen across.
Mobs: Creepers live in this harsh terrain. Possible new mobs could be camels and lions.
Uses for terrain: Brilliant place to collect sand, however it's probably not a very nice place to live...
Hell
Terrain: Lava. Stone and dirt. Grass does not grow here. Plenty of caves for mobs to hide in. Volcanoes everywhere.
Resources: Plenty of stone and good amounts of ore.
Mobs: Undead fiends prowl the area.
Uses for terrain: It's dangerous. Good if you want to give yourself plenty of challenge. Also good if you have a deathwish.
Ruins
Terrain: Broken walls and stuff everywhere. The land itself could vary. Underground randomly generated dungeons would be nice. It'd also be good to have randomly generated pitfalls and such.
Resources: Stone from the walls, other than that, normal amounts of resources.
Mobs: Undead live here. Also, dangerous animals may have overrun the place.
Uses for terrain: Explorational goodness! You could probably hole up in one of the smaller randomly generated rooms. Maybe if you're lucky, you'd get a pitfall in front of a small room. Light up the room, and you've got instant overnight protection.
Ocean
Terrain: Wet. Very very wet. Occasion deserted island.
Resources: Water?
Mobs: Fishies, maybe a rare shark.
Uses for terrain: You can... Swim... And possibly boat, if Notch decides boats will be added.
Floating Islands
Terrain: We all know what the floating islands are like :biggrin.gif:
Resources: Same as most other areas.
Mobs: Flying enemies, perhaps?
Uses for terrain: Floating fortresses. Other than that, not much.
I'll be adding more to this list as I think of them.
Okay, remember how Notch mentioned there'd be like a map of the overworld, and you select where you want to spawn? This idea, I don't really like. It let's you know where you are and where other areas are right from the start. Along with that, it's not very practical with a world eight time Earth's size. It could have hundreds of thousands of seperate biomes in it, how are they all meant to be mapped out?
This is the only part I explicitly agree with. The rest is...
Shmeh?
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
This may be a fad, but I love dragons, so why the heck not?
What about pacific islands?
Jungles and Rainforests?
Tundra?
Frozen lands?
I agree with this guy. I want as many area types as possible (yes I'm greedy). I think Qwill covers it a bit better in his monster thread (just previously posted, but again: viewtopic.php?f=1&t=9871).
Buster, I recommend that you edit the first post to contain all of the areas that Qwill has suggested, but using your format (Terrain; Resources; Mobs; Uses for Terrain), since Qwill has not done that yet, and I don't think he plans on doing so.
Obviously if you don't agree with his biome types then don't do it, but it's just a suggestion.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
The more Swiss cheese you have, the more holes you have.
The more holes you have, the less Swiss cheese you have.
Therefore, the more Swiss cheese you have the less Swiss cheese you have.
I don't think we need two biomes threads, but your details are nice. this could be appended to qwill's, or maybe blaster's thread here: viewtopic.php?f=1&t=9847
in fact, all three ought to be consolidated somehow... but I'm not sure how that'd be done and I can't do it myself anyway, so adding to one or the other would be good.
edit:
oh, I've already said that, haven't I. Sorry, I don't mean to nag.
My proposal is that you select what type of area you spawn in. possible how large this area is in comparison to other areas, like /indev/'s level generator options, and the rest is down to the level generator. Biomes really only need to be a few square kilometres in size each, if that. Also, here's a list of some possible terrain types.
Plains
Terrain: Pretty standard stuff. Mostly flat grass, occasional small hills. Very few small caves. Almost no cliffs. There could be rivers running through some of the lower areas.
Resources: Average ore, but it'd be harder to find due to the lack of caves. Trees should grow not in groups like they currently do, but just a few scattered randomly across the landscape. Sand and gravel could be found along river banks. Red mushrooms grow here.
Mobs: Pigs, sheep and other livestock animals. Spiders could come out at night, along with maybe some new dangerous animal type. Probably not a fitting area for the undead hordes we know and
lovehate.Uses for terrain: Good for building above-ground towns, as there is little in the way. Also great for building planned out underground structures, as there will be few caves to run into and interrupt your nicely planned grand hall of epicness.
Forest
Terrain: Like plains.
Resources: Lots and lots of trees. Both types of mushrooms.
Mobs: Piggies and creepers. Spiders too.
Uses for terrain: Wood collection. Forest towns might be nice.
Jungle
Terrain: Large trees everywhere. Terrain a fair bit rougher than a forest, too.
Resources: Lots and lots of trees. Some ore in cliffs and caves.
Mobs: Wild animals, spiders too. Monkeys which live in trees steal your stuff would be annoying, but might add an extra gameplay element :wink.gif:
Uses for terrain: Treetop forts here would be awesome. Also god for collection of wood.
Mountains
Terrain: Very mountainous. Grass and exposed stone. Possibly the rare volcano. Difficult area to traverse, as there are a lot of cliffs, but traveling underground via large cave networks is an option here.
Resources: Plenty of ore. Trees are rare and sand and gravel are non-existant. Brown mushrooms grow here.
Mobs: Our arachnid friends make the mountains their home. Creepers love the rocky landscapes. Possibly goats for food and wool.
Uses for terrain: Great place to mine, or set up an underground travel network to quickly access another area.
Desert
Terrain: Sand dunes, covered in at least a few metres of sand. An occasional oasis.
Resources: Sand and crap loads of it! Trees at any oasis which you might happen across.
Mobs: Creepers live in this harsh terrain. Possible new mobs could be camels and lions.
Uses for terrain: Brilliant place to collect sand, however it's probably not a very nice place to live...
Hell
Terrain: Lava. Stone and dirt. Grass does not grow here. Plenty of caves for mobs to hide in. Volcanoes everywhere.
Resources: Plenty of stone and good amounts of ore.
Mobs: Undead fiends prowl the area.
Uses for terrain: It's dangerous. Good if you want to give yourself plenty of challenge. Also good if you have a deathwish.
Ruins
Terrain: Broken walls and stuff everywhere. The land itself could vary. Underground randomly generated dungeons would be nice. It'd also be good to have randomly generated pitfalls and such.
Resources: Stone from the walls, other than that, normal amounts of resources.
Mobs: Undead live here. Also, dangerous animals may have overrun the place.
Uses for terrain: Explorational goodness! You could probably hole up in one of the smaller randomly generated rooms. Maybe if you're lucky, you'd get a pitfall in front of a small room. Light up the room, and you've got instant overnight protection.
Ocean
Terrain: Wet. Very very wet. Occasion deserted island.
Resources: Water?
Mobs: Fishies, maybe a rare shark.
Uses for terrain: You can... Swim... And possibly boat, if Notch decides boats will be added.
Floating Islands
Terrain: We all know what the floating islands are like :biggrin.gif:
Resources: Same as most other areas.
Mobs: Flying enemies, perhaps?
Uses for terrain: Floating fortresses. Other than that, not much.
I'll be adding more to this list as I think of them.
This is the only part I explicitly agree with. The rest is...
Shmeh?
Choosing a biome type to spawn in is interesting, though! at least when you spawn for the first time and don't have a house set up yet.
I agree with this guy. I want as many area types as possible (yes I'm greedy). I think Qwill covers it a bit better in his monster thread (just previously posted, but again: viewtopic.php?f=1&t=9871).
Buster, I recommend that you edit the first post to contain all of the areas that Qwill has suggested, but using your format (Terrain; Resources; Mobs; Uses for Terrain), since Qwill has not done that yet, and I don't think he plans on doing so.
Obviously if you don't agree with his biome types then don't do it, but it's just a suggestion.
The more holes you have, the less Swiss cheese you have.
Therefore, the more Swiss cheese you have the less Swiss cheese you have.
in fact, all three ought to be consolidated somehow... but I'm not sure how that'd be done and I can't do it myself anyway, so adding to one or the other would be good.
edit:
oh, I've already said that, haven't I. Sorry, I don't mean to nag.
I mean having two threads is fine.
Defend your words flexibly.
Change your words fittingly.
Let prejudice, popular opinion, and preconception be free from your judgments.
:tongue.gif:
Omfg yes yes yes