This is my opinion on adding another dimension to Minecraft.
I think it would be cool to have a Foundational dimension that effects/controls things in the Natural world. It would be a dimension where you would be able to program the Natural realm through the use of blocks similar to pistons and redstone.
These piston-type blocks would need to be specialized to be able to move blocks in very specific ways, work together in groups, create/destroy blocks, duplicate themselves, destroy themselves, shrink stuff, expand stuff, speed stuff up, other.
As an example of use, the player would rig a bunch of these pistons to a tree, triggered by pressure plates. The effect is that when the pressure plate is activated, the tree animates to bend over and swipe at the ground. The Foundational dimension would be an exact duplicate of the Natural realm, so the same tree can be found in the Natural realm. The pistons and pressure plates attached to the tree in the Foundational dimension are invisible and undetectable in the Natural realm. The pressure plates are also invisible, but they can be stepped on.
So the experience is that the player is walking through the forest, steps on an unseen pressure plate, and the tree comes to life next to him.
The Foundational realm is a 3d gui to program the Natural world; like a meta-Minecraft, or The Matrix of Minecraft.
Other:
Perhaps in the Foundational realm there's a monster factory (anyone remember star wars droid factory?!) The monster factory allows for the creation of new mobs, and their criteria for spawning. In the Natural realm, the players don't see the behind-the-scenes. They just see a new monster spawning.
Perhaps there could be a radial detector. It would be created similar to the way a tripwire is, except it would encircle (or partially encircle) a block at a certain radius. It would track with the block. If the block is stationary, then the radial detector is stationary and it acts like a security system. But if the block is moving (like a mob), then the radial detector also moves and it becomes a line-of-site indicator for a mob's ai, or perhaps a "hearing range" within which anything making a sound attracts the mob.
Uh... That's a bit useless. See, bending trees wouldn't work as well as anything really. How does the game differentiate between placed redstone and 'used' redstone? Plus, there aren't forests in the Nether.
Probably I'm not making the idea clear. The use cases are endless -- you'd be able to do whatever you wanted in Minecraft. The new realm would function like a giant Command Block, except instead of typing, you're altering the rules to minecraft by using circuitry.
You're walking through the forest, and the trees become mobs like in Lord of the Rings. That's what I mean, not just that they animate.
The game would differentiate between the two redstones (call one goldstone) because they are in 2 different dimensions. When you're in the natural world, you don't see the "puppet strings".
No, it's not the Nether. It's a different dimension, like Nether, End, Aether, and ??? You could call it Oz or Metacraft or something else.
A dimension that you can alter at your own free will? Some people call that Creative Mode. I'm not seeing too much of a point in this dimension you're suggesting, as it seems like a slight variation of the Overworld but with some unfitting features that don't fit the game at all or are copies from something else. And dude, "monster factories"? Seriously?
It wouldn't mess up servers anymore than Command Block would.
The dimension is much more than creative mode or the Overworld. It would be as much a part of the ideology of Minecraft as building stuff out of blocks is, or as much as modding is.
The "monster factories" are one example of an infinite number of things that could be done. If it's a bad idea, then so be it. The point is not about monster factories, it's about giving creative control and customization to people who want more out of Minecraft. It's the same principal as creating golems and shooting monster eggs out of a dispenser, except that you get to define how the monster looks, moves, how many limbs, ai, size, etc.
You could build a giant Hydra and let it loose on a city, or turn the whole thing into a sci-fi theme, or put in the pyrotechnics stand. Games have always allowed this type of customization, but it's always been limited to programmers. With Minecraft, there's the possibility that it can be in-game, and be the first 3d gui system for programming.
But trees CAN'T be mobs. Or else they couldn't be cut down. Unless you're thinking of PhysicsCraft. This just seems useless, laggy and a potential for numerous crashes and hacks.
I think it would be cool to have a Foundational dimension that effects/controls things in the Natural world. It would be a dimension where you would be able to program the Natural realm through the use of blocks similar to pistons and redstone.
These piston-type blocks would need to be specialized to be able to move blocks in very specific ways, work together in groups, create/destroy blocks, duplicate themselves, destroy themselves, shrink stuff, expand stuff, speed stuff up, other.
As an example of use, the player would rig a bunch of these pistons to a tree, triggered by pressure plates. The effect is that when the pressure plate is activated, the tree animates to bend over and swipe at the ground. The Foundational dimension would be an exact duplicate of the Natural realm, so the same tree can be found in the Natural realm. The pistons and pressure plates attached to the tree in the Foundational dimension are invisible and undetectable in the Natural realm. The pressure plates are also invisible, but they can be stepped on.
So the experience is that the player is walking through the forest, steps on an unseen pressure plate, and the tree comes to life next to him.
The Foundational realm is a 3d gui to program the Natural world; like a meta-Minecraft, or The Matrix of Minecraft.
Other:
Perhaps in the Foundational realm there's a monster factory (anyone remember star wars droid factory?!) The monster factory allows for the creation of new mobs, and their criteria for spawning. In the Natural realm, the players don't see the behind-the-scenes. They just see a new monster spawning.
Perhaps there could be a radial detector. It would be created similar to the way a tripwire is, except it would encircle (or partially encircle) a block at a certain radius. It would track with the block. If the block is stationary, then the radial detector is stationary and it acts like a security system. But if the block is moving (like a mob), then the radial detector also moves and it becomes a line-of-site indicator for a mob's ai, or perhaps a "hearing range" within which anything making a sound attracts the mob.
You're walking through the forest, and the trees become mobs like in Lord of the Rings. That's what I mean, not just that they animate.
The game would differentiate between the two redstones (call one goldstone) because they are in 2 different dimensions. When you're in the natural world, you don't see the "puppet strings".
No, it's not the Nether. It's a different dimension, like Nether, End, Aether, and ??? You could call it Oz or Metacraft or something else.
The dimension is much more than creative mode or the Overworld. It would be as much a part of the ideology of Minecraft as building stuff out of blocks is, or as much as modding is.
The "monster factories" are one example of an infinite number of things that could be done. If it's a bad idea, then so be it. The point is not about monster factories, it's about giving creative control and customization to people who want more out of Minecraft. It's the same principal as creating golems and shooting monster eggs out of a dispenser, except that you get to define how the monster looks, moves, how many limbs, ai, size, etc.
You could build a giant Hydra and let it loose on a city, or turn the whole thing into a sci-fi theme, or put in the pyrotechnics stand. Games have always allowed this type of customization, but it's always been limited to programmers. With Minecraft, there's the possibility that it can be in-game, and be the first 3d gui system for programming.