Foreword: So, this is my final thread on vehicles. It incorporates my ideas and those of others. Mostly I forget their names, so only if they tell me will I credit them.
The Controversy
The problem most people have with vehicles is theme. They look at minecraft and say that it's medieval, or else a fantasy realm. I respectfully disagree with that. I assign no stereotypical theme to minecraft, but rather what I think will most improve the feel of the game, it's "flavor" if you will.
That said, I'm not looking to see spaceships and jet airplanes and free-wheeling cars. Thus I will present in this thread a range of vehicle options, coupled with a proposed description and implementation. They are ordered by environment, and within each classification, the vehicles are ordered by how acceptable they might be to the community (most to least).
The Implementation
To start making vehicles, one needs to create a vehicle crafting square. To do so, a new block - the vehicle crafting block let's say - needs to be crafted nine times. The recipe should therefore require advanced materials, but be high-yield. These nine blocks are placed in a 3x3 square in the desired location; this square becomes the vehicle crafting square. Right clicking anywhere on the square opens the crafting GUI. The grid in the GUI should be large - about 5x5 or 6x6, maybe more. One major difference in vehicle crafting is that sometimes more than one piece of a certain resource is required in each spot. This keeps vehicles from becoming to easy to obtain.
Now, the last stipulation is tenuous. If my Mechanical System suggestion were to be implemented (or anything comparable) there should be another requirement. The square needs 2 mechanical energy inputs to work. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, don't worry about it. If not that, then a bucket of lava might be a necessary input.
Once the player has input their materials into the grid, they click a button on the GUI to assemble the vehicle. The vehicle is then baked like a furnace smelts ore, using a slowly filling arrow. The time is different for each arrow, If there is enough space and all requirements have been met when it is finished, the vehicle spawns on the square. If there isn't enough space, the GUI tells you. That's about it. Now for the vehicles themselves.
The Vehicles
Water Based Vehicles
Obviously there is already one, the boat. The boat remains as is except for a major speed reduction.
The obvious next step after the boat is a sailing ship. The sailing ship would be about four blocks high and 8 long, submerged about half-way. The surface of the ship would be solid (the player collides with it) - actually all the vehicles in this suggestion are that way. Thus, players can stand on the deck of the ship while at anchor (not really at anchor, just stationary) or control it via a right-clickable wheel at the aft end. The ship would be fast (current boat top speed), moderately durable, and able to hold some cargo.
The next ship would be an iron-clad steam-boat. It would be slower than the sailing ship, faster than the (new) boat, and a lot more durable than either. It would hold only as much cargo as the sailing ship, and be about as large, but riding lower in the water. One possibility is that a cannon could be mounted on its foredeck.
The final and least likely craft is a submarine. It would be small, slow and allow underwater excursions with unlimited air. How To: To make water-craft with the system, it would be necessary to construct a drydock, with the crafting square at the bottom. Once the vehicle has spawned, you would let the water in to sail it away.
Rail Based Vehicles
Rail-based vehicles also have a precedent, the minecart, which will remain completely unchanged.
The evolution of the rail vehicle is a bit different than boats.
The first addition is obviously the train. Trains will be a modular system, with the ability to link cars together. Instead of riding on one track, like the minecart, trains require two in parallel (it may be necessary to make tracks a bit cheaper). The first train-car that must be crafted is a locomotive. The locomotive unlinked has a top speed twice that of the minecart. Each additional car subtracts from that. Linking additional locomotives negates speed reduction effects. A player would place coal in engine then enter and set the throttle to desired speed. You could stay in the locomotive or get out and let it move away.
There are many possibilities for auxiliary train cars. Obvious cars include mass storage cars (stacked on a flatbed), a passenger car (mass transport in SMP), or just a flatbed car for show (or it could be a moving platform to build on). More dubious cars could have mounted weapons like bassilae or cannons, or perhaps even edit-able billboards (for SMP or otherwise). There's also the automated mining application. A drill car is pushed in front, followed by a track layer car, a cargo car (which could conceivably auto-capture resources), and the locomotive. It would drill a tunnel and collect the ores. There are more possibilities, but I'll leave it at that.
The final rail-based vehicle would be the wide-base chassis. It travels using two rails, with one block space between them, as opposed to the train. It requires powered two minecarts or a locomotive to move it. I haven't really developed this one, but there are two options. The first is that it acts like the aforementioned flatbed, a moving platform to build things on. The other option I will discuss in another section. How To: To make rail-based vehicles is even easier than water craft. The player need only connect the neccesary rails to the crafting square. The square itself acts like an omni-directional rail surface. The rail vehicles will spawn oriented towards wherever you connected the rails.
EDIT: To move trains around, something like a rail elevator could be built, using one of many suggestions on elevators and the like. The switching system should also be improved.
Air Based Vehicles
Air-based vehicles have no precedent. They are a subject of much contention. Obviously, they're included on the list.
The first would be a simple hot air balloon, small, and slow. It would simply be a boat connected by ropes to an overhead balloon. The boat part would contain an engine and have a small propeller. It would move slower than walking pace and be extremely fragile.
The next in sequence would be an airship (or zeppelin, or blimp, or whatever you want to call it). In any case, it would be large, the biggest vehicle yet. It would consist of a smallish cabin under an ovoid (well, a bunch of rectangles stuck together looking like a highly pixelated ovoid) gasbag larger than a sailing ship. The cabin could be physically entered by the player. It would consist of a steering interface, a storage module, and perhaps small twin ballistae, one on each side. Propellers would be mounted on either side of the cabin. The airship would move at 1.5x walking speed. It has moderate durability. Probably would run on a coal engine.
The last air-based vehicle is one I don't expect much support for. It's an archaic prop-plane. The plane would be of very low durability. The plane would only rise very slowly, but accelerate quickly and have a top speed as fast as a locomotive. Therefore a long runway is required to take off. Landing would require a similarly long runway, because the plane loses speed a lot slower than it gains it. The plane would only seat one player, and would have a small storage capacity. Again, a coal engine. How To: Making the air-based vehicles is easy. They just spawn normally on the crafting square.
Static Vehicles
Static vehicles aren't really vehicles. They're usable machines that don't move on their own, and aren't rail based.
Included could be: A cannon turret or ballista; a crane or an excavation machine; an observatory (I have no idea what use this would be); an arcane teleporter (highly resource intensive); drill platform, drills straight downward in a 1x1 shaft, and only drills a max of 30 40 blocks down Can be carried on a railcar and moved as needed to drill now holes. There may be more. It's a limited category.
With these comes the other use of the previously discussed rail-based wide platform. If you use a vehicle crafting square to make a static vehicle while a rail platform is parked on top, the static vehicle would spawn mounted on the rail platform. Then, it could either act as a mobile static vehicle (oxymoron, I know), or you could move the platform (via rail) to the the spot where you want the static vehicle and destroy the platform. The static vehicle would then drop down and stay in that spot. So, you could have cannons on your wall, or an observatory on your roof. Or you could have a moving excavation machine, a portable teleportation platform, and an armada of rail-based cannons.
The Conclusion
So, if you actually read all that...
I'm not going to make a long argument about why these vehicles would benefit gameplay. Suffice it to say, I think these all fit the game. It's a game about mining and development essentially. The logical next step is production. Why not add further rungs on the tech ladder?
As for the implementation aspect, I think it works nicely. It's not too complicated and it's dynamic, able to be used with any type of vehicle.
As to those who will claim it makes the game too easy: Not really, each of these vehicles would require a good sum of resources.
In any case, I see this opening up a lot of possibilities for cooler buildings and facilities. You could have your wharves and drydocks for shipbuilding, linked by rail to your switching yards, a nexus for your material transport system. Hangars would cease to be useless. Underwater bases would be more feasible and more fun.
For best results I would recommend this suggestion in conjunction to my proposed mechanical system. The two would work well together in offering a minecraft with a more steampunk, archaic technology sort of feel. The link is back in the implementation section.
Anyway...
Responses?
Note: The following is a joke (maybe).
Giga-Drill Machine
The most powerful available vehicle is the giga-drill machine. It is roughly 12 blocks long and 5x5 wide/tall. It consists of a massive, front mounted, diamond embedded drill, followed by a large tracked, heavily armored chassis. The chassis has a retractable cannon mounted on top. The vehicle is nearly indestructible, able to wallow in lava indefinitely, barely scratched by a point blank creeper blast, and able to withstand falls hundreds of blocks long. The player can control speed (max 2x walking) and turning, on the surface, where it can drive up inclines. When switched into drill mode, it moves considerably slower (walking pace), autocollects resources, and the player controls drilling angle, and can rotate it slowly. Switching into cannon mode allows the player to aim the artillery piece while above ground. The drill has builtin storage of about 16 double chests as well as a portable crafting surface, accessible through the drilling interface or from the exterior. The drill can swim through water in drill mode, or drive along the bottom. The air supply is indefinitely long. The drill also features a miniaturized nether shifter. The vehicle can enter the nether at will and exit it at will. However, the single danger to the drill is slowstone. If the drills entire chassis is over slowstone, it will be stuck, forever. The final feature is the drill's dual headlights, a constant source of illumination.
To build the giga-drill, roughly 512 iron, 128 diamonds, 128 redstone dust, 64 light-stone, 32 glass, 16 furnaces, 256 string, 128 gunpowder, and 256 gold are required in the vehicle crafting square. The creation stage for the drill takes about 5 days.
Sorry about the title. Had to catch your attention somehow.
LINKED SUGGESTION WARNING EVERYTHING IN RED LINKS TO MY VEHICLES SUGGESTION
Mechanics and systems. Uses countless half-formed ideas by countless people. Assumes that new materials will be implemented. (copper, steam)
No crafting recipes are proposed. Feel free to supply them.
DISCLAIMER: This is far-fetched, but possible, I think.
Mechanical energy indicates that a component is "on". it's pretty much what it sounds like. Sometime abbreviated M.E.
There are three types of flow: Flows:
Redstone Current
As it is. It's either on or off. It adds elements of logic and control to the system. Liquid/Gas
When harnessed by drains, liquids or gases flow through pipes to mechanisms that utilize them or to valves to be redistributed. Possible liquids/gases: water, lava, *steam, *combustible gas, *float gas, *mud, et cetera. Mechanical Energy
The energy that powers the mechanical system. Power mechanisms provide a "mechanical energy charge" that can power one mechanism. For every mechanism in the system, there needs to be one energy source. If more mechanisms than power sources are attached, those placed over the limit won't work. If a necessary source is removed, the entire system will stop and must be replaced (salvageable).
Components:
Gear
Pretty simple, but with many uses. It's the base of the mechanics system. Crafted with iron. You get about 2 for each iron ore. Used in many other pieces/parts. You can also place gears on walls (like the ones from indev) to channel energy between gearboxes and mechanisms in the vertical 2D plane. Possible uses are M.E. logic gates or pure decoration. Drive Shaft
Made from logs, it connects gear boxes, and some mechanisms. It transfers mechanical energy. Only connects in a single line, no corners, from a gear shaft or mechanism to another gear box or mechanism. About one log for each block of length. Inspired by this concept which may or may not have been made by a "jon_z". I really don't know. Great job, whoever you are! Pipe
Connects drains to other objects to move liquids. Placed like the drive-shaft, but allows bends. It cannot, however, branch. When a pipe ends unconnected to a drain or anything else, it is capped for simplicity. If pipes carrying different substances meet, the reactions could be either harmless, debilitating, or explosive in certain situations... Examples: Connect boilers and valves or drains to move steam easily, or boil water. Move lava, harvest gases, make burners, etc. Pipes are relatively inexpensive, probably yielding about 8 for every ingot of metal. Valve
Place onto a pipe end. The valve releases whatever is flowing through the pipe at the level it is flowing at. If a valve carrying combustible gas is lit on fire, it acts like a dangerous torch, spreading light, but also lighting things on fire. Rope
Starts as a single block entity. Attached to a regular block, it can be extended with a held right click, and retracted with another. Player can climb said rope like a ladder. Attached to the bottom of a gear box, it either extends or is shortened continually (not block-by-block), depending on whether gear box is on or off. Moving entities, including more rope for more extension, can be attached to other end (not like like in extenders, this is strictly entities). Made with lots, and lots of string. Has some maximum extension length. Grate
Simpler than a drain, it allows the flow of water and nothing else. Made with iron. Minecart Track Switch Button Pressure Plate Redstone Torch Redstone
Intermediary Blocks:
Gear Box
Crafted using iron, wood, and gears. It's a place-able block that takes one drive shaft input and can output another or mechanical energy in another direction. It also allows mechanisms as inputs directly. A redstone or wire input can activate/deactivate it. Low yield. About one for 4 iron. Can work in conjunction with circuit blocks to create complex systems. Conducts M.E. to other gear boxes directly adjacent as well. Inspired by this concept. Redstone Box
Crafted using copper, redstone, and wood. It acts exactly like redstone, in block form, and looks a little more steam-punk tech-ish. High yield, about one for each wood and copper. Circuit Box
Crafted using copper, redstone, and iron. It's a block that allows the user to create large redstone circuits inside, on a sort of crafting grid. You can select which sides are inputs and outputs. Low yield, about one for four iron and four copper Can work in conjunction with gear boxes to create complex systems. Drain/Pump
Crafted with iron, gravel, and a gear. Any liquid or gas can flow into the drain from any side, or the top. Connect a pipe to one side, and the level of liquid or gas that was flowing into the drain will flow through the pipe. If connected to an M.E. source, the level that flows through the connected pipes will be maxed (does not work with lava). Redstone current switches it "off". When it's "off", no water is allowed through, and the connected pipes return to zero level. Timer
Turns connected redstone power on and off over a certain user-defined (by GUI) interval. Immensely useful for sertain types of automation. Made using a time-piece, gear, and copper.
Mechanisms:
[Power] Windmill
Placed on a gear box, above a certain altitude, with at least 24 blocks of space directly in front of it, and some radius of blocks free around it, it creates M.E.(mechanical energy). Intermittently switches off and on. An array of windmills are required to be a dependable energy source. Only produces a single M.E. counter. Inspired by this concept. Steam Engine
Placed adjacent to a gear box, and given a steam pipe from a boiler, it produces 2 M.E. counters. Boiler
Given water input from a pipe, and fed coal or source lava from another pipe, it outputs steam from a third pipe. Moderately coal efficient. Coal Engine
Burns coal very quickly for M.E. when placed next to a gear box. Coal inefficient. Produces only one M.E. counter. The sole advantage is that it's quick and easy.
[Utilities] Minecart Accelerator
Given M.E. (mechanical energy), and having a minecart track placed on top, it accelerates the minecart swiftly. Made with stone and a gear. Inspired by this concept. Launcher
Given M.E. it launches any entity on top of it into the air, while they retain their horizontal momentum. Useful for bridging gaps on a minecart. made with gears, wood, and springs. Conveyor
Given M.E., it moves any entities on top of it in the direction of linkage to the next conveyor. It conducts M.E. to adjacent conveyors. Acts like minecart tracks when placing it. Made with cloth, wood, and gears. Extender
Attach to a gear box. (It will extend away from the box when active). Then attach other blocks to it. Only blocks placed on the extender and placed on blocks placed on the connecter and so on will be included. When done with whatever you wanted to attach, right click the extender. If the construction you made is under a certain block number, it "bakes" it into a block-grid entity, blocks that move like entities, but with block-style collisions. When the host gear box is activated, the end object on the extender extends a player-set (in the "bake" stage, along with connector visibility) number of blocks or until the construction hits a block. Moves freely in fluids. Made with iron and gears. Utilizes the block-grid entity idea by Mystify. Look it up.
Could be used for elevators, moving plats, large doors, bridges, hidden pathways under lava or water, cycling crushers (traps), and a lot more. Bridger
Attached to a gear box. when the gear box activates, the bridger extends a half-block thick surface (texture debatable. multiple recipes?) to stand on in the direction opposite the gear box, until it meets another block or solid entity, or a max distance. Made with wood and gears. Used for simple bridges and such.
Misc.
Multi-purpose Boat
It would be a replacement/modification of the current boat. Can be attached to rope to make an elevator. Can be combined with a chest. Has all the current properties of the current boat, except can be placed on land, and is a bit more durable.
NOTE: These last few are for end-game resource management, allowing the user to focus on more complex building and crafting, rather than gathering materials.
Factory Workbench
M.E. required. Can set a design to automate, given the materials. It can receive material from conveyors. Exports finished product to an adjacent [chest/factory workbench/compactor/furnace/etc]. Made with gear, wood, and iron. If fed incompatible materials, it breaks, and must be destroyed. Factory Furnace
M.E. required. Can set a certain smelt to automate, given the materials. It can receive material from conveyors. Exports finished product to an adjacent [chest/factory workbench/compactor/furnace/etc]. Made with gear, furnace, and iron. If fed incompatible materials, it breaks, and must be destroyed.
Vehicle Factory
Crafting the block requires iron, a gear, redstone, and smooth stone. Yields 3. 9 blocks must be placed in a three by three configuration. This then requires two M.E. inputs. Used to build vehicles on a 7x7 crafting grid.
Details in: VEHICLES REDOX
AMAZING EXAMPLES :ohmy.gif:
A system using conveyors to dump your mining products on that deposits them in a factory furnace to be refined and then to a factory workbench to be turned into stairs, or steps, or tracks, or anything else.
A system to Kill mobs and harvest their drops easily using gas flames and conveyors.
Better mine-cart track systems.
Easier redstone logic systems for more compact locks, a central control computer for a factory, and more.
For example, you could have an array of factory furnaces and workbenches connected to your automining system. You have a control room with circuit boxes. Each can have multiple switches and ouputs on them. That way you can controller the conveyor flow and divert resources to the factory equipment you need working a the tinme. It would be a system requiring ingenuity, but do-able.
Faster player transport systems. (Elevators, moving platforms, etc.)
Combination with auto-drills to completely automate strip-mining.
Dynamic bridges for crossings over moats and such.
Extender has a huge array of uses. Some might be fancy elevators, moving platforms, or many other creative things.
Extravagant decorations and doodads.
AND MORE!
TLDR: A combination logic/mechanical system, utilizing power sources and mechanisms to construct complex systems for a variety of tasks and functions.
Yeah, it's a good idea. I suggested it a LOOOOOOONNNNGGGGG time ago. (roughly 4 months) http://www.minecraftforum.net/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=8545
Mine was less of a developed suggestion. XD
I'm glad someone else is crusading for this. When I suggested it, I was promptly snubbed by Timst. XD
I don't oppose guns because they don't fit with theme historically, or because they don't make sense with the current tech. They do on both accounts.
The fact is I just don't like the concept. I believe I don't stand alone when I say: Mine Craft is NOT an FPS. I'm not saying that guns or even one gun would make it that, but...
I don't like the idea that a person can aim, shoot, and their target will be hit. Arrows give time for a player to evade. Even crossbows won't be UN-dodge-able. Guns are too overpowered. Even if it takes a long time to reload, and they do a lot of damage, you can still aim, fire from a good distance away, reload and fire again before your enemy even knows where you are. They give the game-play a whole different feel.
To sum up my viewpoint:
It's not about theme here. It's about the game-play mechanic.
As a craft-able object attainable through technological progression, yes. I'm not sure what's supposed to power it, but...there's always the arcane!
I can see it now, a massive strip mine on an MP server with fan conveyors, and miners working in different areas down the line. Whenever they are full on blocks they just throw them on the conveyor to be relayed to the builders of a fortification, or a town, or a castle. The perfect system.
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The problem most people have with vehicles is theme. They look at minecraft and say that it's medieval, or else a fantasy realm. I respectfully disagree with that. I assign no stereotypical theme to minecraft, but rather what I think will most improve the feel of the game, it's "flavor" if you will.
That said, I'm not looking to see spaceships and jet airplanes and free-wheeling cars. Thus I will present in this thread a range of vehicle options, coupled with a proposed description and implementation. They are ordered by environment, and within each classification, the vehicles are ordered by how acceptable they might be to the community (most to least).
To start making vehicles, one needs to create a vehicle crafting square. To do so, a new block - the vehicle crafting block let's say - needs to be crafted nine times. The recipe should therefore require advanced materials, but be high-yield. These nine blocks are placed in a 3x3 square in the desired location; this square becomes the vehicle crafting square. Right clicking anywhere on the square opens the crafting GUI. The grid in the GUI should be large - about 5x5 or 6x6, maybe more. One major difference in vehicle crafting is that sometimes more than one piece of a certain resource is required in each spot. This keeps vehicles from becoming to easy to obtain.
Now, the last stipulation is tenuous. If my Mechanical System suggestion were to be implemented (or anything comparable) there should be another requirement. The square needs 2 mechanical energy inputs to work. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, don't worry about it. If not that, then a bucket of lava might be a necessary input.
Once the player has input their materials into the grid, they click a button on the GUI to assemble the vehicle. The vehicle is then baked like a furnace smelts ore, using a slowly filling arrow. The time is different for each arrow, If there is enough space and all requirements have been met when it is finished, the vehicle spawns on the square. If there isn't enough space, the GUI tells you. That's about it. Now for the vehicles themselves.
The obvious next step after the boat is a sailing ship. The sailing ship would be about four blocks high and 8 long, submerged about half-way. The surface of the ship would be solid (the player collides with it) - actually all the vehicles in this suggestion are that way. Thus, players can stand on the deck of the ship while at anchor (not really at anchor, just stationary) or control it via a right-clickable wheel at the aft end. The ship would be fast (current boat top speed), moderately durable, and able to hold some cargo.
The next ship would be an iron-clad steam-boat. It would be slower than the sailing ship, faster than the (new) boat, and a lot more durable than either. It would hold only as much cargo as the sailing ship, and be about as large, but riding lower in the water. One possibility is that a cannon could be mounted on its foredeck.
The final and least likely craft is a submarine. It would be small, slow and allow underwater excursions with unlimited air.
How To: To make water-craft with the system, it would be necessary to construct a drydock, with the crafting square at the bottom. Once the vehicle has spawned, you would let the water in to sail it away.
The evolution of the rail vehicle is a bit different than boats.
The first addition is obviously the train. Trains will be a modular system, with the ability to link cars together. Instead of riding on one track, like the minecart, trains require two in parallel (it may be necessary to make tracks a bit cheaper). The first train-car that must be crafted is a locomotive. The locomotive unlinked has a top speed twice that of the minecart. Each additional car subtracts from that. Linking additional locomotives negates speed reduction effects. A player would place coal in engine then enter and set the throttle to desired speed. You could stay in the locomotive or get out and let it move away.
There are many possibilities for auxiliary train cars. Obvious cars include mass storage cars (stacked on a flatbed), a passenger car (mass transport in SMP), or just a flatbed car for show (or it could be a moving platform to build on). More dubious cars could have mounted weapons like bassilae or cannons, or perhaps even edit-able billboards (for SMP or otherwise). There's also the automated mining application. A drill car is pushed in front, followed by a track layer car, a cargo car (which could conceivably auto-capture resources), and the locomotive. It would drill a tunnel and collect the ores. There are more possibilities, but I'll leave it at that.
The final rail-based vehicle would be the wide-base chassis. It travels using two rails, with one block space between them, as opposed to the train. It requires powered two minecarts or a locomotive to move it. I haven't really developed this one, but there are two options. The first is that it acts like the aforementioned flatbed, a moving platform to build things on. The other option I will discuss in another section.
How To: To make rail-based vehicles is even easier than water craft. The player need only connect the neccesary rails to the crafting square. The square itself acts like an omni-directional rail surface. The rail vehicles will spawn oriented towards wherever you connected the rails.
EDIT: To move trains around, something like a rail elevator could be built, using one of many suggestions on elevators and the like. The switching system should also be improved.
The first would be a simple hot air balloon, small, and slow. It would simply be a boat connected by ropes to an overhead balloon. The boat part would contain an engine and have a small propeller. It would move slower than walking pace and be extremely fragile.
The next in sequence would be an airship (or zeppelin, or blimp, or whatever you want to call it). In any case, it would be large, the biggest vehicle yet. It would consist of a smallish cabin under an ovoid (well, a bunch of rectangles stuck together looking like a highly pixelated ovoid) gasbag larger than a sailing ship. The cabin could be physically entered by the player. It would consist of a steering interface, a storage module, and perhaps small twin ballistae, one on each side. Propellers would be mounted on either side of the cabin. The airship would move at 1.5x walking speed. It has moderate durability. Probably would run on a coal engine.
The last air-based vehicle is one I don't expect much support for. It's an archaic prop-plane. The plane would be of very low durability. The plane would only rise very slowly, but accelerate quickly and have a top speed as fast as a locomotive. Therefore a long runway is required to take off. Landing would require a similarly long runway, because the plane loses speed a lot slower than it gains it. The plane would only seat one player, and would have a small storage capacity. Again, a coal engine.
How To: Making the air-based vehicles is easy. They just spawn normally on the crafting square.
Included could be: A cannon turret or ballista; a crane or an excavation machine; an observatory (I have no idea what use this would be); an arcane teleporter (highly resource intensive); drill platform, drills straight downward in a 1x1 shaft, and only drills a max of 30 40 blocks down Can be carried on a railcar and moved as needed to drill now holes. There may be more. It's a limited category.
With these comes the other use of the previously discussed rail-based wide platform. If you use a vehicle crafting square to make a static vehicle while a rail platform is parked on top, the static vehicle would spawn mounted on the rail platform. Then, it could either act as a mobile static vehicle (oxymoron, I know), or you could move the platform (via rail) to the the spot where you want the static vehicle and destroy the platform. The static vehicle would then drop down and stay in that spot. So, you could have cannons on your wall, or an observatory on your roof. Or you could have a moving excavation machine, a portable teleportation platform, and an armada of rail-based cannons.
So, if you actually read all that...
I'm not going to make a long argument about why these vehicles would benefit gameplay. Suffice it to say, I think these all fit the game. It's a game about mining and development essentially. The logical next step is production. Why not add further rungs on the tech ladder?
As for the implementation aspect, I think it works nicely. It's not too complicated and it's dynamic, able to be used with any type of vehicle.
As to those who will claim it makes the game too easy: Not really, each of these vehicles would require a good sum of resources.
In any case, I see this opening up a lot of possibilities for cooler buildings and facilities. You could have your wharves and drydocks for shipbuilding, linked by rail to your switching yards, a nexus for your material transport system. Hangars would cease to be useless. Underwater bases would be more feasible and more fun.
For best results I would recommend this suggestion in conjunction to my proposed mechanical system. The two would work well together in offering a minecraft with a more steampunk, archaic technology sort of feel. The link is back in the implementation section.
Anyway...
Responses?
Note: The following is a joke (maybe).
To build the giga-drill, roughly 512 iron, 128 diamonds, 128 redstone dust, 64 light-stone, 32 glass, 16 furnaces, 256 string, 128 gunpowder, and 256 gold are required in the vehicle crafting square. The creation stage for the drill takes about 5 days.
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Does anyone know the size of a single item in the items.png?
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LINKED SUGGESTION WARNING EVERYTHING IN RED LINKS TO MY VEHICLES SUGGESTION
Mechanics and systems. Uses countless half-formed ideas by countless people. Assumes that new materials will be implemented. (copper, steam)
No crafting recipes are proposed. Feel free to supply them.
DISCLAIMER: This is far-fetched, but possible, I think.
Mechanical energy indicates that a component is "on". it's pretty much what it sounds like. Sometime abbreviated M.E.
There are three types of flow:
Flows:
Redstone Current
As it is. It's either on or off. It adds elements of logic and control to the system.
Liquid/Gas
When harnessed by drains, liquids or gases flow through pipes to mechanisms that utilize them or to valves to be redistributed. Possible liquids/gases: water, lava, *steam, *combustible gas, *float gas, *mud, et cetera.
Mechanical Energy
The energy that powers the mechanical system. Power mechanisms provide a "mechanical energy charge" that can power one mechanism. For every mechanism in the system, there needs to be one energy source. If more mechanisms than power sources are attached, those placed over the limit won't work. If a necessary source is removed, the entire system will stop and must be replaced (salvageable).
Components:
Gear
Pretty simple, but with many uses. It's the base of the mechanics system. Crafted with iron. You get about 2 for each iron ore. Used in many other pieces/parts. You can also place gears on walls (like the ones from indev) to channel energy between gearboxes and mechanisms in the vertical 2D plane. Possible uses are M.E. logic gates or pure decoration.
Drive Shaft
Made from logs, it connects gear boxes, and some mechanisms. It transfers mechanical energy. Only connects in a single line, no corners, from a gear shaft or mechanism to another gear box or mechanism. About one log for each block of length. Inspired by this concept which may or may not have been made by a "jon_z". I really don't know. Great job, whoever you are!
Pipe
Connects drains to other objects to move liquids. Placed like the drive-shaft, but allows bends. It cannot, however, branch. When a pipe ends unconnected to a drain or anything else, it is capped for simplicity. If pipes carrying different substances meet, the reactions could be either harmless, debilitating, or explosive in certain situations... Examples: Connect boilers and valves or drains to move steam easily, or boil water. Move lava, harvest gases, make burners, etc. Pipes are relatively inexpensive, probably yielding about 8 for every ingot of metal.
Valve
Place onto a pipe end. The valve releases whatever is flowing through the pipe at the level it is flowing at. If a valve carrying combustible gas is lit on fire, it acts like a dangerous torch, spreading light, but also lighting things on fire.
Rope
Starts as a single block entity. Attached to a regular block, it can be extended with a held right click, and retracted with another. Player can climb said rope like a ladder. Attached to the bottom of a gear box, it either extends or is shortened continually (not block-by-block), depending on whether gear box is on or off. Moving entities, including more rope for more extension, can be attached to other end (not like like in extenders, this is strictly entities). Made with lots, and lots of string. Has some maximum extension length.
Grate
Simpler than a drain, it allows the flow of water and nothing else. Made with iron.
Minecart Track
Switch
Button
Pressure Plate
Redstone Torch
Redstone
Intermediary Blocks:
Gear Box
Crafted using iron, wood, and gears. It's a place-able block that takes one drive shaft input and can output another or mechanical energy in another direction. It also allows mechanisms as inputs directly. A redstone or wire input can activate/deactivate it. Low yield. About one for 4 iron. Can work in conjunction with circuit blocks to create complex systems. Conducts M.E. to other gear boxes directly adjacent as well. Inspired by this concept.
Redstone Box
Crafted using copper, redstone, and wood. It acts exactly like redstone, in block form, and looks a little more steam-punk tech-ish. High yield, about one for each wood and copper.
Circuit Box
Crafted using copper, redstone, and iron. It's a block that allows the user to create large redstone circuits inside, on a sort of crafting grid. You can select which sides are inputs and outputs. Low yield, about one for four iron and four copper Can work in conjunction with gear boxes to create complex systems.
Drain/Pump
Crafted with iron, gravel, and a gear. Any liquid or gas can flow into the drain from any side, or the top. Connect a pipe to one side, and the level of liquid or gas that was flowing into the drain will flow through the pipe. If connected to an M.E. source, the level that flows through the connected pipes will be maxed (does not work with lava). Redstone current switches it "off". When it's "off", no water is allowed through, and the connected pipes return to zero level.
Timer
Turns connected redstone power on and off over a certain user-defined (by GUI) interval. Immensely useful for sertain types of automation. Made using a time-piece, gear, and copper.
Mechanisms:
[Power]
Windmill
Placed on a gear box, above a certain altitude, with at least 24 blocks of space directly in front of it, and some radius of blocks free around it, it creates M.E.(mechanical energy). Intermittently switches off and on. An array of windmills are required to be a dependable energy source. Only produces a single M.E. counter. Inspired by this concept.
Steam Engine
Placed adjacent to a gear box, and given a steam pipe from a boiler, it produces 2 M.E. counters.
Boiler
Given water input from a pipe, and fed coal or source lava from another pipe, it outputs steam from a third pipe. Moderately coal efficient.
Coal Engine
Burns coal very quickly for M.E. when placed next to a gear box. Coal inefficient. Produces only one M.E. counter. The sole advantage is that it's quick and easy.
[Utilities]
Minecart Accelerator
Given M.E. (mechanical energy), and having a minecart track placed on top, it accelerates the minecart swiftly. Made with stone and a gear. Inspired by this concept.
Launcher
Given M.E. it launches any entity on top of it into the air, while they retain their horizontal momentum. Useful for bridging gaps on a minecart. made with gears, wood, and springs.
Conveyor
Given M.E., it moves any entities on top of it in the direction of linkage to the next conveyor. It conducts M.E. to adjacent conveyors. Acts like minecart tracks when placing it. Made with cloth, wood, and gears.
Extender
Attach to a gear box. (It will extend away from the box when active). Then attach other blocks to it. Only blocks placed on the extender and placed on blocks placed on the connecter and so on will be included. When done with whatever you wanted to attach, right click the extender. If the construction you made is under a certain block number, it "bakes" it into a block-grid entity, blocks that move like entities, but with block-style collisions. When the host gear box is activated, the end object on the extender extends a player-set (in the "bake" stage, along with connector visibility) number of blocks or until the construction hits a block. Moves freely in fluids. Made with iron and gears. Utilizes the block-grid entity idea by Mystify. Look it up.
Could be used for elevators, moving plats, large doors, bridges, hidden pathways under lava or water, cycling crushers (traps), and a lot more.
Bridger
Attached to a gear box. when the gear box activates, the bridger extends a half-block thick surface (texture debatable. multiple recipes?) to stand on in the direction opposite the gear box, until it meets another block or solid entity, or a max distance. Made with wood and gears. Used for simple bridges and such.
Misc.
Multi-purpose Boat
It would be a replacement/modification of the current boat. Can be attached to rope to make an elevator. Can be combined with a chest. Has all the current properties of the current boat, except can be placed on land, and is a bit more durable.
NOTE: These last few are for end-game resource management, allowing the user to focus on more complex building and crafting, rather than gathering materials.
Factory Workbench
M.E. required. Can set a design to automate, given the materials. It can receive material from conveyors. Exports finished product to an adjacent [chest/factory workbench/compactor/furnace/etc]. Made with gear, wood, and iron. If fed incompatible materials, it breaks, and must be destroyed.
Factory Furnace
M.E. required. Can set a certain smelt to automate, given the materials. It can receive material from conveyors. Exports finished product to an adjacent [chest/factory workbench/compactor/furnace/etc]. Made with gear, furnace, and iron. If fed incompatible materials, it breaks, and must be destroyed.
Vehicle Factory
Crafting the block requires iron, a gear, redstone, and smooth stone. Yields 3. 9 blocks must be placed in a three by three configuration. This then requires two M.E. inputs. Used to build vehicles on a 7x7 crafting grid.
Details in: VEHICLES REDOX
AMAZING EXAMPLES :ohmy.gif:
A system using conveyors to dump your mining products on that deposits them in a factory furnace to be refined and then to a factory workbench to be turned into stairs, or steps, or tracks, or anything else.
A system to Kill mobs and harvest their drops easily using gas flames and conveyors.
Better mine-cart track systems.
Easier redstone logic systems for more compact locks, a central control computer for a factory, and more.
For example, you could have an array of factory furnaces and workbenches connected to your automining system. You have a control room with circuit boxes. Each can have multiple switches and ouputs on them. That way you can controller the conveyor flow and divert resources to the factory equipment you need working a the tinme. It would be a system requiring ingenuity, but do-able.
Faster player transport systems. (Elevators, moving platforms, etc.)
Combination with auto-drills to completely automate strip-mining.
Dynamic bridges for crossings over moats and such.
Extender has a huge array of uses. Some might be fancy elevators, moving platforms, or many other creative things.
Extravagant decorations and doodads.
AND MORE!
TLDR: A combination logic/mechanical system, utilizing power sources and mechanisms to construct complex systems for a variety of tasks and functions.
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http://www.minecraftforum.net/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=8545
Mine was less of a developed suggestion. XD
I'm glad someone else is crusading for this. When I suggested it, I was promptly snubbed by Timst. XD
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Actually, Columbus was an Italian by birth, more specifically a Genuan (from Genoa). He hired himself out to explore for Spain.
ON TOPIC: Still don't like the idea of guns.
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The fact is I just don't like the concept. I believe I don't stand alone when I say: Mine Craft is NOT an FPS. I'm not saying that guns or even one gun would make it that, but...
I don't like the idea that a person can aim, shoot, and their target will be hit. Arrows give time for a player to evade. Even crossbows won't be UN-dodge-able. Guns are too overpowered. Even if it takes a long time to reload, and they do a lot of damage, you can still aim, fire from a good distance away, reload and fire again before your enemy even knows where you are. They give the game-play a whole different feel.
To sum up my viewpoint:
It's not about theme here. It's about the game-play mechanic.
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I can see it now, a massive strip mine on an MP server with fan conveyors, and miners working in different areas down the line. Whenever they are full on blocks they just throw them on the conveyor to be relayed to the builders of a fortification, or a town, or a castle. The perfect system.