First off: forget the 3 weeks idea. Without a steady source of income, it's not reasonable to set a deadline. The Wii Us not going to go away.
I remember I was in much the same situation for the original Wii and we got it a couple months after it was released. It wasn't any less fun.
Here's the strategies I used as kid to raise money:
- eBay is a wonderful thing. Unless you're fairly poor, you've probably got a lot of semi-expensive stuff lying around that you don't really use; sell it and convert it into something you really want. You'd be surprised; old toys can be collectibles, and used video games can net you a few dollars at time.
- If you get an allowance, save your money and let it accumulate. Admittedly, it's a slow strategy, but time is money, as they say. If you don't get an allowance, ask for one, offer to earn it with chores, and explain your situation. A good parent will recognize that you want to work hard for something you want, which is something that far too children learn today.
- Make a deal with your parents. Many of my friends' parents offered to cover or split a big purchase if they could get consistent good grades at school for the next few weeks, or something like that.
Other than that, there's the classic neighborhood jobs strategy: mow some lawns, watch some dogs, babysit, etc.
I'm surprised you weren't offended earlier by the potion brewing and enchanting...
I'm Christian, so I don't think you're totally crazy I find, though, it helps a lot to consider fictional witchcraft (games, movies, books, etc) for what it is - fictional. Just a story, and it's usually not even close to the kind of witchcraft that's described in the Bible.
And in this game, the witches aren't glamorized - it's not like the game allows or even encourages the player to become a witch. It presents them as evil enemies that attack you on sight, and you learn to fear them and defend yourself.
Back to the global-economic-collapse thing - there's a way it's possible:
See, if humanity meets an extraterrestrial faction, and somehow gets past the language barrier before we kill each other, then we'd probably start trading with them. Hence, if their economy suddenly boomed, it could potentially send our entire terrestrial economy into collapse.
OK, I came up with that just to use that "Aliens" gif... totally worth it.
Ah, creepers. We love to hate 'em. They're the only mob that explodes; which in a sandbox game like this, is terrifying. They're the only mob that doesn't burn up or at least turn passive-aggressive in daylight. Fighting them requires a lot of open room and expert kiting... and they're one of the most common mobs.
Yeah... I think there's a balance problem, here. Don't get me wrong, I like a challenge, but creepers are just frustrating. For my first mod to Minecraft, I focused on the second the last point: combat vs. creepers.
Before I go any further, here's a Download link.
Installation is typical for a Minecraft mod: back up minecraft.jar and copy these files into it. I have no idea what mods this might conflict with, but I think it's safe to say that nothing that changes creeper behavior is safe. sssss... nice mod you got there... be a sssshame if something happened to it
Here's how creepers currently work: When they get close to you, they start counting up for every tick. When their count hits 30, boom. When they're out of range, they starting counting back down, to 0. This means that there's only one way to stop the count: Punch 'em and run like heck.
Here's what my mod does: Creepers now have an idle sound.
The wiki claims they have an idle sound "which sound[s] much like their explosion sound, but softer, and shorter". Going through the source code, I can safely say that's outright wrong. However, I added an idle sound, which is the same as the sound they make when damaged. I did this because I've had a few too many creeper deaths where I never even saw the thing.
Believe me, having an idle sound doesn't make them any less scary; in fact, in my testing I panicked every time I heard it.
Creepers reset their countdown immediately when out of range.
This one is a bit confusing; before I created this mod, I believed they already did this. However, what actually happens is that when they're out of range, they start to decrease their count, not immediately resetting it. That means that if you jump out of range for a split second, then approach it again, the creeper will promptly explode. This mod causes the creeper to behave more intuitively and reset as soon as you're out of range.
Creepers reset and delay their countdown when attacked
This is the biggest change. With my mod, when a creeper is damaged, it will reset the countdown to negative 30 (I may change this to negative 15). This means that it will take the creeper 60 ticks to explode after damaged instead of the usual 30. In my testing, this turned out to be just enough time to get out of range before your next attack.
The overall effect is that creepers are much easier to engage in single combat and considerably easier to fight in groups with other mobs. They are still terrifying monsters and they will still destroy you and your house if you're not prepared and skilled with a weapon.
Think this is a good idea? Think Notch should implement these changes in the next release? Think it needs some more work? Think I'm a whiny noob who needs to learn to kill creepers like a normal person? I'd love to hear your comments!
1
I remember I was in much the same situation for the original Wii and we got it a couple months after it was released. It wasn't any less fun.
Here's the strategies I used as kid to raise money:
- eBay is a wonderful thing. Unless you're fairly poor, you've probably got a lot of semi-expensive stuff lying around that you don't really use; sell it and convert it into something you really want. You'd be surprised; old toys can be collectibles, and used video games can net you a few dollars at time.
- If you get an allowance, save your money and let it accumulate. Admittedly, it's a slow strategy, but time is money, as they say. If you don't get an allowance, ask for one, offer to earn it with chores, and explain your situation. A good parent will recognize that you want to work hard for something you want, which is something that far too children learn today.
- Make a deal with your parents. Many of my friends' parents offered to cover or split a big purchase if they could get consistent good grades at school for the next few weeks, or something like that.
Other than that, there's the classic neighborhood jobs strategy: mow some lawns, watch some dogs, babysit, etc.
9
I'm Christian, so I don't think you're totally crazy
And in this game, the witches aren't glamorized - it's not like the game allows or even encourages the player to become a witch. It presents them as evil enemies that attack you on sight, and you learn to fear them and defend yourself.
2
See, if humanity meets an extraterrestrial faction, and somehow gets past the language barrier before we kill each other, then we'd probably start trading with them. Hence, if their economy suddenly boomed, it could potentially send our entire terrestrial economy into collapse.
OK, I came up with that just to use that "Aliens" gif... totally worth it.
3
1
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1
Case in point: "Minecraft Luncher".
1
Yeah... I think there's a balance problem, here. Don't get me wrong, I like a challenge, but creepers are just frustrating. For my first mod to Minecraft, I focused on the second the last point: combat vs. creepers.
Before I go any further, here's a Download link.
Installation is typical for a Minecraft mod: back up minecraft.jar and copy these files into it. I have no idea what mods this might conflict with, but I think it's safe to say that nothing that changes creeper behavior is safe.
Here's how creepers currently work: When they get close to you, they start counting up for every tick. When their count hits 30, boom. When they're out of range, they starting counting back down, to 0. This means that there's only one way to stop the count: Punch 'em and run like heck.
Here's what my mod does:
Creepers now have an idle sound.
The wiki claims they have an idle sound "which sound[s] much like their explosion sound, but softer, and shorter". Going through the source code, I can safely say that's outright wrong. However, I added an idle sound, which is the same as the sound they make when damaged. I did this because I've had a few too many creeper deaths where I never even saw the thing.
Believe me, having an idle sound doesn't make them any less scary; in fact, in my testing I panicked every time I heard it.
Creepers reset their countdown immediately when out of range.
This one is a bit confusing; before I created this mod, I believed they already did this. However, what actually happens is that when they're out of range, they start to decrease their count, not immediately resetting it. That means that if you jump out of range for a split second, then approach it again, the creeper will promptly explode. This mod causes the creeper to behave more intuitively and reset as soon as you're out of range.
Creepers reset and delay their countdown when attacked
This is the biggest change. With my mod, when a creeper is damaged, it will reset the countdown to negative 30 (I may change this to negative 15). This means that it will take the creeper 60 ticks to explode after damaged instead of the usual 30. In my testing, this turned out to be just enough time to get out of range before your next attack.
The overall effect is that creepers are much easier to engage in single combat and considerably easier to fight in groups with other mobs. They are still terrifying monsters and they will still destroy you and your house if you're not prepared and skilled with a weapon.
Think this is a good idea? Think Notch should implement these changes in the next release? Think it needs some more work? Think I'm a whiny noob who needs to learn to kill creepers like a normal person? I'd love to hear your comments!