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(May/June 2018) Featured Topic: Underground!

(A fine solid theme that digs deep into the very core of Minecraft!)

Every month, we ask the community for suggestions on a specific theme (this time we have a double theme, look in the Community and Events area to talk Livestreams) so we can all brainstorm together.

This month's theme is "The Underground" and everything to do with them(mining, ores, cave structures, cave ambience, railways, etc.).

We can't wait to hear your creative ideas.

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    Thanks everyone for contributing to this featured topic! You have given us so much to work with here and the team looks forward to discussing all these ideas in depth. We can still keep the conversation going - and should - but it's time to shift focus to a different biome for now.

  • 67
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    Drawing from the comments of community members I have been able to refine this idea significantly and have created new reasons to go back underground!

     New gems:

    1. White - stolron
    2. Light Gray - agalite
    3. Gray - andradite
    4. Black - phosphophyllite (black lighting effect!)
    5. Brown - mocha moonstone
    6. Red - ruby
    7. Orange - citrine
    8. Yellow - topaz
    9. Lime - peridot
    10. Green- emerald
    11. Cyan - anngar
    12. Light Blue - aquamarine
    13. Blue - sapphire
    14. Purple - amethyst
    15. Magenta - akarnonite
    16. Pink – tourmaline

         Gems can generate below level 16, in 1x1 blocks. All have the same chance of spawning in any given chunk. A textured, translucent gemstone block can be crafted from 9 similar gems. Since it takes 9 gems to craft one gemstone block, multiple drops from the 1 block will be necessary.

     New metal ores:

    1. iron (13)
    2. lead (12)
    3. tin (11)
    4. nickel (10)
    5. aluminum (9)
    6. copper (8)
    7. steel (7, crafted from iron ingots smelted again)
    8. titanium (6)
    9. bronze (5, crafted from copper and tin)
    10. silver (4)
    11. platinum (3)
    12. gold (2)

         These ores will act as a resistor in Redstone builds!  When an input signal is passed through the metal block, the metal block will subtract from the input Redstone signal strength an amount equal to its (resistance). So a repeater going into an iron block (15 – 13) will produce an output signal strength of 2. A repeater going into a gold block (15 – 2) will produce an output signal strength of 13.

         Here’s why we need these ores and where things get really interesting! When a Redstone signal is applied to the crafted gemstone block, the block will emit a light level equal to the input Redstone signal strength and in the shade of the gemstone block. Using a metal resistor players can change the brightness!  Also, when a Redstone signal is applied to a music or juke box the volume level will be proportional to the input Redstone signal strength.

         In a game where color, texturing and lighting are everything in a build, this is a HUGE idea. Changing lighting color and brightness will give players new building options. Imagine the building possibilities!

  • 25
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    Railways need locomotives so we can make trains. We need tools to have a good mining operation. I have a great mining system developed based on locomotive and train transportation; but no locomotive anymore.

  • 31
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    1: Minor villager lost: This villager would appear in depth and follow you as soon as you right click on him. It should be brought to the surface. Once on the surface he will give you a reward and become a villager of a new profession: minor. It will trade minerals, torches, rails, minecarts and picks. Miners can also spawn in villages and will mine. They will be able to go astray. 2 Underground dimension: It could be accessed by making an andesite / diorite / granite portal and activating it with lava (depending on the stone used, you will not appear in the same biome). This dimension would be a huge infinite underground with several biomes including the bioluminescent mushroom forest, the stalagmite cave and many more! Minor robot: They would be small programmable robots to recover minerals in an area delimited by a new block named the console. It could direct the robots in a 25 block radius. These two objects are craftable.

  • 13
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    So in regards to a similar idea of a treasure room, I was thinking every so often in caves, a section would specificly generate in a somewhat spherical cavern room. Within 6 blocks maybe a little more, a higher concentration of ores would generate, and based on the Y level is what would generate in these somewhat higher frequencies.

    New ores would be awesome too, silver along with plenty of gems would be used for aesthetic purposes with the gems being able to be placed as their blocks which would glow at a low light level based on their colors. Rubies red, sapphires blue, amethyst purple, citrine yellow, etc.

    Also for a true cave structure, perhaps every so often the player would come across a small stone brick, chiseled stone brick room, it wouldn't be large. It would have a small pedestal with a chest on top of said pedestal with a stone brick stairway leading up. Hookwires with string will activate two dispensers that will shoot out arrows. The loot table would revolve mostly around iron ingots, gold ingots, redstone dust, lapis lazuli, very rarely diamonds as well as enchanted books. Maybe even a book and quil with coordinates for something nearby.

  • 29
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    More cave varieties! We have biomes, but we don't take use of them enough.

    More "open" cave areas, and are a bit more common in plains biomes. Imagine a big crater, kind of, but underground! Useful for underground home building, but more mobs spawn since they tend to be more open.

    We have sandstone, so why not make sandstone desert caves? They could contain underground ruined temples, or just small structures in general, along with your standard ores. And of course, fossils, both underground and near the surface. It is a desert, after all. 

    Icy biomes could also contain icy caves. These could have frozen packed icy stalagmites on the ceiling, along with a standard icy floor, or just snow-covered stone. It's cold here, so colder mobs tend to spawn, such as Strays.

    Jungles get almost no attention, so why not also improve their caves too? Since jungles have an overgrown plant theme, they're caves could be filled with mossy cobblestone, and small amounts of dirt with plant life living up under. Melons could spawn in open cave areas, along with mini trees, maybe? Also, a lot more bats and cave spiders. Fossils and jungle temples are also much more common underground, and are covered in cobwebs. There could also be extremely rare towers that lead back to the surface with stairs. Covered in vines and moss.

    Ocean biome caves tend to be more waterlogged and flooded

     

    Dimensional caves should also have a bit of a rehaul. First, the nether.

    Caves in the nether now contain gold! Where did all of those pigmen get their golden tools and nuggets? Well now we have an answer. Pigmen are also jealous, and tend to guard ores. If you try to mine some around them, they'll try to attack you. Obsidian is much more common in nether caves as well. In fact, very rarely, there could be an underground netherbrick shrine-like structure that may even contain a nether portal. Also, we need more nether ores, it's kind of barren there. The nether needs more updating in general, but that's off topic.

    End caves now exist in end cities, and they aren't like normal caves. Entrances spawn on the surface, and they aren't very big, but they contain good loot (in a shulker box), and are home to endermites, and maybe a few shulkers. We could call end caves "Endermite nests".

    These are just examples, however.

  • 9
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    Cave varieties are a great idea, but I think that the caves themselves need something new.

    In my opinion, after getting plenty or every ore and some obsidian for a nether portal, some people would probably never go into a cave again since it's pointless and not very fun. The mobs found in the caves can be easily dealt with after a while of playing. So to fix this I think there should be different types of very short but big caves underground. For example there could be a room that looks like a cave except there is a lot of lava everywhere, or a room covered in cobwebs and spiders. In these rooms could be some loot or an increased number or ores to persuade the player to explore it.

    It also might be a fun idea to increase the difficulty of exploring underground as you go lower and try to find more rare ores.

  • 7
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    High Pitch sounds and echoes, since caves are only place that goes deeper

  • 2
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    oh yes

    (extra spacing removed, don't do that please ~nb)

  • 21
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    The primary problem with the underground is that is it all the same. The ocean had the same problem, and IMO aquatic update addressed the issue nicely by making different biomes, adding new structures and blocks, adding more life with plants and mobs, adding more reasons to explore (treasures and new resources/or resources being available in new places). Underground problem can be addressed the same way. A lot of people have touched on these in various posts, but I don't think they go far enough. So my ideas and my extensions to other's ideas:

    • Underground biomes: Varied concentration of things that can be found in underground that players need to discover. biomes would determine the blocks used, resource availability, resource types, mob types, flora, generated structures, and general shape of the underground. Some simple ideas, from basic to complex: Solid rock (mostly filled in with various rock types, rich in iron, gold, redstone and lapis ores; Small caverns (essentially what we have now); large cavern (large underground space, filled with underground specific plants and rock formations, similar to nether); Hot springs (flat arrangements of rooms that contain water and lava lakes); Underground forest (a variant of the variant of large cavern filled with trees); Crystal caverns (branching caverns that are filled with colorful decorative blocks that cannot be found anywhere else, diamond ore could be more common here); ancient city (collection of small generated house structures that are buried in gravel, dirt, sand and stone with some gaps to make streets, ores are rarer, but there would be other loot to obtain);
    • Underground generated structures: Not massive structures like mineshafts or strongholds, but small things (fossils, which are already in game work nicely), maybe a collapsed house here and there, maybe they are in form of small hollowed out space that contain unexpected things. Maybe even things like nether breaches that contain nether blocks in a small area and a broken nether portal.
    • Cave formations: Rock columns, stalagmites, stalactites. Latter two have also single block variants. Various colored decorative crystals. Corals (with block and "plant" variants) are basically the equivalent of this in the oceans.
    • Underground plants: Moss? Bioluminescent flowers? Root structures? Plants that are infused by other underground resources? (e.g. a blue flower that can only live within 3 blocks of lapis ore, or a red flower that glows when touched, or even periodically blooms to produce a redstone output)
    • Underground mobs. Insects? Elementals? Maybe even a new class of mobs like goblins? One particular idea I have is a large worm, which is neutral by default, but is difficult to fight with. These would be rather large (long) mobs that can eat through rock (but not ores). When attacked in middle segments they would split. When disturbed they would attack with weak attacks, but their attack would apply various status effects, like poison, nausea, blindness, slowness, mining fatigue etc. When killed, they'd drop eggs that can be hatched into worm larvae, which are smaller passive variants that still eat rocks. These would be boss mobs that generate in certain chunks, and would not respawn once killed. 

    I guess I could put these as separate suggestions if that is the way we should do it. But it looked like this tread was trying to collect/consolidate ideas.

  • 4
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    This update needs underground villages

  • 5
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    Minecraft need Bigger cave so when mining, we have so many challanges and more variety of ores like Ruby, or Lithium ore for crafting education edition items

  • 4
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    Possibly having fossils generate in a few more biomes, I truly believe fossils in the oceans and Jungles would be wonderful. Also you could have dead coral blocks occasionally generate in veins underground in some of the warmer biomes.

  • 1
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    What if you can add miners that died. Then you can take their items.

  • 1
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    We could have a new biome similar to the ice spikes biome, but instead of ice spikes, it would stone, obsidian, diorite etc. It would be basically a stone/mountain spikes biome.

  • 1
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    You could make it so that you can dig down to the nether. You will need to use a diamond pick axe to be able to dig nether rack then, but who cares?

  • 6
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    Now, Minecraft is getting more variety in their biomes,mobs, etc. But all the caves are basically the same. So I suggest new cave types. For example, Jungle caves could have more vines and moss (and maybe a new mossy smooth stone block) And caves in snowy areas could be filled with ice. There could also be different types of existing ores like mossy ores (ores with moss) or frozen ores (ores covered with ice) the frozen ores would have to be put in a furnace twice. 1st to melt the ice, 2nd to smelt. You could also add zombie and skeleton miners (or diseased miners). These would be diseased miners who now roam minechafts waiting for their next victim. These could have the ability to break blocks as they would come equipped with pickaxes. There could also be a new item called "Miner's Helmet" which would light up the area around you. This item would be uncraftable and only obtainable by being dropped by zombie or skeleton miners. 

  • 4
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    Add snakes. moles, gophers. rats. and any other animals that live underground. Also and new mobs like trolls in the caves or/and underground villages. 

    Troll blood for regeneration potion improvement.

    Snakes can dig into the ground like silverfish and are poisonous or strangle you.

    Rats cause disease which can only be cured by the cure potion which would need to be added too minecraft as well,(disease causes slowness, nausea, and mining fatigue all at once until cured by potion!!!)

  • 1
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    You should add lizards to minecraft!  Poisionus, desert dessert, snowy, caves Anywhere really! they could drop scales and you could use that for armor, or other things that I can't think of.

  • 5
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    It would be very cool if there were new "blind" mobs added into caves at a pretty deep depth (maybe at the depth where diamonds spawn?) and they would be blind because it would be very dark in there, so they wouldn't need sight, but they would be able to find you, how you ask? Well they would be able to HEAR where the player is, like they would be able to hear you mining stone, ores, etc. and would go there. OR you could do that but also allow them to hear the players walking, which would be harder to hear, or running, which would be easier for them to hear. And maybe make them able to hear you easier if you are running and jumping. You could also make it so they can't here you when you sneak (shift) walk past them. I honestly do not know if it is possible, but it would be kind of cool, like one moment you are mining a block, and then the next moment you are being attacked by a monster, and it wouldn't stop chasing you because you are (probably) running/running and jumping away. But then you sneak out of it's way and it would keep going that direction, thinking you are still running, until it hits a wall where it would go back to normal again. Again, I don't know if this is possible, but if it is, it would add a bit of "pzazz" to the underground. And who knows? Maybe it would drop something special when killed.

  • 2
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    idea we need biome specific caves with trees and grass near the surface the deeper you go the less life you find

  • 3
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    I think we need stalagmites, as I said in the blocks, tools and items page. They are cool rock formations that rise from the ground. These could act similar to end rods in the fact that they can be placed on walls, ceilings, and floors. You could even use the stalagmites as a tip for a stalagmite spear, which can impale mobs like the trident’s impaling enchantment. Maybe these stalafmite’s appearence could change depending on the biome, like being covered in moss in forest biomes, or frosted over in cold biomes.

  • 5
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    Hi Mojang,

    Why not add a Cave Village. This is a new type of village that is located underground . It would have new villagers called Cave-Dwellers which would act like normal villagers but they would be pale because of no sunlight and if they step out into the sunlight they will burn like the undead.

    Also, why not add a miner villager which will add a new mining building or a small Quarry. The miners will collect stone and ores and when you kill them you will get what they have mined. They can also put it in chests if they are nearby.

    Thank you for reading my suggestions. :)

  • 1
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    What about a new mob? This mob is called a stonecrawler. It likes to eat rocks, but only when it’s severely damaged. Just like the Gorons in the legend of Zelda, these creatures hate gems and precious minerals, so there is a chance that they will eat the stone on the block, and leave the typical dropped item of that ore (for example, it eats the stone part of the coal ore, but drops the coal item) and has a 1:100 chance of revealing a full block of that precious stone. (Example: eats the stone on diamond ore, If your lucky, it’ll turn it into a block of diamond. These creatures are camoflauged, so they can adopt the form of a stone block, so be careful what you swing your pick at!

  • 1
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    I think if we get a cave update, instead of ores, there should be new structures to explore. Like a miners hut for example, if a miners hut is added maybe you could add a miner villager that spawns in that hut, unlike the other villagers it would be found underground.

    Also maybe some exclusive undergound mobs, the deeper you go, the harder the enemys like the game terraria.

    Zombie Miner

    A miner zombie, they are zombies that are holding pickaxes and have mining helments. If you kill one there is a small chance of a mining helment being dropped

    Skeleton Miner: 

    Acts a lot like a normal skeleton, except it has a mining helment, and throws grapple hooks at you. Like zombie miner, it has a chance of dropping a mining helment. Also it can throw grapple hooks at you, grapple hooks can be used to throw places and you can get pulled there (like the ender pearl, but with less range). They would be able to damage whoever you throw them at, and pull them towards you, providing you (or the miner skeleton) a advantage against the enemy. If you kill a miner skeleton it would drop a hook which can be crafted with string or a lead to make a full grapple hook

  • 0
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    What if for mineshafts there were a new area with poison skeletons or a new zombie there could be a mob spawner and if you get past it you find a disc,diamond and a special item but with three of that item you could make a boss (wither storm for example)

  • 2
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    We should probably get some more ores. The last ore (Nether Quartz) was added all the way back in 1.5 So how about something like Copper, Tin, Aluminum, Ruby, ECT.? 

  • 2
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    So my idea for the undergrounds is Mineshafts that aren't abandoned.

    1. They could have finished railways
    2. No Cobwebs
    3. They wouldn't have like new mobs or anything (Just to keep it minecrafty)
    4. They could even spawn near or in villages especially since there is a village update coming soon
    5. They could be spacious with different blocks like stone instead of wood planks
    6. They would have chests with much better loot than abandoned mineshafts

    Side note: Minecarts with furnaces should get a GUI and become faster the better fuel you put in them

  • 0
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    For the abandoned mineshafts we should add some special rooms that the rails lead to (for example a small coal mine) and only the rooms should have loot (the small coal room can have a minecart with a stone pickaxe and some coal or a few coal blocks). :)

  • 1
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    I think it would be cool to add stone zombies, stone cave spiders, stone creepers in a cave like environment.   Maybe like a  26% chance of spawning in this cave environment.  .

    It would be nice to have rocks that are randomly spawned on the surface.  These rocks could be crafted from cobble stone. 

    Make a crafting recipe that you can jump and use your elytra, like a jump pad per se.

     

    Thanks