WHAT - A new survival experience, different from the Survival Mode we already have, but NOT a replacement for it (just a different game mode, like creative or adventure modes are different). I call it 'Legacy Mode' because it speaks to the older, harder days of Minecraft, AND because it suggests the legacy the player will earn and build on in their worlds while playing in this mode.
WHY - I'm confident that I'm not alone in saying that playing on Survival mode, even on Hard, is just not challenging to many players anymore. In addition, I feel like it would be interesting to have a game mode that challenged players to think about and more fully appreciate all the mechanics of the game, on top of merely just buffing mobs a little more. Naturally, many people might disagree with this sentiment, which is why I suggest this as an alternative to Survival instead of a replacement of it, or as simply a 'Very Hard' difficulty.
HOW - I apologize for the list in advance but it's impossible to talk about how to change the game from survival without it.
**Like Hardcore mode, any world created in this difficulty should permanently bar access to cheats, creative mode, and lesser difficulties on that map. The Hardcore option should be compatible with this mode, but not a mandatory part of it.**
**Seeds loaded into a new Legacy Mode world do not spawn ores except on/near cave walls, or adjecent to other ore veins.**
The reason for this is that there is no point to making a more challenging survival mode if players can make a safe, monster-free quarry or mine and avoid the danger altogether.
**Force players to accept a random seed for their world generation.**
**Remove stackable food (mostly)**
Food should not stack as much in the player inventory. The reason is, once a player has 64 cooked steak/pork, they're set for a long while. The stackability of food should depend on the hunger/saturation it restores, with cooked meat being entirely unstackable, and lesser food items able to stack in up to groups of 4
**Natural Health Regeneration game rule forced OFF**
Only potions and golden apples heal. Adding on to the Village and Pillage update, maybe have a medic class villager that heals your health or sells you a golden apple for a few emeralds.
**Coal should only generate below Y=60. Remove the charcoal smelting recipe, and make saplings and wood useless as fuel in furnaces/blast furnaces. (Good for fuel in the smoker to cook food.)**
I just feel like it's too easy to get coal on the surface and establish a lit protected area.
**Monsters that spawn from spawners should not drop XP or items. Monsters that take less than 15 HP (7.5 hearts) of damage directly from a player should not drop XP or rare drops. Iron Golems should never drop iron.**
Eliminate grinding and afk farming! Again, there is no point to a survival mode that requires effort and risk if the player can build farms like these. Additionally, this makes enchanting more valuable, as well as making lower level enchants more appealing. It also removes being able to grind rare drops. Systems like 'sky grinders' where players build a dark box where monsters spawn, only to be killed by some mechanism inside the box, can still offer basic mob drops, in return for the resources spent building these farms.
**Zombie Pigmen should have an uncommon chance for an individual piggy to be hostile without provocation.**
In normal difficulties, the Nether is a surprisingly safe place to be. The three most threatening mobs are Ghasts, which you can hear from a long distance and easily have time to take cover from or dodge their slow moving attacks; and Blazes/Wither Skeletons, which only spawn in fortresses. If Pigmen have a chance to be hostile upon spawn, this adds an element of danger back to the nether, as well as something to strategize on--do you flee from the pigman or risk provoking the others by defending yourself?
**Severely nerf enchanting.**
1. The maximum tier of any enchantment that has more than one tier should not be available on the enchanting table, even at level 30. Enchantments with IV or V tiers should cap at III on the table, III should cap at II, and II at I.
2. Each type of Protection enchantment should only work on one piece of armor maximum, with no stacking values of the same type of Protection on multiple pieces of armor. This makes Blast/Fire/Projectile Protections more desirable, and a set of armor with each piece enchanted with each type of protection the best armor one can strive for.
3. Some enchantments should be unavailable in this mode altogether. Mending, Infinity, and Unbreaking are three that come to mind, they take away from the need to keep gathering resources.
*Remove crafting recipes for diamond armor. In exchange, add diamond armor pieces to treashre chest loot tables with a very rare chance of spawning.** This is just an artificial difficulty barrier. Diamond armor with even low level enchantments absorb a lot of damage, so the protection should be earned. Keep the high-enchant diamond gear spawns in End City boxes, the reward is good for beating the dragon on this mode.
**Mobs should have a rare chance to spawn with random potion effects**
Swiftness, Strength, and Fire Resist, with an even smaller chance of spawning with the extended or Level II variants of these effects.
**Tweak some mob behaviors.**
1. Mobs should randomly spawn with either the modern pathfinding AI, or the old aggressive beeline-for-the-player AI. This can make encounters of grouped mobs interesting, with some mobs chasing you at full speed, and others considering their path, who might even end up flanking you by doing so.
2. Light should not pacify spiders. Angry daytime spiders!
3. Spider spawns should have a small chance of being cave spiders, below Y=60
**Nerf sprinting and shields.**
1. Sprinting should only last 8 blocks maximum and come with a longer cooldown, regardless of hunger level, making it impossible to simply breeze past mobs safely on foot (at least without swiftness potions!). Also makes the player want to consider horses, boats, minecarts, etc.
2. Holding a shield should not allow for sprinting at all, except for a moment's start to allow for a sprint jump (which will still have a cooldown to it). You should NOT be able to tank hits AND charge your opponent in alternation.
3. Holding a shield should restrict a player from using bows/crossbows. Same idea as with sprinting, your shield should not be a 'bunker wall' that you can hide behind and take potshots.
4. When the shield blocks damage, it should 'stagger' the holder (player or mob) for a moment or two, making it impossible to block consecutive hits and hard to back away while staggered.
**If Hardcore mode isn't enabled alongside this difficulty level, every death should come with a penalty of losing a random 25% of your inventory.**
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