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Glitterflies: An Alternative to Fireflies

I've been thinking about your decision to refrain from adding fireflies in the Wild Update, and I think this would be a good alternative.

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Glitterfly
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Glitterflies are flying insects that glow in the dark, and are inspired by butterflies.

There are five varieties:

  • Ruby (Spawns in biomes with lots of trees)
  • Jade (Spawns in biomes with more hilly terrain)
  • Sapphire (Spawns in biomes with lots of water)
  • Topaz (Spawns in biomes with flatter terrain)
  • Opal (Spawns in biomes with lots of flowers)

The Glitterflies' spawning conditions can overlap, for example: Forests have a lot of trees, so Ruby Glitterflies can spawn there.  Sunflower Plains have lots of flowers, so Opal Glitterflies can spawn there. Flower Forests, on the other hand, have both loads of trees AND loads of flowers, so both Ruby and Opal Glitterflies can spawn in that biome.

As for what they drop (because someone is eventually going to ask), Glitterflies drop absolutely nothing when killed, but when they drink nectar from nearby flowers, they may drop Glitterdust (inspired by real life moth scales).  I'm currently not sure what Glitterdust could be used for, admittedly, except maybe a Wisplight, which would be a ball(ish)-shaped, sparkling light source suitable for use as moodlighting or for more magical themed builds.

Fireflies are toxic to frogs, but butterflies aren't, so not only would Glitterflies look pretty, be it day or night, but they're also safe for Minecraft's frogs to eat.

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    I like it. Would a Glitterfly drop anything when eaten by a frog?

  • 1
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    An alternative isn't the issue, it's time -- there wasn't enough time before the release date to potentially focus on fireflies. Maybe if they had another half-year or another year to work on the update, fireflies could've been implemented. It was just low priority with the limited time frame that they had and had to focus on other specific features.

  • 0
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    the problem is both in time and in the fact that there is no benefit from fireflies in the game, or rather, the developers cannot come up with it. So the butterflies will not be needed, and their pollen drop (as I understand it) is also not needed. although the developers can come up with another benefit for her, I personally think that it will be like a dye for sheep. so that you need 4 pollen of the same color for the dye.

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    Registered User commented
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    I like it. Would a Glitterfly drop anything when eaten by a frog?

    Well, seeing as how frogs produce slimeballs when they eat slimes and froglights when they eat magma cubes, a frog eating a Glitterfly would produce Sparklepaste which, when applied to an arrow either via crafting recipe or in the same manner as a firework (bow/crossbow in the main hand, sparklepaste in the offhand), would result in a Sparkle Arrow that would place a dim light source (light level 7 or lower) on impact with a block.

  • 0
    Registered User commented
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    the problem is both in time and in the fact that there is no benefit from fireflies in the game, or rather, the developers cannot come up with it. So the butterflies will not be needed, and their pollen drop (as I understand it) is also not needed. although the developers can come up with another benefit for her, I personally think that it will be like a dye for sheep. so that you need 4 pollen of the same color for the dye.

    Glitterdust is not produced by the flowers, it's something that's naturally produced by the Glitterfly (genus: Figmentum), in the same way that humans produce skin cells; it's based on moth scales, not pollen. Glitterdust particles trail from the Glitterfly as it flies, but a sizable quantity of the dust sometimes bursts off the Glitterfly's translucent wings in a cloud when it drinks nectar and this is the glitterdust that the player can collect.