In Other News:

Notch has finally done it.  In a move that some of you may find amusingly familiar, he has decided that instead of just rotating the Map item to fix this 'North at left of map' issue, Notch has instead gone and ROTATED THE ENTIRE WORLD.  Yes Notch, I suppose north is at the top of the map now, but, surely there was an easier way to go about this...? -.-'

What does this mean for you, the humble player?  Well, not much, seeing as we're starting a new world.  You'll find if you play any old maps that your carefully positioned sunrise/sunset balconies now face entirely the wrong direction.  However, for me, your Almighty Creator and Deity, it means that I have to go and change every instance of direction in the new world (mainly at the portal shrines) as well as the wall sized map in my texture pack.

It also means that if you, like myself, learned early on in your humble Minecraft beginnings the lesson that clouds always fly north, you are going to find yourself getting a bit lost.  You can still use them, but I believe they now float west. Maybe.

In other other news, I've been updating MitchCraft to include some custom paintings, including some small portraits of our players.  Now you can finally pimp your houses to the limits of your vanity, or hang a picture of that special someone next to your bedside (D'awww).  If you'd like to be included, you have to have a custom skin made by yourself or by someone for you, and you need to send it to me.  I know Sarah's isn't technically her, but seeing as I made it and it is also f**king rad, I'm allowing it.  Also, I'm totally up for making skins if peeps want one!

Hope you like waiting.

Sooo, 1.9 is never going to be a thing.  Notch and Jeb have decided that they aren't gonna release any more full patches until Minecon, at which point they will release Minecraft 1.0.

Sounds lame, but it's probably a good thing, as far as my grades are concerned.  I'm sure most people don't have a lot of time to play for the next month or so anyway.

So, 18/11/11 is Minecon, and incidentally that's also the date for thesis submission.  I'mma take that as a sign.  In terms of the server, I imagine it will be (at least) a week after that before the server providers and bukkit guys get everything updated.  But hopefully that'll mean that Notch has a whole month to fix the laggy piece of crap that is 1.8+.  I'm sure I'm not the only one that has trouble running it, and I have a gaming PC.

Here's to the future.

What Could Have Been...

All my hopes for Endermen, they could have been so scary:

Not exactly server related, but interesting nonetheless.

Why doesn't anyone tell them to stop picking at it?

So 1.9 Pre-Release 3 came out, introducing a bunch of new things, including a couple of terrain elements.  Goddammit.  As far as I know, it's only a change in Strongholds, in that a new room spawns with a portal in it.

What this means for us is because I've already generated the world, our strongholds will not have this new room.  I don't think it's a big deal, i can always cheat to make the portal later.  I could also try regenerating the terrain there, but I think that would probably mess up the surface...

This also means that the server update will be pushed back even further.  At the moment, I wouldn't have any time to play on it anyways, and probably won't for at least four weeks.  If the update comes out, I'd be happy to start it up for anyone that does have time.  Buuut, yeah.  I think the server will really only become lively again once everyone's assessments are done.

In other news, still looking for a name for the world / blog.

I Am a Witherd, Hear Me Roar

Were you, like me, disappointed in the vast, flat snow biomes of 1.9?  Are you sick of these gentle, rolling hills, and just yearn for some wintery mountain goodness?  Then you're in luck!

"Fear my power, for it is great.  You need only see for yourself..."

Using all my powers as a Witherd - and they are plentiful - I have managed to splice a decent-sized mountain range into the heart of our large, boring snow biome.  Now, my skills are honed, and I take great pride in the result, however there may be the odd seam or two that looks unnatural.  But I have had a look around and everything to my eyes looks great.

What's that?  "But wait!" you cry, "There's no snow on these 'so-called' mountains!"  Ah, well, the terrain is still technically a snow biome, and therefore the first spell of weather should cover them with a fresh dusting of snow.  If for some reason I have made a terrible error and this is not the case (weather is so darn rare in single-player that I haven't yet had the opportunity to test it), then I shall be able to use my almighty Witherd powers to cover them with artificial snow, and freshen it up from time to time.

Well, I'm quite chuffed.  Can't wait to get amongst it!

New World Ready and Waiting for Update

Alright, so we've chosen a seed (it's "Bubbles", if you're interested) and I've generated most of the world in singleplayer, ready to be uploaded.  The world is twice as big as the last one, with a boundary at radius 1000.

What I've explored so far, showing the sizeable snow biome in the north-west.

I've also set up the portal network, so travel shouldn't be a huge hassle and you can find somewhere cool pretty quickly.

As soon as the server updates to 1.9 with Bukkit plugins, i'll upload the world and everything will be ready to go!

Still looking for a good name for the world.  If we don't find one, it'll more than likely end up being "Equestria", so if you want to avoid that fate, suggest one below in the comments!

MitchCraft 1.9 Flying Off Shelves!

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1897632/MitchCraft1.9.zip
For glowstone and glass that won't make you want to tear your eyes out!