#1: render distance and a bit of LOD

my mod will be special in the case where i'm removing the ability to turn up the render distance

dont know if i'll ever need to make it go as far like in the screenshots though since i want to cap the render distance at 6
i want to make the game more eerie and mess with early game progression a tad bit and mod the server
whenever i play multiplayer with people it just felt a tad unfair that i can't play the game at a high render distance without slowing down to an unenjoyable fps count meanwhile other people are capable of playing at the highest render distance with all sorts of things bolted onto their game to increase their graphical fidelity

in some cases having a lower render distance was strategically disadvantaging, like PVP or Factions servers which I used to play on a tad bit too much

here's my first prototype



#2 - Finite seamless worlds
i also have thought of the idea of finite worlds

but in official implementations (including console edition and indev), finite worlds are jarring and annoying when they end

so instead, my idea is to just make it so it loops around, so if you go straight forward for a while you'll come back to where you started. this is implemented and works great so far, i just need to fix a few parts of the game that still use
raw euclidean coordinate comparisons



maybe i won't remove infinite worlds entirely but it won't be the default. i'd likely replace it with preset or custom sizes, but itd still generated in realtime like an infinite world so time to load in is still fast compared to classic or indev which generates it all at once
also i think it should be a fixed render distance of 6 chunks or lower if i havent mentioned that already

#3 - gameplay enhancements

I think forcing a render distance cap also helps change up your games playstyle and makes it feel more medieval and primitive. what fun is it being able to magically influence the weather and see your base thousands of blocks away versus having to scout out and explore for it if you get lost?

How about setting up a house after traveling for a bit? You'd need to establish markers so you can find your way back if you detour.
Not just torches, though. that'd get disorienting.

#3.1 - mobs

the game also just gets too easy especially if you already know how the game works
I want to make progression more gradual and give an actual reason for building in the game because currently its very hard to remain motivated alone when the only danger consists of getting touched by a creeper who happened to w+m1 through your open door and it can all be solved by spamming torches

i dont want to delve into any pathfinding stuff yet, but i will make it so mobs are naturally attracted toward player structures and players and will wander and linger towards them
i also want night to be hellish and make it so underground mobs despawn faster and aggressively at night and hordes of them cover the surface

#3.2 - light is no longer safe
i also want to make torches useless against preventing mobs from spawning somehow
i find it funny how to this day there is no true explanation as to why mobs spawn
they could've easily made it so something like the dragon or the wither was atleast part of whatever metaphysical thing was causing mobs to spawn
so my idea is simply to try and lean in on that idea and make them spawn regardless of if torches are present

Im gonna make it so mobs always spawn in an opportunistic manner
Torches will work as intended if you are near them, but if the torch is outside of your render distance (which is capped to 6 btw), mobs WILL spawn in the fog
and because mobs will be naturally attracted to you, they will come to you
and because mobs will spawn and despawn aggressively in order to force more encounters, you will be attacked more often

#3.3 - players spawn with half their health bar
this makes taking damage more punishing in the earlygame
players will be able to increase their max health permanently in the world by eating golden apples, similar to terraria and heart crystals
to become stronger you must risk life and limb to find gold and craft the apple

#3.4 - tool rebalance

wooden tools have very little durability and break within a couple uses
stone tools and beyond require string to craft, which means you will have to fight spiders or go into caves and break cobwebs for string. This means wood tools should definitely stay relevant for a while but you'll have to maintain a heavy supply while they are

stone tools will likely have a little bit less durability but that might be it

#3.5 - ore rebalance
iron and coal spawn deeper in caves which means that if you want to get torches on your first night, you'll need to go quite deep into caves or make a furnace and smelt wood into charcoal. i don't really see anyone legitimately use the wood into charcoal trick very often so that should encourage it
iron spawning deeper also makes stone tools very relevant for a while

#3.6 - random spawns
deaths spawn you in random positions around the world instead of at a static spawn point
if you want to get back to your base then you'll have to be lucky or simply loop around the world and hope you find it
this also encourages world markers and natural exploration for the purpose of setting up dedicated paths and markers to find ones way back to base

yeah thats pretty much it


#3.7 - moon cycles
Moon cycles ported from beta 1.8 to Alpha that make night light vary in brightness but also difficulty. New Moon is the hardest and darkest but so is the Full Moon (but its the brightest moon though so you can see in it), the difficulty change would simply probably be a simple pendulum style math from 1 to 1
more monsters spawn and they're faster and generally just more effective


#4 - graphical updates
I do want to add colored lights and shaders like >>3590

#5 - multiplayer updates
alpha multiplayer sucks hot ass and has terrible latency even on LAN
modern minecraft uses netty for networking so i'm going to update alpha to use netty

i dont really have any other comment that's pretty much it
this mod assumes you've played minecraft before (i have)
if you haven't played minecraft before then this mod will be incredibly unforgiving (intentional)

unrelated