Half of this blog post will be about the new 1.3 release, and the other being the latest from the W2TS.
First, the 1.3 release. It was released Tuesday. I don’t have it, nor do I want it. Like most of Notch’s updates since the failed Halloween update, it has more bugs than bugfixes. Hell, the list is nearly as long as the new things added! Sickens me.
One of those bugs is one with redstone. When putting a redstone torch on the side of a block and it receives power, it will burn out and have to be replaced.
And this is what’s been added;
A new Redstone Repeater/Delay block. It works just like a repeater, and has a custom delay setting that you can set to make it work as a Delay.
Another feature is Beds, that work both in SSP and SMP. They only work when it’s completely nighttime, and when they do, you wake up and it’s day again. All they do is skip nighttime. Might be useful in the future.
There’s a brand new Wurm-like Minecraft Launcher… that doesn’t work. The buttons for Login and Options are so obscured you can barely see them. And when you try to login, you get a nice “Can’t connect to minecraft.net” message. Yet, the launcher I downloaded a few months ago that does the same thing the new launcher does (just older), works perfectly.
And another feature I wanted to mention, Minecraft now has a better lighting option. Looks identical to BetterLight; the mod angry suggested I get. But it too has issues, but really small ones.
.
Now we move on to the common scene with Notch’s updates… broken mods. I’m not concerned about any of these (except the ones from Minecart Mania). Keep reading and you’ll find out why.
Since I’m “banned” from SSP due to Minecart Mania, all SSP mods I don’t care much about (except for Zombe’s Modpack for the “fly” and “sun control” mods).
And then there’s the mentioned Minecart Mania, to make it work with the new update. It’s been a week and if I was to make a guess, it’s 90% stable. The only issues he’s reporting are with plugins I don’t use.
However, MCEdit isn’t the same way. Due to the new save file format, people are reporting serious issues such as chunks being deleted without warning, and schematics when placed in a world, a new chunk would form around it. And large areas of the map being separated by voids.
IMO, codewarrior isn’t updating as much as he should be, like Afforess is. I can understand he’s got a life, but his program is pretty much the main reason why I haven’t updated yet.
Minecart Mania is good, but I need MCEdit to do what would take days to do ingame. And it’s also good for pinpointing/aligning critical things to make everything snap together.
And since the 1.3_01 update, it shows “Dependencies on Java 1.6 are gone”. That made me assume “You mean I have to get the latest version of Java before I can get this?” Actually, it means Java 6 is nolonger required in Minecraft. Since the update I thought the complete opposite. Even angry told me that I had to update before getting 1.3_01.
Seriously, there is no Java 7.. yet anyway. So that does pretty much give me the green light to get the latest version.
And now we move on to news from the W2TS.
.
Today’s news is I have completed WAYWARD LINE’s Tree Island station, exactly where I wanted it. I however had to work with the land (and angry’s long-ass path). Yes. For the first time, I have a station supported by pillars that are connected to the sides of angry’s path. It looks really awesome.
I have also made the first station of the WAYWARD LINE, automated. Angry’s Explosive Sands station. I used the same concept I made before, except.. I ran into a severe design flaw. All because of the god damn Hold For signs being too close together.
After I set up the other side’s automated system, I hit the button, the cart stops at the catcher block, but the Hold For sign does not start counting down from 10 (yeah, one other thing I forgot to mention. I’ve decreased all cart launch timers to 10, from 15) and the cart just sits there. Yet I can push it by riding in it.
This finally got fixed by doing a frustrating but firm decision, of planning to slightly redesign all of the WAYWARD LINE’s stations (not including the system hub since it’s already done) by widening only one side of it by one block, which will make them two blocks wide (I wonder how in the fuck I’m going to do Stone Tower without messing up the scenery, or Nick’s ride up the towers…). This will allow both Hold For signs to work.
Hold For signs have a two block rule, that they need a minimum of two blocks between them to work.
Since Explosive Sands was already automated, I edited it first and made it two blocks in the middle. It’s an eyesore, but.. it works.
I’ve made no changes to the LOOP LINE as of now. I’m beginning to think it’s a bad idea to connect it ALL the way south to the WAYWARD LINE’s Southbound route. Plus, I have no idea how I’m going to connect it also to Wayward Line’s Northbound route.
I’m sure I’ll think of something in the future. It’s just a chore having to manually setup the pillars. You see, the LOOP LINE is doing something not done in the others — following the terrain’s ups and downs. By doing this, removes the risk of animals walking on the tracks.
It’s a shame angry had to update. I could use his help yet again. Even though he has an unmodded backup of 1.2_02, he’s bored with Minecraft.
Another idea I have for the now famous WAYWARD LINE, and also the new LOOP LINE, is to have mini stations that would act as “Rest Stops” you would see at long distances of interstate IRL.
These could have outdoor dining areas with dispensers filled with cooked meat, lots of seating of course, restrooms, and places to sleep (or go AFK).
It’s something I may think about in the future.
Another idea would be, that once Notch allows us to go into the Nether in SMP, and minecarts also work through portals without getting stuck in them, to use the Nether to speed up travel times as a “warp portal”.