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Awesome Dad Makes Minecraft Figures

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Reddit user Fuufnfr needed a birthday present for his son.  Not content with mundane toys available at his local toy vendor, he stepped it up a notch and built his son some Minecraft action figures.

Junkboy tweeted a link to his imgur gallery last Saturday, netting this superdad some much deserved karma and upvotes.  If you’d like to get a look at the figures he’s made, check them out on Imgur here.  The figures include Steve, Herobrine, a villager, an ocelot, a Ghast, an Enderdragon, and more!  What figure do you think he should make next?  I think he should make an enderman!


Special Effect Is Auctioning Charity Statues

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Hey Hubworlders, Mechanicaljack here with an important article.

A charity auction is being run by Special Effect through Ebay, and is the brainchild of Multiplay.  What are they auctioning off, and why should you be interested you ask?  Well, it's nothing other than giant Minecraft statues! In the first batch are 6 signed by the Yogscast!  100% of the purchase price goes to UK based charity Special Effect.  Special Effect reconnects the disabled with gaming, enabling them to interact and socialize through video games in a meaningful way, aiding in rehabilitation efforts and positively impacting confidence.

The auction can be found here and will be run over the next few weeks!  So if you want to help out an awesome charity or just want a giant Minecraft statue to really bring the room together, get over there and place a bid!

Dead Worker's Party Party

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Mark your calendar, arrange your ride and book your hotel.  The Dead Worker’s Party Party is upon us.  The DWPP is a LAN party, get together and general hangout thrown by the guys who bring you The Shaft podcast.  Friends, fans and total strangers will be convening on the town of Huntsville, Alabama in 35 days for a weekend of fun.

The event is being held on Columbus Day weekend, from October 11th to the 13th, and further details are available on the events page of the Dead Worker’s Party website.  There is no admission charge.  Guests are only responsible for the cost of their own lodging, travel and food, and a recommended hotel is listed on the event page as well.  I plan to be there, and with any luck I’ll be bringing along our founder Guard!  So if any of you guys can make it, don’t hesitate to say hi!  Hope to see you there!

Minecraft 360 vs. Mass Effect

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Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition has received the first of a number of Mash-up packs that reskin the blocks, are packed with new custom skins, and feature a pre-built world based on another popular game.  This time around it's the Mars Facility from Mass Effect 3!  Ringing in with a price tag of $3.99, £2.69, and 3.79 Euros, it comes with 22 Mass Effect themed music tracks and a whopping 36 skins.

You can pick it up on Xbox Live Arcade and start exploring today!

What game settings are you hoping to see in future mashups?  Leave your opinions in the comments below!

Minecraft Threadless Voting

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If you've been blindfolded for the past handful of years in regards to custom shirts or prints, Threadless.com has become the top of their class when it comes to bringing a large group of artists together to get their work to an even larger customer base. Thousands of artists worldwide submit designs to Threadless online, which the dedicated community then votes on to pick what designs are truly worth being printed.

In late 2012, Threadless collaborated with Mojang to help bring a unique contest for artists to expand their creativity by making Minecraft themed designs. The results were blissfully new, creative, and some just plain comical. “The first design challenge we hosted for Minecraft was incredibly successful, it's an incredible game that resonates really well with our community,” says Jake Nickell, Threadless CEO. “This time we've asked our artist community to create designs that would appeal to hardcore Minecraft gamers who know all the in's and out's of the game.”

They've returned again this year with another Minecraft design contest, which had started August 19th and recently just changed over into the voting stages. More information related to it can be found here. To go place your vote within the next 4 days, you can check here and help choose the next great bunch of designs!

Papercraft Competition Winners!

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The results of Mojang’s Papercraft Diorama competition are in, and the winning entries look pretty amazing.  There are 26 pages of submissions on their Tumblr account, and 3 winners.  3rd place scored a $50 Jinx gift card.  2nd received the card and a 32gb iPod Touch and 1st landed the card, an iPad mini and an Xbox 360 with Minecraft!

There are some pretty amazing pieces amongst those that didn’t win, so I recommend surfing through the entries found here.  You can also check out the Papercraft guys here and make your own papercraft Minecraft blocks to create dioramas for yourself!  The app requires an iPhone or iPad for use, so those of us without are stuck with printing our own out from scratch built templates.

Have you made any interesting dioramas?  Link to them in the comments below!

Mojang's New Vice President

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In an act of supervillian genius, Mojang has hired Carl's twin brother Jonas as their Vice President. His identical twin brother. Congrats to Jonas on his new position, and hopefully Mojang continues on the amazing path it's been following so far! I don't know about you, but I like to imagine them standing side by side, finishing each other's sentences.


Mojang's article is here.

Rendering Your World With Qube!

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Do you want to render your world with some amazing shading?  Qube, of http://www.minecraft.qrendering.com/, offers a tutorial to all of you would be render masters!  With just a few programs and a bit of tinkering you can render that castle, pig farm or giant hole in stunning beauty!  Keep an eye on his store as well, as he was offering rendering services to those who wanted someone else to do the rendering for them!

If you make any awesome renders, please link them below!


Minecraft Action Figures from Jazwares!

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Mojangster data analyst Patrick Geuder tweeted out about Minecraft toys! Toy creators Jazwares are licensed to make Minecraft action figures, coming to a store near you! Series one looks to include Steve, with a coal block and a pick; an enderman with grass block and a mushroom; a zombie with an iron block and a sword; and a creeper with a tnt block and gunpowder! Jazwares official site's Minecraft section lists their toys section as coming soon, but currently have an active section for plush characters including the enderman and a mooshroom, and a large variety of high quality papercraft sets!

What do you think of the toys? I'm excited to see them in person! Leave a comment in the section below!

Be A Hero!

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What is Extra Life?

"On an Autumn Saturday each year since 2008, tens of thousands of gamers have joined together to save the lives of local kids in a celebration of gaming culture that we call Extra Life."

Extra life is a chance for gamers to raise money for local children's hospitals doing what they enjoy, playing games. By visiting their website at extra-life.org you can sign up to raise money for a children's hospital in your area. This year, the event takes place on November 2nd, 2013, beginning at 8am! Optionally, you can pick a date that works better for you.

You can game on whatever you like, however you like, wherever you like and raise money for charity. When you register, you choose a hospital to represent. Registration is free, with an optional Platinum option for $15 that you can upgrade to later. Their webpage has a slew of information on how to optimize your fundraising page, streaming to increase your fundraising efforts, how to ask for donations, and that's just the first 3!

So if you like to game and you want to help raise money for charity, what are you waiting for? Get on over to extra-life.org and register to participate today!

Dwarven City of Harginsson strikes gold

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I've seen it all here on CraftHub but something that always strikes a chord with me are underground builds.  So when I read that the Dwarven City of Harginsson was an underground structure -- I had to see it and boy did I set my eyes on something amazing.

The Dwarven City of Harginsson was built by Vadact Build Team, which consists of nine members: RapidRhino, protalz, lambpo25, geo513, summonimp123, playman, mikezee8, smileyallmighty and Fuselmonster. From the looks of it, they put in a lot of work not just in finishing their work of art but publishing it too as they have provided a video and screenshots.

The thing I enjoy about underground structures is how they're made. I mean, you have all of the structures built at ground level. They are there and seen from almost anywhere the eye can see. But then you go underground, and what do you see? A whole new world. Yes, they are so well hidden that a whole new world can be uncovered and that is the joy in finding caves and underground structures.

Now, keep in mind, when I say city, I mean an actual underground city. Not just a structure with a crappy garden on the side but a city with rivers, bridges, mountains, ledges and much more. So, like I said, this is why I love underground builds. 

However, this dwarven city has a small city built atop. From the screenshots provided, it seems like the build team had provided the viewers with a double spectacle. This city seems to be a bit more toned down in terms of "pizzaz" but still provided the aura and authenticity of any "town-like" build. Those who stumble upon this world won't realize that the real feature is beneath their feet. A whole new world awaits. Sadly, for you, this isn't download-able but who knows -- maybe in the future?

Methes Avonthes impresses

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The main reason Minecraft excels is because of its user-generated content and boy does it work well. Minecraft allows the flexibility and creativity of builders reach new heights and create works of art. To this, I present to you: Methes Avonthes by Gazamo.

As you can see from the picture, your jaw has probably already dropped. Don't worry, there's much more if you click the link above. More pictures and even a video! What's better is that you can explore this creation. It has everything from plain fields to cathederals to windmills to -- well -- city-like structures. 

Now, you're probably asking yourself the most important question: Can I download this? YES! But not now, Gazamo states that this will be one of the few cities to be included in a "map pack" to be later available for download. The keyword here, however, is parts of it. I don't know how it will be done but they promise you the build (but not all of it...).

For this build we will not be offering a download because it is part of a much larger project for our server, however we have taken several builds from this city and will be making a map pack that you will be able to download. This will be from our YouTube channel.

And if you liked what you saw here then you are in for a treat. Gazamo is building cities for their RPG server called "A’therys Ascended" and this has been one out of the six cities completed. Each of the six cities will have parts of it that will be available for download and from there, you can do with it what you wish.

However, for now, you can just oogle from the link given above and thank Mojang for Minecraft.

Crafters Charity, Extra Life and You!

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Extra-life is soon to be upon us, but it's not too late for you to get involved! In case you hadn't read the last article, or have no clue what Extra-life is, it's a charity where gamers raise money by doing what they do best: Gaming! Starting on Saturday, November 2nd at 8am, gamers all over the world will begin a 25 hour marathon to raise money for local children's hospitals.

Crafthub has pooled it's efforts with the fantastic folks over at Planet Minecraft who are running a booth straight from Minecon! While we can't be on site to help physically, we've dedicated time and effort to be there virtually. For those of you who are attending Minecon, you'll find them set up in a large booth running the livestream!

Cipher_Punk has dedicated his time, energy and soul to running the Livestream during the con and will occasionally be accompanied by guests. Their setup will allow livestreamers to stream from the booth they have set up. Their confirmed guest list includes Sethbling, YouRedstone, SGCBarbierian, SCMOwns, Sevadus, CyaNideEPic, HyPixel, bacon_D0nut, Bebopvox, Team MVG, Vareide, ZombiUnicorn and aureylian, with unconfirmed appearances by the Mindcrackers! People who were not able to attend Minecon but will still be broadcasting include Shyboy, Charede Gaming, QuinckGaming, Vaecon and StrayMav!

All of the guests and staff for the event will be livestreaming from a massive hub server, where you can log in and join them for all the fun! To gain access to this server, simply make a donation towards the CraftersCharity fundraising campaign at their team page! Be sure to leave your MC username in the "Message to fundrasier" field so that they can add you to the whitelist!

During the event, you'll also be able to enter raffles and auctions for some cool stuff, like Planet Minecraft T-shirts, Minecraft action figures, and a one-of-a-kind, hand knitted Ocelot cap!

Stick around for the long haul to catch AteBits and PMC throwing a Minecraft concert from 5pm to 8pm! You can see an example of their work here!

More information is coming soon at the event's website, Crafters Charity! So get ready for Minecon, and get ready for Extra Life! We hope you can make it, and leave a comment about your experience below!

Lego needs your Minecraft expertise!

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Back in February 2012, Mojang announced to the world that LEGO and Mojang AB worked together to release the first ever Lego Minecraft set. Since then, the world has gotten a taste of what LEGO can do and they have researched more about Minecraft -- however there is one slight problem. They don't know enough! YouTube's LEGO channel released this video asking for help.

If you head on over the official Facebook page, you'll see the way to help. They prompt this message by making a video showcasing their need for help. A range of product concerning Minecraft have been made available like redstrone-like contraptions and mobs (micro-sized!) and more.

I am sure within the next few days, more information will be made available however one thing is for certain -- if you contribute you can say you've helped build and shape LEGO to what it is today -- the Minecraft edition. Given Minecraft's success and the success of LEGO, you can bet thousands of boys and girls will be opening this latest line of LEGOs to make their next Minecraft creation.

Heck, I might even buy one. It looks pretty nice. The micro-worlds are pretty well-made and not to mention the micromobs bring back lots of memories. However, I know for a fact that I would probably lose pieces and get mad. But if LEGOS and Minecraft is your thing -- we got a surprise for you! Wait... well, it's not really a surprise anymore, is it?

Anyway -- head on over the facebook page to get posted on the details for LEGO's next line of Minecraft.

Pokémon Minecraft Server in the works

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Anime and entertainment shows give a lot of inspiration to users who want to incorporate their favorite thing to Minecraft. That being said, when I heard that Pokémon was once again being tied to Minecraft -- I scoffed. Mainly because it's the same old thing: Maps. However, this is not the case with Chistian95 as he recently released photos of the private server of his Pokémon realm. The only downside? It's in Spanish.

You can instantly see that this isn't your average build. It's a server and a good one that does its job well -- maintains the Minecraft feel but adds the element we all know and love about Pokemon.

However, this isn't just your average we-just-started-coding-heres-the-progress kinda project. It's fully-fledged with some impressive progress. For starters, it has a simple UI which enacts the feel of the gameboy classic. You can see the Pokémon to your left, the mini-map to your right and the map details.

To add onto that, it has its own custom items such as the Escape Rope, which you all know is much needed in caves, to rapel. But the grand feature is, of course, the Pokémon themselves which appear in wild grass. For all betting lovers, there is a functional casino outfitted with blackjack, roulette, and slot machines.

You can visit the website here. It has many mediums which you can reach the developers for input. Chistian95 is the only known one with English fluency as posted by his reddit account and details.

However, there's one problem I forsee that the developers might be running into. Let's say this gets popular (which it should!) and it gets a wind from reddit who talks about it. Then, someone from Nintendo sees it... guess what? They can then successfully file an IP lawsuit for using their images for such a use as they are. It's happened before in the gaming world. A fan-made game goes popular using such graphics. Graphic copyright holders don't like it and thus forced to shut the game down. That being said, who knows what trials and tribulations await these guys but it's best to hope for the best.

To say that this is the best thing ever for Pokémon lovers is an understatement because it's exactly what they need. This can go far and I believe it has the potential for being very successful. Like I said, I suppose you'll need to master Spanish fluency. Lucky for me, I already have so I will try to enter sometime later this week to see its progress.


1.8 Snapshot Preview!

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 Well it has only been a little over a month since the official release of the 1.7.4 Minecraft update and already Mojang have shown great interest in pushing on forwards in the development of 1.8.  This time we are seeing the enchanting system and villager functions getting a well needed makeover, the addition of a few new blocks, and big changes to improve the adventure gamemode.

 First of all, Mojang have introduced three new stone types! Granite, Andesite and Diorite!  All three can be found in their natural state in newly generated chunks in 1.8, and quite easily! I loaded up a single player world seed and found them in great abundance in caves, on the surface, and often two or three of the types in the same place as illustrated in the screenshot.  The raw stone can be placed in a crafting table in a 2x2 grid as illustrated to create the polished type as illustrated. 

 For those folks on servers that have reset for the giant 1.7.4 biome shake-up, there is good news!  These new stone types can also be crafted from already available resources so get mining!  Those double chests full of cobblestone will be handy!  Combine two quartz pieces with two cobblestone to create Diorite, Diorite with cobblestone to create Andesite, and Diorite with quartz to create Granite! Hooray!  New blocks being added to the game always brings about new and interesting block combinations for building, and perhaps we will see these stone types in slab, brick and stair form in the future.  Mojang in their wisdom have also introduced some lovely new crafting recipes for blocks somewhat rare to the survival worlds out there. 

 Chiseled stone bricks have only been attainable through raiding of jungle temples, and mossy stone bricks through the raiding of end portal strongholds.... UNTIL NOW!  Two stone brick slabs combined together in a crafting table now creates the chiseled stone brick, and a stone brick combined with a vine creates mossy stone brick!  This continues to throw more tools into the survival builder’s arsenal for the creation of our masterpieces!

 Another interesting block has been added to the game as well. Nine slime balls arranged in a crafting bench creates the new Slime Block!  This block has some pretty interesting properties, allowing for many crazy and ingenious uses in the future I am sure.  Firstly, when landed upon from any and all heights, it negates all fall damage and provides a trampoline-like bounce.  Unfortunately it does not apply to items, but does apply to all kinds of friendly and hostile mobs, as well as players. If a player or mob walks across them though it decreases movement speed dramatically, similarly but more slowly than soul sand. 

 There seems to be a bug at present where moving from soul sand onto slime blocks causes you to vibrate but I’m sure that will be polished before official release.  These blocks also act quite differently to any other in their structure.  They are translucent and therefore let light through them like glass but do not obey the non-solid block rules, so torches and carpets are able to be placed upon them.  Placing them on grass will not destroy the grass, and grass will spread beneath them! 

 All baby versions of the friendly mob types have also been slightly modified to be able to grow up faster similarly to how horses work.  In the current snapshot you need to spam the item required to breed the animal type on the baby you wish to grow and you will get the same green sparkly effects that bonemealing plants produces.  Eventually the animal will change instantly rather than the usual 20 minute maturing time.  Game difficulty is now stored within each created world rather than on a character and can be permanently locked in case of accidental changes wiping out customised hostile mobs from your single player worlds.   A slight nerf to the automation of mob farming has been implemented as well with zombie pigman and iron golems no longer dropping their gold nuggets or iron ingots unless they are killed directly by players. Mob softeners can be used but that at least still requires the presence of a player to do the deed!

The first of the big reworking has been done to the villager NPCs. Unfortunately when a villager is now struck by lightning they will turn into a witch much in the same way as a pig turns into a zombie pigman. Previously players have endlessly complained about the rip off trades some of the villagers offered and Mojang have decided to address this, generally making the trading a little less crazy in some instances though more specialised in others.  Instead of the 5 villager types we know in 1.7.4 (farmer, librarian, butcher, blacksmith and priest), they have been further broken down into 11 new, more specialised occupations -  Librarian, Cleric, Butcher, Leatherworker, Armorer, Toolsmith, Weaponsmith, Fisherman, Farmer, Fletcher and Shepherd. 

 This split has allowed the addition of more trades such as rotten flesh (FINALLY A USE!!), redstone, lapis, different enchanted books, tools, weapons and armor, and raw materials such as colored wool. The first few trades I saw seemed to be pretty basic and generic with no overly powerful trades, so Mojang may have put in place a tiered trading system where the better trades are further into each villager. Have you already got yourself perfect trading villagers and sad about losing them? Worry not!  Villagers currently spawned in previous versions of the game will keep their trades the way they are, but any new ones introduced by breeding or discovering fresh villages will be split up as described above. 

 Better get moving with that infinite villager breeder then huh?  NOPE!  Mojang have also reworked the way villagers breed!  Throwing a few villagers into a room with a heap of doors no longer works.  Now you have to provide the flowers, and chocolates, take them to a nice movie, play them some Barry White by candlelight... so much effort right guys?  Seriously though.... villagers now have a "willing to breed" tag in their coding that requires enabling as well as the necessary door/village setup from 1.7.4 for them to reproduce.  This tag can be enabled in two ways, both of them by trading.  On a villagers first use of a trade there is a 100% chance of enabling the "willing to breed" tag, and a 20% chance on each trade there-after.  This will consequently break every infinite villager breeder contraption but will also stop villages repopulating themselves in the wilderness, so we will have to see what solution Mojang has for that!  Unfortunately, this is also complicated by the aforementioned witch transformation.  

 The other big area the Minecraft team has been working hard on is the enchanting system.  The experience gain scale has been increased so that getting to level 30 now will take a little more effort, but level 30 allows you more enchants.  A currency is now required to apply those enchants though with Lapis finally slotting into an important role in the resource scale (other than blue dye and a pretty decorative block).  When you visit your enchanting table in 1.8 you will see there is a slot for Lapis as payment for the enchantment, but the rest looks pretty similar. The table will display three levels of enchants as usual but they will be greyed out until the Lapis payment is inserted into its slot.  You will also notice a preview of ONE of the enchantments that WILL be applied to the item you are enchanting.  This cannot be cycled out until an enchantment is made.  In the instance of my screenshot I will receive Smite 4, but also was lucky enough to get Knockback 2 as well. 


 

 If you do not like the enchantment you will be getting, you may apply an enchantment to another type of item (eg. axe, bow, shovel, etc) and the enchantments will reset.  Also see that only 3 levels have been consumed during the enchanting process on a level 30 enchant.  The number on the right hand side is the level you are required to have to access the enchantment.  The number on the left is the actual cost in levels and lapis.  Renaming an item is far cheaper as well.  As pictured you will see I created one of the most expensive, more unrepairable swords in survival Minecraft and was able to rename it for only 6 levels of experience rather than 30.  I have not experimented with repairing costs but they are just as astonishingly cheap and I will include a link to a YouTube video demonstrating. (note: the video is the property of Youtube user docm77, and not the property of myself or Crafthub and remains the property of the creator.)

   The Adventure game mode has had a makeover as well with a heap of changes taking place.  All block types are now unbreakable and cannot be placed by default, and the CanDestroy tag can be added to items so certain tools can be programmed to break certain types of blocks only. The @E selector has been added to many commands as well enabling the targeting of entities in general, or certain entity types by commands rather like the @A selector is used for players.  This means controlling entities is much easier and more flexible for administrators, adventure mode mapmakers etc. as you are able to target problem mobs in an area.  /Blockdata commands have been added as well allowing the modification of adventure mode chests or any other block that contains "data".  For example when the command is triggered, an empty chest may then filled with food, a key, a pick or whatever is required. The "lock" tag has also been added to this function so containers can be "locked" until a player has an item with a certain name, or a certain trigger has occurred.

 It has also added the ability for the @ commands to target certain cubic areas of a map rather than specific blocks.  This allows for the ability to manipulate entities or players within certain areas not specifically based around the radius of the player or command block. The /tp command can now be modified for a players rotation, meaning they will face a specific direction when they arrive at their destination.  The /Fill command has been added, and I bet you can guess what it does!  This allows a certain cubic area to be filled with any type of Minecraft block. Simple. Easy to understand. Useful! Well done!

 Currently there is a cap of 4096 blocks that can be modified with one command but this may be a modifiable number or may have the cap removed completely once any bugs with the command have been ironed out. The /Clone command has also been added and it does what you think it does!  It takes the blocks in the area specified, copies them and places the clone where the command tells it.  The addition of these WorldEdit style of commands will make modification of worlds much more user friendly and in the future I would imagine, eliminate the need for some of those kind of plugins altogether.

  Last of all there have been some changes to the skin system!  A new menu under the options tab will be put in place to enable / disable customisable skin layers to a player’s skin.  Both arms, legs, cape, chest and head will have an independent layer each that can be turned on or off in game, allowing for on the fly changing between layers of skin!  This is a screenshot from the Mojang website itself!

 

 - Pantzz

Snapshot Update! 14w04a!

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Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls! We have had another update to the 1.8 snapshot released yesterday full of lovely changes and bug fixes!

First up we have a change to item frames!  Items placed in frames can now be rotated by 45 degrees rather than 90 giving the item 8 possible positions.  This leads on nicely to the next change!  Each position in an items rotations gives off a different strength redstone signal detectable by a comparitor.  Some geniuses have already found good uses for this in the creation of redstone combination locks of varying complexity.

Villager AI has been improved and additional functions added.  The farmer villager will now harvest and replant mature crops and the butcher picks up any wheat dropped on the ground nearby.  At this point in time it seems these crops vanish into the void, but there have been unconfirmed reports they may create bread.  These changes leave many options open for the future!  Might we see the shepherd shearing sheep?

Buttons may now be placed on the top and bottom sides of blocks.  The automatic creation of snow and iron golems, and withers is now possible.  The use of a dispenser to place a pumpkin or wither skull in the correct position use to just drop the item in its place.  Now the item is placed as a block, allowing for life to be breathed into these creatures.

Previous snapshot versions added the mossy stone brick and chiseled stone brick crafting recipes.  We have now been given a recipe for mossy cobblestone!  A vine combined with a cobblestone block in a crafting bench results in a mossy cobblestone block.  Mojang seems to have listened to the masses with their previous iron golem and zombie pigmen drop changes.  The removal of iron ingot and gold from their loot tables has been reversed.

 

Small changes to the F3 screen.  When toggled, your cursor changes to a three colored line which indicates which direction you are facing.  The text of the direction you are facing also changes to bold, and the F: value indicating the compass direction has had a simplified coordinate reference added to it.  For example when facing east, the X coordinate line of the F3 screen changes to bold, the F line indicates "East (Towards Positive X)" and the cursor points in the red direction.

 

Lastly there has been more light shed on a hidden addition to the previous snapshot.  The /particle command allows the targetable spawning of a wide range of minecraft particle effects on players, entities and coordinates.  The full list of effects and more details on the snapshot can be found at  http://minecraft.gamepedia.com/14w04a

-Pantzz

 

Snapshot 14w05a! Another 1.8 update!

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Just when I thought I had a weekend off writing, Mojang decided to throw another snapshot our way! Presenting spectator mode!

  

/Gamemode 3 has been introduced to the game enabling spectator mode. This allows a player to become invisible to anyone except other spectators, and freely fly around the map at a wide range of speeds varied by the scrolling of the mouse wheel. A player in spectator mode may left click on another player or creature, both friendly and hostile, to see through their eyes. Spectators may no-clip through any kind of block without interfering with it and inspect inventories of chests and other "container" blocks but are unable to modify their contents. Placing and breaking of blocks or using of items is not possible while in this mode. Currently this mode is not completed and is quite buggy, and perhaps we have not seen all we can do just yet!

The F3 screen has undergone some changes which make it much easier to read. It clearly states what coordinates your feet are presently at, what block you are currently occupying, the chunk number, the direction you are facing, the biome you are currently in, the block lighting level, and the shader you are viewing minecraft in.  This is a great improvement upon the mish-mash of almost undecipherable letters and numbers from previous versions of the games.  Great work!

 

The copying of written books has been changed so that the original may be easily identified. They will now state if they are the original, a copy of the original, or a copy of a copy. Mojang have also created a limit to the copying as well by not allowing a "copy of a copy" to be copied (say that 10 times fast!). Activator rails have been modified too! When a minecart travels over a powered activator rail, the passenger will be ejected from the cart instead of having to manually leave, or break the cart from under its inhabitant.

 

Yet another new block has been added to the game with this snapshot for creative mode and mapmaking purposes. The invisible "barrier" block is now available and can be simply described as a totally invisible bedrock block. It is unbreakable in survival mode, cannot be pushed with pistons, and there seems to be no restrictions to what is placed on them.

Along with all of these new features of course come a slew of bug fixes slated for 1.8!  Mojang are working hard to iron out all the bugs and polish all the shiny new playthings they are giving us! What might next week bring?

-  Pantzz

 

Caring for your Creeper

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Every Minecrafter knows the Creeper. The dreaded hissSSss after eerie silence, followed by the destruction of all they hold dear. The Creeper is iconic. The Creeper is the lurking horror. The Creeper is an ideal housepet. Hear me out! The folks at Jazwares were kind enough to send me this little guy!

Creeper

Creepers, it turns out, are a misunderstood menace. They are easily excitable, unstable and prone to explosion, and thus the problem. Creepers can actually make fantastic, loveable household pets! As many theorists have stated, Creepers just want hugs. The folks at Jazwares have managed to raise a breed of Creepers that are cuddly, squeezable and that won't go supernova, taking out your precious precious diamonds and gold. So help a Creeper turn it's frown upside down and adopt one today!

Jazwares Creeper plush is durable, soft and fantastically representative of everyone's favorite nemesis. There are no hard plastic bits, or loose pieces to worry about, so even the youngest Minecraft fan can enjoy playing with them!

Jazwares carries a variety of plush Minecraft characters including the Enderman, Creeper, Baby Mooshroom and Baby Pig. You can see their full line of toys at Jazwares.com. They are available at all major toy retailers. Follow them on Twitter @Jazwares, on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/Jazwares and on Instagram at http://instagram.com/Jazwares.

Songs in the Key of Minecraft

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For many, Minecraft is a place where you get to lose yourself in the blocky world in front of you. Survive, fight, scavange, explore, escape and more. It's where we get to have fun by playing the game we love the most. For Mr. Gee, Minecraft is more than just a game; it's a creative outlet to express himself through song influenced by Minecraft itself.

Mr. Gee has chosen to use Minecraft differently. He has been making music for more than 20 years and has released more than 30 recordings. He has experience. But when Minecraft came calling, he suddenly found a new project for his mind to wrap around on.

That is why I'm excited to share with you all "Songs in the Key of Minecraft." It's a crowd-sourced funded project set up by Mr. Gee himself. He introduces his concept in which his resources need to be met. So far, he already has 114 backers who have donated $3,173 of the $3,500 needed. The craziest part? He has 4 days to go. Can we, CraftHubbers, help him reach the goal?

Now, what can you do to help make this a success? The whole point of Kickstarter is to fund a project so it can achieve its maximum potential. Every time you pledge, a certain amount grants you a certain status. Mr. Gill says:

The songs are all recorded, but need the fine-tuning to make them truly awesome. I have my own studio, so I won’t have to pay someone to help me record the songs. 

Here's the breakdown:

CD Duplication and Packaging:  $950
Additional Perks and Rewards:  $800
Mastering and Final Mixes:  $750
Art Design and Layout:  $500
Shipping of Rewards:  $500

With that being said -- raising more money than the intended $3,500 is possible. Mr. Gee has listed more incentives to receive if the money passes a certain level from mastering and mixing of songs to bonus stickers to CD packaging upgrades all in the name of Minecraft.

You may think this is strange but people believe in this. Over 5 people have donated $100 or more to this project with countless others donating $10, $25, $30 and more.

With all of that said, if you like Minecraft and you like music -- here's your chance to help both intertwine into something beautiful.

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