Minecraft has completely revamped the way it handles updates, and at Minecraft Live this past weekend, developers Mojang unveiled the first batch of content for this new era. It is, as promised, smaller than previous big annual updates, but with a completely new biome and a radical new mob, it's also much more substantial than I expected.
The new biome is Pale Garden, which is a spooky forest filled with hanging moss to limit your visibility. Here you can collect pale wood, a new type of material that you can turn into white planks, fences, doors, and the like. Mojang puts a lot of emphasis on how “creepy” everything feels, with an “abnormally quiet” vibe in contrast to other Minecraft biomes.
The real threat here is called Crunch. This new mob is a tree-like creature that takes no damage from your attacks and freezes in place while you look at it. It's effectively a version of Doctor Who's Weeping Angels, a deadly creature that's invincible but can't move while you're looking at it. Senior Java game developer Gnembon even evokes David Tennant in the breakdown below, warning players to “don't blink.”
Minecraft Live 2024: Pale Garden and Creaks – YouTube
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You defeat the Creaking by hunting a living block called the Creaking Heart, which controls the puppet creature in the area. You can harvest a Crunchy Heart using a tool enchanted with a touch of silk. “So you can place it anywhere in the Minecraft world,” explains game director Agnes Larsson, “so if you want to be as evil as the crunchy heart, you can place it and terrorize your friends.” I figure I'll get over my fear of the Pale Garden, but if a so-called friend hid a Crackling Heart in my base, I'm not sure I'd ever recover.
This update is “coming soon” to snapshots, previews, and betas, and it usually doesn't take long after testing begins before the updates hit the live game.
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