User:BlueRavenGT/Feature Requests

About This Page
This is a list of features I would like to see and reasons to implement them. Feel free to link to topics on this page. If there are discussions about some of this stuff that I missed, let me know on the discussion page and I will probably link to them.

Sprinting Modifier
With the current method of sprinting, it can be nearly impossible to sprint on older machines or on laggy servers. Many people want a modifier set to, or with sneak moved to.

I would like to propose using two modifiers, the and  keys, which are set to  and  by default. These keys, when held at the same time, negate each other.

Benefits over current system:
 * In most cases, it is logical to have your fingers hovering over the, , and keys. You would not need to reach for a modifier.
 * Satisfies the "Press harder (or more keys) to move faster" instinct, without killing the keyboard.
 * By default, the keys form an arrow due to their positions on the keyboard.
 * Strafing, which allowed you to move faster in some games, involves holding two directional keys.

Debug Screen Configuration
The debug screen is very cluttered. Most of the stuff is quite useful, but some people may want to know their framerate without seeing their coordinates, entity count, or seed. In some cases, on older or slower machines, much of the information is impossible to see due to the framerate graph covering it up. The pie chart is also nice, but some people absolutely hate circles.

I propose a user-editable debug screen configuration file. The most important entries would be the framerate graph, coordinates, seed, and pie chart.

But what if something goes terribly wrong and the player wants to know more than their config file lets them see? Have an extra shortcut to override the config file. ++ has a nice ring to it, don't you think?

Local (World Specific) Settings and Statistics
A list of things that should apply to worlds instead of the entire game.

Game Modes
The game mode is set when the world is created. There should also be an option to allow changing the game mode later.

Difficulty
Hardcore mode sets the map difficulty to hard permanently. Other game modes should be allowed to have permanent difficulty settings, and an option to allow changing the difficulty after map creation. There should also be a global difficulty, used when the map's difficulty is set to "Global".

Statistics and Achievements
It would be nice to be able to see how far you've walked in , especially if you have a "testing" world and a "legit" world you would like to keep separate. Maybe you've only laid 50 meters of track to get to your mountaintop base, and you join a server with 30 km tracks to get between cities. Maybe you're doing a challenge to see how many monsters you can kill in 24 hours, but you take breaks to go back to your other world for a break. Currently there are only global statistics, and those tend to be reset when minecraft is updated or crashes. For SMP, the server could keep track so the client only has to ask the server when the user opens their statistics menu, and if necessary, report to the server every ten minutes and when disconnecting. There could still be global stats and achievements, kept separately from the local stats and achievements, for bragging rights.

Maps
Four iron and a piece of redstone per map is a bit expensive.

Creation
A blank piece of paper can be crafted with dye(s) and/or a compass to create a map centered on the location of crafting.

Requiring a compass during crafting would leave recipes open for other items, like custom paintings or scrolls. If a compass is used during crafting, it should remain in the crafting table after removing the map from the output.

Crafting recipe suggestions for changing the map's zoom would be appreciated.

Copying and Linking
An existing map is used in addition to the items used in map creation. The existing map (and compass) are left in the table. This merely produces a copy, and does not show the position of other copies of the map.

A linked map is created in the same way, but with the addition of a piece of redstone. Linked maps will show the position of other players with a map linked to it.

The new map will have the same zoom as the original regardless of the position of the ingredients.

Using
To map an area, you must have the map out and a compass in your hotbar. The map will still display without a compass, but you won't be able to fill it in, and you (or players with maps linked to yours) will be unable to see your location if you are outside the mapped area.

Recycling
Existing maps can be crafted with bonemeal to make a plain piece of paper.

Pathfinding
Currently, mob pathfinding appears to be "Walk straight toward the player". They need to be smarter, using information immediately available to them (It looks like there's a path to the right), but not information they shouldn't have (navigating a maze perfectly the first time, shortest distance over or around this mountain range). They should be capable of getting "lost" in unfamiliar places. If a pass is suddenly blocked, they shouldn't react to that information until they see it.

This will probably have to wait until you hire an AI specialist.

Better distribution of levels
The levels should be weighted toward the number of bookshelves to reduce the time it takes to get a desired level.

Currently, the only way to get high level enchantments (45-50) is to:


 * 1) Install 30 bookshelves
 * 2) * One time linear cost of resources
 * 3) ** And time to gather resources
 * 4) * Somewhat parallelizable
 * 5) ** Do stuff while waiting
 * 6) Spend the time to level up
 * 7) * Repeating exponential cost of time
 * 8) * Repeating linear cost of resources
 * 9) * Somewhat parallelizable
 * 10) ** Exploration
 * 11) ** Caving for resources
 * 12) Start clicking
 * 13) * Repeating random cost of time

Step two is sufficient to prevent someone from getting large numbers of powerful enchantments at a time.

Step three just tedious and wastes time. There is little skill required to complete it, and what skill that is required could be used to actually play the game.

Also: Clicking on the book graphic to re-roll the "dice" would be nice, and mice everywhere would thank you. This could be taken further by allowing you to go back by clicking on the left side and forward by clicking on the right.

*This may already be implemented but unreleased

Durability Meter
There is currently no way to know how much durability your armor has left without opening your inventory. There should be a second durability meter indicating the amount of damage armor can take before it breaks.

Cracked Armor Icon
Maximum information with minimal additional clutter

= durability

+ (cracked armor icon) = protection

= No armor

Example:

= 45% protection, 66% durability

= 45% protection, 100% durability

Note: If someone wants to contribute a "cracked" icon, it would be greatly appreciated.

Walkable Tracks
"Walkable" sloped tracks would remove the need for a parallel stairways next to sloped tracks.

Controls
Ladders should use the same controls as flying.

= up

= down

= stay put

This would prevent the bug where mobs colliding with each other in a single block wide ladder shaft get stuck going up.