So I looked at the new 1.9 snapshots..

Once upon a time there was this mad (but wise!) feline genius living on SMP8. When he learned about "player wings" also known as Elytra's he quickly wondered: "So what would happen if a zombie were to pick that up?".

So... the 1.9 snapshot got me a bit more into contact with command blocks. And let me tell you guys this: redstone + commandblock = total awesomeness. But more on that later...

Today I tried to summon a zombie with a golden helmet on and it didn't work at all:

Code:

summon Zombie ~ ~1 ~ {Equipment:[{},{},{},{},{id:golden_helmet,count:1,tag:{}}]}

Then I learned about the new ArmorItems attribute. Instead of using 5 attributes (equipped, feet, trousers, chest and head) we now use 4. So I build a tower, placed a commandblock, and....



One zombie with armor equipped; the ArmorItems worked. Then I couldn't help think back about what Kephras jestingly shared. Could it be?

I changed the command:



And then hit the zombie with some rotting flesh (hitting it with my sword would set it on fire). Ph33r!!!

It's a gliding zombie, run for your lives!

The good news is that they can't pick up a Elytra and then use it, the bad news is obviously... Gliding zombies, run!

With thanks to Kephras for making me come up with this hideous idea

But shell, the dragon egg has always teleported.

Ah, finally, a reference to the F3 + combinations in-game. I mean, I've memorised the ones I need, but many people don't even seem to know about the existence of F3 + B or F3 + H. While F3 + H is one of the first things I do when playing a fresh build of Minecraft. (along with cracking the FOV up to Quake Pro )
Anyway, many of these things you reviewed have been in the snapshots for quite a while now, but it's understandable that you missed them until now.
But the reporting on the dragon egg teleporting...
xD
Nice overview of the slightly less-known changes, anyway!

Well, not fully missed them but in some cases also ignored them. I've known about beetroot for a while but so far never mentioned it because I also didn't came across it during my game. So yesterday I found some in an End structure and decided to include it

Well, that's what you get for only basing yourself on instructions and manuals and not trying stuff out yourself

So far I never fought the ender dragon legitimately in my single player game so also never experimented on the egg. The times I did fought the dragon were either staged / cheated or on a server and not too seriously (like fighting 2 - 3 dragons at once).

You're never too old to learn I guess

Why I think 1.9 is going to revive the game.
... or: Shell's weekend 1.9 rant

I've been playing a lot with 1.9 as of late which I think is quite funny considering the fact that I also tried 1.8 during the snapshot run. However; during those times I wanted to have as little as possible to do with them. I didn't like 1.8 at all when it first got out but nowadays I consider it a worthy release. I still have a 1.7.10 version "on profile" for use with some Minecraft computer savefiles, but thats also all I use it for.

Fun fact which I shouldn't be sharing but meh: there's a slim chance that I'll be doing a Minecraft 1.9 review for "a certain online games magazine/forum", paid job too. It is one of the reasons I've been caught up with 1.9 so much as of late though.

SO... 1.9...



This is why I think the Elytra is going to kick ass... I actually enjoy playing single player from time to time which might be one of the reasons why I can sometimes go a little deeper with my reviews and such. Here you see my nether 'base'; basically the generated portal with a cobblestone build around it. I did cheat here and there by using creative, but I still stuck with what I would have had at this point of the game.

Below me is a whole new field of netherrack to explore, which includes plenty of quartz. Only obvious problem is how to get there.. I suppose digging down is an option but when you're on top you can't always overlook the whole area; for all I know it could be floating!

This is where Elytra kicks ass. Now I can simply swoop down, do my thing, and if need be I'll use the netherrack which I collected down there to build my way up again. Sure thing: The Elytra does make this a whole lot easier. But trust me when I say that getting an Elytra isn't all that easy to begin with. It's balanced out.

So yesterday I tested the server counterpart a little prematurely and also invited a friend over. It seems there are still plenty of bugs to cover but alas... I hope that 1.9 can mean the return of invisibility potions on EMC. The major issue for not doing so is trolling.

But 1.9 could provide another status effect to cancel the whole thing out and still make it fun to use:



If you make players glow when they get the invisibility effect then this happens. I think this could be a perfect failsafe in town; you're still more or less invisible but in a fun way. People may not know who you are; but you can be recognized as being present.

And in the wild? Well, if people do misbehave in the wild while invisible then meh: surely the staff is capable of catching up their actions after the facts?

Anyway; ever wondered what the effect of our beloved zombie virus could look like on 1.9?

Like so (just ignore the invisibility & glowing outlines):



My main gripe with using zombie virus in town: its too short! I'd love a zombie virus without the positive effect which would last for, say, 20 or 30 seconds. Just for fun.

By the way, this is the future of the resistance effect:



Resistance CCLLV for the win!

We fought 5 or so withers, and then got to enjoy the wither effect for the next 5 minutes to come, such joy and fun

But yeah...

Boats are more robust, I predict the Elytra to get you 2 - 3 million rupees at least (assuming this is going to be available in-game), ghosts for the win and... there was something else but I forgot 8)

I think 1.9 can make a huge difference in the game. The only thing I'm somewhat missing out on are more crafting recipes. We can't craft tipped arrows yet, we can't really do much with endstone bricks (purpur blocks are cool though) and well... It does bug me a little that the "open to LAN" bug still hasn't been fixed: If you use that option then anyone who connects doesn't see your skin but will see Steve. While you do see your own skin as well as the other players skin. I tried this with the snapshot this evening: same deal.

But other than that... 1.9 has everything we need to become awesome. Honestly guys: you can get used to mining with your pickaxe is one hand and a torch in the other really quick..

Its definitely going to change how we play the game. No matter if you like pvp, mining, pve or just goofing around and such.

I really hope elytra's aren't too pricey

They will be very pricey.

But 2-3 million rupees? That does sound a bit high. It would be cool, though! It'll surely be very expensive at the start, but I think the price will drop quite a bit. Just like with beacons and sponges.

Have you guys seen they removed the Notch Apple recipe?

Yeah, both of them. No gapples at all. This is actually why I stopped bothering with trying to send in bug reports because there is no way to fully determine if something is a bug or intended given their rather poorly changelogs.

Edit: right now I assume this to be a bug btw. Also because enchanting some items with an anvil resulted in the item totally disappearing. Some things are not right (tm)

Edit2: Seems its confirmed that this was an intended change. Can't say I like it. Not so much because of the gapple: I hardly used those anyway, either on EMC or singleplayer, but because we get less instead of more crafting.

This practically makes gold pretty much useless, which I think is a bad thing(tm).

Well i hope its a bug lol...but if it is not then we should start saving up on them

Golden carrots

Well...theres still Powered Rails

And armor / tools (gold tools tend to behave more responsively but wear out more quickly too). Yeah, gold still has some uses left but those are now quite specific.

Yeah, this is a love/hate kind of change for me On one hand I think its kinda poor to remove crafting options, also because it goes against the open world idea of playing how you want to play it. On the other hand it does make the golden apple more overpowered.

Oh well, I suppose we'll just have to see what happens. In the mean time I think I'm going to hunt for more gold on EMC just to be sure Not for the rupees: for the gapples

Because I can 8)

What's the trick with elytra? I have it equipped and nothing I try makes me glide

I believe you have to fall for about three blocks before you begin gliding.

Jump off a high enough platform, then make sure to look up if you're in 1st person view. Once you're afloat the glider responds to that: it takes you where you're looking at. The safest bet is to hit F5 to switch to 3rd person view so that you know what is happening.

What Shell said, but there's also a bug that makes it so shift clicking the elytra causes it to break. It needs to be equipped by manually placing it in the chestplate slot.

does it not work if you're using creative mode? I jumped off the highest possible point and was looking all around with my mouse and it wasn't doing anything

EDIT: I'm a dork. I had elytra in my slot where my shield would go and when I put it where my chestpiece went it worked. very cool.

You might have discovered it already but because I have not seen someone talk about it yet,
thought I could mention it...

Although not craftable, they are now obtainable in survival...
Will hide in Spoiler if anyone wants to figure it out on their own.

Btw, cool thread Shell...

If you drop a lingering potion on the ground and shoot an arrow in to the particles, just pick it back up and you have a new tipped arrow!!! However, it only works in 15w44b or higher... I also still think a crafting recipe for these like Shell said would be much more convenient...