Boat Improvements (My Thoughts)

[Grode]

Hi!

First time poster, but long lover of BTW! I just wanted to post an idea that I had while playing Minecraft the other day. I was riding around in my boat when it broke. Darn. However, that action gave me an idea, why not make boats better? I feel that the boat mechanics in Minecraft are severely broken; just like with the rail cars before the boosters.

BTW has a great many things that improve the vanilla game. Tier one is all about wood, so let that be your basic boat. Tier two is steel, so make a steel boat that doesn't break on contact but rather over time like tools and armor. Another aspect is that I find it is a pain to keep a boat in a single place. This really makes it hard for when you are trying to build a dock, but, however, all your boats are out to sea, because you have pushed them all away by mistake. So, I propose a "locking" part that when the boat has made contact with said part it locks into position, and you can get out safely without your boat floating away. It would bring back boats and fix, what I feel, a large part of the vanilla game.

But that sounds too easy, and nothing like the BTW style. So, why not go for broke, and why not have the ability for larger boats? with sails? engines? oars? steam? furnace? SOMETHING! That sounds more like the BTW style. Why not also set up a fishing net? Fish have become more popular in game, so instead of grinding them out, INDUSTRIALIZE it! You would set it out and later you would come back to find fish in your net ready to cook and eat. And it wouldn't be hard to make! All you would need was some string and maybe a few sticks, and viole! you have a working net.

Those ideas are merely child's play to what potential boat have, and any of your ideas would be greatly appreciated!

-Grode

PS. On a completely unrelated topic, I could not help but notice BTW's lack of additions to the NPC villages. I was wondering if there are some changes underway for them, or not. Also, as a final unrelated topic, I was wondering if there are to be more changes to the nether? Such as, more blocks, items, mobs, ect. I still feel that the Nether's potential is wasted and could be improved upon drastically, but I do not have a clear idea or image for what to do. So I was also wondering if there was something in the works to expand upon the Nether. I really feel it could be the Minecraft level 2 and not just this awkward transition so you can fight the Ender Dragon. But again, I have no idea what EXACTLY I crave out of the Nether, so if anyone could enlighten me on these topics, that would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

[EvilSheeper]

Hi!
I think there is little point in doing boats, yet. Once Mojang (hopefully) does something to the ocean biomes there would be a reason to put effort in that direction.
This should be in suggestions BTW.

[Katalliaan]

To address your concerns in general:

-Aside from the constant stream of little functionality changes and bugfixes, FC's been focusing on fleshing out the Nether lately, like with the blood wood trees.
-As a result, I doubt that he'll be working on any water content for a while.
-The villages themselves probably won't be changed, as he doesn't want to change the world generator (as I've last heard). However, he's already made the villagers drop a fuckton of XP and toss milk, what more do you want?

[Battosay]

Not sure, I remember him sayin' that he loves boat, and would like tom ake them more usefull. So maybe :)

[muggsbud]

I just think that any change to boat mechanics would be a huge improvement; i can't look around to see the sea side cliff without running into it. I can't get out of the boat without it running away. the boat doesn't like to turn while moving (not wrong, but it shouldn't be as bad as it is) etc.
also, wrong section, this should be in ideas and suggestions.

[Elevatator]

Sails to level up your boat? (or even a complete new boat made from steel to swim in lava?)

[Gargantuan_Penguin]

I agree that boats need to be better. but my game play does not rely on boats at all unless I am traveling across the sea which has no obstacles whatsoever. so while it would be nice, I don't think that it is really necessary at this point.

but lava boats, that would make my life easy...

[FlowerChild]

Moving this to the suggestions subforum.

[orangeweaver]

I haven't built a boat since I got lost at sea for nearly 3 hours. I finally gave up and deleted the world in frustration.

I would love to see the boats themselves work better (I like cruising around the rivers around my base) but I feel like right now it would be a waste of time because there's just nothing that boats do that walking doesn't except getting you lost and hallucinating because of dehydration.

[Gargantuan_Penguin]

I haven't built a boat since I got lost at sea for nearly 3 hours. I finally gave up and deleted the world in frustration.

I would love to see the boats themselves work better (I like cruising around the rivers around my base) but I feel like right now it would be a waste of time because there's just nothing that boats do that walking doesn't except getting you lost and hallucinating because of dehydration.

last I checked you didn't hallucinate in mincraft... or have any need for water. so I am assuming you are talking about real life. It would be interesting to add more reality to minecraft by forcing you to carry around a bottle of water though...

[orangeweaver]

Bahaha. Yeah. When you are holding up for near 3 hours straight and haven't found land (only small pockets) you start getting weird.

If there was some sort of resource in the ocean, or if I didn't feel I was risking my entire base and just starting over I would explore the seas more, the rivers are fun but even those get clogged up which makes the boat less helpful because walking really will do the trick.

I'm not sure I really want realism, though I wouldn't be opposed to a bottle of water, more of something in vMC that makes the boat important or worth it in some way. Right not it just feels like an afterthought.

[Gargantuan_Penguin]

Bahaha.
I'm not sure I really want realism, though I wouldn't be opposed to a bottle of water, more of something in vMC that makes the boat important or worth it in some way. Right not it just feels like an afterthought.

I remember when hunger was added it was just a big nuisance at the beginning. now I hardly notice. If they added a thirst bar I wouldn't mind at all I think.
But realism in games is something I adore. Not the graphics (I mean c'mon I play minecraft) but the in game consequences. thats a huge part Of why I enjoy rouguelikes.

[darahalian]

If you bring a compass with you when you go sailing, you don't have to worry about getting lost.

There are already bottles of water, and you can drink milk, so the items are already there if a thirst system were to be implemented, but I'm not sure if having a thirst bar as well would have any real effect except being one more thing to worry about so you don't die, and another space in your inventory being used up.

Unless the whole hunger system in general undergoes a huge change, I don't know that further additions to it now would have any positive effect. And I don't even know if a change like this would be possible without becoming more of a nuisance than anything. It might be an interesting idea for a mod focusing on food/hunger, for people who would enjoy that type of gameplay. It would probably make survival feel more like you are trying to survive in the wild than it does now. I definitely wouldn't expect changes like this in BTW, though, as it has a very different focus.

[Ribky]

There are two bits of your suggestion I like... and those are the only two I'm going to mention.

1. Docking the boat. Yes. I like that. The damn boat loves to wander away with the slightest nudge from anything. I think a fence post and rope would be enough to fix the problem though, if there is a way to do that.

2. Fishing nets. I like the idea of setting up nets for some way to automate fishing, though If you're doing it from a boat it really can't be fully automated. You'd still need to steer to boat around and trawl for fishy fish. I would rather see something like this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tangle_net. Set them up, let them sit, set up a device to systematically pull them in and empty them into hopper/pipes/storage/whatever and enjoy the fish.

[Gargantuan_Penguin]

I like the fish nets idea, but I think that you need to give something to get. bait the thing with rotten flesh or something and have the possibility for some number of fish to be caught for each piece of bait.

[Ribky]

I like the fish nets idea, but I think that you need to give something to get. bait the thing with rotten flesh or something and have the possibility for some number of fish to be caught for each piece of bait.

Meh... that's silly. Although I agree that generally "give something to get" is a good route to take, it doesn't make too much sense with nets, as one of the keys to effective nets is the lack of a need for bait. But perhaps a little tweak like 'the net must be set up in a shoal of running water' or 'the net must be set up between two solid points to function' or both of those would more adequately fit the needs for "giving". That makes sure that there are some heavy restrictions on it from the get go. I do agree that just sitting the damn thing in open water would be quite over powered, but with HCB enabled, the two requirements I mention make the initial setup quite a bit of work, due to water not being nearly as easy to manipulate. As with all automated systems, the give to get should be the initial work put in to get it working effectively.

[Gargantuan_Penguin]

I see your point. I was just shying away from the idea of having infinite food by tossing a net somewhere. with the restrictions you mentioned it would be a good deal more realistic than baiting a net... which is just silly now that I think about it.

Back to boats; I think that if you could tow a net behind your boat it would be a great further use for boats, as well as adding a manageable sense or realism to fishing.

[Thyphon]

I all honesty, I don't see much sense in doing anything with boats at the moment.

They can sail reasonable in my opinion, and gets the job done when you need to find something you need, like pumpkins/cactus/veins/wolves (if you are so lucky to spawn without one or two of them within a 50 block radius).
These trips are mostly one time trips, and you quickly get to the point, where you never need to see a boat again (unless you really love to go exploring for no reason ;) ).

Of cause it would be nice and "cool", if there came more water related content, and more reasons to use boats/ get better boats. For that I would first and foremost look towards Mojang and hope they do something, as I really can see any ways, that this would fit into BTW.
Boat improvements is desirable, but at this point, it is sadly entirely unnecessary and pointless.


As for the fishing. There really ain't that much sense of that either, the fish you need for taming Ocelots is kinda low, and even if you want to breed them (assuming they need fish for that), you probably only need something like one stack to satisfy you needs.
So unless FC makes a feature that requires larger quantities fish, then I personally find it hard to justify including a feature/features based on getting fish.

Then again, we are talking about FC. Wouldn't wonder me if you need fish bones to build a throne to the cat.
hmmmm nahhh He would properly prefer wolf bones for obvious reasons. ;P

Edit: removed spoiler

[Stormweaver]

I all honesty, I don't see much sense in doing anything with boats at the moment.

They can sail reasonable in my opinion, and gets the job done when you need to find something you need, like pumpkins/cactus/veins/wolves (if you are so lucky to spawn without one or two of them within a 50 block radius).
These trips are mostly one time trips, and you quickly get to the point, where you never need to see a boat again (unless you really love to go exploring for no reason ;) ).

Of cause it would be nice and "cool", if there came more water related content, and more reasons to use boats/ get better boats. For that I would first and foremost look towards Mojang and hope they do something, as I really can see any ways, that this would fit into BTW.
Boat improvements is desirable, but at this point, it is sadly entirely unnecessary and pointless.


As for the fishing. There really ain't that much sense of that either, the fish you need for taming Ocelots is kinda low, and even if you want to breed them (assuming they need fish for that), you probably only need something like one stack to satisfy you needs.
So unless FC makes a feature that requires larger quantities fish, then I personally find it hard to justify including a feature/features based on getting fish.

Then again, we are talking about FC. Wouldn't wonder me if you need fish bones to build a throne to the cat.
hmmmm nahhh He would properly prefer wolf bones for obvious reasons. ;P

Please don't enclose entire posts in spoilers, it just annoys people.

[elustran]

Boats shattering are quite the annoyance. That fact could also be considered part of the game; being careful with your boat is part of the challenge of boating.

Basically, I'd suggest two extra tiers of boats. First, a 'reinforced' boat, possibly made with tallow for sealant and tanned leather for reinforcement. This puts it fairly far down the tech level since you'll need stoked fire. Second, an 'icebreaker' which would allow you to break ice blocks and lily pads, making water passages more navigable. The icebreaker would, of course, require a goodly chunk of soulforged steel because only the souls of the damned can break/melt the ice before you (and it puts such a useful item at the top of the tech tree).

I think these ideas are game balanced and add to fun for the following reasons:

- Leaves initial game challenge

- Removes a major annoyance as you progress down the BTW tech tree

- Adds a feature to make boats and rivers more navigable at the top of the tech tree

- Should be costly enough to maintain high cost-to-usefulness like other BTW items.

[echo off]

yeh boats suck XD

with the net idea, if the net was attached to the boat, and every block the boat moves, it had a chance to catch fish (like 1/50?) it'd create a reason to go boating, as well as not overpowering the net.

but as for improving boats, might as well leave the vanilla boat alone, and just add new boats down the tech tree, that can have those things like steam engines/nets/sails/anchors/etc.