Recently Mojang Studios (the developers of Minecraft) released their latest update to the game, known as the Caves and Cliffs update. It has been highly anticipated for the past two years. This is the second half of the Caves and Cliffs Update, which began earlier this year with the release of 1.17 Caves and Cliffs Update Part One. While Part One contained many of the new blocks and creatures, the 1.18 release is probably a far greater deal.
Minecraft is valued for the creativity it allows players. IGN journalist Anthony Gallegos said, “No other video game has unleashed my creativity like Minecraft. I’ve spent countless hours chipping away at blocks, gathering the necessary materials to complete the next masterpiece that would otherwise only occupy my mind’s eye. I’ve also spent just as many hours exploring, spelunking, and slashing my way through monsters with bravado. My character – my entire Minecraft world – constantly evolves into whatever I want it to be. I tell my own stories, I write my own destiny and I bring my fantasies to life one brick at a time.”
Since its launch back in 2011 Minecraft has dominated the charts and earned its place as the number one best-selling video game of all time. Classified as a sandbox game, Minecraft is a game where the player has the utmost freedom in what they choose to do.
The game is centered around its two gameplay modes, Survival mode, and Creative mode. Creative mode allows the player to access supernatural abilities such as flying and allows them to instantly obtain any block via the use of the interactive menu. Survival mode, on the other hand, is exactly what it sounds like. The game drops the player into one of the many biomes, from there the player must craft tools and hunt for food to survive. All the while, the game throws many hostile computer-controlled characters such as zombies, skeletons, and spiders that the player must fight off.
Although a sandbox game, there is one underlying plot to Minecraft, and that is to defeat the Ender Dragon. Although that is technically the end of the story, Minecraft isn’t about beating the Ender Dragon, but about the journey there making Minecraft one of the timeless pieces from our generation.
The new process of generating caverns and tunnels was completely changed in this update. Gaping openings occur in woods, luring players into their vast depths, though, relatively little real mining is required to dig down far enough to acquire ores like iron, coal, and even diamonds. Spelunking in these massive tunnels is more about being able to carefully navigate your way down and through cramped corridors and dizzying heights, exactly like in the real world.
Caves and Cliffs, in particular, adds a new dimension to Minecraft’s landscape development. It makes a lot of subtle adjustments that enhance the experience of playing Minecraft, whether you’re beginning from spawn or in the middle of building a palace. The experience of Minecraft will never be the same again.
