Spring is finally here. The sun is shining, the birds are chirping and that means it is time for a new “Minecraft” update. This one is one of the most refreshing updates in a long time. From bushes to animal textures to changing spawn eggs in creative to a new sneak peek at the newest and happiest mob of all of the blocky worlds, this update sure has a ton of things to unpack.
This update adds a more lifelike feeling to the game. This is achieved by new animal variants, cute bushes and ambient sounds for a few biomes. Cows, chickens and pig variants are now based on what type of biome they are in, similar to the new dog textures. These variants include fluffier animals in cold biomes, more neutral colored animals, like the warm chicken in the hotter biomes and normal variants in the plains, which sit in the middle of it all.
Bushes and plants are a large hit in the Minecraft community. Firefly bushes are scattered around river banks, which create fireflies at night to help light up a base. The little bugs even make noises that sound like cicadas. This nicely adds to the realism of the game. New bushes have also been added to create volume in the once boring grassy biomes. Lastly, the cactus flower is a pink flower that will occasionally pop up on top of a cactus. The player can take these flowers and put them anywhere and on anything—on the ground, on a crafting table or even on a stone floor. These cute sprouts of greenery add a whole new beauty to the game.
Although it is not that noticeable, there are now sounds in different biomes. Sand shifting can be heard in the desert and leaves shifting can be heard in forest biomes. These sounds add to the atmosphere of the game and makes players feel like they are actually walking into their world.
Spawn eggs used to be confusing. Fox eggs looked like pig eggs and villager eggs looked like ravager eggs. “Minecraft” has got players covered because spawn eggs have new textures. Each egg is different depending on what mob it spawns. Villager eggs now have large noses at the front, bee eggs have wings sticking out of either side and creeper spawn eggs have their signature black face on their green shell. Although these eggs can only be accessed in creative mode, it is still nice to have a difference between them all and not have players go searching for a specific mob egg.
Far away in the Nether, snuggled up against a large fossil, lies a shriveled-up creature named the grumpy ghast. Why is it so grumpy? It is dried up and wants to hydrate itself. If a player takes this little guy and puts it in a small pool in the Overworld, the grumpy ghast will become a ghastling, or a baby ghast. This cutie will follow the player until it gets bored and follows another entity around, curious about the world the player lives in.
If the ghastling is left alone or fed snowballs, the ghastling grows up into a happy ghast. These mobs are the complete opposite of the original, fire-blasting counterparts. Although cheerful, they just float around and don’t seem to have a specific purpose. A player can craft a ghast harness which allows the player to ride and even stand on the ghast’s head. This new feature can be great for transporting mobs or the player themselves around. This can also help building, letting the player stand on the ghasts head and be able to place blocks on their build without needing a dirt pillar or scaffolding.
And lastly, the most current update, the lead upgrade. Leads are now able to be attached to more than one mob at once. This means that a player can have a train of cows dragging along without having to clump them tightly. It makes transporting faster and similar.
To combine the happy ghast and the lead together, if a player wants to get say a horse to another side of the map, the horse can be attached to a lead while being attached to a ghast at the same time. This prevents the horse from taking fall damage and helps transport large mobs that could originally take forever to drag along.
Overall, this is a beautiful update and the community seems to love it. The plants and sounds bring the world to life and make it more realistic. Also, the happy ghasts add a fresh new mob and spark for players to enhance their creativity with the game.