Minecraft thread - Page 5

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Flint from sandstone deposits, a stick made from planks, and a feather.

This is a big concept. I was going through things in my head, on how we can make multiplayer really work, without people just getting pissed and destroying everything at the drop of a hat. That's when I came up with the Totem idea. Pretty much, you make a totem (more on that in a second) that marks your area in a circular radius. If you're the Chief (more on that in a second, too), activating the totem brings up a menu where you can pay Tribute (increasingly expensive materials, like five iron bars, or three gold blocks) to increase your claim size, mess around with the status positions in your settlement, and stuff like that.

The important thing here is that, within that circular radius, every block is marked as "Claimed" (opposed to "Wilderness", which would be every other block in the world), and are much harder to destroy for everyone not belonging to the settlement, or not holding a high enough settlement position. This can be very useful when combined with my reinforced block concept. You may also respawn at the totem, which makes sense to me than just marking a place to respawn. You have to EARN the right to reincarnate wherever you want!

Making a totem involves three steps that get progressively easier. First, is the test of survival. You have to get your hands on some of the tougher materials to make the totem, like string (kill spiders) and a Gold Block. Then you have to make the Flag, which is very easy. Then you combine them, along with some flowers and a sapling (to prove you can forage, or something) to create the totem. Then you place it wherever you want. Increasing claim size requires an extra person to activate the totem with right click at every step (so, smallest only requires you, next requires you and someone else, after that you need yourself and two other people, etc.). This will prevent a loner from creating a massive claim. Settlements will automatically de-claim if a settlement member (except for prisoners and immigrants) does not step within the claim bubble within a set amount of time. Maybe three days? Depends on the server, maybe.

Village position could be, in descending order of power: Chief, Adviser, Commoner, Immigrant, and Prisoner. Only Chiefs and Advisers can access the totems, and only Chiefs can use it to Increase claim size and toggle Claimed Blocks on and off. Immigrants are Commoners that cannot build or respawn at the totem, and prisoners cannot do anything.

At every stage of Settlement growth (You move up a stage after paying tribute to the Totem), a village Chief is allowed to craft a Brand, in a similar fashion to a totem, except maybe without the skull part. Both Chieftans AND Advisers are allowed to interact with a Brand. You get one Brand per stage of growth. A Brand allows a settlement to extend it's reach, such as forming a small trading hub between other towns, or even smaller towns themselves. Brands can be upgraded through tributes, similar to a Settlements, except that their growth is halted at only a few stages, and each stage is much more expensive to upgrade than a Settlement's. Brands can not be placed more than a set amount of blocks away from a Settlement, but it should be a good amount. Perhaps if you cannot see a Brand from within the standard Fog distance, it is too far? This will take a lot of balancing...

If you're not part of a town, you're still considered to be in the "Immigrant" tier. Immigrant pretty much means you haven't been assigned a Settlement position yet. You can't build with blocks, but you can build with the much more expensive decoration/utility pieces, like my platform idea and ladders and such. Eventually, if we ever get special decorations like support columns or thin walls, this could give large Settlements with lots of immigrants a very realistic feel; you've got your commoners who have thick, sturdy buildings, while immigrants live in shanty towns made out of scavenged materials and thin boards.

This allows something very interesting to happen. My friends, I am talking about Siege Warfare, or parts of it. Since enemies are considered "Immigrant" status, they cannot just spam dirt blocks and ascend your walls (but they can tunnel under them, albeit very slowly), but you have to keep an eye out for them building ladders and bridges. They can, for instance, spam dirt outside of your bubble and then build a bridge over to your walls, but if they're high enough, and you can take out a bridge piece with your bow, then they'll just fall to their deaths or something. To capture a settlement, a Chief must destroy the opposing totem, which can take up to a few minutes of attacking. Chiefs are the only people who can damage a totem.

This brings about the issue of "Why don't they just keep zerg rushing you until you run out of ammo/give up?", an issue which I can't really think of a solution to. Perhaps you can't enter a settlement bubble for a while after you die within it? This also has the benefit of iron-fisted rulers keeping their unwanted immigrants out. Just bust the heads of the ones you don't want and they'll be forced to take their business elsewhere.

Also, decoration/utility blocks, likes ladders and bridges, won't drop anything when they break within a bubble if they're built by immigrants.