Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition Update Has Landed

(NOTE: I drafted this blog the week after the update was released, but just now got around to finishing it and posting it. Oops...) The latest update for the Xbox 360 Edition of Minecraft has hit the network for release and I finally downloaded it over the weekend. I had been holding off in order to finish filling my chest of ill-gotten resources before the furnace duplication "feature" was removed. With plenty of diamond, iron, gold, TNT and other resources safely tucked away, I decided it was time and I let the update download. I really like some things, and really dislike others.


My brother had told me parts of his world had changed so that he now had snow falling in parts of his world when previously he had no snow. So, right off the bat, I ran to the one corner of my map I hadn't explored yet to see if a desert has spawned so I could finally get Cacti. No luck. It's just more of the same hills, ocean and tundra.

Parts of my existing map did change some. I now have snow falling on parts of my map that I do NOT want it falling on; places where it was previously not falling. When I built my structures there, I chose those locations because there wasn't snow there. In fact, I would say the ice and snow has at least doubled across my world so that Tundra is now the dominant biome. ARG! I don't want any more snow and ice! The ice is going to make it so much more difficult to do stuff underwater now...

My first house and 'real' house pre-update.

The same spot post-update. Too much snow and ice...

But what makes it worse for me is the fact that snow is falling right on my castle, or more correctly, half of my castle. The right half is Tundra and he left half is something else. I actually count three different biomes in the front courtyard (based on the grass/leaf colors). So frustrating. I'm glad I had already finished it and got my screenshots prior to the update. It just looks terrible now with the patches of snow everywhere. I'm just glad the area Kakariko is in hasn't changed any.

My poor castle. Half grassland, half snow... :(

Another thing that was introduced that I really can't stand is the "Void Fog" near Bedrock. I have a ton of tunnels and structures down there, but now I can't see but a few feet in front of me despite how well lit it is. It's terrible! I like the particle effects floating up from the Void, but not the over-killed darkness. It almost makes many of my tunnels down there useless, especially if I turn monsters on. I won't be able to see a thing. I really hope that gets fixed and soon.

The chest orientation / discoloration thing was also annoying, but at least it was easily fixable by placing another block next to the chest so that they updated. I did have to replace a few so that they opened the correct direction.

But enough of the bad stuff. Let's move on to what I do like about the update.

I haven't played around with all the new crafting items yet, but I have looked through them. I've already made stone bricks and stone brick steps. They make a much better entrance into my new train depot than the old cobblestone steps. I also really like how the time to break certain blocks has been reduced, such as the cobblestone stone steps and slabs.

I also like some of the new animations. It's nice to watch the chests open and close, although the creaking sound seems a bit louder than it needs to be. TNT also got a new effect and sound when it explodes which makes it feel much more epic. But the one that makes me cringe every time I hear it is the bone-breaking sound when you fall from too far. That has to hurt! There are even more particles when underwater which adds a nice little touch.

Redstone seems to be a little different too. It seems like a single redstone torch will power more powered rails than before. When I was rebuilding my Train Depot, I really noticed this in some areas. It actually made it better.

Update: Since the game update, I've been playing in my world quite a bit and have discovered a 'work around' for the void fog at least: sunlight. I've been punching holes in my world to expose parts of my bedrock to sunlight. It repels it for about a 10 block radius which isn't far, but better than nothing in a few spots.