Minecraft’s Mine Cart Trick Explained

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Minecraft's Mine Cart Trick Explained

Key Takeaways

  • Minecraft’s minecarts have historically been outpaced by elytra and other modes of travel.
  • A recent snapshot has introduced changes to minecarts, though, including maintaining vertical momentum.
  • Mojang is seemingly aiming to revive the use of minecarts in Minecraft by making them more fun and efficient.

As a seasoned Minecraft gamer with countless hours spent traversing the blocky landscapes, I can confidently say that the recent updates to minecarts have rekindled my childhood excitement for this classic mode of transport. I remember the days when minecarts were the epitome of speed and convenience; they took us places our feet couldn’t reach and allowed us to build intricate rail networks across vast territories.

The latest updates for Minecraft have introduced numerous experimental modifications to its Java version, some aimed at addressing long-standing issues within the game. Notably, the enhancements made to the functionality of minecarts serve as a testament to these improvements and offer Mojang potential avenues for future adjustments.

Travel within the Minecraft world has predominantly been associated with elytra, leaving other modes such as ice-track boats in the dust. While ice-track boat highways can reach remarkable speeds, they are often overshadowed due to the extensive resources required for their construction, especially when compared to the simplicity of using an elytra. Minecarts, once a popular choice for travel, have fallen significantly behind in the race for faster and more efficient transportation options. They are slower than other methods and demand considerable effort and resources for both the tracks themselves (which require large quantities of iron, gold, and redstone) and the ground preparation needed to lay them on. The era of minecart rollercoasters and expansive railways, to some extent, has passed in the current Minecraft gaming community.

Minecraft Java’s Latest Snapshots Have The Potential To Bring Back Minecarts

It seems that Minecraft’s newest snapshot could potentially level the playing field. This latest version, along with the one from 24w33a which introduced many key points discussed here, has been focusing on bringing back the bundle to the forefront. Players will find several proposed minecart adjustments they can experiment with. Given that the minecart has become less relevant in recent times, these minor alterations could mark a new era for Minecraft’s transportation system.

Two Changes Send Minecarts Into The Stratosphere, Literally

24w33a represents a significant update in Minecraft, introducing two key modifications that have since been utilized extensively for building intricate machinery. The first modification concerns minecarts; they now preserve vertical momentum, meaning that if a minecart travels off a vertical slope, it will continue moving diagonally (before eventually returning to the ground) rather than plummeting straight down as previously observed. The second major change introduces a new game rule which can control minecart speed, starting at 8 and capping at an astonishing 1000. This adjustment equates to a mind-boggling speed of 1000 blocks per second!

Naturally, a helping of player ingenuity turns this gamerule into the impetus for terrifying launching machines. The changes to momentum and the potential for crazy speeds combine with a simple contraption, one where a subject spins around at max speed on a rail loop. A user can then pull a lever to divert the rail, sending the subject onto a slope. After building up such speed, the subject in the minecart is shot off into the air like a railgun bullet. This is, of course, an exercise in gamerule extremes that would never come to vanilla survival, but the base concept certainly could heighten the potential of Minecraft‘s minecarts.

Minecarts Need More Than Physics Changes

The text found in the patch notes of snapshot 24w33a makes Mojang’s intention clear; in addition to building into some big changes to Minecraft‘s parity-scarce redstone, the snapshot’s minecart changes serve as a ‘foundation’ for the future, a future where minecarts can become ‘viable’ once more. This is self-evident within the snapshot, as most changes are part of a total rework for the minecart’s physics and object interactions, a trend that continues into 24w34a.

Even though these modifications have significantly enhanced the enjoyment of minecarts, they still don’t outperform Minecraft’s horses in terms of popularity. To make minecarts more commonly used, they require a boost in speed and easier ways to obtain powered rails. It’s convenient that basic minecart tracks can be scavenged from mineshafts, but this should be expanded to other structures as well as various types of rail.

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2024-08-29 18:35