Summary
With the return ofMinecraft’susually annual live stream presentation, Minecraft Live, players were treated to early showcases and early concept art of content coming to both Java and Bedrock editions sometime soon. While not everything shown at Live was perfect,the winnersdefinitely stand apart from the rest.
Since a few key components of Minecraft Live have changed from years prior, the presentation was far more streamlined than broadcasts before. As there was no more community vote, or at the very least no mob vote with the potential for thereturn of the biome vote,audience interaction was minimal. Beyond that, the highlights for 2024’s Live are clear.
5Hardcore Mode On Bedrock
Random Death No More
Something that may come as a surprise for players familiar with the Java edition of the game, is the official addition of Hardcore mode, which is coming to Bedrock shortly. With Hardcore being immensely popular on the Java side of things, its absence on Bedrock is somewhat peculiar. While this perma-death game mode seems like an easy addition to the game, especially since it has existed on Java for years, the finer details - and quirks - of Bedrock are the real issue.
As players familiar with Bedrock may be intimately aware, it is a common problem to just randomly die while playing. Usually,these deaths can be explainedby how the game calculates a player should receive before they actually take the damage, meaning that jumping near a high ledge can trick the game into thinking the player went over the edge. There are countless examples of such online. With the official reveal of Hardcore moving forward on Bedrock, it’s safe to assume these somewhat insane quirks have been mostly ironed out.
4More Focused Lives And Quicker Update Schedule
Trimming The Fat
An obvious change from Lives from years past, the format of the 2024 broadcast was far more to the point. While the older live streams often crossed the hour-and-a-half mark and sometimes bordered on two hours, 2024’s total runtime was barely one hour.
Given that there will now be two Live events a year, the shorter format makes sense, especially considering that the one-hour Live only included elements affecting the main game, and not the usual fluff of Education Edition or spinoffs, probably partly becauseall theMinecraftspinoffs are dead.For most players, a more focused Minecraft Live, shorter or not, is a lot more engaging than a Live that teases content an hour before it’s elaborated on.
3The Creaking
A Mob Haunting The Woods
One of the few pieces of gameplay content showcased, the Creaking is a new hostile mob that will enter Minecraft in future updates or drops. Based on the popular Weeping Angel concept, which is an enemy that cannot move unless the player looks away from it, the Creaking continuesMinecraft’srecent trend of incorporating horror directly into the world.
While what was shown of the Creaking is little more than concept art, simply showing the basic concepts of how the mob works, the aesthetic and mechanics behind the mob combine an air of eeriness and incorporate mining with combat. Since the Creaking is effectively invincible,but not especially damaging, until players break the Creaking Heart block, causing the mobs to disintegrate instantly, the challenge behind this mob and block combination speaks to the potential of the mob itself as players finally play with it, and the biome it appears in.
2Pale Garden Biome
A New Environment And Materials
The newest biome announced forMinecraft,andpart of the leaksthat led up to the broadcast this year, the Pale Garden biome adds a new ominous biome for players to find sometime in the future. Offering pale oak trees, including a brand new wood set, builders especially will want to keep an eye on this monochromatic biome.
Although this biome presents itself as a “garden,” it is simply a desaturated dark oak forest in its current iteration. Thankfully, there’s plenty of time for new additions and player feedback, painting this pallid biome as a perfect canvas for all the eerie, witchy ideas players could have.
1The Bundles Of Bravery Drop
The First Of Many
With the official name of the nextMinecraftupdate revealed, it’s safe to assume upcoming snapshots will bring the new aspects of the Bundles of Bravery drop shortly. As the update is technically classified as a drop, it will be smaller in scope, meaning more focused additions and presumably more changes, as seen previouslywith the Armored Paws drop,adding dog breeds, armadillos, and wolf armor.
As expected, the bundle items are the star of the drop, which has had plenty of time in development to improve these somewhat cheap inventory bags. However, the “bravery” part of the title seemingly only refers to the Hardcore addition to Bedrock so far, which somewhat suggests more could be added to fit the general concept, as currently, Java would only get half an update.
