Minecraft Snapshot 13w01a is All About the Redstone

[Shawn Zipay]

Alright, so maybe the new snapshot release of Minecraft isn't all about Redstone, but there's a lot of it in this update.

Minecraft Snapshot 13w01a release highlights:

• Redstones circuits are more consistent and pistons should be more stable
• Added the Redstone Comparator block (this replaces the Capacitor we talked about at Minecon)
• Added the Daylight Detector block
• Added a Hopper block (still work in progress)
• Added a chest that activates redstone
• Added weighted pressure plates that detect item stacks
• Added Block of Redstone block (works as a pushable redstone torch)
• Added a new ore to the Nether
• Added a Nether Brick item for crafting Nether Brick blocks
• A whole bunch of other stuff… Try for instance double-clicking items, or drag-placing them, in the inventory

The snapshots are unfinished and often times buggy releases meant for testing purposes only. If that sounds like your cup of tea, head on over to Mojang to download the client and server files.

[K-16]

Hopefully this will help in building more reliably working animated displays; there was a New Years Eve celebration in Minecraft where a giant countdown timer display in the middle of Times Square (built in less than 30 hours) didn't work because the redstone circuits didn't connect properly ("tripped on the cord" is what they jokingly said). Fortunately the people involved had a backup plan that used the fireworks feature and pulled off an incredible show.

[jimykx]

woah! Are there videos of it ?

[K-16]

This link will take you to part 4 of the videos which has 3 points of interest. The last point of interest will require switching over to the final video (you will have access to the playlist with this link). Here is your timecode list of highlights:

• 6:31 is when the display is being used (and when the hosts panic since it's the final minute before Pacific Time's midnight and the display fails).
• 8:01 is when the backup plan kicks in (I didn't notice this until I realized they celebrated a belated New Year by half a minute).
• 10:55 is when they discover where the heck the fireworks were coming from.
• Part 6 of 6 at 1:40 is where you can see the internals of the countdown display.

I've been linking to a lot of third-party sites and so while we're talking about Minecraft and complicated circuits, I'd like to recommend a couple of videos from TGN:

I'm linking this next video because I don't know how much I'm allowed to abuse the video embed feature so I'll assume once is enough. This has nothing to do with building gadgets using redstones, but I like how Minecraft is used to have a casual chat with the community. It's more connecting with the audience compared to a formal and boring "townhall meeting." I hope there will be plans for another TGN Soapbox video one day.

[jimykx]

Yeah, that's pretty cool, why Didn't I know about that TGN video?

[K-16]

Probably because Zips is a really humble person.