The Evolution of Minecraft Caves…

Caves are a core part of minecraft what the game was initially going to be named after they’ve changed a lot over the 12 years they have existed with some changes being well appreciated by the community while other stealth updates almost ruined caves for good for the longest time a cave update was a

Community’s most wanted update as it was a period of time where caves hadn’t been touched for almost eight years from the earliest versions of minecraft up to 1.18 caves have come a long way and are only going to be continuing to improve with future planned updates today we’re

Going to be covering their various changes throughout time but before we do my goal for 2022 is to hit 500 000 subscribers so if you haven’t already please consider subscribing and helping me out no pressure the first ever footage of minecraft and first known version of minecraft back

When it was still officially known as cave game was a video uploaded by notch on may the 10th 2009 named cave game tech test the original video while private has over 10 million views re-uploads display that caves were incredibly simplistic at first consisting of purely cobblestone now

While the quality of the video is almost as bad as your average herobrine citing video from 2012 it’s pretty clear that caves were quite expansive going in multiple directions multiple blocks down and in various shapes from this video alone we can deduce that caves were going to be a key focus of

The game reinforced by the fact that the surface of a minecraft world at the time was barren the first version of the game released to the public that actually had caves was minecraft classic 0.0.3 a released may 16 2009 this version is currently lost nobody seems to have the

Original jar anymore but using recreations of this version we can see what the caves would have looked like back then using a little trickery the blocks in the caves are boring they consist well solely of stone but the actual generation and structure isn’t too bad the caves have an interesting

Structure weaving up and down as well as around corners they’re also relatively wide but don’t seem to run into or connect with other caves rather being isolated to their own individual extensions because there was no bedrock floor in this version of the game you can find caves which have oddly flat

Stone floors simply because they are at the bottom of the world overall while simple the foundations of what caves would become is certainly there the next major change to caves would come in minecraft survival test versions released in september of 2009. caves became longer and narrower and now the

Deeper you went in a minecraft world the bigger the caves were mushrooms would generate in high frequency in these caves you could also now find entrances to caves on the surface of the world ores were also present as added in an earlier update although their veins

Seemed to go on forever and quite often you could find caves entirely filled with water this is how caves would remain up until minecraft inf dev where they will be removed from the game and then re-implemented and then removed again and then re-implemented once more i sincerely wonder what the early

Players thought of notch around this time interestingly in these earlier versions of imf dev where caves were removed you could find single oars in the sides of mountains and underground rather than there being veins of oars this seems like an early experiment by notch seeing what the game would be like

If ore is generated at surface levels as well furthermore you could actually find diamonds and other rarer ores such as gold ore literally on the surface world while just wandering around very interesting in one version of ifdev where capes would enter the game and then remove one update later they were

In a more experimental form as you can see here from this cheeky little exploit caves generated very close to one another but rarely connected it looked as if chunks of caves had been seemingly copied rotated and then pasted around the map when caves were finally added to

The game for good in inf dev 2010616 they were given a nice upgrade they became clustered instead of random meaning they would generate in groups rather than just randomly all over the map they no longer were short and separate connecting in multiple locations they also were given one to

Five exits enabling multiple entrances and escapes they were incorporated into the inf depth terrain and could now be found in mountains on the surface and the size of larger hills tunnels and caves also could have a wider variety of thickness and you could now find more water and lava springs this version of

The game is where caves famously became known as swiss cheese caves named after the fact that they look like swiss cheese weaving around close to one another in various shapes and sizes throughout alpha and most of beta there were minimal changes to caves notably ambient noises such as cave 1 and cave 2

Were added now don’t underestimate just how much of an impactful update this was cave noises that randomly play while exploring dramatically add to the haunting and scary nature of caves and are solely responsible for striking fear into newer players [Applause] hello did you know that cave sounds will play in any 3×3 space with a light level of 8 or lower as minecraft moved into beta 1.8 and full release caves would ultimately become even more scary abandoned mine shops were added to the game new structures that could generate in a

Massive area in cave systems at the time abandoned mine shafts significantly contributed to the haunted feel of caves simply because they looked man-made which was completely unlike anything in the game at the time as no other structure besides monster spawners and villagers existed yet many players including myself at the time watched

Let’s plays such as pole source junior and x’s adventures in minecraft before playing the game in the versions of the game they played abandoned mine shafts did not exist so when many younger players finally played the game for the first time themselves and loaded into beta 1.8 randomly stumbling upon an

Abandoned mine shaft we instantly thought the world was corrupted something had gone wrong or dare i say it herobrine was in our world mineshafts would see slow updates over the years and ultimately today are still impossible to navigate and no matter what you undoubtedly get lost in them in

Late 2011 with the release of minecraft 1.0.0 to minecraft 1.7.2 released about two years later caves remained basically the same with very minor changes however 1.7.2 would be one of the biggest and worst changes to caves that would mostly fly under the radar in minecraft 1.7.2 cave generation was tweaked making caves

Less dense and interconnected caves became less sprawling complex and interlinked becoming boring repetitive and uninspiring as i mentioned earlier up until this point minecraft caves generated in a swiss cheese style weaving all around generating in various shapes and sizes and intersecting with other caves in various ways well players

Noticed that the caves were no longer as such and in a gif comparing cave generation from 1.6.4 to 1.7.2 you can clearly see how less caves are present but also how less dense clusters of caves are interestingly initial reception to the cave changes weren’t all negative with some players

Mentioning their dislike for the price with cheese caves due to the making minecraft feel unrealistic furthermore the larger caves also annoyed some players who mentioned they would constantly run into them when attempting to strip mine fair enough i guess but over time players quickly realized this change was not good with many players

Complaining on forums wishing caves would be reverted back mine sharps also became 60 less common in this update making the underbelly of minecraft through far more boring lacking that haunted feel players complained caves were small linear and ended far too quickly making them repetitive to more experienced players and this sentiment

Was definitely shared across the community as mods were made that would restore the old cave generation but alas mojang didn’t heed the calls of players for almost eight years caves remained unchanged since the day 1.7.2 released there was only minor updates to caves including the addition of a few newer

And uglier blocks such as granite andesite and bird poo these blocks while nice in their polished formats only serve to further clutter player’s inventory when underground the mythical cave update became talk of the community with players complaining that the underground had been left out to dry for

So long and was rapidly becoming stale key arguments from players focused around the fact that for the most part caves hadn’t seen a significant update that was good since 2010 and for a game where caves made up literally most of the world they were very underwhelming

The problem was that not only had caves not been updated for so long but due to their nerfs in 2013 that we just talked about in comparison players found that caves had only become worse over time this only amplified the boredom and repetitiveness that had become so steadily associated with caves post to

Redder and the minecraft forums began rolling in as the game regained its popularity in 2018 and 2019 and pressure was being poured on mojang players got so desperate they resorted to the most powerful and useful tool of all a change.org petition which history has shown to be the most surefire way of

Getting things done but seriously on the official minecraft feedback website where players can vote for features of the game a post was made sharing some ideas and just general suggestions for a cave update that suggestion accumulated the most votes any suggestion has ever received on the website more than doubling the second

Most voted feature which was meerkats if it wasn’t clear by now players were desperate for a cave update it had been far too long overdue and finally in late 2020 during minecon live they got their wish the caves and cliffs update was officially announced minecraft 1.17 even though we only got a

Couple minutes of footage at the time the excitement was unlike any minecraft update before not only were caves getting a variety of new blocks mobs and features but they were becoming much more large detailed with massive openings and giant drops cabes were going to get biomes making them feel

More alive and less repetitive including lush caves and drip stone caves which were very unique furthermore the warden was meant to spawn in their depths bringing back that haunted feeling caves had seriously been missing with terrifying sound effects plus the darkness effect the height and depth of minecraft worlds another feature which

The community had been wanting to get updated for a while was also being extended caves could go down another 64 blocks making the minimum y level negative 64 and the world build height was extended to 320. not only were caves going to have an additional 64 blocks to

Delve into but minecraft’s terrain above surface was also massively being upgraded it was looking like 1.17 was going to be the biggest update minecraft had ever seen it was looking very promising caves were finally going to change for the better in a way nobody could predict and basically all the community was happy

However there would be a bit of disappointment instead of 1.17 containing all the new cave generation changes the update was split into two parts due to the complexity and amount of content therefore 1.17 upon release was kind of just laying the foundation for 1.18 and didn’t really change too

Much in terms of cape generation besides adding a few new blocks and adding these cool amethyst geodes players were upset but understanding and decided that waiting a few extra months would be worth it in the long run and oh boy were they right because in december of 2021

When 1.18 was finally released and majority of the new cave elements were added players rejoiced caves became so much more interesting generating in much greater variety of lengths widths and sizes caves could generate in what’s known as cheesecake style which were large open and often big enough to fly

Through with an elytra and spaghetti cape style which were long and thin caves felt deeper and more complex as well with stone transitioning to deep slate between y level zero and negative seven mine sharps weren’t forgotten either hanging from ceilings in massive caves making them look incredible and

Large bodies of water and lava could also be found on the ground now but with all these amazing changes unfortunately one major element didn’t make it into the game the warden the warden was delayed due to time constraints and also dedicating more effort towards the mob while the

Warden was postponed to minecraft 1.19 it was being drastically improved i mentioned how minecraft caves had lost their haunted or horror element over the years well i’ll tell you one thing if the warden had existed years ago hurabrine would have paled in comparison from the brief footage and spoilers

We’ve been shown the warden truly may increase minecraft’s rating from pg to r this thing is seriously terrifying not only that but the new planned structure deep dark cities where they can be found is truly going to make caves feel like something straight out of a horror game

I am truly excited to see how the warden will bring back the haunted feeling we all got back in minecraft’s earlier days and that about wraps it up for now it’s clear that mojang are open to making massive changes to the game so who knows what’s next in store for caves i hope

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