Minecraft overhauling NPC villages, including pandas

Along with announcing dungeon-crawling spin-off Minecraft: Dungeons, over the weekend Mojang laid out their plans for future additions to plain ol’ Minecraft. The subsequent main replace is called ‘Village & Pillage’, and it’ll make NPC villages extra distinctive and fascinating with new types and day by day routines, together with new enemies to pillage them. Also within the pipeline: pandas, cats, a crossbow, and an overhaul of the taiga biome.

First, the villagers. Villagers in every of Minecraft’s biomes could have totally different skins, reflecting their local weather and their particular person professions, and their villages will likely be constructed with totally different supplies in several architectural types. It’s a small contact however a pleasant one.

“We want the villagers to be more intelligent so they will have a schedule–going to work, going to a meeting point, stuff like that–and we are updating trading as well,” Mojang’s Agnes Larsson defined throughout a MineCon presentation.

But oh no, pillagers would possibly spoil their enjoyable. These miscreant NPCs will social gathering as much as raid NPC villages, accompanied by new ‘Beast’ monsters who’ll stomp and smash issues like crops. What a horrible creature. It’ll be on gamers to step in and homicide them actual good.

To assist with murders, gamers are getting a brand new weapon. The crossbow is a craftable ranged weapons which offers extra harm however reloads slower, as is the best way.

The Village & Pillage replace is because of launch “early next year”, although after all Java snapshot builds will introduce some bits earlier than then.

Another smaller content material replace is due earlier than then, thoughts, round finish of this yr. Cats are getting new skins and new behaviours, corresponding to bringing “morning gifts”. Bamboo scaffolding is coming to assist construct massive issues. And pandas are coming alongside to assist eat any extra bamboo you may need.

Beyond all that, a fan vote resolve that taiga must be the following Minecraft biome replace, following the Update Aquatic. Desert and Savanna overhauls will observe later.

All this was introduced throughout MineCon, Mojang’s annual fan occasion. That has gone from an enormous real-world conference in a single place to a livestreamed occasion with just a few related events in a handful of Microsoft Stores world wide. You can see the related panel on this archived livestream: