Latest Minecraft Patch Is Here, Took Almost a Year to Develop

With over 300 days development time to its name, the Minecraft Version 1.8 patch is finally here, bringing with it a wide range of updates and improvements to the PC edition of the massively popular title.

The new update includes everything from new block types such as Prismarine and Sea Lanterns, right up to full underwater Ocean Monument dungeon types and their associated Guardians and Enter Guardians enemy spawns. Six new types of dirt and stone have been added, as well as Banners to help you better decorate your world. You’ll also find rabbits in the world, including a rare Killer Bunny variant.

The biggest changes are to the game engine, such as the new block renderer system, a new spectator mode, support for more detailed player skins and a whole lot more.

• Added Granite, Andesite, and Diorite stone blocks, with smooth versions
• Added Slime Block
• Added Iron Trapdoor
• Added Prismarine and Sea Lantern blocks
• Added the Ocean Monument
• Added Red Sandstone
• Added Banners
• Added Armor Stands
• Added Coarse Dirt (dirt where grass won’t grow)
• Added Guardian mobs, with item drops
• Added Endermite mob
• Added Rabbits, with item drops
• Added Mutton and Cooked Mutton
• Villagers will harvest crops and plant new ones
• Mossy Cobblestone and Mossy Stone Bricks are now craftable
• Chiseled Stone Bricks are now craftable
• Doors and fences now come in all wood type variants
• Sponge block has regained its water-absorbing ability and becomes wet
• Added a spectator game mode (game mode 3)
• Added one new achievement
• Added “Customized” world type
• Added hidden “Debug Mode” world type
• Worlds can now have a world barrier
• Added @e target selector for Command Blocks
• Added /blockdata command
• Added /clone command
• Added /execute command
• Added /fill command
• Added /particle command
• Added /testforblocks command
• Added /title command
• Added /trigger command
• Added /worldborder command
• Added /stats command
• Containers can be locked in custom maps by using the “Lock” data tag
• Added logAdminCommands, showDeathMessages, reducedDebugInfo, sendCommandFeedback, and randomTickSpeed game rules
• Added three new statistics
• Player skins can now have double layers across the whole model, and left/right arms/legs can be edited independently
• Added a new player model with smaller arms, and a new player skin called Alex?
• Added options for configuring what pieces of the skin that are visible
• Blocks can now have custom visual variations in the resource packs
• Minecraft Realms now has an activity chart, so you can see who has been online
• Minecraft Realms now lets you upload your maps
• Difficulty setting is saved per world, and can be locked if wanted
• Enchanting has been redone, now costs lapis lazuli in addition to enchantment levels
• Villager trading has been rebalanced
• Anvil repairing has been rebalanced
• Considerable faster client-side performance
• Max render distance has been increased to 32 chunks (512 blocks)
• Adventure mode now prevents you from destroying blocks, unless your items have the CanDestroy data tag
• Resource packs can now also define the shape of blocks and items, and not just their textures
• Scoreboards have been given a lot of new features
• Tweaked the F3 debug screen
• Block ID numbers (such as 1 for stone), are being replaced by ID names (such as minecraft:stone)
• Server list has been improved
• A few minor changes to village and temple generation
• Mob heads for players now show both skin layers
• Buttons can now be placed on the ceiling
• Lots and lots of other changes
• LOTS AND LOTS of other changes
• Removed Herobrine

Thank you Eurogamer for providing us with this information.

Image courtesy of Eurogamer.