The latest major Minecraft update is now officially available on PC and consoles. Arriving just in time for Christmas, the update is the second part of a wider which improves world generation. If you hadn’t guessed already, the update primarily focuses on changing cave and cliff generation.
Launched earlier this week, the second part of the update introduces more complex cave systems, high mountains, larger ore veins and new items. The 1.18 update also features a number of changes, adapting the way existing entities in the game interact with the world changes.
what’s new
Caves have undergone a complete overhaul, and now generate in 2 different layers of stone bases depending on the depth. Generated caves in Minecraft also now spawn to a lower depth of Y=-59, meaning players will have deeper caves to explore. There are also two new cave biomes in dripstone and lush caves. The former features large dripping calcified stones, while the latter is filled with fauna and flora which spawn below azalea trees.
There are 6 new mountain sub-biomes to find in the world, which include; snowy slopes, groves, meadows, jagged peaks, frozen peaks and stone peaks. Mountain generation has typically not been great in the past, so this overhaul is a welcome addition.
The update also improved Ore veins, adding long and rare ore formations. While rare, finding one of these long ore formations will reward players with plenty of materials.
Alongside world changes and balancing, there are also four new achievements for players to earn in Minecraft. The most interesting of the four is the Caves & Cliffs achievement. Players need to fall from the top to the bottom of the overworld to obtain the achievement. There are also a number of new songs in the game. Artists Lena Raine and Kumi Tanioka have written songs for the update which play in the new biomes.
There’s a lot more in the update, so if you’d like to see the full breakdown, please click here.
Elsewhere, Microsoft released two new live-action trailers for the upcoming Halo Infinite this week. The trailers show the iconic Master Chief in action.
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Featured Image Credit: Microsoft/Mojang