The long-awaited 12th post-launch patch for Minecraft is finally ready for consumption, Mojang announced on Wednesday morning, and the latest build of the ultra-popular sandbox game can be downloaded directly from the Minecraft launcher. The changes in this week’s patch aren’t as substantial as we’ve seen in previous updates; however, we suspect there will be more than a few fans among those who still see Minecraft as a creative outlet and not just a foundation for mods.
Mojang may not have tweaked many of the game’s mechanical underpinnings in Minecraft Update 1.12, but the patch still manages to impact a variety of game systems. The World of Color Update delivers new animals, Parrots, and a text-to-speech narrator that should be especially popular with map makers. Minecraft 1.12 also introduces new types of books, one to teach new recipes and one to collate all the recipes you already know, alongside an expanded color palette. The patch renames an existing block, Hardened Clay is now Terracotta, and Glazed Terracotta can be crafted in a rainbow of colors. Players can also use build multi-colored Concrete and Concrete Powder (which has properties similar to sand) in Minecraft 1.12. Strangely, the World of Color update also includes new sounds for note blocks, an addition that doesn’t have much of anything to do with color or decor but will undoubtedly be useful to the community.
Mojang also published a new trailer for the World of Color update. The 72-second video is actually a collaboration with portions of the Minecraft community on reddit. According to Mojang, the studio provided an early build of Minecraft Update 1.12 to redditors with only one request: To make the most colorful build they could imagine. And the results -- a collection that includes a paint factory, a giant parrot and Moscow’s St. Basil’s Cathedral -- are on display in the new World of Color trailer.
Here are the truncated patch notes for Minecraft Update 1.12, via Mojang:
Added Glazed Terracotta blocks
Renamed Hardened Clay to Terracotta
Added Concrete Powder blocks
Added Concrete blocks
Updated base color palette
Added advancements
Added recipe book
Added Knowledge Book item
Added Parrots
Added functionality to save toolbars in creative mode
Added text-to-speech narrator
Added new sounds for the Note blocks
Added commands relating to recipes and advancements
Many minor fixes and changes
Those interested in a seeing a more comprehensive breakdown of the changes in the World of Color update can also read the sprawling changelog published by Mojang’s Jens Bergensten.
Minecraft is currently available on damn near anything with a screen attached to it.
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