Minecraft 1.8 has finally been released. There have been a lot of new things added as well as old things adjusted for better balance. Let me start with a quick list of changes - shorter than the release notes with just enough detail to keep you informed and prepared. Then we will tackle some things in more detail.
- Added several new blocks, items, mobs, stats, and server commands
- Changes made for game balance with anvil repair costs and villager trading
- Textures have been extended for things like fences and doors
- Alex has been added - a new player model with smaller arms
- Some changes to Realms and its features
- Some changes made to optimize the game and speed it up for the player
- Removed Herobrine... of course
- And so much more
Ocean Exploration
Oceans... giant masses of ridiculously deep water with no real value. That has all changed. Ocean monuments have been added. These massive structures stand tall on the ocean floor and are protected by the guardians... who apparently dislike squids. Check out the screens I captured below.
In the image above, you can see the entrance to the monument. You can also see the guardians throughout several of those pictures. That's the first of the new mobs I'll be showing you here. Once we get inside, we get a chance to see an Elder Guardian - see below.
Before you go trotting off into the center of the ocean, heed this simple advice - have a potion of Underwater Breathing on hand. This will allow you to see and breath.
Other Mobs
Getting out of the water, we can find rabbits - which you can kill for food, fur, a foot... it's quite the resourceful little thing. Here's my rabbit army.
If you noticed the different looking blocks behind my rabbits, ignore them for now. Moving on to the End. I am personally glad to see a new creature from this dimension - the Endermite. Reminds me of the Silverfish; check it out.
In addition to the new mobs, I want to also point out a new meat - mutton! Yes... you can finally get meat from killing sheep.
New Stone Blocks
Textures are pretty much everything in this game. I'm happy to see that our options are expanding once again with these new types of stone. See the image below - starting with the brown block on the bottom right - we have granite, and polished granite on top of that. In the middle on the bottom, we have diorite and polished diorite on top. Then on the bottom left, we have andesite with polished andesite on top.
Minecraft Continues to Expand with All This
So, they added a lot of new things for us this time around - not just the 6 blocks from above. I figured there was no better way to showcase these items than to work with them a bit. I threw together a combination of the new stuff so you could see it all (most of it at least) in one place. While you are looking at the image, try to pick out the items - red sandstone slabs, stairs, and 3 differently styled blocks; several new doors based on the wood used to make them; iron trap doors; colored fabric banners; an armor stand; slime blocks; sponges; sea lanterns; prismarine; dark prismarine; and prismarine bricks (looks more like cobblestone though).
Now before you go screaming around about sponges not being new... just calm down. I know sponges are not new to Minecraft. I've used them before and read about their long lost functionality of absorbing water. So, we're on the same page there. However, with this update, the sponges have regained their purpose - so use them well to soak up pools of water. You can see two dry and two soaked sponges in the picture above. Remember to dry your sponge in a furnace once it has become soaked so you can use it again. Let's move on to fences.
As you can see in the image below, the fences are now also available in the various wooden finishes. The gates are as well... I just didn't put any in here. Notice they all mesh together beautifully... except the nether stone fence - as you can see. If you're curious as to why that is, message me sometime so I can bore you. 
In Closing...
Really just watching the article length here, I am going to wrap this one up. I am planning on spending more time with Minecraft in future articles. You're questions and input could help me structure those, so feel free to comment here or message me privately. Hope you enjoyed the read.
Thoughts? Questions? Comments? Post them below and thanks for reading.
