Mooshroom Island Locator

[Mr_Hosed]

Being one who doesn't suggest things, this one has been bugging me too much not to. I'm actually surprised this has never been suggested, but it wasn't so here goes ;)

Suggestion: A method to find mooshroom islands.

Possible Solution: Compass like device.
Another Possible Solution: Endereye like device.
FlowerChild Solution: Something completely different and unexpected?

Justification: Now that F3 GPS has been removed, there's no reliable (more importantly FUN) way of finding mooshroom islands other then seed mappers. With the addition of SMP play, it's nearly impossible to do even this much. Previously you could travel to 5000 blocks from spawn and start searching and, though tedious, grid search every couple 100 blocks and find an island. Worse, islands are almost always surrounded by ocean so you can't even do torches or stakes.

[Stormweaver]

IIRC, mushroom islands always tend to be within the 10k by 10k square centered around 0,0, on the diagonals.

It's not really a hassle unless you play with large biomes, you just boat diagonally till you find it.

[Mason11987]

Being one who doesn't suggest things, this one has been bugging me too much not to. I'm actually surprised this has never been suggested, but it wasn't so here goes ;)

Suggestion: A method to find mooshroom islands.

Possible Solution: Compass like device.
Another Possible Solution: Endereye like device.
FlowerChild Solution: Something completely different and unexpected?

Justification: Now that F3 GPS has been removed, there's no reliable (more importantly FUN) way of finding mooshroom islands other then seed mappers. With the addition of SMP play, it's nearly impossible to do even this much. Previously you could travel to 5000 blocks from spawn and start searching and, though tedious, grid search every couple 100 blocks and find an island. Worse, islands are almost always surrounded by ocean so you can't even do torches or stakes.

Making things MUCH easier? I don't think this is the right kind of suggestion for BTW. Mooshroom islands don't even provide that much benefit, why does it need to be that much easier? If it's hard to find it'll delay nether groth spread in the nether longer. But eventually it'll be found on an active SMP server, on SSP nether groth's main use is for terraforming the nether. If you're doing that, you should have went out and explored a lot.

[Foxy Boxes]

If you'd said spawn chunk locator, I would of said yes, fair suggestion as spawn chunks have no identifying features (presence of slimes asides). However, Mushroom biomes are very easy to spot, with exploration which in and of itself is a fun adventure now we must experience nighttime, and so shouldn't require some sort of locator.

EDIT: And in a similar vein to FC's youtube song messages, I'm predicting this:

[KittenToaster]

Possible Solution: Compass like device.
Another Possible Solution: Endereye like device.
FlowerChild Solution: If I don't like your idea, I'll ban you. End of story.

viewtopic.php?p=95996#p95996 Posted yesterday.

You may wish to retract this idea, items shouldn't be given to yon a plate. Jump in a boat and go explore. ;)

[Mr_Hosed]

Given, one can stumble across them, but how is floating around an ocean for 8 hours (Literally, not an exageration) fun? That's how long it took me with F3 on the last SMP server I was playing on.

To address the earlier comment about making things easier, with the distance islands normally spawn in, the removal of GPS and beds, and doing something that's NOT a compass, how is that actually easier?

I personally would just like some of the tediousness of the searching taken out. You still have a 4+ day trek which would require serious preperation and many safe houses, etc, along the way.

An endereye like mechanic, that requires some form of consumned resource that we have to gather first, seems like a good solution, among many others. Given, strongholds are underground and therefore harder to find, but I would argue that the aforementioned challenges make the two similar in gameplay.

[kazerima]

I expect we won't be seeing much of you around here for a while Mr_Hosed, the sheer rarity is what makes actually finding a mushroom biome such an accomplishment. What's the thrill of discovery in tossing a few dozen "Shroom-eyes" around until you get there? It's like having a compass that points you directly to the diamonds. You still have to mine the stone to get them, but you already know where it is and it ruins the fun of finding something so rarely seen.

[LaserCooled]

Beyond the point that everyone else is making. IIRC, the only resources that cannot be obtained elsewhere are mycellium and mooshroom. However, you can take a silk touch pick or block dispenser to collect a block of mycellium, which can then easily convert dirt blocks to mycellium. Then stick some cows on your mycellium to convert them to mooshrooms over time. Therefore, you really only need to "stumble" upon an island one time and use the compass to get back to spawn. From there you should have everything you want.

[haphazardnuke]

Personally, I think mushroom islands are great places to live. Mooshrooms are resource-rich, giant mushrooms grow without any player intervention (especially important after the bonemeal tweaks), and they're just cool places to be. So sure, you could just BD-capture a mycelium and forget about the whole biome, but if you're just going to terraform your base into a mushroom biome, why not construct a secondary base in the actual, ready-made mushroom zone instead?
Also, knowing where one is does not preclude the excitement of finally reaching it. Especially if you have to make a long trek adventure in the Nether to get there. The feeling of arriving at a destination that is difficult to reach is a good feeling.

[FlowerChild]

a) Mushroom biomes don't really play a role in the BTW tech-tree yet. Nether spores are not a requirement to move forward.

b) I've already said I'll be providing an alternative source of Mycelium in the future.

c) No.