Minecraft 1.18 Caves and Cliffs Update is part 2 of an improvement to world generation and block types that has opened up major creative possibilities for designing. Among other things, it has raised the height and depth limit to 320 and -64 blocks and has added a whole suite of fully-decorated caves and mountains for players to explore and harvest resources from. Even after only a week of being out, people are taking advantage of the new resources to create some detailed and exciting new builds.
One of the best updates to take advantage of in Caves and Cliffs is the new world design. Inspiration can be hard to come by sometimes, but Mojang has helped spark some imagination with the new meadow hills and snowy plains that are in the new update. No new blocks have been added, but Minecraft 1.18 Caves and Cliffs' massive changes to the height systems and ore distribution has definitely gotten designers to rethink what’s possible with the toolbox.
Players on the Minecraft subreddit are already taking advantage of the new algorithms and improving their survival and creative builds with cave-adjacent scenery. The new update has let players construct buildings and bridges with a greater scale that have impressed the community. There’s fun to be had with cave cities, monument replicas, and mountain living-inspired builds that will hopefully continue to make Minecraft a worthwhile gaming experience to keep coming back to.
Minecraft Caves & Cliffs Allows For A Large Recreation Of Earth
One designer by the name of CMPatrick on Reddit has created Earth in Minecraft, and has done so with a surprising amount of work. This design mirrors other model recreations like the one-to-one scale Space Needle in Minecraft, but unlike previous globe models better details coasts, biomes, and elevation. While still not completely to scale, this model colors blocks based on climate and features island chains and arctic seas, making it clear that more detail can be achieved when it comes to creating curves and small landmasses.
Model recreations can be simpler than this and designs can take inspiration from other local monuments. This build still stands as a testament to the detail that can be achieved with height limits removed. The resolution that’s been achieved in this Earth design can definitely be applied to architecture and nature as thoroughly as it’s been applied here.
One Player Has Recreated Base Jumping In Minecraft With Elytra
Traveling from the highest point of a mountain to the lowest point at breakneck speeds, user Moose_talker via Reddit has given a quick tour of Minecraft Caves and Cliffs' biggest updates with an elytra course that takes full advantage of its surroundings. There are rings built out of glowstone and vantage points built from banners and wood, giving the course a natural feel built into the landscape. The glowstone rings have been positioned in such a way that challenges the player to not crash into the scenery, making it a challenging but exciting way to traverse the countryside.
This build feels similar to games like Riders Republic with its rings to clear and low margin for error. The thrill is evident even from just watching the video – there is a lot of tight spaces in caves mixed with the open fields and rocky cliffs whose pathways could be optimized. Similar to impressive Mario Kart-esque racetrack builds in Minecraft, scenery integration was paramount to making an experience that players will want to race on over and over again. The route is also surprisingly long, twisting for over 45 seconds, giving a very thorough overview of the new world generation and taking full advantage of many different biomes.
Boat Races Are Better Built Than Ever In Minecraft 1.18
Caves seem like a perfect place to build racetracks, if the elytra course and this boat course are anything to go off of. Created by user Alphawolf_GX on Reddit, this track plays with height and water to explore all areas of a massive cave. It’s a fairly well-known game mechanic at this point that boats glide on ice at rapid speeds, but this has mostly been used for transportation and exploits to create circles in Minecraft rather than racetracks. Using wooden and chain-link fences to hang the track from the ceiling, this track weaves in and around the natural stone structure, showing off the new generation for wide caves that now spawn below ground.
There hasn’t been much experimentation with ascents or descents with boat racing but with a combination of pistons and slime blocks, climbing up a mountain is possible. These sorts of games allow for social and competitive experiences in Minecraft as opposed to the base and model building nature of creative or survival. With this new bout of inspiration, racetracks, parkour sections, and railroads will all benefit from new uses of vertical space.
Minecraft 1.18’s Lush Caves Have Inspired Lovely Overgrown House Builds
The ability to create houses inside caves was always an option, but the new update has inspired players to hide cozy bases and build ideas for Minecraft mazes inside of it. This build by user AlphaWolf1029 on Reddit shows a fairly simply designed duplex hidden inside of a lush cave, a new type of cave only found in 1.18 that has moss hanging from the ceiling. With the entire building lit up, and with shaders applied, it’s easy to see how the environment is accentuated by its grass and moss surroundings. Since players can walk right through these vines, they serve as a great way to accentuate a space without restricting movement.
Below the house are redstone blocks, gold blocks, sand, and grass, meaning this cave was probably altered somewhat to fit the house inside and vary the terrain. Semi-randomizing blocks are often a great way to add personality and uniqueness to a simple build like a train ride through Minecraft's massive lush caves. When combined with overhangs and undergrowth, the space feels filled in a way that Minecraft builds often ignored before the update.
Minecraft 1.18 Caves and Cliffs may not have added any new blocks, but sometimes looking at what the developers have created or randomly generated can spark imagination within the community as well. Survival with randomized seeds has always been more evocative and inspirational than flat builds, and even in Creative mode, visualizing a building on rough surfaces can help designers create new rooms integrated into the countryside.
With all of the focus on exploration and a new ore system for Minecraft's diamonds, people have found a myriad of ways to make each biome their own. Building in numerous different architectural styles takes time, but these creations have already found ways to match Mojang’s premade themes with a mix of different materials. While building on the varied and sloped terrain requires some know-how, the results of integrating these landscapes into designs are well worth the amount of planning required.
Source: CMPatrick/Reddit, Moose_talker/Reddit, Alphawolf_GX/Reddit, AlphaWolf1029/Reddit