Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
7.
Crafting bench and furnace for working on the spot
8.
Pig pen—can you see the one with the saddle?
FIGURE 7.1
A passive mob farm.
Farming involves a few basic steps that I'll take you through in more detail as this chapter
progresses:
1.
Do like Noah, and collect at least two of each creature.
2.
Lure them back to your farm, either with food or, even easier, dragging them on
the end of a lead.
3.
Ensure their enclosure is secure with a one-block high fence or a two-block high
dirt or other type of wall. (Chickens need a two-block high fence or a three-block
high wall.)
4.
Get the animals in the mood for breeding using the specific food for that species
(no need for candlelit dinners for two).
5.
Wait 5 minutes and they'll be ready to breed again, so repeat step 4
6.
Wait 20 minutes (24 Minecraft hours), and the newborn will have matured and can
also start breeding.
In just a few day/night cycles, you'll have the farm fully established.
By the way, there's no need to go all Texan and build a giant cattle-yard. If this is just for
your needs and not a cooperative multiplayer game, two breeding pairs of each type will
provide plenty of resources.
Farms take a little bit of planning; otherwise, they turn into an exercise in herding cats.
Ensure that all animals have to go through a corralling yard to actually escape. This is a
double-gate system, with the same purpose as an air lock and can be shared by all pens.
It can be quite tricky to get out and close a fence gate with the herd wandering around at
random. Herds have a habit (or perhaps a secret strategy) of preventing you from closing
the gate before one or two have slipped through. The second yard will stop those that do
make a run for it from escaping the entire farm. You can try to lead them back by enticing
them with food, but that just attracts the rest of the group, making for double-trouble. A
lead makes it easier (see below), or you can just treat any escapees as volunteers for the
chopping block.
Farm animals don't need to be fed, but wolves do. Their tail acts as a health indicator. If a
tamedwolf'stailsticksstraightout,it'sinfullhealth,graduallydroppingdownasitshealth
decreases. Any sort of meat will do, cooked or not, including the rotten flesh that zombies
drop.
