Although we still have to wait a few months until the arrival of Minecraft 1.18 today we were able to see the first experimental snapshots. After the first minor revision of version 1.17, 1.17.1 only corrects some bugs.
Until the May announcement, it was possible to check the progress in the development of caves and mines in the snapshots of Minecraft 1.17, but from that point on it became necessary to download an additional data pack to be able to check the progress. And there we could see, as the release of 1.17 approached, changes related to Minecraft 1.18. Then came the test versions of 1.17-1 and, when it seemed that we were going to plunge into the depths of summer and we would have to wait until September to see new features, Mojang has given us a surprise.
These are the first experimental snapshots of Minecraft 1.18
It is an experimental snapshot, which means there might be significant changes to what we are seeing. Right now, it can not even be installed in the usual way. That’s why we recommend you to follow the instructions given by Mojang in the blog post dedicated to this first test version of Minecraft 1.18.
The most notable of this first snapshot of Minecraft 1.18 is that it recovers the new margins of the world. The base of the world is no longer located at layer 0, but at -64, while the maximum height of construction becomes layer 319, compared to 256 which is currently in force. A readjustment related, obviously, to the new caves, larger and deeper, and the mountains, higher and with several biomes of their own.
As for the caves, this first snapshot of Minecraft 1.18 brings us back to something long-awaited: the huge caves, but also the new cave generator, with which we recover the three types we talked about before: cheese caves, spaghetti caves, and noodle caves. In addition, the levels of subway aquifers have been readjusted, thus generating a multitude of flooded caves that will be a challenge to explore.
We also recovered the new subway biomes, the lush caves, and dripstone caves, with the first ones highlighted on the surface thanks to the azaleas. Remember, if you see an azalea, you know, a few layers down you can explore this biome.
There are also new features in the mountains, no less than five new biomes:
- Hill or meadow: quite similar to biomes we already know, with flowers and berries.
- Mountain forest: this is starting to look more like a mountain. Here, in addition to snow, we can find the powdery snow that debuted in Minecraft 1.17 and some life forms.
- Snowy slopes: special attention to this biome, since unless there are changes, it is the only one in Minecraft 1.18 where we will find the goats that debuted in 1.17.
High peaks: as its name suggests, we will find it on the tops of mountains that are surrounded by temperate and warm biomes. - Snowy peaks: this is the variant of the previous biome, but when the mountain is surrounded by cold biomes.
- And with regard to the new biomes in Minecraft 1.18, there is a very, very important aspect, and that is that 3D biomes have finally made their debut. What does this mean? Well, it will now be possible for different layers of the same chunk to house different biomes. This was an essential change to be able to develop subway biomes, and it seems that Mojang developers have already been able to implement this change, which certainly must not have been easy.
As we told you earlier this year, the distribution of minerals has also changed again. This is the one found in the experimental snapshot of Minecraft 1.18, although it is important to note that it is not necessarily the final one:
As you can see, the first snapshot of Minecraft 1.18 comes strong, with a lot of new features. Mojang developers still have to solve some technical problems on several fronts.
