Once again, we have hit another February 28th, which has had important Caverns & Chasms announcements over the past five years!
While we would have liked to release the long-awaited Polished Up update today, we need a bit more time to cook! Between burnout, work, school, and more, we just haven't had the time to complete it fully, which is why this February 28th "Abnormals Day" is a bit smaller than usual.
Never fear, though - it is getting very close to release, and we are working to get it out as soon as possible within the next few months, and we still have a bunch of stuff to show you guys today!
Polished Up's New Features
We have implemented many new features since our last showcases, and especially since our last blog post, so here's a look at some of the features coming to Polished Up! There have also been a plethora of bug fixes and tweaks that are not mentioned here that will be available to check out in the beta!
Tin Bulbs and Chains
Tin Chains are a simple new decorative chain, much like Iron and Copper Chains; however, they look a bit thicker, making them ideal for bulkier designs. Tin Bulbs are much like Copper Bulbs, except they have fifteen light levels; every pulse increases it by one, until it resets back to zero.
Ornate Glass
This fancy stained glass reflects some of the fancier stained glass window designs from churches and similar buildings. It is a special glass variant made from Zirconia, to give it some decorative use.
Frosted Glass
Joining Ornate and Float Glass is Frosted Glass! Frosted Glass is sort of the opposite of Tinted Glass, you can just barely see through it but it allows full light to pass through as usual!
Polished Dripstone, Smooth Dripstone, and Dripstone Bricks
Dripstone already has Shingles, but we have extended its blockset with a bunch of new options for builders, utilizing Dripstone's unique color and texture that will hopefully be quite useful in builds, and maybe even be used in future structures!
Saddled and Baby Grazers
Grazers now may rarely drop a Saddled Egg, which can be placed in the world. The egg must be hatched forcefully by jumping on it, which gives you a grazer of your own! You'll have to wait for it to grow into an adult to ride it though, because the baby's head is too big for its body, so it sits in a puddle of its own drool, waiting to grow up...
Saddled Grazer riding is currently a heavy work-in-progress, you currently can not control the way they move, so more to come regarding them in the future!
Gem Lamps
Spinel and Lapis Lazuli have already had lamps, but this has now been extended to all gems, allowing for some real nice decorative and fancy lamp options for your builds!
Winch
Winches are a new Tin-based redstone component that can be held down to turn, providing a redstone signal with a strength proportional to how far it has turned. If you let go before it is fully turned, the winch will start to turn back. When it reaches the final state, it will lock and can be right-clicked to unwind.
In the future, winches will have special behaviors when placed on some blocks, like staying fixed in any position, but this isn't implemented just yet!
Placed Coal, Charcoal, and Charcoal Blocks
Much like our previously revealed placeable Ingots, Coal and Charcoal can now be placed too! Up to four can be placed in one block and they can be lit on fire with Flint and Steel. Additionally, there is also a Charcoal Block for storage, with log-like placement.
Rats and Bone Flutes
Now, we've previously shown off Rats before, but we are actively working on their implementation! These are the most work-in-progress features in the beta, so just know they still have a long way to go.
Unicorn Horn
A new cosmetic Turquoise item has been added - the Unicorn Horn! The Unicorn Horn is crafted with a single Turquoise and an End Rod, and can be placed on all equine mobs to make them into a fancy Unicorn! It can also be dyed any color like leather, and in the future, it can be made emissive with glow ink!
Toolbelt
Remember Environmental's Explorer Gear? Environmental's "Architect's Belt" has a spiritual successor in the form of the Toolbelt, a simpler take on the concept that works a bit better alongside existing content. The Toolbelt offers two additional block reach, with an enchantment available, Extending, that allows for up to three more, as opposed to the RPG-esque level up system. It is sold as a Master trade from Masons, and found in Stronghold Corridor and Woodland mansion chests.
Cowl
Similarly, Environmental's "Thief's Hood" has returned in the form of a Cowl, providing lower detection range when equipped, with a Conceal enchantment that extends that range. Incompatible with Conceal is the Obscurity enchantment, which turns the player fully invisible when crouching. It is also found in Stronghold Corridor and Woodland mansion chests.
Please note that both the Cowl and Toolbelt are still work-in-progress, and are subject to many changes, mainly loot availability and enchantments.
Conclusion
That concludes our new content and reveals for Caverns & Chasms: Polished Up! In terms of the total update content, there will not be much more besides, well, polishing up Polished Up!
After we finish this update within the next few months, we will be porting to 1.21.1 and hopefully adding even more content! 1.21.1 and NeoForge make a few ideas a lot simpler implementation-wise, so some secret future plans have been put off until then.
Thank you all for being so patient, and we can not wait to get Polished Up out to you all as soon as possible! A new beta with all the aforementioned content is now available for Patrons and Server Boosters in our Discord!