Exploring 1.7

When it was announced 1.7 was a mainly pistons update I was kinda bummed. Originally I thought shears was a bit silly with wool cutting and I was never interested in pistons, despite the secret entrance being cool. I was however, about to be proved wrong.


After upgrading, I immediately made shears but had a little trouble cutting. I was just punching the sheep with them and hurting them. Just outside my home was a brown sheep, about to take a dip in my lava pool, so I had to save the brown wool(!) Like I said I just hit the sheep with the shears and ended up getting 1 wool, but killing the sheep. I got it working but what I think might have happened, was, that I thought I had it selected, but maybe I didn't after all? Anyway, getting 3 or 4 wool is much better with shears and being able to keep getting wool and not kill the sheep. (I take it back!) I'd completely forgotten about getting legitimate leave blocks though! I have the best part of three stacks and my shears are only just about to break. So far I have created a little shrub near the creation plaque, and on the corner of the path round the back. (Before the bridge.) I have thought about hedge fencing, but I'm not sure.


The main part of the update was of course the pistons. I wasn't too bothered about them, until - I saw a members post in the "Discoveries" thread on the Minecraft forums. They had created a gate with sticky piston! Simply it's a fence stuck to a sticky piston that's hidden and embedded, but goes up and down at the flick of a switch! Now I'm terrible with Redstone, contraptions with it don't interest me. Beyond a simple link up to a door I've never tried experimenting with it, it just sits in my chest. However I wanted to do this gate idea! So it was down with the cobble door frames and iron doors!


It did take me a while to perfect the Redstone circuit, but it was trying to do it in a way that I could hide the Redstone that made it take longer overall. What I've created is something nice that really blends in with the rest of the fencing, and makes a great sound when it goes up and down!:

It looks like a little dead end. but!....

VOOOMPH!:

Controlled by a simple switch as you see.

I also did one the other end for the other one I had, which meant widening the top of the path and last few steps up to it. At first I didn't hide the Redstone, as well, but, I managed it. In the end though I had the lever in a block deep hole, so I put a hatch over it. (After failing to hide the erlier bigger hole with a bush.) A nice Birch tree helps the aesthetic.

I hid that Redstone just now after taking this screenshot!

I'm really really tempted to make the entrance to the dungeon (At the back of my storage room), a secret entrance now! It'd require a lot of work, but, am so, so tempted.

Overall the 1.7 update is better than I though, with the stackable fences, torches on fences as well, I think it was worth it. I admit I was wrong about the shears and have come to appreciate the pistons!