The ever-busy crew over at Mojang have been faithfully updating Minecraft and providing fans with new experiences since the title launched in its alpha phase. The game went into beta at the very end of last year and has seen steady updates since then. In fact, Notch announced via Twitter that the latest Minecraft update, 1.7, will be available this Thursday — sans the adventure mode.

Update 1.7 was originally touted as a game-changer that would not only fix existing bugs, but add pistons and adventure aspects to Minecraft. Now that the adventure additions are off the board, pistons will be the only new thing for players in update 1.7, along with some bug fixes.

This news shouldn’t be taken badly though. The developer have been dedicated to providing a top tier experience and are not simply goofing off. It just seems that their aspirations for Minecraft grow faster than they can implement them and below you can see the scope of what the adventure update is attempting to accomplish.

The pistons will open up new possibilities and allow players to create various machines and lifts. This added toolset is bound to lead to many unique contraptions and it will be interesting to see players implement them in creative ways.

Notch-Details-Minecraft-Update-Pistons

Gamers shouldn’t expect more new features anytime soon. The adventure aspects will release as update 1.8, but according to Notch they aren’t going to rush the process.

“The adventure update will take however long it takes, and will be released as 1.8. It might be a long wait, but it will be worth it!”

Since update 1.8 is not going to be finished for a while, it would not be surprising for Minecraft to miss its scheduled finish date. Not too long ago, Notch planned to have the "full" version of Minecraft ready by November 11 and Mojang definitely has their hands full. They are working to bring Minecraft to Android, iOS, and Kinect platforms — as well as develop a new game, Scrolls.

Some confirmed features for 1.7:

  • Adds Shears.
  • Redstone repeater bug fixes.
  • Place fences on fences.
  • New cobblestone and clay brick textures.

And some confirmed features for 1.8:

1.8 will be the biggest update the game has seen and today, Notch took the first step towards our long path of slow and secretive reveals. On his blog, he explains where they are at and hints at some of what the game will include:

Since 1.8 is still a significant time away, we’re going to have to stop being as secretive about it as we have. We’ll provide information about it as we go, but we’ll keep actual details secret. So, for example, we could say “added two new colors” without saying which ones, or “testing experience and leveling to see if it’s fun” without giving details on exactly how it works.

The update is pretty big, and will change a lot of how Minecraft is played, focusing on making exploration and combat much more rewarding, and bringing in a bigger sense of adventure to the game.

Already implemented are new complex terrain features, at least one new mob, some interesting new combat mechanics, a new lighting engine, and some experimental new gameplay ideas. To come is more interesting farming, bigger incentives to explore, and npc villages.

Stay tuned to Game Rant for the latest news on Minecraft and watch for a new Minecraft 1.7 Update Guide after the patch is released.

Minecraft is currently in beta and is scheduled to be completed sometime later this year.

Source: Notch