The sandbox game Minecraft is set to change significantly with the release of its Caves & Cliffs update next year. Announced during Minecraft Live 2020, this update will revamp the way cave systems generate and include new biomes, as well as create much more visually appealing mountains to explore. However, according to developers it may also facilitate bigger building projects by increasing the game's world height limit.

A panel of developers from Mojang Studios sat down for a Q&A session with questions from social media regarding the upcoming 1.17 update, and their talk was published by the official Minecraft YouTube account on October 30. In it, the team talked about mobs such as the Warden, described as a 'natural disaster' that should be avoided, as well as new items and blocks to collect such as copper ore.

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Around eight-and-a-half minutes in, a Twitter question asks whether Caves & Cliffs will increase the vertical space of each newly-generated world beyond its current 256-block limit. Lead Gameplay Developer Agnes Larsson said the team has been looking into the idea, but won't be able to provide a solid answer one way or the other until at least early 2021. The primary concern is that increasing world height may lead to performance issues, as Minecraft would have to load more content at a time.

A world height increase is not the only improvement the Minecraft team is looking into, or at least expressed an interest in during this developer Q&A. For example, one comment at the beginning of the panel asked if the team could add fireflies to illuminate new cave systems. Larsson said it was a "lovely idea," but not within the scope of the update adding mobs like Axolotls. They will, however, be looking into more ways to light up caverns going forward.

Regardless, there will be a lot of new content included in Caves & Cliffs when it releases summer 2021, which should help Minecraft stand out as a creative space more than it already does. Last month, Tomb Raider 2 Director Ben Wheatley said he uses Minecraft to design sets and 3D environments for his projects.

Wheatley's usage of the game is one of countless examples of Minecraft's utility, and it has become so popular that Minecraft Steve became the latest DLC fighter in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. The ever-growing nature of Minecraft was apparently difficult to capture in Smash Bros., as Masahiro Sakurai said a lot of ideas were scrapped during development.

Minecraft is available now for PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.

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