Custom Content? Great. Tactics? GREATER. My Reaction to "Custom Content in Hytale"

I'm sure you know this already: This is speculative and based on pre-release information and Minecraft. This is not to be taken seriously; this is just for fun.

I suggest reading "Custom Content in Hytale" before reading this.

While Hypixel Studios reiterated in their July 2019 development update that they'll post once every few weeks, I still braced myself for absurdly long delays, and thanks to my vacation, I cared less about Hytale (and more on Fire Emblem: Three Houses, which I will hopefully talk about on September 8) so I kept my sanity intact.

That is, until Codiak from The Game Gurus posted this smexy info on his Discord server on August 8, 2019:

Yeah, boi.

I will admit, this got my brain and blood on a frenzy, thinking that Hypixel Studios won't repeat the absurdly long delay between "Rising expectations" and the Outlander reveal/fan art showcase/July 2019 update.

But, being the psychopathic "scholar" I am, I still remained skeptical of this statement; for me, an upcoming blog post is too good to be true and can be delayed anytime without anyone else knowing. I immediately ignored the "week" part and assumed the "two" part was only slightly possible, until...

Hypixel Studios friggen' released a new blog post on August 21, this time about...well, custom content. When I look at the first few words and pictures, I think of the "live scripting" part of the trailer, where whatever programming code or assets are placed into the game are immediately added into Hytale without pausing or closing the game.

To be honest, I don't care much about changing many of the existing visual assets of Hytale; I like the graphics as they are.

So this post will focus a lot more on tactics than aesthetics and modding.

Weather

Let's talk about the vanilla Hytale weather first, specifically the zone 1 sunset and fog.

The sunset is quite dark, actually. The screenshot is nice, but in a practical situation, that would be bothersome because I'm used to Minecraft sunsets still being fairly bright enough to spot threats and hazards.

I'm not sure though if the sun's orientation affects lighting. I thought maybe the blocks near the player would be slightly brighter because the sun is sort of pointing towards them, but they seem just as dark as the other blocks.

Thankfully, the tower stands out in the sunset background because of its height compared to the trees, so if the tower has nothing dangerous, I could camp in there before the sky completely darkens.

I freaking love the fog. The green tint and "windy" appearance make it feel ominous yet somehow adventurous, like I'm in a fantasy movie. It's not very thick, either, so I still have some sense of direction and can properly defend myself against hostile mobs; I don't need Safety Goggles or a thief.
However, some problems with fog include long-range snipers that can see through fog and mobs that can camouflage within the fog--I hope I can tell zombies apart from the green fog.

If I were to mod the zone 1 sunset, I'd make it a brighter orange and red to match the sunset at my own home. I'm not a fan of the peach color in vanilla Hytale.

I'm mostly indifferent to the weather-changing clip for zone 3, but the snowstorm looks cool.

Live Texture Changes

Great for testing texture packs and RGB-tinted blocks.

By the way, notice how the soil does not change color in Hytale's block tech post, even though the grass does? It was expounded on "Custom Content" by saying even soil can be changed without changing the grass. I wonder how this works... Are there separate texture files for the same block?

The problem is that, if I'm not mistaken, Hytale reloads chunks each time a texture is changed. I was thinking of servers trolling players by switching textures around, but having the game suddenly interrupted by a moment of no blocks can be distracting.

Oh well, at least I can preview Minecraft block textures as soon as I put them in Hytale and see how weirdly nostalgic Hytale becomes. This might help me get used to each Hytale block thanks to familiarity with Minecraft.
(Or I can just wait for someone to make a Minecraft texture pack for Hytale.)

Advanced Building Tools

Basically the "Paint the World" part of the trailer, except I didn't know that it could be done with a player in-game. I thought maybe it was done outside the game using a separate development tool.

As for Otium's build clip (Otium is a transgender woman), she made it look so easy that it's just like using Microsoft Paint. Interestingly, the chunks didn't reload once the textures were changed; did she just change textures, or did she actually change the blocks to ones that work differently?

She also replaced areas of blocks as if drawing with a permanent or whiteboard marker.

Well, this saves a massive amount of time!

By the way, how are these copied builds saved? Can they be made into a separate file that others can use to copy each other's builds into their own worlds? I would very much like to copy-paste a battle arena into my world.

Custom Weapons and Effects Zombies

I don't care much about the laser rifle, but at least it gives modders a point of reference for making firearms or similar sci-fi-themed assets. Too bad no aim-down-sight feature was shown.

I'm mainly here to talk about the walking dead--no, not the TV show--that were shown in the clip featuring the laser rifle.

I'll assume the zombies are manually spawned; I don't think common mobs like zombies would generate in large, tightly-packed groups.

First off, they seem to have a really short aggro range--shorter than the standard 16-block aggro range of many Minecraft hostile mobs.

Second, I forgot that Hytale mobs have alert animations with exclamation marks over their heads (and the sound design post also stated that mobs make sounds when alerted), but this clip helped me remember. This further helps me stay alert of incoming hostile mobs, not just zombies.

Then again, I'll still be ready for stealthy hostile mobs similar to creepers.

The zombies look a bit faster than their Minecraft counterparts, but they're still slow enough for me to outspeed, I think. With that said, I should be more careful than in Minecraft because groups of zombies can easily trap me.

The most bothersome thing about the zombies, however, is how they did not take knockback from the laser rifle. Maybe being undead removes the sense of pain?

This means, unless some weapons or attacks can still knock them back, I can't shove zombies into disadvantageous terrain or off a mountain. It also means I have to back away constantly while fighting, unlike Minecraft zombies where I can properly move forward and sideways while rapidly hitting zombies for maximum mobility.

I don't know if zombies can climb blocks like spiders can, but fudge it, I'll use the good 'ol pillar jumping tactic.

Character Models (and Throwing Weapons)

Funny thing is, I was skeptical of this at the beginning because I thought it only made sense to play as a human or humanoid species like an elf. I shouldn't have been skeptical, though, because--thank goodness--Hytale allows players to change their player models and even gain the ability to fly when playing as certain mobs.

When modded in (if I'm not mistaken), these mobs can even properly wield human equipment, as shown by Hytale's clip of a pigeon throwing an iron dagger.

I think this is a strong indicator of players being able to throw some weapons, and if this is true, I'll be extremely happy! I get to properly defend myself with cheap ranged weapons without having to craft a bow and arrows!
Then again, I'll continue to be skeptical in case that pigeon was an actual pigeon, not a player.

Those gray weapons on the very top left look like stone weapons, judging by their crude designs.
I think this means I can easily mass-produce stone daggers.
Concept art from Hytale

Okay, I admit that I stated multiple times that throwing weapons are a bad idea for game balance, but I don't give a firetruck about me using throwing weapons in my Adventure Mode playthroughs; I need to properly defend myself and my team.
As for PvP, throwing weapons can be used when desperate in Hunger Games or to quickly knock an enemy off their bridge in SkyWars/BedWars (assuming throwing weapons can only be carried in small stacks since the pigeon's dagger didn't disappear upon being thrown), but I think they can be abused in games like Ultra Hardcore simply by filling the hotbar with throwing weapons and repeatedly sniping unprepared foes almost immediately.
Oh well, I think this is a good reason to remove my ban on Tinkers' Construct throwing knives in my Hytale practice regimen.

Okay, back to changing models.
Imagine if the player could get the abilities of the mobs they're transformed into (besides flight). Like maybe a player transformed into an ice dragon can breathe ice (obviously). Combined with additional modding for human equipment and proper animations, that would make for an interesting Super Smash Bros.-like minigame.
My main might be the deer because I'm joining the Golden Deer, and I might wield a bow just like Claude. Fite me. (Let's just wait for eagles and lions. I bet money they'll add a lion for sure because of some of Hytale's Tweets related to The Lion King.)
Besides, the Hypixel server in Minecraft already has a Super Smash Bros.-like minigame called...well, Smash Heroes.

If the Deadeye Pigeon was an Actual Enemy...

This is pure speculation.

psychopaths exposed

If vanilla Hytale actually has a dagger-throwing pigeon as a standard hostile mob thanks to this Tweet, I'd better be ready, mainly because it's a ranged flier. I stated before that I do not like fighting fliers.

The deadeye pigeon was only shown to throw a dagger while on the ground, but I'll be ready in case it can throw in midair.

Obviously, a shield will protect against its daggers, at least when thrown. If the pigeon does a swooping attack with its dagger, beak, or talons, I can simply dodge sideways or counter with a sword.

Speaking of swords, they're my primary melee weapon against small fliers like deadeye pigeons because swords are cheap, lightweight, and can cover a wide arc with a simple slash. For a specific kind of sword (if different sword types have different combos), I'd use one with a curved blade, like a falchion or katana.
Plus, it's hard to hit a small target with a spear.

Pigeons typically appear in groups in my real-life neighborhood, and I assume something similar in Hytale, except they're much more common in zone 1 forests. I'd better be careful with chopping trees or else I risk destroying one with a deadeye pigeon's nest, causing a whole flock to rain a storm of daggers.

Before woodcutting, I should pillar-jump with dirt blocks to take a closer look for trees with deadeye pigeon nests, and signal the safe trees by maybe shooting arrows at them so my allies know which trees to chop down.

When stealth-killing, all the nested deadeye pigeons must be killed simultaneously with a synchronized volley of arrows.

If stealth is not an option, a strong, aggressive magic attack like a fireball or lightning bolt should deal heavy damage and scare away, if not kill, nearby deadeye pigeons.

As for home defense, I think deadeye pigeons are near-harmless. The least they can do is chip away very slowly at my builds with their beaks or daggers. This leaves them open to a sneak-attack, especially when using another player as a distraction.
If they chip away at my Trump wall, I'll put up machicolations (those holes through battlements allowing archers to shoot enemies adjacent to the wall).
They become extra dangerous, however, when combined with other mobs such as griefers that can open up holes for deadeye pigeons to throw their daggers through.

If Trorks can be made into allies, they would be effective against deadeye pigeons because they get distracted by birds to the point of throwing spears.

Lazy Conclusion

Have a little Tweet as a gift from Simon:

Yeah, boi, again.

I hope this goes beyond simply changing basic data like damage values.

I'm not really a modder (heck, my Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones ROM hack has an unchanged story from the original game), but boy am I glad I could build tactics around the stuff Hytale did not specifically focus on in the blog post.

Bad News

UP Open University greatly shortened our vacation time from 6 weeks to only 3 weeks, so I didn't expect to be back to school so quickly.
This time, I enrolled in a course all about...theories. And the professor is a former soldier. Well, time for me to work so hard that it's like I'm a recruit. SIR, YES SIR!

It ends on November 16 (assuming the professors don't give extra work and I finish my work quickly), and thankfully, they're giving us a long Christmas vacation as usual.

Other News

Besides a Three Houses-themed post, there will be three other posts coming every week until September 8--I've drafted large chunks of them already.

Also, I'll be in Singapore on September 3 to hang out with the guy who helped me with my Pest Control: Pokémon Edition (Johto to Alola).