Whats New in Minecraft 14w18a - Locomotion and Flying Redstone Devices

Last week's snapshot was pretty cool but forget all that because 14w18a is somewhat revolutionary in terms of Redstone mechanics. Starting in 14w18a, Slime blocks now stick together when pushed by pistons!! Thanks to the new physics, Redstone locomotion and flying contraptions could become a reality.

Those of you with a creative eye for Redstone will be jumping around like madmen, imagining the possibilities for your next Redstone device. Fully automated, compact, moveable structures are just the beginning of this revolution my friends.

Where did this feature come from?

Thanks to a guy called Docm77 and the zipkrowd this new feature was first suggested and demonstrated to Mojang last week. Since then, it's received a seal of approval and beavered its way into snapshot 14w18a. After Dinnerbone confirmed that the feature was adopted, the doc stated that he could now die in peace - well done my friends you've served the community well.

Statement from the doc:

"Dude, we are the happiest guys you can ever imagine right now. It is a game, but dude, this is a proud moment. We love this game so much and actually being able to directly contribute to it is the best feeling ever. I want to thank you guys so much, only with your support, I was able to become known enough to be able to get in touch with the mojangsters and we could pull that off. We wanted to give the community something new again, something that adds another layer to the gameplay. We showed it Dinnerbone after Panda and Kabo had programmed it and we all had tested it and discussed about the rules for many nights this week. He showed it to the rest of the crew, and they decided it was cool"

New Redstone possibilities?

Now that slime blocks pull other blocks with them, the possibilities are colossal. Firstly, Redstone devices are going to be much easier to craft with fewer resources and additional pistons required for the same effect. But more than that - an "ouroboros" effect means that movement and energy can now flow through Redstone devices, repeating themselves via virtually connected joints aka sticky slime blocks.

Clever design and careful placement of pistons could open the door to locomotion - maybe cars, moving structures and possibly flying machines.

There's just a small cloud looming over this revolution. If sticky blocks stick to everything else, then how can they be controlled? Possibly with obsidian blocks but it's going to be hard to conjure up something as spectacular as a flying machine. If only we could control which side was sticky?

Fear not, there's proof on YouTube of the possibilities. Take a look at the doc's video for his very own flying machine in action: