Featured Wynncraftian Featured Wynncraftian #1

It's been a while since one of these has been posted, sorry for the delay the site update took priority for the last quarter of 2015.

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@Energyxxer is responsible for some of the more interactive features of Wynncraft's latest patch: Gavel. Although I'd like to use Featured Wynncraftian to highlight lesser known members of the community, I think this is a great opportunity to get to know one of the team behind the Gavel update.

Care to introduce yourself?
Hello everyone. I am Energyxxer. I live in the Dominican Republic and I am currently 14 years old. I am a Builder, a GM, and part of the Resource Pack Team. I also like to spend my time working with Command blocks, which I commonly use for Wynncraft and YouTube. Additionally, I am familiar with Web development and programming. I am usually the first person you approach for a math problem and last to establish a conversation with in real life.

Wynncraft has come a long way over the last few years, where do you see us in two years time?
Certainly a lot can happen in two years. Over the course of the past few years, Minecraft, which is what Wynncraft is built upon, has changed a lot, and mostly for good. As Minecraft's code improves to benefit mapmakers and server owners, we could easily turn into a whole different game.

With the addition of the new resource pack coming in the Gavel Update, we are doing things with custom models that we didn't even imagine possible in Minecraft two years ago. In addition to that, in the current 1.9 snapshots, the system now supports multiple item models for different damage values of a single item, so we can have, say... about a thousand weapon models in a diamond pickaxe item. Not to mention the hints Mojang has given about entity models coming in the near future.

Only time will tell where we will be in two years, but I'm eager to find out.


Most of Wynncraft uses a suite of plugins - do command blocks replace or complement them?
I believe that command blocks complement the plugins. The way a developer makes plugins for systems such as the quest system is "Do more in less code", which is good in some situations, but it often eliminates options from us GMs in the long run. We use command blocks to enhance things based around the surroundings, something really difficult to do in a system designed to serve for everything at once.


Favourite programming language/language everyone should try to learn?
For starters, I think JavaScript is a good option. It is very accessible and can teach you the basics of programming. Also, it is very easy to find a guide or documentation online on how to use it. It does lack a few details from bigger languages, such as strict data types, but it is something you get behind after you decide to continue on a more powerful language.

I am currently learning C++ and a lot has changed, but learning JavaScript before has certainly helped me not lose my mind.


Now that Gavel has been released, would you care to share some of your favourite moments from development?
Creating command block cutscenes has been, by far, the most fun I've had in the last couple of months. Most cutscenes I made have been a mixture of jumpscares and creepy things, some including gore, and figuring out the best way to achieve that in Minecraft was a fair challenge.

I also enjoyed looking into the technical aspects of mobs and quests, and finding a way to read and manipulate them using command blocks. I was able to bypass the rule of "No clocks" by spawning dead mobs over some hoppers to pick up the drops. [Warning: Beyond the Grave spoiler ahead] I tried to make the boss fight more interesting by creating my own custom spells using command blocks, some including teleportation between the player and Krolton, and also a secret way to defeat it.


With this expansion near completion, where would you like to see Wynncraft head for Dern?
Seeing as 1.9 is coming really soon, and that Dern will probably be held back for a long time, I think we will be able to truly make our own mobs with models. Sure, that could require a few modifications to the current mob system, but it's nothing impossible. I recently split the skeleton model into individual models on Armor Stands that can be moved around to pose it with commands, and I don't see any problems to make a plugin handle the movement. Who knows? Mojang could provide more tools for the game in the time it takes Gavel to be finished and Dern to be started.


Any thoughts for the new year?
I really look forward to trying new things such as composing music both inside and outside of Wynncraft. I also want to work a lot more on my YouTube channel, since I can't seem to find the correct balance of content. There's not much I'd actually miss from 2015, though; I see events as things that happen individually instead of relating it directly to that one year, but the Gavel Update is something that will be difficult to forget, and... why would you even want to, though?


You can nominate your suggestions for Featured Wynncraftian here: https://forums.wynncraft.com/forums/featured-wynncraftian-nominations.96/.

 

I thought this thing was dead

 

Finally it has returned!

 

Same here, this surprised me

 

Its not me? Ok bye.
Jk jk xD gg energy!

 

Well, it's back :D
And it seems all our suggestions were crap.

 

Only 13 and a great staff member, congrats!

 

13 aint a bad age for some people.

 

dude I'm 15 and I act like a 5 year old, therefore showing age doesn't always equal maturity :B

Grats Energy, you have done a great job!

 

And Energy is 13 and acts like a mature dude.

Gratz Energy. You deserved it.

 

Gratz Energy! good job :D

 

Congratulations, Don Energy!

 

Congratulations Energy ^-^

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Wait if he means the cutscene in Beyond the Grave... You scared me so much ;-; I've never screamed so much in my entire Minecraft history xD

 

damn energy
you did a fantastic job

 

Nice Energy! You will inspire us all..

 

Congrats energy!

Inb4 some raging 6 year old becomes featured wynncraftian.

 

Are you the one responsible for jumpscare in Beyond The Grave? If so you owe me a heart transplant.

 

I'm sooo sorry.

 

Seriously. What's your blood type?

 

Congrats, Energy. You've earned it!