Suggestion: Biome Improvements

[Ithronyar]

Right now the biome variety is a little sparse. There are several types of alien landscapes just in this solar system, and there are almost certainly many variations and extremes of those conditions to be found on exoplanets. Not to mention the landforms we can only hypothesize.

Existing Biome Tweaks The HotDryRock biome shouldn't spawn mobs. It's a barren and lifeless desert landscape, yet it's inexplicably covered in hostile mobs. That just doesn't make sense. It's like finding wild animals all over Venus. Also, HotDryRock is covered in ferric sand, but it has the stone sound effect when broken. Similar discrepancy: Real moon turf is a fine dust, but the block sounds like solid stone. These name/sound mismatches aren't exactly biome tweaks, but they're related issues that affect the biome-exploring experience, so I'm throwing them in anyway.

Existing Biome Variations Currently, Advanced Rocketry's barren biomes (Moon, HotDryRock) consist of a single generic landscape that looks basically the same wherever you are. Similar to vanilla's Mutated biomes, I suggest regional variations of these biomes, to make them more interesting and realistic. The Moon biome could have heavily cratered fields and basalt plains. Both HotDryRock and Moon could have mountains, hills, cliffs, lowlands, highlands, canyons, extinct volcanoes, etc. HotDryRock could have dunes of varying size.

New Biomes These are just some ideas off the top of my head. Obviously, each one could have sub-varieties of itself to break up the monotony. None of them spawn mobs, since they're completely lifeless and inhospitable.

Scorched: Similar to the nether. Has a netherrack surface and lakes of lava, but no mobs. This only occurs on extremely hot, high-pressure planets. Barren Desert: Normal Minecraft desert without water or organics (cactus, dead bushes, etc.) Barren Red Desert: Same as barren desert, just with red sand/sandstone. This could actually replace HotDryRock's current purpose (looks roughly the same), and HotDryRock could be converted into a rare FerrousDesert. Maybe iron could even be extracted from the sand. Frozen World: This is for really cold planets/moons. These are dimly lit at best, and covered in layers of snow, ice, and packed ice. The warmer ones have snowfall, but the coldest don't even snow because their atmospheres froze into the ground. These could have oceans of liquid methane and such, if something like that ever gets added.

Of course, all these changes and additions would require new planet textures and icons. If no one else wants to handle that, I will.

[CTH999]

Scorched could have mobs, an also, entity's could be an advanced hostile building with bases. Also, there should be biomes with mobs/ whit advanced player-like creatures, and more. Also, you aren't the only one to think of Liquid Methane Lakes!

So, these would work well together! Also, atmospheric biomes, which would work well with Atmospheric Bases! Also would work well with Request "World Sprinkles".

[zmaster587]

Definately adding to the todo list, would go well with the 5 biomes per planet default too. On the note of liquid methane lakes, I just so happens that a config to specify ocean type was added only a few weeks ago. Don't make oceans of chests though, it'll lag. Forestry crushed ice oceans look nice with the crystal chasm biomes though.

But yeah, definately been slacking in the biome diversity department with AR and that does need some revisiting, I like the ideas proposed here.

[C1ffisme]

Technically, frozen worlds shouldn't be covered in snow, just ice.

Snow requires an atmosphere, and temperate or hot areas on the planet where water can melt to form clouds OR this might also be possible if the planet has geological activity or an eccentric orbit, but unless a planet has some form of heating that can get water or another liquid to boiling temperatures or turn the liquid into a vapour, there shouldn't be "snow".

[Ithronyar]

@C1ffisme True, but such planets can also have a loose regolith of dust mixed with various ices. Vanilla snow layers are a close enough approximation to that, since new "Frozen Dust" blocks that behave exactly the same would be redundant.

[C1ffisme]

True, but such planets can also have a loose regolith of dust mixed with various ices. Vanilla snow layers are a close enough approximation to that, since new "Frozen Dust" blocks that behave exactly the same would be redundant.

True, gameplay > realism.