Devblog #2 - Let's talk about Skyblock!

This is probably a blog post that many of you have been waiting for. Over the past years, we've put a lot of thought into Skyblock and considered how to bring the game concept into the current decade. Our goal is to find a solution that makes Skyblock accessible to a new generation of players while preserving the history and achievements of existing players.

Will I lose my progress?

Don't worry! Nothing will be deleted – neither your islands nor your belongings. Your farms and constructions will remain fully functional. However, some fundamental changes to the game are necessary. We understand that deep changes in Skyblock may not excite everyone. Our goal is to keep the game alive and exciting in the long term. Therefore, adjustments are essential. We hope you understand and invite you to see the changes as an opportunity to enhance the enjoyment of Skyblock for the future.

What needs to change?

In order for Skyblock to remain successful in the long run and attract more players, some important adjustments are required. These changes will affect both the technical implementation and the game concept itself.

Modernization

Our Skyblock system is technically outdated, which makes the development of new content and updates much more difficult. Therefore, we will completely replace it with a modern infrastructure based on our current standards. This will not only provide more stability but also allow us to develop updates more easily and efficiently, offering you a much better gaming experience.

Usability

Skyblock cannot currently be translated due to outdated technology, and integrating our new menus is not possible. As a result, many players are unable to access Skyblock, as the language barrier is a major obstacle. Furthermore, the unintuitive interface, along with confusing commands and inventories, makes it difficult for new players to get started. We will offer Skyblock in other languages in the future and focus on creating well-designed, easy-to-understand menus and controls.

Game Concept

The game concept has evolved over the decades, but we have always remained true to our roots – and this will continue in the future. User-generated content will still be at the core. With the new Skyblock update, however, we will expand the game with new core mechanics. These will integrate seamlessly into the existing concept and provide significant value to both players who prefer doing their own thing and those who want to work towards progress and prefer a clear structure.

Regular Updates and Fresh Content

Anyone who has closely followed our work over the past few years knows that we focus on regular updates and new content. All of our games are now designed so that we can efficiently produce new content – and that’s exactly the plan for Skyblock. In addition to seasonal events, new items, or furniture sets, we plan to regularly deliver real game content. You’ll learn more about what this will look like in the section below about the Island Market.

Server Performance

Our Skyblock is entirely based on Vanilla farms and classic Redstone mechanics. Although we’ve made numerous optimizations to the server code over the years and introduced many new Redstone mechanics, we’re increasingly hitting the performance limits we can maintain for Skyblock. This is due to the way Minecraft works, and adding more server resources won’t fix this problem. We’ve already exhausted all options and are using a maximally scalable infrastructure with multiple servers to handle the enormous load. However, there are some islands and farms that hit technical limits that we can no longer handle. We’re talking about constructions that are so large they bring down any normal Minecraft server within seconds.

Despite this issue, it’s important to us to maintain the classic Skyblock feeling. We still want to rely on Vanilla farms and Redstone mechanics, but at a certain point in the game, we will offer more profitable alternatives. Players will still be encouraged to build large farms, but at a very advanced stage in the game, we’ll try to introduce more efficient methods for resource farming to make the game more interesting and to ease the load on our servers. These changes won’t be implemented in the next update, but we’ll share more details as soon as they’re ready.

Into a New Skyblock Era!

Now that you have a rough idea of what we’re planning and why, we’d like to give you a preview of some of the changes coming in the update. Of course, this is just a first glimpse – we won’t reveal everything just yet!

The Island Market

The biggest change in the game is probably the Island Market! This will be located on your main island and will primarily serve as the main income source for new players. Regularly, customers with various needs will appear in front of your Island Market. Some want cacti, others wheat or carrots, and some have even more complex requests. You can serve these customers – initially manually, and later also automatically with your merchant and market warehouse. The market stall can only serve customers as long as the market warehouse is well-stocked. You can connect the warehouse to your existing farms and storage systems, so you should always keep an eye on it and make sure that all necessary resources are in stock.

To make things more varied, there is a leveling system. With each new level, you can upgrade the market stall, unlocking new customers. As the level increases, customers will become more demanding and have increasingly complex requirements. Over time, more resources will be needed to fulfill their wishes. To manage the supply, you can either build many different farms or buy items from other players. Trading between players will no longer be limited to collectible items but will also include basic resources.

There is a maximum level for the market stall, which we will regularly expand through content updates. This will bring new customers and demands. By periodically increasing the level, we can link the requirements to new features or content. This also makes it easier for new players to keep up over the years, as they won’t have to wait for every update but can play through to the maximum level.

As mentioned before, the Island Market will be of great importance to new players. It will be fully integrated into the new, much more comprehensive tutorial. This way, players will be guided clearly from the beginning and stay motivated to continue progressing in Skyblock.

We will share the first images and insights about the Island Market on our Discord soon.

Island Management

Islands can now be managed more easily and customized with many new options. You’ll be able to see at a glance who is currently on your island and use the integration of the new Island Market to immediately recognize when customers are waiting for you.

A great example of the new customization options is the permissions system. You can now set everything in detail and control exactly which actions visitors or individual members can perform on your island.

Improved Trading

With the newly created demand, trading becomes even more important. Anyone actively trading with the new Island Market will quickly encounter capacity limits, where it makes sense to buy resources from other players, leading to more community interaction.

An important change to encourage this is our new sales stands, which will replace the existing player shops. Each player shop will become a sales stand, and no matter the level, it will have the capacity of a double chest.

In addition to the sales stands, there will now be sales terminals that can be directly connected to your storage systems, making trading even more flexible!

But how can large quantities of items be traded efficiently? In the latest versions of Minecraft, bundles were introduced, allowing you to bundle up to 64 identical items and create more order in your inventory. The new terminal system will work directly with bundles, and also include an option for item sorting.

The Future of Skyblock

This new direction for Skyblock is something we are very excited about, and we can’t wait to share more details with you. As always, we strive to keep things exciting while maintaining our dedication to you as players. This update marks the beginning of the next era for Skyblock, and we will continue to listen to your feedback and adjust the game accordingly.

We thank you for your loyalty and patience, and we look forward to a bright future for Skyblock!