A new Minecraft feature means you won’t have to kill so many pigs
Mojang
Minecraft’s upcoming update adds long-missing features, including the ability to craft saddles, and more importantly, unequip them from your pig mounts without turning them into bacon. The features will come as part of the second major update later this year, but you can test them out yourself in Java snapshot or Bedrock beta and preview.
Rather than spending all your time fishing or exploring dungeons in search of a single saddle, you can now craft your own. It only requires three pieces of leather and one iron ingot, and voila — you can ride off into the sunset. Players have been able to craft leather horse armor for a while now, so saddles feel like the logical next step (and one that has been absent for nearly 16 years). It’s much less of a chore to craft your own saddle than find one in the wild, so this is a welcome addition.
The update holds another, underrated feature: you can shear a saddled pig to remove the saddle. No longer will you be forced to kill innocent, cute pigs just because Minecraft’s loot distribution system dislikes you. You can always put the saddle back on the pig afterwards with no harm done.
In addition to the more merciful features, this next update also brings with it five new ambient music tracks, all inspired by features coming in the update. The update also adds the ability to obtain the Tears music disc from hostile ghasts in the Nether, and the update post hints that there’s a specific way you’ll need to slay the ghast in order to get the disc.
There is no set release date, but most projections estimate sometime in June 2025. It’s set to add the above features, as well as other perks like the ability to find dried-out Ghasts and rehydrate them into a pet and potential flying mount.
Patrick Hearn writes about smart home technology like Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, smart light bulbs, and more. If it’s a…
Valorant is coming to consoles but won’t have crossplay
Valorant is coming to the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S as soon as next week with a limited beta test. Riot Games announced these long-awaited ports for its competitive hero shooter during Summer Game Fest 2024. Notably, while Valorant on consoles will feature cross-progression, it won’t have crossplay.
The lack of crossplay may come as a disappointment to some players who hope to party up with their friends on PC; Riot Games says that it made this decision “to maintain Valorant’s standard for competitive integrity.” It wouldn’t be fair for those with a controller to face off against players using a keyboard and mouse to control the game, after all. It also wouldn’t make sense because Riot Games is not only adapting Valorant’s control scheme for the Xbox and PlayStation controllers but reworking some gameplay features as well. Namely, it added a new feature called Focus that makes hip-fire feel more precise on a controller. Valorant Production Director Arnar Gylfason elaborated on this in a comment provided to Digital Trends.
Don’t worry, the Riven remake won’t feature any AI-assisted content
Cyan’s classic PC adventure game Riven: The Sequel to Myst is getting an Unreal Engine 5 remake later this year. Although Cyan’s last game experienced controversy surrounding the use of AI content, Cyan confirmed to Digital Trends that the Riven remake does not use any “AI-assisted content.”
Riven: The Sequel to Myst was a 1997 follow-up to a point-and-click adventure game that was a trailblazer in both puzzle game and immersive 3D game design. It continued to refine the formula Cyan established in Myst and is just as beloved by many people as a result. Cyan remade Myst for PC and VR several years ago and teased that Riven was getting the same treatment in 2022. Now, it has re-revealed the remake, highlighted its use of Unreal Engine 5 and gameplay that allows for free movement throughout its 3D environments, and added puzzle and narrative content. None of that will be AI-assisted content, though.
You won’t have to wait long to play Resident Evil 4: The Mercenaries
Capcom has revealed when it will add The Mercenaries to its remake of Resident Evil 4. Fortunately, the wait isn’t that long, as the free DLC will drop on April 7.
We learned that The Mercenaries was coming in two weeks thanks to a tease at the end of the Resident Evil 4 remake’s launch trailer. It doesn’t show any new gameplay or give more details about the mode, simply showing a piece of key art with the free DLC’s release date. The mode was first teased at the end of Resident Evil 4’s trailer during the February State of Play.
