Ok, as you might have heard (cough) – Minecraft 1.0 is finally finished – no more beta. So what does that mean for Uncovery Minecraft?

• Well first of all we have to wait until the Bukkit software releases a stable build. Since there were no code changes in the last 15 days, but some in the last hours, we might not have to wait too long for that.
• Then we have to wait until the most important plugins are updated, too. This includes WorldEdit, WorldGuard, Whitelist, Towny, XCraftGate etc etc. If there are some crucial plugins which are abandoned or take too long, I will look for alternatives. Currently, all the plugins needed seem to be quite active however.
• Once the stuff is ready, I will create the following new maps:
• (immediately) A new city map where we will have different biomes for different parts of the city such as a desert for the egyptian map. This map will be only to copy-paste stuff there from contests and the best builds overall. We will have to build spawn buildings/towns for the different levels.
• (immediately) A new lot map called “The Empire” where all new lots are given out on. If people have available lots to register on the “world”, they can get one there. There will be no more central city there, and no more railway system.
• (later) A creative map. Everyone will be able to get a creative lot with separate inventories if they give up one lot on the empire/world map. If you are settler, and have only one lot free, you have to choose between creative and survival. The overall sum of lots between the world/empire & creative worlds will not increase per user.
• This is what will happen with the existing worlds:
• The “world” map will be phased out. No more new lots will be given out. It will be accessible until all lots are deserted, and people can continue building there. The city will be copied over to the new “city” world.
• The Skylands will be copied over as-is. No changes
• The nether will be re-created. Most probably I will be enabling towny there.
• The Kingdom map will be copied over as-is. I will run a tool that creates smooth borders for the expansion with the new biomes. so that it looks good.
• Other stuff to do:
• Finally fix the contest entry system and rank the tree house entries
• Some smaller fixes

As you can imagine, this will all take some time to finish. I just came back from another business trip, and I have one more this week, and then another one in December. So please be patient with questions & requests. The top priority will be to get the “empire” and old worlds up and running with sufficient security ASAP. All in all I hope that the most important stuff can be done until next weekend.