The Minecraft Mod Spotlight: It's a magic carpet ride to a whole new world (of mods!). Oh, come with us, to a faraway place, where the caravans and the Creepers roam - er, ahem. In the latest instalment of the newly-reborn Minecraft Spotlight, we've got some brilliant mods for your perusal, many of which seem weirdly fit for Aladdin-themed jokes. There's an honest-to-god magic carpet, magic, magically realistic textures and Moses. Because Egypt shares the same Arabian nights, after all.
As always, check if you have the appropriate versions and what-have-yous installed. If your intricately concocted cubical sculpture of a Flying Spaghetti Monster collapses, we hold no responsibility. You have been forewarned.
DrZhark's Magic Carpet Mod
There's not much to be said about DrZhark's Magic Carpet Mod except that it is exactly what it sounds like: a mod that lets you turn patterned textile into a form of transportation. Magic carpets currently come in four different colors. You can also turn regular rugs into magic carpets but sadly, none of your creations will have any special bonuses associated with them. Still, having a selection of colors (and the ability to travel by air) to choose from is nothing to scoff at. You can't have a palace without ensuring all your decorative household items are color-coordinated, after all.
Ultimate Realism
Though I'm rather sceptical about whether or not this is the end all for realistic-looking Minecraft texture packs, it's hard to deny the fact that this is stunning work. According to the description, the texture pack is what happens when you take a bunch of photographs and implement them into Minecraft. Ultimate Realism comes in 10 forms, has five different resolutions and a light/dark sort of thing going for it, to boot. Of course, nothing in life is perfect. The problem with something so pretty is the fact it will put high demands on your rig.
ExchangeCraft: Global Trading
Buy. Sell. Haggle. Take advantage of someone else's inability to evaluate the worth of their own product. ExchangeCraft wants to make it possible for anyone possessing the mod to buy and sell whatever they want. As is almost always the case with anything Minecraft-related, there are things to be built here. With ExchangeCraft, you'll be able to either construct a regular trade station or a gilded station. Technically, they're both the same; the latter is just glitzier. ExchangeCraft is a straightforward idea, but one that has considerable potential in the future. It's a work-in-progress, at the moment, so allowances should probably be made for any explosions.
NovaMenu
Have you ever looked at the Minecraft GUI and thought to yourself, 'Gee. I wish there was more transparency with this?' If you have harboured dreams of an appealing, translucent interface for Minecraft, you're going to be thrilled with the NovaMenu . A forum user by the name of voidzm recently concocted the NovaMenu as part of a far larger mod. Though not originally intended for independent release, the creator eventually made the GUI section available as a mod after being inundated with requests. It's sleek, it's simple, and it'd look great with your minimalist bedroom. What more can you ask for?
Thaumic Tinkerer
You're going to probably want to acquire azanor's Thaumcraft 3 before you downloaded the Thaumic Tinkerer . Nonetheless, it's a step you're unlikely to regret. The mod will allow you to put together about 27 new items, items that include everything from non-magical chunks of crystalline material to wands of dislocation to portable holes and more. While a reasonably extensive list of new creations, it is not one, unfortunately, that includes a recipe for a helpful blue genie.
Moses Mod
The Moses mod is largely self-explanatory. Though it won't install a beard onto your avatar, it will give you the opportunity to get a staff that will permit you to both part water and lava. Unlike most things in Minecraft, you won't be able to craft these staffs of Minecraft Moses. You will, instead, have to make use of a more 'traditional' route in order to acquire these intriguing instruments. Currently, a staff of Moses will be able to generate a passage that is 5 blocks wide and 64 blocks long. Dramatic music, in case you were wondering, is packaged with this mod.
That's all for now. Check out our grand round-up for the very best Minecraft mods out there.
