Everyone can now try out the taste of new changes in Minecraft
The Mojang team has released beta version 26.10.20 for Minecraft. The new release gives players the opportunity to try out elements of the next major (but still unnamed) update in advance.
First and foremost, the beta delights with visual updates: the young of several mobs have received new models and textures. Baby axolotls, dolphins, turtles, and squids have been transformed. Changes have also affected the foals of all horse variants, as well as donkeys and mules. In some cases, the developers went beyond just appearance—for example, baby axolotls now have unique animations not present in adults. Special sound effects have been added for foals, chicks, and wolf pups.
A significant block of edits is related to mob behavior and transportation. For instance, polar bear cubs no longer attack players, and zombie horses no longer catch fire in water. Additionally, controlling boats and pack animals has become more responsive—at a level familiar before the release of the Mounts of Mayhem update.
The developers also paid attention to the technical side. Bugs that prevented obtaining certain achievements have been fixed, and the reloading of custom items has been corrected. Resource pack versioning has been implemented for the new baby mobs—this reduces the risk of conflicts with modified textures. Visual issues haven't been overlooked either: incorrect ghast textures and problems with oar animations have been fixed.
The update also improves the interface across different platforms and enhances the overall stability of the game. Platform-specific improvements include:
- fixing conflicts with system mouse settings in Windows;
- reducing audio delays when loading a world on Nintendo Switch;
- expanding support for keyboard navigation in chat and text fields;
- improving message auto-scrolling and screen reader functionality.
In addition, Mojang has made changes to the editor and experimental features. Specifically, the API has been expanded, and the performance of the Vibrant Visuals graphics mode has been enhanced. Simultaneously, development of the colored block lighting system continues.