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Differences from CavEX

Cave Explorer (CavEX) by xtreme8000 is a Wii homebrew game with the goal to recreate most of the core survival aspects up until Minecraft Beta 1.7.3. fCavEX (forked CavEX) is an experimental fork of CavEX with all kinds of changes and additions.

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Project Goals

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Original CavEX

  • Aims for a 1:1 recreation of Minecraft Beta 1.7.3
  • Focuses on core survival aspects
  • Features beyond Beta 1.7.3 will not be added

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fCavEX

  • Experimental fork with various changes and additions
  • Not aiming for a 1:1 recreation
  • Some additions may not be from the original game
  • Some mechanics may work differently
  • Open to features beyond Beta 1.7.3

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Platform Support

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Testing Status

  • PC: Fully tested and working
  • Wii: May contain bugs (not thoroughly tested)
For now, fCavEX is primarily tested on PC. There might be bugs when running on the Wii.

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Save Compatibility

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CavEX

  • Maintains complete save compatibility with Minecraft Beta 1.7.3
  • Can load and save worlds from the original game

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fCavEX

  • Does not aim for complete save compatibility
  • Uses incompatible saving systems for certain features
  • Has static limits for some game elements
Chests
  • Use a binary file called chests.dat with static limits
  • Maximum of 256 chests and/or iron chests per world
  • Chest contents from original CavEX/Minecraft saves cannot be read
  • Already placed chests need to be broken and placed again to store items
Signs
  • Use a binary file called signs.dat with static limits
  • Maximum of 256 signs per world
  • Sign texts from original CavEX/Minecraft saves cannot be read
  • Already placed signs need to be broken and placed again to keep their text
Some blocks may use metadata values differently than the original game:
  • Furnaces use metadata to store fuel values instead of textures
  • This affects how blocks behave and are saved
  • fCavEX does not have its own world generator yet
  • Freshly created saves should be compatible
  • Loading existing worlds may have compatibility issues with new features

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Health System

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Original Game/CavEX

  • Player has up to 20 health
  • One heart represents standard health points

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fCavEX

  • Player has up to 160 health
  • One heart represents 16 health points
Loading a save from the original game will start with only one heart. This can be fixed by eating food or editing the health value in level.dat. This limitation will be removed when fCavEX gets its own world generator.

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Key Feature Differences

For a detailed list of all changes, additions, and removals, see the Changelog.

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Major Additions in fCavEX

  • Compile-time video settings for performance tuning
  • Health, damage, and oxygen systems
  • Iron chests with double capacity
  • Editable signs
  • Food system with health restoration
  • Working doors and trapdoors

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Rendering Changes

  • Optimized leaf rendering (fewer vertices/quads)
  • 2D billboarded item sprites instead of 3D models
  • Optional fast liquids for better performance
  • Experimental 2D trees (WIP)

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Gameplay Changes

  • Furnaces require fuel to operate
  • Chests no longer form double chests
  • Tool durability removed (tools are unbreakable)
  • Different crafting ratios for some blocks
  • Iron doors can be opened by hand (no redstone yet)

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