Upcoming Content

The Fossils and Archeology: Revival mod is constantly evolving! The developers have many short-term and long-term goals for content that will be introduced to the mod, and occasionally they share details of these goals with the community. The information provided on this page is subject to change, and aside from the NEXT UPDATE, the future content could arrive at any time and in any order.

This page is for providing information on the planned content of future updates. Release dates will never be included on this page, and we cannot provide future release dates. Comments asking for release dates or ETAs will be removed.

NEXT UPDATE: 8.0.5?

8.0.5 will likely be a final 1.12.2 update to polish the mod before it moves on to later versions.

The most likely candidates for any additional mobs in 8.0.5 are Paleozoic species, because of the devs' partnership with the Brymbo Fossil Forest project. The overall theme for this update has not been revealed yet, and the devs have not announced whether it will be for 1.12.2 or 1.15.2.

"We are super excited about and grateful for this opportunity to help a real fossil site with educating people about paleontology, and hope you are too!"

- ASDFGirl, artist and outreach coordinator at F/A

FUTURE CHANGES

There are three major content refreshes/additions coming to F/A. Each "chunk" of content may be broken down into smaller pieces when implemented, and may be implemented in any order. Also, keep in mind that most of this content will be world-breaking, so they will require a new world once implemented.

An example of how the Tyrannosaurus fossil will generate in the world.

PALEONTOLOGY

The paleontology rehaul will completely reimagine the current fossil system. Instead of finding fossil ore that drops a generic bio-fossil, you will find articulated skeletons of the animals that you will have to mine with a special tool (not yet named). This new system will probably include at least one minigame, which is exciting!

The other drops from fossil ore, like the Scarab Gem or Relic Scrap, will drop from new ore types. By separating the archeology items from the paleontology drops, the mod will be drawing a more defined line between the two often-confused fields. The addition of a Paleontologist Villager in 8.0.4 was part of this effort, because it did not make sense for the Archaeologist Villager to trade dinosaur fossils.

An example of a Dodo fossil model in a walking pose.

The last change coming with the paleontology rehaul is a revisit to how fossil models are made. Instead of right-clicking a bio-fossil on the ground to get a random skeleton, models will be made using a species' bone drops. The exact way the bone items will be used to construct the fossil models is unknown at this time. Lastly, fossil models will be given exciting action poses, which will make museums more lively!

ARCHEOLOGY

Because the Fossils and Archeology: Revival mod is currently overwhelmed with paleontology content, the devs will add a huge amount of archeology content in order to bring the two fields to a balance. Around 10 ancient civilizations inspired by world history are planned for this purpose, each including multiple structures, weapons, decorations, etc. from their respective real-world counterparts! Every civilization will spawn in its own designated biome, so there will not be much, if any, spatial overlap between them. The confirmed civilizations include the following:

Egyptian bird and jackal statues, based on real Egyptian art.

• Egyptian
• Mesoamerican
• Greco-Roman
• Norse
• Tudor
• "Atlantean" (fictional)
• "Anu's Empire" (fictional)

Because the F/A devs take such care to represent paleontology accurately, they will also take care to do justice to archeology. This means that largely fictional things like magic, booby traps, monsters (including boss mobs), etc. will be rare in the real-life civilizations they are adding. However, to tie in with Minecraft and mod lore, each culture will have several whimsical details to connect it to the "history" of your Minecraft world.

An example of paintings inspired by real historical paintings from the Tudor era.

"We're not big on having bosses. You always gotta do special s*** with them, and if we add more bosses, they'd have to be archeology stuff. We're trying not to do that stuff for the arch' side. It's part of trying to make archeology more realistic rather than the sensationalized stuff in Indiana Jones, for example."

- Bluestreak52, artist at F/A

TIME-MACHINE

Yes, someday the Time-Machine will deliver players to the long-awaited dimension! This dimension, called The Past, will be part of an alternate universe where prehistoric creatures of all time periods spawn together naturally. This may not be the most realistic thing, but the devs have stated that it is a necessary sacrifice in order to reduce lag. To solve the inaccuracy problem, there will be biomes specific to individual time periods: Permian Desert, Triassic Scrubland, Paleogene Rainforest, among many others.

Approximately 125 total prehistoric creatures (including the ones already in game) are planned to be in the mod by the time The Past is added. This will allow the dimension to have functioning ecosystems in each biome and across every time period. Most of these mobs will be implemented in updates prior to the addition of The Past, in order to lighten the load of work that will be necessary in creating the dimension. Of course, a huge number of plants and blocks will also be added, to fully flesh out these biomes.

A few things to note about The Past: There will not be a "Butterfly effect," in which modifying the dimension results in changes in the overworld, because as previously stated this dimension will be part of an alternate universe. Also, because the prehistoric creatures and archeology structures that will be added are based on things that existed in real life, there will be no dimension-specific mobs or structures. Since the devs realize that these limitations may be frustrating to some fans who expected more out of the dimension, they have hinted at special details of the dimension that will make the Anu boss battle worthwhile!

PREVIEWS AND TEASERS

MOBS

Bluestreak52

Carnotaurus

Quetzalcoatlus

Austroraptor

Dimorphodon

Tropeognathus

Dunkleosteus

Acrocanthosaurus

Plateosaurus

Giganotosaurus

Iguanodon

Raptorfarian

Dimetrodon

Moa

Microraptor

Gorgonops

Kaprosuchus

Tyranno66

Nyctosaurus

Arsinoitherium

Lambeosaurus

Pterodaustro

Altispinax

Talpanas

Thalassodromeus

Megateuthis

Mazothairos

ASDFGirl

Cryolophosaurus

Sharovipteryx

Basilosaurus

Platyhystrix

Totemaster

Coelophysis

Obamadon

Hovasaurus

Bananogmius, Enchodus, Gyrodus, and Lepidotes, plus new corals

Cody

Hesperornis

PLANTS

Toutinella, Anthraconaia, Ankyropteris, and Sphenophyllum

RELICS

Mayan calendar design

Tudor paintings

Melee weapons

Minotaur statue

Egyptian cat statue

Nordic Thor figurine

Aztec serpent statue

Aztec Quetzalcoatl statue

Roman lion statue

Scarab armor set

Egyptian bird and jackal statues

STRUCTURES

Egyptian structure

Norse structure

Norse ship

TEASERS

Confirmed Species	Mystery Species
Styracosaurus	A stegosaur
Tanystropheus	A sauropod
Myotragus	A nodosaur
Psittacosaurus	A ceratopsian
Titanoboa	An ornithomimosaur
Tenontosaurus	Two trilobites
Dire Wolf	"The Grogs"
Postosuchus
Diictodon

Deconfirmed Features

What won't be added to the mod? There are several often-suggested features that the devs feel do not work with their goals for the mod and as such will not be added. For example, as stated above, new archeology-inspired bosses and/or a "butterfly effect" from The Past will not be added. Below are more features that the devs have publicly stated they will not add:

• Hybrid dinosaurs. Although popular in the Jurassic franchises, creatures like the "Spinoraptor" or "Indominus" are not real and would not be possible in real life. Since the devs want to teach players about real paleontology, they will never add hybrids because it may confuse some young or uninformed players.
• Dinosaur diseases. This feature is often suggested as another reason to care for mobs, but it will not be added. The devs' reasoning here is twofold. First, they want to remain as Minecrafty as possible while also encouraging players to care for their animals. Second, they recognize that many of their players are very young. Instead of making little kids cry because they didn't pay attention to their beloved Compsognathus enough that it died of dinosaur cancer, the Happiness Scale provides a wholesome way to remind players to take care of their animals.
• Natural mob spawning. The point of the mod is to dig up fossils and recreate prehistoric creatures from them. If they could spawn in the overworld, that would negate the whole point. Additionally, the progression through the Anu boss battle is supposed to end with the dimension of naturally spawning prehistoric mobs (The Past) as a reward. Again, if they spawned naturally, there would be less incentive to progress through the game.