The update requires you to download a new version of the Minecraft launcher from the official site.
Minecraft version 1.6, which was previously available for testing, is now live for everyone to download. The update adds horses, horse armor, donkeys, mules, and more, as well as providing a lot of behind-the-scenes performance updates. The engine updates are so extensive, that you won’t actually be able to download the 1.6 patch from your launcher like you usually can. Instead, you’ll have to head over to the official Minecraft site and download a new version of the launcher.
The new launcher comes with a lot of benefits, including the ability to create multiple “profiles” that can launch different versions of the games, removing the need to have several Minecraft executables lying around to ensure you can still play on out-of-date servers.
Texture packs have been replaced with resource packs, which can also contain sounds and other tidbits (such as fonts). Unfortunately, it means all your old texture packs won’t be compatible, unless you convert them with this conversion tool.
The full changelog is as follows:
- Added Horses
- Added Donkeys, Mules
- Added Horse Armor
- Added Leads
- Added Carpets
- Added Hardened Clay, Stained Clay
- Added Block of Coal
- Added Name Tags (item)
- Added Hay Bales
- Texture packs are now “resource packs” that also can hold sound etc
- Food meter is now drained when healed by full food meter
- You can’t destroy blocks with a sword in creative mode
- Removed Herobrine
There’s no word on when these features will come to the Xbox 360 version of the game.
Source: Minecraft
