Mojang hired an AI specialist some time back to open the door to smarter villagers and monsters. The monsters part seem to be going well, as the guy is now going through the mobs one by one to improve on their behavior.

Zombies are already done, and will probably be included in the update to 1.2. Instead of rushing blindly at you, they now do some pathfinding to go around obstacles and walls. Hiding behind a simple pillar won't be enough anymore! Skeletons are currently being worked on, and they'll be avoiding sunlight as much as possible. This means that some will survive the nights, hiding under trees for the best opportunity to land a hit.

I fear to see what they'll do with the Creepers...

Here's a preview of the upcoming Creeper behavior.



They can navigate mazes to get to you. I REPEAT: they are able to find their way around a maze to get to you! They are also smart enough to avoid direct drops if possible, so they'll take less damage by themselves. On the upside, they fear cats.

UPDATE: Mobs will also know whether doors are opened or closed. That means that, if you hide behind a closed door yet there's a hole in a wall nearby, they'll enter using that hole instead.

I'll get busy crafting some new armor...

Edited by Dr. Cossack on February 3, 2012 at 13:32:14

Here's another tidbit: in Hard or Hardcore mode, zombies will be able to break through wooden doors. If things keep going this way, the entire balance of the game in Survival mode will change, and longtime players will definitely need some time to adapt!

For the record, our server is running in Normal mode so this won't affect us. Still, this is probably only the beginning!