One of Minecraft’s lead developers Nathan “Dinnerbone” Adams has announced on his Twitter account, which he uses to provide regular updates about the game to its fans, (aside from communicating with them like an absolutely normal person) that the game is soon to see the addition of fully rendered diamonds.
The significance of this development is that 3D rendered items are coming to Minecraft, where they’ll float in the world as actual three-dimensional items instead of 2D sprites.
A mod that does this, suitably titled 3D Items, currently exists and can be downloaded from the Minecraft forum here. The GIF below is an example of how it looks in the game.
Granted, the items still look flat, but it’s a pretty sweet improvement to the existing game. It’s only a matter of time before the community creates fully 3D items for the game. Some fans might not like the development, as—and they would argue—it hurts the game’s aesthetic. It’s a good thing these things are optional.