Huge wall of text warning!
Okay just wanna get this out of the way, this new feature is absolutely incredible and ReLogic has once again created something absolutely wonderful for their final update.
That said though, this is just not exactly what I was hoping from Journey Mode (not that that's a bad thing!). I expected it to be centered around creating adventure maps, since it was revealed to be similar to a creative mode but not just a "you have access to everything" mode, and from the way it was spoiled, it really sounded like it was going to be for adventure maps. Perhaps these expectations could have been included into the 1.4 update in a way other than Journey mode though, probably through wiring components, so that Journey Mode is its own separate thing not only useful for map makers. More specifically,
A "Boss Defeat Detector" that permanently sends a wire signal once a specific boss (that can be selected) is defeated in the world.
A "Boss Summoner" that automatically summons a specific boss as if the nearest player had summoned the boss themselves whenever activated. (Could possibly require a trophy input before being able to summon said boss to prevent exploits) (could also have a set delay so that a few of my next ideas can be used in conjunction with it) (Could also have the ability to enable, disable, and customize summoned boss drops and droprates)
An "Enemy Spawner" that spawns any enemy in the game whenever given a wire signal. (Could potentially require a banner in order to use an enemy to prevent exploits) (Primarily meant to be used with player sensors) (Could spawn a specific amount of any given enemy, with any set delay between spawns including 0) (Could also have the ability to enable, disable, and customize summoned enemy drops and droprates)
A "Time Manipulator" that could speed up time, slow down time, freeze time, and set time whenever activated by a wire. (Could make it so that time will speed up/slow down for a set duration or until a certain time is reached) (Could require Luminite so that you need to beat the Moon Lord in another world before being able to use this item due to balancing purposes)
A "Weather Manipulator" that could set the time for a specific duration (including endless duration so that it can keep going until another one is activated) (Could require Luminite so that you need to beat the Moon Lord in another world before being able to use this item due to balancing purposes)
Possibly the ability to change NPC dialogue if it isn't too much of a coding nightmare, this one isn't really too important though since we have mannequins and those shoutout boxes that i forget the name of.
The ability to change NPC shops, whether it be the shop items themselves or their prices (could even use certain items as currency instead of coins), but this could be a huge coding nightmare as well. There could alternatively be an Item Sensor that detects when a specific item of a specific amount is placed into a public storage unit and sends out a wire signal while deleting the items. This could be used for custom shops much better.
An "Item Dispenser" that drops a specified item when activated by a wire (kinda like a dispenser in Minecraft)
Like someone else described, buff and debuff appliers that activate via wire with changeable times
The ability to turn Pylons on and off using wires
All of these features could be incredibly useful in creating adventure maps.
Just imagine...
You're exploring through a Forest after being sent by the King of your village to investigate reports of a huge Demon Eye, only for it to start getting very windy and the sun starts setting immediately. Then, out of nowhere, the Eye of Cthulhu awakens. You could try running away to escape, but you realize that a huge tree fell behind you and blocks your path. While approaching the Eye of Cthulhu, you see a legion of Zombies and Skeletons approach you to join the battle. After defeating the Eye of Cthulhu, the clouds begin to clear up and the sun emerges. From the sky drops 10 Sunplate Blocks. You investigate the tree now that you aren't panicked from combat and discover that the Eye of Cthulhu tore through it, opening a path for you. Upon returning to the village, the Dryad congratulates you on defeating the large Demon Eye and offers to sell you a Starfury for your sunplate blocks. You travel back to the King except his throne is knocked over and the large magical crystal in his room has a mysterious purple glow. You inspect it and see that an underground Pylon is suddenly activated, and it seems like the King has been kidnapped.
How it works:
You roam through a forest biome and set off a player sensor at some point that activates 1. a weather manipulator to make it windy, 2. a time manipulator that speeds up time until it becomes night time, 3. a boss summoner with a delay of 10 seconds so that the previous two contraptions have time to finish, 4. a bunch of actuators on a chunk of wood behind you to simulate the fallen tree, 5. an enemy spawner that spawns 10 zombies and another spawner that summons 10 skeletons. Then, when you defeat the boss, a boss defeat detectors realizes that the Eye of Cthulhu has been defeated in this world and sends off a wire signal that activates 1. actuators that open up a path through the tree, 2. a time manipulator that speeds up time until the dawn of day, 3. a weather manipulator that causes the winds to disappear. 4. an item dispenser that drops 10 sunplate blocks, 5. an NPC dialogue changer that makes the Dryad congratulate you, 6. enables the underground pylon. The NPC shop editing mechanic would be necessary to make the Dryad sell you a starfury for 10 sunplate blocks.
These new wiring contraptions could be used for INCREDIBLY detailed, lore-filled, creative, long, immersive adventure maps with scenarios far more detailed than the one I just described. There could be an adventure map that takes you through all of Prehardmode with boss ideas like the one above, or even through the entire game. Imagine this paired with mods that actually have lore and history to its content, especially Calamity. These few mechanics would allow for an adventure map that accurately shows the entire lore of that mod (which is impressive since the lore of that mod is VERY in depth and detailed)
If I could choose just a small amount of these mechanics to be implemented, I'd choose the boss defeat detector and the Pylon enabling system. The rest aren't as necessary or can just be added in to some extent with mods.
Regardless of whether any semblance of these ideas actually ended up being implemented, I still am incredibly excited for this update and for Journey Mode. Thank you ReLogic for your wonderful work and the amount of love you've put into this game over the past 9 years.
If you somehow read through all of this, congrats to you. If you came down here for a TLDR, then
TLDR: Expected new mechanics centered around creating boss battles in adventure maps since there's almost zero way of doing it right now, but I'm not disappointed