Minecraft

I do miss the old indev game mode. It was a much tighter experience than the infinite mode. Also, water physics use to be awesome.
 
WhiteZero said:
Notch also seems to have struck a very elemental chord with gamers in Minecraft. It seems to appeal to about everyone.
Click to expand...

It's the fully destructable world environment, as well as the survival at night thing. Carving a space in a mountain or making a little fort to survive at night appeals to our childhood memories of doing just that. It also tacks on a simplistic "character progression" model which is a nice touch. I was watching a 30 minute presentation on it a week or so ago and thought it was cool. Maybe he'll rewrite it in something that isn't Java. :p
 
CanesVenetici said:
Maybe so, but you gotta start somewhere. Crawl before you can walk...
Click to expand...

Eh ..., Java is crawling in comparison to C++.

More game related; I got countless hours into it and only have 32 steel bars, I found caves and all but the ore is just rare, wth.
 
WhiteZero said:
I do miss the old indev game mode. It was a much tighter experience than the infinite mode. Also, water physics use to be awesome.
Click to expand...

So I'm confused on this, I keep reading about indev game mode and classic mode. What's the difference? And what would the game we're all downloading now (which is in alpha) be considered?
 
Thuleman said:
Eh ..., Java is crawling in comparison to C++.

More game related; I got countless hours into it and only have 32 steel bars, I found caves and all but the ore is just rare, wth.
Click to expand...

agreed. but it makes the game harder (and funner). I hate creepers.
 
WhiteZero said:
Notch also seems to have struck a very elemental chord with gamers in Minecraft. It seems to appeal to about everyone.
Click to expand...

It's an oddly enjoyable game.. It reminds me of nethack from way back in the day, mainly in it's sense of isolation, and the ability to die a horrific and quick death. On a side note it would be awesome to have a dog in minecraft.. ha.

I'm still in the early stages.. I was trying to find iron ore and that just led me into trouble, so I've resigned myself to stone tools for the time being. I'm happy just building my stock of food and cow hides at the moment. (after running naked into a deep ass lava cave to recover my tools/weapons/etc. after being hijacked by a skeleton).

So now I have a semi-submerged glass-walled home in the ocean area near my spawn. I'm not sure what the long term goal is, but my eye is on the cave systems near my home. They're filled with critters and seem to go on for miles.
 
43st said:
It's an oddly enjoyable game.. It reminds me of nethack from way back in the day, mainly in it's sense of isolation, and the ability to die a horrific and quick death. On a side note it would be awesome to have a dog in minecraft.. ha.

I'm still in the early stages.. I was trying to find iron ore and that just led me into trouble, so I've resigned myself to stone tools for the time being. I'm happy just building my stock of food and cow hides at the moment. (after running naked into a deep ass lava cave to recover my tools/weapons/etc. after being hijacked by a skeleton).

So now I have a semi-submerged glass-walled home in the ocean area near my spawn. I'm not sure what the long term goal is, but my eye is on the cave systems near my home. They're filled with critters and seem to go on for miles.
Click to expand...

Im almost in the same boat as you. I built a huge rock castle , with flaming torch on the exterior and big towers to overlook the area. My cave system is in the basement of my huge castle. I lost many lives down there ( as well as 10 diamond ore) and I still go back in there , even with my bare ass.

In the cave systems , i found something pretty spectacular , a HUGE HUGE HUGE waterfall. I was on the bottom of it , and decided i HAD to climb this thing. So i started my way up by jumping and placing rocks under me. While i was pretty high ( but i wasnt able to see the top of the waterfall yet) i discovered another cave ... filled with gold. I had to light the whole place to see the complexity of this other subsystem. Well... i started lighting every corner of the amazing place. And i Died suddenly. A creeper exploded near me. I lost many great things , diamonds, gold, iron, red dust... but i was satisfied. I will go back there... and i will see the top of that waterfall i tell you.

I dont know if its just me , but this game makes me feel like im in the mines of moria in the Lord of the rings. Every corner is just spectacular, even with the blocky graphics.

(sorry if my english is a little rough by the way)

as for the dog , im not sure. While i explore in caves , i dont want anything that could slow my progress. If we could be able to put it in our inventory, and take it out to patrol an area i am exploring... why not!

get this game. Seriously. I did put my world on a USB key to keep it with me at all time. Lunch break is gonna be filled with mining.
 
The only mention a dog as an homage to nethack. It started as a puppy at the beginning of the game, and then grew as the game progressed. It was pretty tough but it could die if you got separated and/or attacked by a large enough mob.
 
arr4ws said:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnjSWPxJxNs
Click to expand...

I think this is the best way to show kids why they shouldn't play with matches. Make them build a wooden structure and then have it burn down. Epic.

---

If you look at the "official" forums, there's a lot of discontent posted by those who have been with the game for a while. While the game is cool for those who are new to it, the "bitter vets" quite a different view as to how the development has been progressing.

TBH, who knows whether Minecraft will ever be non-alpha. This while Alpha thing is bullshit anyway, I blame Google for saying all their products are beta and thus devaluing that term.

Anyway, the guy says right there on his page that he will stop development once sales slow down and put it into public domain. Minecraft is now riding the hype selling an "alpha" version, once the hype is over and the Internet moved on to the next attentiongrabber the project will essentially be dead. If you look at the forums lots of folks complain that the updates were a lot more frequent and more meaningful when the guy was indeed still an indie developer as opposed to someone raking in mad cash.
 
Jon55 said:
So I'm confused on this, I keep reading about indev game mode and classic mode. What's the difference? And what would the game we're all downloading now (which is in alpha) be considered?
Click to expand...

indev/infdev were/are the Survival modes. Classic is more like Creative mode where you just build stuff.
 
Thuleman said:
Anyway, the guy says right there on his page that he will stop development once sales slow down and put it into public domain. Minecraft is now riding the hype selling an "alpha" version, once the hype is over and the Internet moved on to the next attentiongrabber the project will essentially be dead. If you look at the forums lots of folks complain that the updates were a lot more frequent and more meaningful when the guy was indeed still an indie developer as opposed to someone raking in mad cash.
Click to expand...

Wish I had seen that prior to dropping the cash. :(
 
For reference because the Internet never forgets:

Notch said:
The future

I plan on developing Minecraft until it's a finished complete game, with a downloadable client (with fullscreen mode), custom key re mappings and possibly modding support.

For as long as people enjoy and purchase the game, I will develop extensions after the game is done. These will be free for anyone who has purchased the game.

Once sales start dying and a minimum time has passed, I will release the game source code as some kind of open source. I'm not very happy with the draconian nature of (L)GPL, nor do I believe the other licenses have much merit other than to boost the egos of the original authors, so I might just possibly release it all as public domain.
Click to expand...
as seen at http://www.minecraft.net/about.jsp

He went on to create a company (not a bad idea at all, even if only for tax purposed), hired a couple of people, and they are working on a new game.

Quotes such as
Notch said:
As for development, I was going to update the game yesterday, but kind of forgot.
Click to expand...
probably accurately describe what's happening with Minecraft. No real need to spend much time on it if the Internet keeps buying it at a rate for 15,000 copies a day as is. He's occupied with the company and the new project. Can't really blame him, he put 18 months into Minecraft, was able to cash in big and it's time to move on to other things. I know for sure that there wouldn't be any single project that would be able to keep my attention for 18+ months no matter how much I loved it.
 
Thuleman said:
I think this is the best way to show kids why they shouldn't play with matches. Make them build a wooden structure and then have it burn down. Epic.

---

If you look at the "official" forums, there's a lot of discontent posted by those who have been with the game for a while. While the game is cool for those who are new to it, the "bitter vets" quite a different view as to how the development has been progressing.

TBH, who knows whether Minecraft will ever be non-alpha. This while Alpha thing is bullshit anyway, I blame Google for saying all their products are beta and thus devaluing that term.

Anyway, the guy says right there on his page that he will stop development once sales slow down and put it into public domain. Minecraft is now riding the hype selling an "alpha" version, once the hype is over and the Internet moved on to the next attentiongrabber the project will essentially be dead. If you look at the forums lots of folks complain that the updates were a lot more frequent and more meaningful when the guy was indeed still an indie developer as opposed to someone raking in mad cash.
Click to expand...

On one hand I think its cool that an individual can produce an interesting product and help fund it because people like it. On the other hand I can understand what people are thinking. He has pulled in over 1million dollars for a game that has been out a little over a year. At least he is spending some cash and going with S3 to prevent this downtime he has had. If you follow the changes over the year it really does not seem that huge imo.
 
I did want to add that I am pretty sure he is not moving on just yet. The game has just hit critical mass.

I do not think there is much room to complain imo. The game was $12 and I have easily gotten at least 10 hours played into it and plan on playing more. $12 is cheaper than some lunches I have had so whatever.
 
infect0 said:
On one hand I think its cool that an individual can produce an interesting product and help fund it because people like it.
Click to expand...
Absolutely! I think Notch's story is the stuff legends are made of; "Remember that one guy who became millionaire selling the game he wrote himself, that really blocky looking one?"

I think it's great that he was able to make a buck as many many other indie developers never even come close to such sales or make any money at all. I think it will also encourage other people who have game ideas to perhaps sit down and seriously work on making those games a reality. As PC gamers we sure know that gaming could use more innovation as opposed to just reselling blockbuster FPS/RTS clones.

Honestly, his success made me think about actually writing out the pseudo code for a game idea I have been carrying around in my head for the past couple of years. With the way the Internet works "all" you need is one big site to pick you up on their front page and that's that. Minecraft also proves (even with all the hype sales) that simple game play can be entertaining and profitable. I bet there are quite a few large publishers foaming at the mouth over the success some Swedish dude in a log cabin has over their multi-million dollar dev cost software that just doesn't sell.
 
Thuleman said:
If you look at the "official" forums, there's a lot of discontent posted by those who have been with the game for a while. While the game is cool for those who are new to it, the "bitter vets" quite a different view as to how the development has been progressing.

TBH, who knows whether Minecraft will ever be non-alpha. This while Alpha thing is bullshit anyway, I blame Google for saying all their products are beta and thus devaluing that term.

Anyway, the guy says right there on his page that he will stop development once sales slow down and put it into public domain. Minecraft is now riding the hype selling an "alpha" version, once the hype is over and the Internet moved on to the next attentiongrabber the project will essentially be dead. If you look at the forums lots of folks complain that the updates were a lot more frequent and more meaningful when the guy was indeed still an indie developer as opposed to someone raking in mad cash.
Click to expand...

While i understand the discontent among vets, the game please a lot of people as it is. Its not nearly a finished product, but its still very entertaining. The game is 10 euros, its a good deal for a game i already played 5 hours.

I really hope they improve the game and release new feature. But i knew what i was buying before dropping the cash
 
PanzerBoxb said:
Wish I had seen that prior to dropping the cash. :(
Click to expand...

I wouldn't worry about it. You can see his development plans right on his dev blog, and he still updates the game all the time. He has a lot more stuff to worry about now that the game is popular, like attempting to keep the service up under the massive barrage of new customers.

I think it's a misinterpretation of Notch's statements to say that he's going to quit doing minecraft before it's finished if alpha sales slow down. Just because he said they have an idea for another game his company will make doesn't mean they're going to quit on minecraft. It's a game company... if they didn't have ideas for the future they would be done before they even began. His company is going to primarily be working on minecraft first and foremost until it's finished. Then, they're going to support it until it isn't popular anymore... like a normal game. They'll probably eventually develop other games concurrently, but so what? I think his development plan and ethics are really good. He doesn't seem like the kind of guy who would just "take the money and run". He genuinely seems to care about minecraft and the people who enjoy it. To essentially say "He'll probably abandon the game as soon as possible" is just spreading FUD.

Also, There's always people who get pissed off when things get changed that they don't like, regardless of whether or not it's reasonable. For instance, Lava when it was first implemented previously didn't light things on fire. Then Notch finished lava so that it lights things on fire touching it (like it should)... This caused a bunch of people to get super pissed when it burned down their wooden buildings that had lava next to them. Why they would build wooden buildings with lava, I still don't know... But they're pretty much pissed off forever. I'm sure people will get pissed off when he removes the "item durability refresh" bug in Alpha MP that everyone is abusing too.
 
Yeah, after posting that I researched a bit more. There seems to be plenty of life left in this. Now I just have to figure out how to play it!

What I really, really want to see is a cross between this and Dwarf Fortress.
 
Notch releases updates weekly. This week is supposed to be biomes (plus likely a few other things).
 
its one of the only game in the past years i lost slept over...

way too fun
 
I just bought it last night. I have seen videos on it but im still trying to figure it out.
 
he only just added crouching and adjustments for 0-100% sound and music (instead of on/off), give the man a chance to settle in to the popularity and to hire dudes to help him develope
 
I was able to climb the waterfall. Just to find another subsystem of cave. I explored it for a good 30 minutes. God those cave are HUGE. I found some mushrooms , gold , iron but no diamond sadly.
 
What keeps me playing is exploring new caves and seeing what was randomly generated. I just found this crazy cave system that I have died twice in. Kinda frustrating considering I had full armor and diamond tools/weapons. In the cave there are more things to kill than I have ever experienced, hence why I keep dieing. I will run into multiple skeletons and creepers at the same time which makes it damn hard to stay alive.

Goal is to slowly clear and light the cavern and make it slightly more accessible. Currently have to climb a waterfall down to get to it. It should be worth it though. Just in the small area I have explored there is diamons, gold, iron and that type of rock thats hard to break....obsidian is it?
 
infect0 said:
What keeps me playing is exploring new caves and seeing what was randomly generated. I just found this crazy cave system that I have died twice in. Kinda frustrating considering I had full armor and diamond tools/weapons. In the cave there are more things to kill than I have ever experienced, hence why I keep dieing. I will run into multiple skeletons and creepers at the same time which makes it damn hard to stay alive.

Goal is to slowly clear and light the cavern and make it slightly more accessible. Currently have to climb a waterfall down to get to it. It should be worth it though. Just in the small area I have explored there is diamons, gold, iron and that type of rock thats hard to break....obsidian is it?
Click to expand...

yes obsidian. Can only be mined with diamond tool.
 
Im in the process of reforming my whole castle. Its now little , but very very cool. Im adding a lot of glass mixed with wood and rocks.

i will post some screenie this afternoon
 
Well no update today. I am sad as biomes is once again delayed with poor reasons for doing so.
 
This should be interesting:
javaw2010-09-2422-31-37-28.jpg


And that's only a third of the group. :(

Edit: I killed them all but there must be three monsters traps in the area as I was being overwhelmed: creepers coming from all directions, archers shooting from above, and zombies + spiders chasing me on the floor. I decided to call off my exploration and head home since I was down to 2.5HP and ate all my bacon, but monsters are pouring out everywhere, even on my way back. I only hope I can find my way out of this massive cave. How I miss the safety of my mountainside home...
 
Last edited:
is there a mac version of this? if so, anyone try it? kinda looking for something fun to play on a gma 950
 
Gabe3 said:
is there a mac version of this? if so, anyone try it? kinda looking for something fun to play on a gma 950
Click to expand...

There's a Mac version, as far as playing it on a laptop goes it basically requires an external mouse. It's a pain in the rear to play with a 2-button touch pad, I can't imagine the horror of playing it on a Mac without actual buttons (yes I know you can get a pseudo 2-button mouse on that large touchpad, but still). (BTW, I have a MoGo X54 Pro Presentation mouse for sale :) )

On a somewhat related note; What this game really needs is a treasure finder gadget. Aimlessly digging around to find iron, gold, diamonds is tedious and far from entertaining. Yeah I can look it up using Cartograph but that's not the point. I shouldn't have to use a 3rd party out-of-game tool to get a reasonable chance at finding those things.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top