“Minecraft” is this generation's Super Mario. It's an international phenomenon. Unless you've been living on the moon, you probably already know these things.
It's on computers, phones, tablets, and game consoles. It's at your local mall, occupying kiosks with plushies and T-shirts. There's a semiannual convention (“MineCon”) and an education initiative that's got it in schools (MinecraftEDU).
But why is it so popular? We're talking about a game that looks like this:
Microsoft
Keep in mind that there are games coming out on modern video game consoles that look like this:
Quantic Dream
And what do you actually do in “Minecraft?” Build stuff? Perhaps you've seen some of the incredible worlds people have created from within “Minecraft,” like this one of King's Landing from “Game of Thrones”:
YouTube
Not bad! So how does a world go from a flat, grassy meadow to a pixelated re-creation of Westeros' capital city? The answer to that question is half of the reason people love “Minecraft”: creation. The castles above were built block-by-block.
It's a system for fitting pieces together to create something — sometimes amazing somethings — from nothing. “Minecraft” provides endless building blocks and a blank canvas. It's up to you to create something incredible, or silly, or referential, or whatever, using the tools it provides. The tools are blessedly user-friendly, as are the systems for employing those tools.
The most basic unit of measurement is a single block. This is a dirt block:
Microsoft
This is the literal and figurative building block of the game. You start with nothing but fists and a massive, unexplored world, ripe for creation. You walk forward; you punch the ground below you and it begins to crack. Why is it cracking? And suddenly, POP! Where the ground once was is now an empty, square space. It looks like this:
The word “minecraft” is a portmanteau of two verbs: to mine and to craft. Punching a dirt block and retrieving a dirt block to build with is the first verb — the mining. When you start “Minecraft,” it's the first thing you should do.
Once you've retrieved enough blocks, the second thing you'll need to do is craft: combine the resources you've mined to create more complex tools. “Mining” for wood (punching a tree) enables you to create basic tools. Those basic tools enable you to mine more complex resources, which enable you to create more complex items and tools.
It's this highly satisfying cycle of mining resources and creating from those resources that draws in millions of players around the world. And that's the most basic level of “Minecraft.”
The other side of “Minecraft,” sadly not encompassed in the game's title, is exploration. Every time you start a new world in “Minecraft,” it's unique. That is, levels are randomly generated based on a set of parameters. There are some constants:
The levels always contain the same materials (dirt, trees, water, etc.)
There is a day/night cycle
At night, enemies appear and will attack you
You can only dig so deep below the world's surface before hitting bedrock
The world that spawns always has stuff to discover, whether it's crazy jungles or mountains or underground caves or whatever
Yes, there are enemies. You've almost certainly seen the iconic “Creeper” at your local Hot Topic. This guy (or lady?):
Microsoft
These green, exploding monsters are exclusive to the “Survival” mode of “Minecraft” — if you just want to create ad infinitum, there's a “Creation” mode that enables exactly that. No day/night cycle. No enemies. No mining if you don't want to mine. Just endless creation.
But be warned: If you don't choose “Survival” mode, you'll never experience the joy of discovering a labyrinthine cave network by accident, full of rare resources (diamonds!) and life-threatening lava. You'll never know the thrill of narrowly escaping a mob of spiders, zombies, and Creepers into the ramshackle hut you've composed just in time to hide for the night. You'll never know the heartbreak of a Creeper sneaking up and exploding the side of your carefully constructed homage to John Travolta's face. Up your nose with a rubber hose, Creeper.
So forget all the hype. Forget the billions Microsoft spent buying “Minecraft” from its creator, Markus “Notch” Persson and his team at Mojang.
“Minecraft” is so incredibly successful and popular because it's delightful. It's relaxing. It's joyful. It's goofy. It's an amazing interactive canvas to build anything you want.
Yeah, you're “just punching blocks and placing them in different combinations.” And here's a re-creation of Frank Lloyd Wright's famous “Fallingwater” home:
You can play “Minecraft” online with friends, with strangers, or all by your lonesome. Some of the more complex worlds were created by whole teams of people working for months. Westeros wasn't built in a day, you know!
Personally, I prefer the relaxing experience of playing it alone while listening to podcasts. The game's music is a mix of soft, atmospheric melodies that can be easily kept at low volume, leaving me to concentrate on the project at hand.
Unlike so many other games, “Minecraft” enables an outlet for artistic expression — however shallow — that makes time spent in its worlds feel meaningful.
Terracotta is notable for being perhaps the most textured construction block added to the game to date – look at those geometric colours, shapes and patterns, which come in four flavours. Who even needs texture packs now?
A new texture pack is available for Minecraft‘s mobile and Windows 10 versions.
The Candy Texture Pack introduces a “dentist-weepingly high amount of sugar into your game.” It does so by replacing all textures with sweet treats. Really. Take a look at the image below to get an idea for what to expect.
Already available for the console versions of Minecraft, the Candy Texture Pack costs $3. Itcomes to the mobile and Windows 10 versions through the 1.03 update; the update is free, but the texture pack is not.
As outlined on Minecraft's website, this update also adds localization support for Dutch and makes a variety of bug figures. For example, it fixes a crash scenario when a player enters a mutated biome. The patch also makes it so bats spawn more often, because who doesn't want that to happen?
Minecraft 1.03:
New Features:
Added Candy texture pack
Added Dutch localization
Tweaks:
Fixed some spacing when truncating bolded text.
Tweaked spawn point selection to be “smarter” (e.g. avoid lava).
Tweaked the textures of flower/mushroom blocks.
Assorted texture fixes.
Bug Fixes:
Fixed a crash when a server/Realm would first start.
Fixed an issue causing servers to blink between online and offline status
Fixed a Realms crash when a player exits
Fixed a crash when using some items
Fixed a server crash when a player entered a mutated biome
Fixed an issue that caused pressure plates, buttons, and other Redstone items to become stuck
Fixed an issue with hoppers not ticking the proper order
Fixed an issue when destroying a door
Fixed an issue with item duplication
Fixed an issue allowing a player to incorrectly obtain End Gateway blocks
Observer block's arrows should now point in the direction of power
Observer blocks will no longer be placed upside-down
Fixed an issue where realms members that were not your friends were not being displayed
Bats should spawn more often!
Fixed an issue with End Gateway textures on mobile devices.
Fixed an issue where buttons & other redstone devices could get locked when a redstone lamp activated.
Fixed some rendering geometry which created weird results
Somewhere in an alternate universe there’s a Dreamcast 2 and, presumably, a Dreamcast 3. And, in that alternate universe, our doppelgangers are able to play Minecraft on their console of choice. But for us, stuck here in this hellish timeline, we’ll have to settle with a clever clone for the original Dreamcast, now available for free online.
Over at DCEmulation, forum member gameblabla has taken it upon himself to port a Minecraft clone called Crafti designed for a high-end Texas Instruments calculator onto a vintage Dreamcast. And apparently it works like a charm, albeit a charm without enemies or sound of any kind.
Tom Charnock, founder of The Dreamcast Junkyard, has been to this promised land and returned with a first-hand account.
Tom Charnock/Crafti
“Controls take a little getting used to,” Tom wrote, “but once sussed, Crafti is about as close to the real Minecraft as you're likely to get on a Dreamcast. Movement is handled through the D-pad, looking on the analogue and the face buttons allow you to place or erase blocks in the world. You can also jump, and there's an action button for opening doors and pressing switches.
“After 10 minutes playing with Crafti I had already built myself a nice little house, complete with a fireplace and a bookshelf full of leather-bound books. The smell of rich mahogany also wafted through the structure.”
Thanks to Charnock for the tip. We’ve included a few of his screenshots above.
You too can download and play Crafti right now. It’s available for free as an image for CDs and SD flash memory.
Minecraft Full Version is expected to come to the Apple TV. It should be noted that the Windows 10 and Pocket editions of Minecraft reportedly adds endgame content in the beta. Furthermore, the tvOS release of Minecraft reportedly adds seven pieces of downloadable content.
New DLCs Featured In The Apple TV Minecraft
It has further been noted by developer Mojang that the Apple TV Edition of Minecraft may also pack the Holiday 2015. Additionally, City Folk and Town Folk skin packs may also be included as in-game content. Moreover, Plastic, Cartoon, Festive 2016 and Natural mash-up packs is also said to be included.
Note that the Minecraft DLC additions may only be available for a limited number of purchasers. Previously, Apple TV was also noted with the Story Mode in Minecraft with a narrative from Telltale Games. Moreover, Minecraft was also noted to launch on the device in June.
On the contrary, the Apple TV Edition of Minecraft reportedly does not support both the Xbox Live log-ins as well as Minecraft Realms. In the meantime, Mojang further revealed that Minecraft may be updated soon to support both features. Currently, the pocket and Windows 10 editions of Minecraft have been noted running on version 1.0 complete with the aforementioned updates.
Minecraft 1.10 Patch Notes Released
In other news, Minecraft updates have reportedly been released for the home console versions. Apparently, it is believed that the Minecraft 1.10 with new mobs, blocks and items may make the console game more comparable to the PC version. Note that the release notes have also been published.
Minecraft will reportedly pack new End Ships and End Cities to The End. Moreover, players are expected to receive the chestplate slot item Elytra that reportedly gives players wings. Note that this item may equip players the ability to glide from high ledges and control the rate of descent by looking down or up. Learn more about Minecraft 1.10 here:
Are you feeling a bit left because of our recent PC/Mac and Pocket / Windows 10 updates, console kids? Aww. There's no need to be sad. Christmas is just around the corner. And (if you've been well-behaved) Santa might bring you a tangerine or something.
Also… we've just released a big update for all console editions of Minecraft!1!
This one features a wide range of Minecraft goodness from new mobs to fresh status effects. We've also revamped The End – take a visit to that mysterious place after updating and you might find End Cities, End Ships and a complete gamechanger known as Elytra – which will give you a whole new perspective on your world.
Here’s the full changelog:
New mobs: Shulker, Stray Skeleton, Husk Zombie, Skeleton Trap Horses
New Blocks: Chorus Flower, Chorus Plant, Dragon Head, End Gateway, End Rod, Purpur Block,
Purpur Pillar, Purpur Stairs, Purpur Slab
New Items: Chorus Fruit, Chorus Fruit, Dragons’s Breath, Elytra, End Crystal, Lingering Potion, Water Splash Potion, Popped Chorus Fruit, Potion of Luck, Tipped Arrow; Spruce, Birch, Jungle, Acacia, and Dark Oak boats
New Status Effects: Levitation, Luck
The End: significant changes to The End dimension – End Cities, End Ship
Crafting: UI updated to allow crafting fireworks, similarly to how Banners are crafted
Brewing: changed to include a slot for Blaze Powder
Tutorial: new Tutorial world, including tutorials for Banners and Elytra
Alongside all of that excitement, we’ve also released a bunch of new mash-up packs, maps, and skins for each console edition. Click through the illustrative images below for all the info!
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Quantic Dream
YouTube
Microsoft
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