Minecraft Today in the Community - Jeb's "AMA", User-Made Mod Review, Notch's New Game & More

[Fearless News]

Ask Jeb Anything - Many Have, and Jeb Has Answered

 

Jens "Jeb" Bergensten recently wrapped up his "Ask Me Anything" session! He talks about his feelings on the current enchanting system (and possible changes to it), his favorite addition to the game, his pre-Mojang history, and so much more. You can read all of his answers by clicking this link, be sure to check it out! Want a sample of the sorts of questions he addressed?

 

Jeb said:

Villagers are still barely done. I also want to look at the experience / enchanting system. And I really want to add to the farming stuff... It's hard to find time for these things, though, because we are working on bigger things "outside" of the game at the moment.

I don't plan to add a new dimension at the moment. It's just to performance heavy on servers, and the current dimensions need more attention before we start adding new ones.

I'd remove all the lighting bugs without decreasing game performance

I don't want to add new ores just because I can. I want new ores to serve a new purpose.

Not sure about the status of expansions at the moment. I think an expansion needs to be something of a total conversion.

You can see Jeb's entire AMA session by clicking this link. Do you still have questions for Mojang? You can still ask them directly - Mojang has their AMA schedule freely available; just click here to see their upcoming schedule, so you can ask your favorite Mojang developer anything you like! We have already heard from Daniel Kaplan (aka Kappische) and Jens "Jeb" Bergensten - coming up on Monday, April 9th is Nathan "Dinnerbone" Adams, formerly of the Bukkit team. If you want to ask him anything, be sure to mark your calendars!

 

Notch Focuses on Space - A New Game

 

Anyone following Notch may have noticed his most recent project, a game focusing on space, computer engineering and other sci-fi themes. His project - currently named "0x10c" - brings to mind a sort of space-survival theme, with a focus on ship maintenance, landing on planets, programming a real in-game computer, and more. In Notch's own words:

 

Notch said:

In a parallel universe where the space race never ended, space travel was gaining popularity amongst corporations and rich individuals.

 

In 1988, a brand new deep sleep cell was released, compatible with all popular 16 bit computers. Unfortunately, it used big endian, whereas the DCPU-16 specifications called for little endian. This led to a severe bug in the included drivers, causing a requested sleep of 0x0000 0000 0000 0001 years to last for 0x0001 0000 0000 0000 years.

 

It's now the year 281 474 976 712 644 AD, and the first lost people are starting to wake up to a universe on the brink of extinction, with all remote galaxies forever lost to red shift, star formation long since ended, and massive black holes dominating the galaxy.

The game isn't yet available for testing, although he wishes to approach it much as he did Minecraft in its early days; players will be able to play-test it in Alpha (and throughout development), with a fairly low price to begin with. Without a doubt, the star of the show is his in-game computer, a real, programmable machine that can be programmed, updated and tweaked much like a real-life one:

 

Quote

Each ship has a generator capable of producing a fixed wattage, and everything you connect to it drains wattage. A cloaking field, for example, might require almost all the power from the generator, forcing you to turn off all computers and dim all lights in order to successfully cloak.

 

The computer in the game is a fully functioning emulated 16 bit CPU that can be used to control your entire ship, or just to play games on while waiting for a large mining operation to finish.

You can follow his progress on the game right here. I know we will be watching for it.

 

User-Made Mod Review: "Move Plus"

 

YouTuber "TheGamersCave" brings us a look at the mod "Move Plus", which allows things like double-jumping, wall jumps and even parkour-specific controls in normal terrain. Anyone looking for a mod to make their game a little more acrobatic, this mod is definitely worth a look - be sure to check out TheGamersCave's review, and let him know what you think!

 

Fireside Chat with Notch

 

Recently, the GDC Vault had a chance to sit down for a candid talk with Markus "Notch" Persson on his many thoughts on Minecraft. They cover a wide range of topics, including why he chose to simulate some things in the game accurately and not others, his predictions for the future, "girl" options, and much much more. Check out this link to see the full discussion - it is nearly an hour long, and he doesn't hold back on the juicy details!

 

Minecraft Companion App, FTW

 

Having a massive, comprehensive wiki on Minecraft is usually the first stop for anyone looking for recipes, redstone tips and all things Minecraft. However, what about those who want a mobile option for in-game information? Minecraft Explorer Pro might be for you - this iPhone App offers detailed info on in-game items, recipes, and even a "Skin Studio" to browse, create and alter skins for your game. This app is definitely a welcome addition to any hardcore Minecrafter's toolkit, and is super-cheap besides, weighing in at 99 cents USD. Give it a try, you won't be disappointed!

 

View the full article