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?
Quote from Jeb »
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:
Quote from Notch »
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:
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!
Looking forward to more villager features. I wanna trade with them nao! D:<
Also, this new space game sounds very fun. Notch should explain more about it. What will you do? What opposition will you face? Can we build space stations?
I'm glad that Notch has come up with a name to his game.... but 0x10^c? I wonder if it will be simply called "Ten C" by fans?
Regardless, I'm willing to place bets on a pool for when somebody is going to implement his CPU specification as Redstone in Minecraft. My bet will be sometime by the end of summer (about August), but it might be earlier. As a mod it will likely be implemented earlier... for use in Minecraft.
I personally would like to see gemstones that you can use to make shiny new decorative blocks.
And make different colored torches.
I know Terraria already did it, and it would look just as sexy in Minecraft.
The new game will probably be pretty awesome, but this thing puts me off instantly;
Expect that to be the first thing to get modded when it happens. That said, if Mojang was able to set up a server farm of solid multiplayer action that had some competent moderators to boot griefers/trolls and added value (aka awesome content) and made people want to support such a server, I don't object to paying Mojang a monthly fee for something like that.
The reason I say mods are inevitable is that a game which encourages hacking and assembly level programming is bound to attract players who love to reverse engineer the game itself. It would be better to work with them than against them.
As such, smallish communities getting together and running their own server shouldn't be discouraged, but the real "game" will take place on the main server operated by Mojang. If that is the business model Mojang tries to offer, it would be a huge win for them (including regular predictable income) and it wouldn't put off people like you who either can't or won't pay that monthly fee.
Kind of excited to see how Notch's new game. I'll probably try to get into the alpha if possible. However, the monthly payment makes it sound like an MMO if you wish to play online. It almost sounds like Eve, or whatever it's called.
next time you link to videos on your front page, can you stick to ones that don't use inappropriate language? my children visit this site...
I presume that you are referring to the "F-bomb" in the middle of the interview with Notch? Perhaps you needed to be made aware that the audience for that interview was adult in a very adult context. It wasn't a whole bunch of foul language, but there were some mature topics being discussed and perhaps some loose tongues that could have been kept under control a bit more... but it also the kind of talk that I've heard even in a professional workplace environment. In other words, an adult conversation. I'm not excusing the language or behavior, but it does happen and you need to be prepared for that kind of talk when it happens.
I certainly would be careful about showing any videos from conferences like this to kids without previewing the video first for both appropriateness and even if it is something they would be interested in. I have children who love to play Minecraft, so I'm aware of what you are saying as a father trying to watch what goes on. Only my oldest (who is an adult anyway so I couldn't stop him) even plays multi-player, and I'm in the process of setting up a "family server" to make sure not only to control griefing but to also watch who they are associating with on-line. There are "bad guys" out there to be wary of, and if you think everything has been filtered for children's benefit you are likely to be wrong.
NOTCH NO PLEASE DON'T MAKE US PAY A MONTHLY FEE T_T I abandoned so many games because they stopped being fun unless I paid a monthly fee. Surely there must be another way to pay for emulating tons of simple computers. I really don't want to be stuck on single-player forever, but I would rather be stuck on single-player than pay a monthly fee. Maybe charge more for the multiplayer client? Anything but a monthly fee. I BEG you.
Poor Jeb. I hope he can get the main issues worked out so that he's free to exercise his creativity.
I'm a bit confused by his response to the question regarding transportation methods, but perhaps there was some kind of translation problem.
I'm very excited by Notch's game. I'm glad to see that he's recovering from the immense pressure of Minecraft development (poor Jeb...) and is continuing to innovate. One suggestion: I'd name this new game "Deadspace".
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Mystcraft: the most fun I've had since I started playing Minecraft. Craft a Link to a new Age!
Someone needs to pay more attention when linking videos. I can't believe they posted a video where the reviewer cusses every other word. Slipping here and there is one thing, but this guy is worse than someone with Tourette's Syndrome.
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?
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:
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:
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!
Also, this new space game sounds very fun. Notch should explain more about it. What will you do? What opposition will you face? Can we build space stations?
Regardless, I'm willing to place bets on a pool for when somebody is going to implement his CPU specification as Redstone in Minecraft. My bet will be sometime by the end of summer (about August), but it might be earlier. As a mod it will likely be implemented earlier... for use in Minecraft.
Version 2.1 now updated for MC 1.6.2
And make different colored torches.
I know Terraria already did it, and it would look just as sexy in Minecraft.
Coming soon: Nintendo World Resource Pack
Expect that to be the first thing to get modded when it happens. That said, if Mojang was able to set up a server farm of solid multiplayer action that had some competent moderators to boot griefers/trolls and added value (aka awesome content) and made people want to support such a server, I don't object to paying Mojang a monthly fee for something like that.
The reason I say mods are inevitable is that a game which encourages hacking and assembly level programming is bound to attract players who love to reverse engineer the game itself. It would be better to work with them than against them.
As such, smallish communities getting together and running their own server shouldn't be discouraged, but the real "game" will take place on the main server operated by Mojang. If that is the business model Mojang tries to offer, it would be a huge win for them (including regular predictable income) and it wouldn't put off people like you who either can't or won't pay that monthly fee.
Version 2.1 now updated for MC 1.6.2
I presume that you are referring to the "F-bomb" in the middle of the interview with Notch? Perhaps you needed to be made aware that the audience for that interview was adult in a very adult context. It wasn't a whole bunch of foul language, but there were some mature topics being discussed and perhaps some loose tongues that could have been kept under control a bit more... but it also the kind of talk that I've heard even in a professional workplace environment. In other words, an adult conversation. I'm not excusing the language or behavior, but it does happen and you need to be prepared for that kind of talk when it happens.
I certainly would be careful about showing any videos from conferences like this to kids without previewing the video first for both appropriateness and even if it is something they would be interested in. I have children who love to play Minecraft, so I'm aware of what you are saying as a father trying to watch what goes on. Only my oldest (who is an adult anyway so I couldn't stop him) even plays multi-player, and I'm in the process of setting up a "family server" to make sure not only to control griefing but to also watch who they are associating with on-line. There are "bad guys" out there to be wary of, and if you think everything has been filtered for children's benefit you are likely to be wrong.
Version 2.1 now updated for MC 1.6.2
I'm a bit confused by his response to the question regarding transportation methods, but perhaps there was some kind of translation problem.
I'm very excited by Notch's game. I'm glad to see that he's recovering from the immense pressure of Minecraft development (poor Jeb...) and is continuing to innovate. One suggestion: I'd name this new game "Deadspace".