Minecraft Forum: Minecraft Forum - News, Forums, Mods, and Texture Packs

Today we're taking a closer look at a timelapse of a Minecraft creation. While the final result of what we build in the game is most impressive, it's always interesting to see it come to shape.

leptir1 published the video on his YouTube channel, though the actual builders are Matt and Phil. The duo teamed up with a few friends to build an entire city in this particular timelapse. The creation of the City of Arches, according to Matt and Phil, took around two weeks.

The texture pack used in the video is Dokucraft, with music by Approaching Nirvana. The song in particular is Ocean Dawn, which you can get on iTunes here.


Digital Diamonds is an ongoing look at Minecraft-related videos that have been submitted to the Minecraft forum video section. We'll be selecting memorable videos and those resonating with the community to share with everyone on the front page.

The latest Minecraft patch is now available for download. This patch is primarily focused on fixing issues that have cropped up since the release of 1.6, but Notch has made a few gameplay changes as well.

• Added a new use for bonemeal
• Changed the material of glowstone from “glass” to “stone”. This means you need a pickaxe to get resources from it
• Made glowstone drop more loot
• Made the recipe sizes for creating cloth blocks and glowstone blocks smaller (2x2 instead of 3x3)
• Re-introduced unlimited FPS, renamed the option again
• Fixed beds not working very well at all in SMP
• Fixed destroying a boat spawning the player too low, causing them to sometimes fall through the ground
• Boats float up to the surface quicker
• Boats falling down into water lose their vertical momentum very fast
• Removed Herobrine

Heads up, Minecrafters! The next big update to Minecraft beta will be patch 1.7, according to Notch. While he says it will be a while before it goes live, there was also a hint given at what's coming. It's going to be the "Adventure Update" or something similar to that, says Notch.

What's up with Minecraft before 1.7? Well, next week we're going to be seeing 1.6.6 release, which will be an update to address issues with the recently released patch 1.6. The following week Notch will be headed to the United States -- and Los Angeles in particular -- to spend some time at E3. We'll be there too, so hopefully we can pick his brain about 1.7.

Finally, a buzz kill for folks who enjoy rumors. Minecraft: Source is a false one.

Some of the most impressive videos put together for Minecraft are those that recreate a level, a city or an area from other games. This latest diamond is no different. Though you'll have to have some experience with the MMORPG EverQuest under your belt to truly appreciate this, it's a fantastic recreation of one of the most memorable cities in a gaming genre: West Freeport.

Sadly, this is as close to the classic West Freeport that EverQuest veterans will get as of now, due to the area being visually revamped in one of the game's expansions. Thanks go out to Aandolaf for preserving a bit of online gaming history, complete with the zone's original music.

Digital Diamonds is an ongoing look at Minecraft-related videos that have been submitted to the Minecraft forum video section. We'll be selecting memorable videos and those resonating with the community to share with everyone on the front page.

UPDATE: We already have version 1.6.2, that fixes an annoying item bug. Notch tweeted about it just minutes after the launch.


The time has come, Mojang has officially released Minecraft Beta version 1.6. This version brings over 100 bug fixes, and several new features. While we noticed alot of generalized clean ups, there were also some removal of bugs that were commonly exploited in the game.


New Additions

Craftable Maps
Players can now create craftable maps that will update as the player walks around. These maps persist server-side and can even be given to another player, providing a unique way of showing around visitors to your server.



Nether Support In SMP
We've been waiting since 1.2 to see proper Nether support in SMP, and today is finally the day. You can now create portals in SMP and they will properly teleport you to the nether, just like in single player.

Hatches
Hatches act just like doors, except they can be placed on the sky-facing side of blocks. They allow you to create a pathway down to secret caverns or other underground structures.



Tall Grass
This was one of the more subtle, yet visually plesaing additions to the game. It just made certain areas of the world seem more realistic seeing tall grass off in the distance. Destroying the grass will sometimes yield you some seeds, however those seemed to appear less frequently then we'd like.



Notable Bug Fixes


Fixed minecarts next to each other causing extreme velocities (sorry!)
This is probably going to upset alot of crafters, as this was the primary method of "boosting" minecarts. This method has been replaced, however, with the powered rails that were added in 1.5.

Beds work in nether
As the video above shows, beds are only fixed in the most destructive way. Although, this does solve the crashing that was happening before.



As Minecraft's scheduled release date looms near (11/11/11), it's good to see some of these long out standing bugs being fixed.

The Mojang staff are going to be at E3 in a little over a week demoing Minecraft: Pocket Edition, and we'll be there keeping you up to date on all the new things we find out about there.

Daniel Kaplan, Mojang's Business Developer, tweeted a video today of the first look at Minecraft: Pocket Edition, a version of Minecraft designed to be played on Android devices.

In a blog post about the newest version of the game, Daniel stated that, "I can promise you, it has been worth the wait".

While the Xperia Play is targeted to be the first device to receive Minecraft: Pocket Edition, other Android devices and even iOS devices are also expected to support the game at a later date.

Sony and Mojang are presumed to be showing off the newest title during the Electronics Entertainment Expo (E3) in early June.

Notch has just tweeted that 1.6 will be released tomorrow morning, presumably Sweden time.

He also mentioned that testing included some people from IRC, which should bring a more robust release.1.6 has many bug fixes, as well as some long awaited additions such as working nether, maps, and hatches.

As soon as 1.6 is released, we'll be sure to bring you a full update, so keep watching!

The mobile version of Minecraft, currently in development by Mojang AB, will initially be released exclusively on the Android-based Xperia Play from Sony Ericsson, Gamasutra has learned. The news came after an invite to a special E3 after hours party that will include what sounds like a playable version of Minecraft on the Xperia Play.

"When playing on smartphones you will have a different screen size compared to PC, different hardware, different attention spans and thus the game needs to be customized to fit the mobile specifications," said a spokesperson for Mojang when speaking with Gamasutra.

The release date of the mobile version is not known at this time, though it will likely follow suit with Minecraft by releasing early with consistent updates, Gamasutra said. The length of the exclusivity for the Xperia Play is also not known.

More details are expected to be announced at the upcoming Sony mixer during E3, which is being held June 6 to June 9, 2011. We'll be on hand at E3 and will provide any new information we discover on Minecraft and its mobile counterpart.

KodachiZero has posted an amazing mod over in the Mapping and Modding section titled Grove Sprites. This mod creates little creatures, aptly named Grove Sprites, that will roam around your map looking for saplings to plant.

They will look for saplings on their own, however they are pretty bad at finding them, and can always use the help of the player. If they see you holding a sapling they will come and beg for it, hands held high, hoping for you to give it to them:

Should you give them the sapling, they will continue on their merry way and plant more trees.

Watch out, though, if they see you with any logs in your hand they will run over and smack all the logs out of your inventory just to show you that they don't take kindly to the murder of their kind!

KodachiZero has put a lot of effort into this mod and it shows through in his extremely detailed write up posted on the forums. They even have an evil counterpart that appears if the player sets fire to trees, or kills a grove sprite.

If you'd like to know more, check out KodachiZero's full write up over in the Mapping and Modding forums here.


Community Spotlight is a featured series on community creations, mods, and ideas for Minecraft. We spotlight community creations just like this one, and your's may be next.

You've seen the patch notes for Minecraft 1.6, now check out a trailer for the update coming this week. The trailer was put together by HAT Films and primarily focuses on the new map system, though it does show the tall grass being added as well.