You also have to open up certain ports and such, Just stop bro. I know more than you.
Enable UPnP on your router (it is usually enabled by default). Pick a port that isn't commonly used for other applications (in the upper hundreds and not an even number. I use 420) in your server properties.
Open up command prompt in windows. Run ipconfig - see what your IP is for your computer (not your gateway). Give this ip to your friends. Add a semicolon to the end of the IP and then put in whatever port number you chose.
It is really simple.
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Anyways, I have been playing the Xbox version a lot more than the PC version as of late. I never played on many servers for PC. I would just host my own for a friend or two.
I'm not a really big gamer and I just hate sitting at my table hunched over my laptop. Much more comfortable to just sit on my couch and play on my 32" inch HDTV.
My friends don't typically game either, so the Xbox version is much more easier for them to get into as opposed to telling them to come over with their laptop and to pay and download it. Especially since its usually unplanned when they pop in to hang out.
Pros: (Very) Easy to connect and play with friends. I'm not quite sure if in-game voice chat is available, but if it it is, that's also a pro, but if voice chat is not in-game, and instead uses party chat, it's not a pro. New crafting system, when I first started playing Minecraft, I would always search on Wikipedia for crafting recipes.
Cons: The controller can take some getting used to if switching from the M&K, at least it did for me, and it also seemed like they were trying to assign certain functions to buttons where they weren't really needed or feel uncomfortable to use. I'm not going to put "Not being able to use mods, texture packs, ect" in here as they (4JStudios) have said all, if not most of those features will be available in future updates.
PC edition:
Pros: More maneuverability with the M&K, functions can be assigned to any key on the keyboard, modifications to the game (Buildcraft and IndustrialCraft for examples), having the option to go full-screen, or windowed to be able to multitask (listening to music, surfing the web or using Skype for examples).
Cons: Frame-rates can be choppy if not using a more upper-class computer. Griefers and hackers are definitely a problem if you run a public server. If you're a newbie to Minecraft, setting up a server can sometimes be troublesome.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"A drop in the Basket, is worth a Sheperds Shilling."
Ha, you're the dumb one for not knowing basic stuff.
Please oh great one, tell me how you would learn how to craft things on the PC version without looking it up on the Wiki?
PC Minecraft gives you absolutely zero information as to crafting. It tells you nothing at all about how to craft even the simplest of item in the game. The Xbox version countered that by adding in the new crafting system. It's faster and easier than the PC version crafting.
Half the fun of Minecraft is figuring things out for yourself, yes I know to the current gaming generation thats 'hard work' and they cry if their hand isn't held all the time but for most of us exploration and discovery is fun!
Having things handed to you on a platter, isn't fun.
I still look at the Wiki when it comes to PC because I do forget certain crafting recipes which is completely normal. Expecting people to remember at least a hundred different recipes off of the top of their head at one time is a little unrealistic - especially for those like myself who do go months at a time between playing stints to keep the game interesting and fresh.
For those starting off on PC, they wouldn't have the slightest clue about how to craft a crafting table or even realize that a lot of recipes require a 3x3 grid. The crafting system is good on the 360 because the whole Minecraft experience is about exploring and building things using your imagination, not spending hours at a time trying to "legitimately" figure out every single recipe in the game - not to mention having to cross reference to the Wiki if you forget something.
dear nerds fighting over how easy it is to setup servers and how many kiloidontgivafux are in the map, heres what the bottom line is.
it IS hard to setup a server on pc, not everyone runs windows 7 a lot of people i know run XP still for mild gaming just because its less buggy ( whether or not u think its buggy i dont want to argue about it or hear ur thoughts bc i dont care.) and if u are not familiar w computer language or dloading programs to run a file then transferring files to a differnt spot that u downloaded etc then yes it is hard.
thats the bottom line nerds correcting other nerds until the final voice (me) has spoken. have a nice day.
Please get off this thread and let the reasonable, knowledgeable Xbox players talk.
it IS hard to setup a server on pc, not everyone runs windows 7 a lot of people i know run XP still for mild gaming just because its less buggy ( whether or not u think its buggy i dont want to argue about it or hear ur thoughts bc i dont care.)
Your operating system has nothing to do with how a Minecraft server runs. The files work the same way on any OS, they're not fine-tuned for Windows 7.
and if u are not familiar w computer language or dloading programs to run a file then transferring files to a differnt spot that u downloaded etc then yes it is hard.
You don't need to know how to program in a coding language to download a ****ing file, move it to where ever, and click on it. Those steps alone could be done by my technology-illiterate grandma. If you want to run the same kind of server an Xbox 360 is restricted to (8 or so players, friends only, no additional plugins/mods), then those steps alone are the only steps you need to take to set it up.
Knowing the basics of a computer does not make PC users "nerds", it makes them people who actually know something about what they do/talk about. Now you have a nice day, and let your knowledgeable Xbox players do the talking for you.
Please oh great one, tell me how you would learn how to craft things on the PC version without looking it up on the Wiki?
PC Minecraft gives you absolutely zero information as to crafting. It tells you nothing at all about how to craft even the simplest of item in the game. The Xbox version countered that by adding in the new crafting system. It's faster and easier than the PC version crafting.
Yes, that's one thing the Xbox edition has a major advantage in. Crafting on the PC is a pain in the ass when there's so many items.
Some numbers and a bit of math before i get to the topic at hand...
first off... neptune has a surface area of 7,618,272,763 km2 which is allot more then 900,000,000 km2. (not trying to be ****, just setting down the facts.) as for the max size of a pc map, the actual max size is: 4,096,000,000 km2. OP, the distance you used was a generalized number from x0/z0, and not the actual distance from map edge to map edge or even the exact number from x0/z0.
4,096,000,000 km2 <--- actual map max size 7,618,272,763 km2 <--- yet again, neptune wins
510,072,000 km2 <--- and the earth falls way short of both lol!
since the actual distance that block physics fail is 32,000,000 blocks from x0 z0, the actual distance from edge to edge is 64,000,000. thus the math for calculating the surface area is as follows:
32,000,000 m x2 = 64,000,000 m
64,000,000 m / 1000 = 64,000km.
64,000km x 64,000km = 4,096,000,000 km2
OP, you are only wrong here because most articles describing the distance in which the world becomes unusable simply say 30,000,000 blocks and do not clearly state that this is from the maps center. the generalized number is a result of people rounding down from 32 to 30 for ease of speech during the early days of nearly infinite maps. its a common effect in English speech to shorten up the words that form a number like this when exact numbers are not important. its also only casually mentioned, if at all, that this distance is from the maps center. this can sometimes create the miss conception that the borders of usable terrain are 32,000,000 blocks from each other. the reality, of course, is that the true distance is and always has been 64,000,000 blocks.
however... it should be stated that no one will probably ever create a world save that actually encompasses this much surface area since such a world save would be astoundingly, if not impossibly, large. so i feel it should be stated that the max size cant realistically be used as a "PRO" in favor of pc's since no one will ever make a map that big.
an example to solidify my point:
my largest world save is 1.72gb. it covers exactly 104.8576 km2 (10240m / 1000 = 10.24km x 10.24km = 104.8576 km2) so, using this as an example, we could divide the max surface area by the example surface area and multiply the answer by 1.72gb.
4,096,000,000 / 104.8576 = 39062500 times the the example surface area.
39062500 x 1.72gb = 67,187,500GB
thats 65,612.79296875 terabytes! and it would take exactly 16404 4TB hardrives to store! it would cost you literally $4,904,796 in just hard drives alone! and lets not mention all the supporting hardware needed to run that many HDDs in a raid array big enough to form a single partition to make such a map usable. (based on the biggest available HDD on newegg at the cheapest price of $299)
even insanely rich people wouldn't spend that kind of money just to store a map save.
(lol, all this math from a high school drop out!)
Anyway... enough numbers, lets get on with the pros and cons.
xbox 360: (i consider Features that come with XboxLIVE as pros because they are usable in game and directly connect to the game, unlike Skype or IM clients on pc.)
PROS:
very smooth and high frame rate from standardized hardware.
better graphics, (ie: integrated texture filtering, mip mapping, and AA filtering.)
easy multiplayer setup with automatic listing of non private servers.
friends list.
voice chat.
CONS:
you must pay a monthly fee to play multiplayer.
severely outdated, feature wise, compared to pc.
no customization in texture packs, despite the ability to change skins.
no modding or plugins.
no personalization of servers.
no way to save your world and transfer it to another persons Xbox for them to use.
while controls are very refined, text entry is cumbersome and inefficient in all areas that need text input.
pc:
PROS:
good frame rate can be achieved in almost all hardware setups with a little tweaking of settings.
once you buy the game, you own it for life.
no extra fees for multiplayer.
controls are simple and intuitive despite using the keyboard and mouse combo.
server setup is as simply (on windows) as downloading an executable, running it, and forwarding a port.
servers can be customized in broad and profound ways.
the amount of players on a server is only limited to the capabilities of the hardware hosting the server and the internet connection speed.
client programs can be customized and some of these mods can sync with server mods, further enhancing the multiplayer game play.
custom texture packs.
all components of the client and server can be edited and modified with simple and free tools.
world saves can be edited in outside editors, or even generated by them, and shared freely to anyone.
server are free to run.
map size only limited by HDD space.
etc etc etc...
CONS:
memory leaks and bad memory management of java requiring batch scripts to set the proper ram allocation on low end PC's.
wildly varying frame rates on even the best machines during normal game play.
customization requires foreknowledge of coding and syntax.
texture packs come in many sizes when only one size (16x16) is supported by unmodded clients resulting in crashes when the wrong size is used.
zero standards regarding the way mods are coded and designed resulting in vary degrees of quality in even the best modding communities.
customized servers require that the person setting it up learns .yml syntax, which has a few parts of the syntax formatting that must be strictly adhered to but are counter intuitive and rarely mentioned to people learning the format. (ie no "tabs" in place of multiple spaces the formatting)
coordinating multiplayer games require out side programs and websites or word of mouth before hand.
using anything but an ip as the address in which people connect to your server is a complicated and sometimes frustrating process. users that are unable to port forward must use these methods and sometimes cause potentially good servers from getting started.
etc etc etc..
the conclusion, in my humble opinion, is that pc version is far better. the xbox version has some good things going for it, but even if you add the pros and cons for the Xbox version together they don't surpass the pros alone for PC.
honestly i think its best to look at the Xbox version the same way we looked at the early betas and alphas of PC: Lots of potential, but not yet ready to be called a full game.
I'm not a really big gamer and I just hate sitting at my table hunched over my laptop. Much more comfortable to just sit on my couch and play on my 32" inch HDTV.
This PRO for the Xbox trumps all PC PROs for me. I game to relax. After 9 hours of sitting at a computer desk at work, in an uncomfortable desk chair, eyes watering from looking too long at dual monitors 12" from my face and my wrists aching from keyboard and mouse usage, when I get home... all I want to do is sit on the couch, stare at my 51" HDTV with a controller in my hand and unwind. The Xbox allows me to do that without having to buy a laptop with HDMI cables and USB controllers or move my iMac to the living room every time I want to play a simple game.
Also, having the 1.6 Beta version of this game can also be listed as a PRO. I am new to Minecraft, so having a younger, simpler version of the game to start off with was, in my opinion, the way to go. I'm sure many are similar to me in being Minecraft virgins, so having to learn the basics before being tossed into the deep end was a smart move. And we are assured of future updates, so we will get all the bells and whistles of the PC version eventually. So it is not a CON.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
What you've just said is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard. At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.
Minecraft Xbox version is going to be updated to the PC version, so later on the only difference is going to be world size.Plus Xbox version is still cheaper.
This PRO for the Xbox trumps all PC PROs for me. I game to relax. After 9 hours of sitting at a computer desk at work, in an uncomfortable desk chair, eyes watering from looking too long at dual monitors 12" from my face and my wrists aching from keyboard and mouse usage, when I get home... all I want to do is sit on the couch, stare at my 51" HDTV with a controller in my hand and unwind. The Xbox allows me to do that without having to buy a laptop with HDMI cables and USB controllers or move my iMac to the living room every time I want to play a simple game.
Also, having the 1.6 Beta version of this game can also be listed as a PRO. I am new to Minecraft, so having a younger, simpler version of the game to start off with was, in my opinion, the way to go. I'm sure many are similar to me in being Minecraft virgins, so having to learn the basics before being tossed into the deep end was a smart move. And we are assured of future updates, so we will get all the bells and whistles of the PC version eventually. So it is not a CON.
first off... the next time your at work you should take a moment and think about how close you are sitting to your monitors. then will your self to sit back in your seat, away from the screens, and pick up your phone so you can set up an appointment with your eye doctor for some glasses.
lol not trying to be an ass just pointing out that I have dual 1080p's and i don't sit any where near that close. sitting back would probably help your wrists too since you will no longer be forcing them at an unnatural angle by sitting in such a bad posture.
but i do agree with you on the big screen sitting on the couch part. occasionally i will dig out my lap top and hook it up to my 46" tv and play some mine craft from my couch with wireless k/m. and i can see your point about starting in an earlier version too. but on the flip side i would argue that most players will be completely oblivious to the mass bulk of these features when they first start out, seeing as minecraft pc doesn't explain anything. i would wager that the ease of learning between 1.6 to 1.2.5 would prove to be remarkably similar.
Minecraft Xbox version is going to be updated to the PC version, so later on the only difference is going to be world size.Plus Xbox version is still cheaper.
it will only be cheaper if you exclusively play single player mode. playing with your friends will cost you a xboxlive gold membership fee for every month you intend to play.
that and lets not forget that this point only holds true while its in beta. after beta the suggested retail price is supposed to be some were in the range of $40-$60.
i will reiterate a point from an early post as well. you wont be able to keep the Xbox version forever. or at least it will be very difficult to pull off. first you have to buy it and stay up to date with the updates, them you have to maintain your Xbox, with the game installed. if you don't do both of these, then you run the risk that eventually the game will no longer be available for download. so if you don't keep track of updates and Xbox updates constantly you run the risk that the version on your Xbox will be outdated and missing features after Microsoft stops providing downloads of the new versions. now lets take into account the fact that when Microsoft stops supporting it, then all multiplayer activity will stop as well since you have to go threw Microsoft to play multiplayer. that's allot of work for a game that may never actually become the equivalent of its pc counterpart. i'm not sure the investment of close to double the pc versions cost and allot of actual real work is worth it for a game that can only be played on a system that has a guaranteed expiration date.
the pc version, however, since its only owned by mojang, will be released as open source after mojang stops making profits. so it stands to reason, with so many copy's in so many places that can be copied even more times at anyone's leisure, that the pc version will only be lost when the operating systems that can run it are no longer usable on future hardware. and that my friend is a long long ways away.
first off... the next time your at work you should take a moment and think about how close you are sitting to your monitors. then will your self to sit back in your seat, away from the screens, and pick up your phone so you can set up an appointment with your eye doctor for some glasses.
I was writing with some hyperbole to make my point. I even have a program running to remind me to take breaks from looking at my screen every couple of hours. But I digress... work computer ruins play computer. Nuff said.
it will only be cheaper if you exclusively play single player mode. playing with your friends will cost you a xboxlive gold membership fee for every month you intend to play.
Assuming you only use Xbox Live for this one game. I use it for all of my games as well as a substitute for cable with Netflix and Hulu+. Xbox Live is my source of almost all of my entertainment.
that and lets not forget that this point only holds true while its in beta. after beta the suggested retail price is supposed to be some were in the range of $40-$60.
Wait... what? I'm pretty sure you only have to buy the XBLA version once. I think you made this point up.
i will reiterate a point from an early post as well. you wont be able to keep the Xbox version forever. or at least it will be very difficult to pull off. first you have to buy it and stay up to date with the updates, them you have to maintain your Xbox, with the game installed. if you don't do both of these, then you run the risk that eventually the game will no longer be available for download. so if you don't keep track of updates and Xbox updates constantly you run the risk that the version on your Xbox will be outdated and missing features after Microsoft stops providing downloads of the new versions. now lets take into account the fact that when Microsoft stops supporting it...
2 things... A) You have to update your computer's OS and the PC version of Minecraft as well or be left behind. Not sure where you are going with that one and 2) Who says MS is going to stop supporting it? That's a lot of speculation. MS has not mentioned their plans beyond the 360 yet. And a smart business move would be to allow backwards compatibility since a lot of their revenue comes from digital downloads. Coming out with the "720" and saying, "Sorry... can't use any of the 100s of dollars worth of games you downloaded to your 360 on the new system!" would be the deathblow to their next-gen console. I know I wouldn't buy it. I have a TON of XBLA games, not just Minecraft.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
What you've just said is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard. At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.
I was writing with some hyperbole to make my point. I even have a program running to remind me to take breaks from looking at my screen every couple of hours. But I digress... work computer ruins play computer. Nuff said.
Assuming you only use Xbox Live for this one game. I use it for all of my games as well as a substitute for cable with Netflix and Hulu+. Xbox Live is my source of almost all of my entertainment.
Wait... what? I'm pretty sure you only have to buy the XBLA version once. I think you made this point up.
2 things... A) You have to update your computer's OS and the PC version of Minecraft as well or be left behind. Not sure where you are going with that one and 2) Who says MS is going to stop supporting it? That's a lot of speculation. MS has not mentioned their plans beyond the 360 yet. And a smart business move would be to allow backwards compatibility since a lot of their revenue comes from digital downloads. Coming out with the "720" and saying, "Sorry... can't use any of the 100s of dollars worth of games you downloaded to your 360 on the new system!" would be the deathblow to their next-gen console. I know I wouldn't buy it. I have a TON of XBLA games, not just Minecraft.
lol yeah i was only joking anyways about sitting back.
as for PC os's, minecrafts only dependency's are java and OpenGL. these are two industry standards that are present on all computer systems and on about 90% of portable devices. heck most atms run on java and use opengl to render the stuff you see on the screen, the ones that don't are the really old ones you sometimes find at Walmart that feel like your going to die before it figures out what your balance is.
this is why is said os's in a general sense. yes you do have to update your operating system but with java and opengls prevalence in the computer industry, its guaranteed that there will be a way to run minecraft PC for at least the next 25 years. all the os has to do is run java and support opengl graphics. next time you visit newegg or your favorite computer hardware online shop, look at the video cards you will notice that they all support opengl. all of them period. and look at any operating system, any one at all and you will find that there is a java build for that operating system. these are two things that are not going away for a long time.
now as far as Xbox life spans, Microsoft has stated publicly that the Xbox360 will only have a 10 year commercial life span, after which it will focus solely on its new "console", and support for the the old console will be dropped permanently. the XBOX360 is currently 5 years into that projected lifespan. now i'm sure your thinking that well xbox live will still be accessible. yes initially it will be, but... the first time microsoft updates xboxlive after this point will be the last time that xbox360 will be able to access it. they wont update a deprecated console when they want you to buy the new one.
the new console is not guaranteed to have backwards compatibility with older games. look at the transition from original xbox to the xbox360. very few original games were compatible from the get go, and the ones that got added to the compatibility list early on were either microsoft titles or very big sellers. it took a long time for many of the less profitable games to get on that list. and the compatibility list is still no were near complete in terms of covering all the previous games. microsft did it this way because xbox360 used an emulator to run all the games from the previous console. the low compatibility is directly related to microsft rushing the xbox out the door a year early to compete with the ps3. if minecraft wants to make it onto that compatibility list early its going to have to make microsoft some serous money now and continue to do so into the foreseeable future.
as far as the difference in beta price and the final price, let me explain a few things here. 1: i did not say that any one would be re-buying the game, i only said that will be the price range after its goes from beta to official release and if you are newly purchasing it after that point. 2: i get that price range from the fact that many online stores have been offering to preorder the on-disk version of the xbox minecraft for a while and the prices have been in the region of 40-60 bucks. now of course this is the preorder price that i saw about a month and a half ago, and i have not checked around to see what became of the on-disk preorder offers. but its safe to assume that if sales go well on the beta version, you can bet your **** that microsft will up the price to take advantage of the hype. and lets not forget that magical word "beta" atached to the end of the game right now. microsoft might turn things around and say that the beta is separate and you must buy the official game again to take advantage of the full features. (this last line is speculation, but i wouldn't put past microsoft to make an extra buck.)
yes, playing other games and using your xbox for hulu is a way to even out the costs. but there are easy ways to do all of this that do not require an xbox live subscription. or an xbox for that matter. but that asside, i cant see paying for a game and then being billed monthly to take advantage of all its features. especially since i only play video games these days if its with other people. that would mean i pay money to play with my friends. i'm not cool with that concept. bottom line though, you are still forced to pay extra money in order to take advantage of all a games features when you play your games on an xbox. its the primary reason why my xbox360 250g Elite sits in a box in my closet and my ps3 is running 3 or 4 hours a day.
And a smart business move would be to allow backwards compatibility since a lot of their revenue comes from digital downloads. Coming out with the "720" and saying, "Sorry... can't use any of the 100s of dollars worth of games you downloaded to your 360 on the new system!"
think about that statement. specifically "allot of their revenue comes from digital downloads." now think about that statement and then think about how much money they could make if they forced you re buy things for the 720 by simply saying that they re-coded everything for compatibility with the 720 and now you need to re-buy it because its now different code. xbox zealots (fan boys) being what they are will bend other and take this regardless of the costs. Microsoft potentially could reap huge revenue by selling old games this way. you may not take this kind of treatment, and i definitely know i wont, but you have to understand that most of xbox sales are due to hype and fad craze, not from reasonable people making reasonable decisions when they buy a console. again not saying your one of these people, but i'm sure you know more then a few people that bought xboxs because their friends did and they just had to be cool too.
any way l still think the pc version is the best. even with its problems... it kind of feels like that old car you got when you were 16. you didnt care if it had a hard time starting, or if stalled occasionally, to you it was the key to the rest of the world. well the pc edition is my old favorite car, its got bugs and it definitely stalls occasionally, but like that old car, i have worked with long enough to work around these problems so that i can enjoy the freedom of minecraft.
actually i want to address something specific you said here that i think you missed. you said"
think about that statement. specifically "allot of their revenue comes from digital downloads." now think about that statement and then think about how much money they could make if they forced you re buy things for the 720 by simply saying that they re-coded everything for compatibility with the 720 and now you need to re-buy it because its now different code. xbox zealots (fan boys) being what they are will bend other and take this regardless of the costs. Microsoft potentially could reap huge revenue by selling old games this way. you may not take this kind of treatment, and i definitely know i wont, but you have to understand that most of xbox sales are due to hype and fad craze, not from reasonable people making reasonable decisions when they buy a console. again not saying your one of these people, but i'm sure you know more then a few people that bought xboxs because their friends did and they just had to be cool too.
any way l still think the pc version is the best. even with its problems... it kind of feels like that old car you got when you were 16. you didnt care if it had a hard time starting, or if stalled occasionally, to you it was the key to the rest of the world. well the pc edition is my old favorite car, its got bugs and it definitely stalls occasionally, but like that old car, i have worked with long enough to work around these problems so that i can enjoy the freedom of minecraft.
I wouldn't put it past those blood bastards either if they did! I can't take more of this BS I think i'm going to switch to PC in the next year hopefully. (n00b at computers here) because I agree that it has alot more key features, and i'm not going to be whipped by M$ just because they have a game I like on xbox. Thank god I bought Minecraft on PC when it was in alpha.
I wouldn't put it past those blood bastards either if they did! I can't take more of this BS I think i'm going to switch to PC in the next year hopefully. (n00b at computers here) because I agree that it has alot more key features, and i'm not going to be whipped by M$ just because they have a game I like on xbox. Thank god I bought Minecraft on PC when it was in alpha.
yeah i got mine in beta. but never fear! the pc may be complex, but the internet will always be there holding the answers to all your pc related issues! that and you can always ask somebody here is your pc issue has to do with minecraft!
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Because the xbox version is still in beta.
Enable UPnP on your router (it is usually enabled by default). Pick a port that isn't commonly used for other applications (in the upper hundreds and not an even number. I use 420) in your server properties.
Open up command prompt in windows. Run ipconfig - see what your IP is for your computer (not your gateway). Give this ip to your friends. Add a semicolon to the end of the IP and then put in whatever port number you chose.
It is really simple.
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Anyways, I have been playing the Xbox version a lot more than the PC version as of late. I never played on many servers for PC. I would just host my own for a friend or two.
I'm not a really big gamer and I just hate sitting at my table hunched over my laptop. Much more comfortable to just sit on my couch and play on my 32" inch HDTV.
My friends don't typically game either, so the Xbox version is much more easier for them to get into as opposed to telling them to come over with their laptop and to pay and download it. Especially since its usually unplanned when they pop in to hang out.
Pros: (Very) Easy to connect and play with friends. I'm not quite sure if in-game voice chat is available, but if it it is, that's also a pro, but if voice chat is not in-game, and instead uses party chat, it's not a pro. New crafting system, when I first started playing Minecraft, I would always search on Wikipedia for crafting recipes.
Cons: The controller can take some getting used to if switching from the M&K, at least it did for me, and it also seemed like they were trying to assign certain functions to buttons where they weren't really needed or feel uncomfortable to use. I'm not going to put "Not being able to use mods, texture packs, ect" in here as they (4JStudios) have said all, if not most of those features will be available in future updates.
PC edition:
Pros: More maneuverability with the M&K, functions can be assigned to any key on the keyboard, modifications to the game (Buildcraft and IndustrialCraft for examples), having the option to go full-screen, or windowed to be able to multitask (listening to music, surfing the web or using Skype for examples).
Cons: Frame-rates can be choppy if not using a more upper-class computer. Griefers and hackers are definitely a problem if you run a public server. If you're a newbie to Minecraft, setting up a server can sometimes be troublesome.
Ha, you're the dumb one for not knowing basic stuff.
PC Minecraft gives you absolutely zero information as to crafting. It tells you nothing at all about how to craft even the simplest of item in the game. The Xbox version countered that by adding in the new crafting system. It's faster and easier than the PC version crafting.
I still look at the Wiki when it comes to PC because I do forget certain crafting recipes which is completely normal. Expecting people to remember at least a hundred different recipes off of the top of their head at one time is a little unrealistic - especially for those like myself who do go months at a time between playing stints to keep the game interesting and fresh.
For those starting off on PC, they wouldn't have the slightest clue about how to craft a crafting table or even realize that a lot of recipes require a 3x3 grid. The crafting system is good on the 360 because the whole Minecraft experience is about exploring and building things using your imagination, not spending hours at a time trying to "legitimately" figure out every single recipe in the game - not to mention having to cross reference to the Wiki if you forget something.
Please get off this thread and let the reasonable, knowledgeable Xbox players talk.
Your operating system has nothing to do with how a Minecraft server runs. The files work the same way on any OS, they're not fine-tuned for Windows 7.
You don't need to know how to program in a coding language to download a ****ing file, move it to where ever, and click on it. Those steps alone could be done by my technology-illiterate grandma. If you want to run the same kind of server an Xbox 360 is restricted to (8 or so players, friends only, no additional plugins/mods), then those steps alone are the only steps you need to take to set it up.
Knowing the basics of a computer does not make PC users "nerds", it makes them people who actually know something about what they do/talk about. Now you have a nice day, and let your knowledgeable Xbox players do the talking for you.
Yes, that's one thing the Xbox edition has a major advantage in. Crafting on the PC is a pain in the ass when there's so many items.
first off... neptune has a surface area of 7,618,272,763 km2 which is allot more then 900,000,000 km2. (not trying to be ****, just setting down the facts.) as for the max size of a pc map, the actual max size is: 4,096,000,000 km2. OP, the distance you used was a generalized number from x0/z0, and not the actual distance from map edge to map edge or even the exact number from x0/z0.
4,096,000,000 km2 <--- actual map max size
7,618,272,763 km2 <--- yet again, neptune wins
510,072,000 km2 <--- and the earth falls way short of both lol!
since the actual distance that block physics fail is 32,000,000 blocks from x0 z0, the actual distance from edge to edge is 64,000,000. thus the math for calculating the surface area is as follows:
32,000,000 m x2 = 64,000,000 m
64,000,000 m / 1000 = 64,000km.
64,000km x 64,000km = 4,096,000,000 km2
OP, you are only wrong here because most articles describing the distance in which the world becomes unusable simply say 30,000,000 blocks and do not clearly state that this is from the maps center. the generalized number is a result of people rounding down from 32 to 30 for ease of speech during the early days of nearly infinite maps. its a common effect in English speech to shorten up the words that form a number like this when exact numbers are not important. its also only casually mentioned, if at all, that this distance is from the maps center. this can sometimes create the miss conception that the borders of usable terrain are 32,000,000 blocks from each other. the reality, of course, is that the true distance is and always has been 64,000,000 blocks.
however... it should be stated that no one will probably ever create a world save that actually encompasses this much surface area since such a world save would be astoundingly, if not impossibly, large. so i feel it should be stated that the max size cant realistically be used as a "PRO" in favor of pc's since no one will ever make a map that big.
an example to solidify my point:
my largest world save is 1.72gb. it covers exactly 104.8576 km2 (10240m / 1000 = 10.24km x 10.24km = 104.8576 km2) so, using this as an example, we could divide the max surface area by the example surface area and multiply the answer by 1.72gb.
4,096,000,000 / 104.8576 = 39062500 times the the example surface area.
39062500 x 1.72gb = 67,187,500GB
Anyway... enough numbers, lets get on with the pros and cons.
xbox 360: (i consider Features that come with XboxLIVE as pros because they are usable in game and directly connect to the game, unlike Skype or IM clients on pc.)
PROS:
- very smooth and high frame rate from standardized hardware.
- better graphics, (ie: integrated texture filtering, mip mapping, and AA filtering.)
- easy multiplayer setup with automatic listing of non private servers.
- friends list.
- voice chat.
CONS:- you must pay a monthly fee to play multiplayer.
- severely outdated, feature wise, compared to pc.
- no customization in texture packs, despite the ability to change skins.
- no modding or plugins.
- no personalization of servers.
- no way to save your world and transfer it to another persons Xbox for them to use.
- while controls are very refined, text entry is cumbersome and inefficient in all areas that need text input.
pc:- PROS:
- good frame rate can be achieved in almost all hardware setups with a little tweaking of settings.
- once you buy the game, you own it for life.
- no extra fees for multiplayer.
- controls are simple and intuitive despite using the keyboard and mouse combo.
- server setup is as simply (on windows) as downloading an executable, running it, and forwarding a port.
- servers can be customized in broad and profound ways.
- the amount of players on a server is only limited to the capabilities of the hardware hosting the server and the internet connection speed.
- client programs can be customized and some of these mods can sync with server mods, further enhancing the multiplayer game play.
- custom texture packs.
- all components of the client and server can be edited and modified with simple and free tools.
- world saves can be edited in outside editors, or even generated by them, and shared freely to anyone.
- server are free to run.
- map size only limited by HDD space.
- etc etc etc...
CONS:- memory leaks and bad memory management of java requiring batch scripts to set the proper ram allocation on low end PC's.
- wildly varying frame rates on even the best machines during normal game play.
- customization requires foreknowledge of coding and syntax.
- texture packs come in many sizes when only one size (16x16) is supported by unmodded clients resulting in crashes when the wrong size is used.
- zero standards regarding the way mods are coded and designed resulting in vary degrees of quality in even the best modding communities.
- customized servers require that the person setting it up learns .yml syntax, which has a few parts of the syntax formatting that must be strictly adhered to but are counter intuitive and rarely mentioned to people learning the format. (ie no "tabs" in place of multiple spaces the formatting)
- coordinating multiplayer games require out side programs and websites or word of mouth before hand.
- using anything but an ip as the address in which people connect to your server is a complicated and sometimes frustrating process. users that are unable to port forward must use these methods and sometimes cause potentially good servers from getting started.
- etc etc etc..
the conclusion, in my humble opinion, is that pc version is far better. the xbox version has some good things going for it, but even if you add the pros and cons for the Xbox version together they don't surpass the pros alone for PC.honestly i think its best to look at the Xbox version the same way we looked at the early betas and alphas of PC: Lots of potential, but not yet ready to be called a full game.
This PRO for the Xbox trumps all PC PROs for me. I game to relax. After 9 hours of sitting at a computer desk at work, in an uncomfortable desk chair, eyes watering from looking too long at dual monitors 12" from my face and my wrists aching from keyboard and mouse usage, when I get home... all I want to do is sit on the couch, stare at my 51" HDTV with a controller in my hand and unwind. The Xbox allows me to do that without having to buy a laptop with HDMI cables and USB controllers or move my iMac to the living room every time I want to play a simple game.
Also, having the 1.6 Beta version of this game can also be listed as a PRO. I am new to Minecraft, so having a younger, simpler version of the game to start off with was, in my opinion, the way to go. I'm sure many are similar to me in being Minecraft virgins, so having to learn the basics before being tossed into the deep end was a smart move. And we are assured of future updates, so we will get all the bells and whistles of the PC version eventually. So it is not a CON.
first off... the next time your at work you should take a moment and think about how close you are sitting to your monitors. then will your self to sit back in your seat, away from the screens, and pick up your phone so you can set up an appointment with your eye doctor for some glasses.
lol not trying to be an ass
but i do agree with you on the big screen sitting on the couch part. occasionally i will dig out my lap top and hook it up to my 46" tv and play some mine craft from my couch with wireless k/m. and i can see your point about starting in an earlier version too. but on the flip side i would argue that most players will be completely oblivious to the mass bulk of these features when they first start out, seeing as minecraft pc doesn't explain anything. i would wager that the ease of learning between 1.6 to 1.2.5 would prove to be remarkably similar.
it will only be cheaper if you exclusively play single player mode. playing with your friends will cost you a xboxlive gold membership fee for every month you intend to play.
that and lets not forget that this point only holds true while its in beta. after beta the suggested retail price is supposed to be some were in the range of $40-$60.
i will reiterate a point from an early post as well. you wont be able to keep the Xbox version forever. or at least it will be very difficult to pull off. first you have to buy it and stay up to date with the updates, them you have to maintain your Xbox, with the game installed. if you don't do both of these, then you run the risk that eventually the game will no longer be available for download. so if you don't keep track of updates and Xbox updates constantly you run the risk that the version on your Xbox will be outdated and missing features after Microsoft stops providing downloads of the new versions. now lets take into account the fact that when Microsoft stops supporting it, then all multiplayer activity will stop as well since you have to go threw Microsoft to play multiplayer. that's allot of work for a game that may never actually become the equivalent of its pc counterpart. i'm not sure the investment of close to double the pc versions cost and allot of actual real work is worth it for a game that can only be played on a system that has a guaranteed expiration date.
the pc version, however, since its only owned by mojang, will be released as open source after mojang stops making profits. so it stands to reason, with so many copy's in so many places that can be copied even more times at anyone's leisure, that the pc version will only be lost when the operating systems that can run it are no longer usable on future hardware. and that my friend is a long long ways away.
I was writing with some hyperbole to make my point. I even have a program running to remind me to take breaks from looking at my screen every couple of hours. But I digress... work computer ruins play computer. Nuff said.
Assuming you only use Xbox Live for this one game. I use it for all of my games as well as a substitute for cable with Netflix and Hulu+. Xbox Live is my source of almost all of my entertainment.
Wait... what? I'm pretty sure you only have to buy the XBLA version once. I think you made this point up.
2 things... A) You have to update your computer's OS and the PC version of Minecraft as well or be left behind. Not sure where you are going with that one and 2) Who says MS is going to stop supporting it? That's a lot of speculation. MS has not mentioned their plans beyond the 360 yet. And a smart business move would be to allow backwards compatibility since a lot of their revenue comes from digital downloads. Coming out with the "720" and saying, "Sorry... can't use any of the 100s of dollars worth of games you downloaded to your 360 on the new system!" would be the deathblow to their next-gen console. I know I wouldn't buy it. I have a TON of XBLA games, not just Minecraft.
lol yeah i was only joking anyways about sitting back.
as for PC os's, minecrafts only dependency's are java and OpenGL. these are two industry standards that are present on all computer systems and on about 90% of portable devices. heck most atms run on java and use opengl to render the stuff you see on the screen, the ones that don't are the really old ones you sometimes find at Walmart that feel like your going to die before it figures out what your balance is.
this is why is said os's in a general sense. yes you do have to update your operating system but with java and opengls prevalence in the computer industry, its guaranteed that there will be a way to run minecraft PC for at least the next 25 years. all the os has to do is run java and support opengl graphics. next time you visit newegg or your favorite computer hardware online shop, look at the video cards you will notice that they all support opengl. all of them period. and look at any operating system, any one at all and you will find that there is a java build for that operating system. these are two things that are not going away for a long time.
now as far as Xbox life spans, Microsoft has stated publicly that the Xbox360 will only have a 10 year commercial life span, after which it will focus solely on its new "console", and support for the the old console will be dropped permanently. the XBOX360 is currently 5 years into that projected lifespan. now i'm sure your thinking that well xbox live will still be accessible. yes initially it will be, but... the first time microsoft updates xboxlive after this point will be the last time that xbox360 will be able to access it. they wont update a deprecated console when they want you to buy the new one.
the new console is not guaranteed to have backwards compatibility with older games. look at the transition from original xbox to the xbox360. very few original games were compatible from the get go, and the ones that got added to the compatibility list early on were either microsoft titles or very big sellers. it took a long time for many of the less profitable games to get on that list. and the compatibility list is still no were near complete in terms of covering all the previous games. microsft did it this way because xbox360 used an emulator to run all the games from the previous console. the low compatibility is directly related to microsft rushing the xbox out the door a year early to compete with the ps3. if minecraft wants to make it onto that compatibility list early its going to have to make microsoft some serous money now and continue to do so into the foreseeable future.
as far as the difference in beta price and the final price, let me explain a few things here. 1: i did not say that any one would be re-buying the game, i only said that will be the price range after its goes from beta to official release and if you are newly purchasing it after that point. 2: i get that price range from the fact that many online stores have been offering to preorder the on-disk version of the xbox minecraft for a while and the prices have been in the region of 40-60 bucks. now of course this is the preorder price that i saw about a month and a half ago, and i have not checked around to see what became of the on-disk preorder offers. but its safe to assume that if sales go well on the beta version, you can bet your **** that microsft will up the price to take advantage of the hype. and lets not forget that magical word "beta" atached to the end of the game right now. microsoft might turn things around and say that the beta is separate and you must buy the official game again to take advantage of the full features. (this last line is speculation, but i wouldn't put past microsoft to make an extra buck.)
yes, playing other games and using your xbox for hulu is a way to even out the costs. but there are easy ways to do all of this that do not require an xbox live subscription. or an xbox for that matter. but that asside, i cant see paying for a game and then being billed monthly to take advantage of all its features. especially since i only play video games these days if its with other people. that would mean i pay money to play with my friends. i'm not cool with that concept. bottom line though, you are still forced to pay extra money in order to take advantage of all a games features when you play your games on an xbox. its the primary reason why my xbox360 250g Elite sits in a box in my closet and my ps3 is running 3 or 4 hours a day.
think about that statement. specifically "allot of their revenue comes from digital downloads." now think about that statement and then think about how much money they could make if they forced you re buy things for the 720 by simply saying that they re-coded everything for compatibility with the 720 and now you need to re-buy it because its now different code. xbox zealots (fan boys) being what they are will bend other and take this regardless of the costs. Microsoft potentially could reap huge revenue by selling old games this way. you may not take this kind of treatment, and i definitely know i wont, but you have to understand that most of xbox sales are due to hype and fad craze, not from reasonable people making reasonable decisions when they buy a console. again not saying your one of these people, but i'm sure you know more then a few people that bought xboxs because their friends did and they just had to be cool too.
any way l still think the pc version is the best. even with its problems... it kind of feels like that old car you got when you were 16. you didnt care if it had a hard time starting, or if stalled occasionally, to you it was the key to the rest of the world. well the pc edition is my old favorite car, its got bugs and it definitely stalls occasionally, but like that old car, i have worked with long enough to work around these problems so that i can enjoy the freedom of minecraft.
I wouldn't put it past those blood bastards either if they did! I can't take more of this BS I think i'm going to switch to PC in the next year hopefully. (n00b at computers here) because I agree that it has alot more key features, and i'm not going to be whipped by M$ just because they have a game I like on xbox. Thank god I bought Minecraft on PC when it was in alpha.
yeah i got mine in beta. but never fear! the pc may be complex, but the internet will always be there holding the answers to all your pc related issues! that and you can always ask somebody here is your pc issue has to do with minecraft!