Notch went over a lot of things and answered a lot of questions when both on IRC and then later when he visited 4chan earlier today. I thought I'd post a summary of most of what I could find. As a disclaimer I didn't write this summary myself (I actually ripped it from SA) but most of it's been verified in some way. Some of these may have already been announced before, but generally this sheds new light even on things that had already been announced.
So in no particular order:
[*:1a79fo1x]Seasons have been delayed, Survival Multiplayer has moved up in priority and is now the first task after infinite worlds!
[*:1a79fo1x]Carryable light sources are now a possibility. He ruled them out initially as taking too much processing power because of the way lighting worked, but with the new lighting system it may be feasible, and you can even have colored light (glowing fungus, orange-tinted lanterns, etc)
[*:1a79fo1x]Torches will eventually burn out, but lanterns (harder to make) will last forever
[*:1a79fo1x]Multiplayer competitive modes with an end goal are planned. He used an example of two teams having an 'altar' at which gold must be burned away for points, and after a week (real time, but just an example) whoever had the most points would win and a new map would generate. He said since gold would burn off slowly the teams could raid each others' bases to steal their unburned gold. Evidently this was just one example of such a mode. This, of course, on top of normal or more open multiplayer modes.
[*:1a79fo1x]He really likes the idea of carts to carry large amounts of resources over long distances (esp. with infinite maps) but isn't quite sure how to deal with their moving restrictions.
[*:1a79fo1x]Ramp tiles may eventually be added since he dislikes the current half-blocks so much and doesn't want to add more of them.
[*:1a79fo1x]Future mobs and enemies will be fantasy themed, his example included kobolds and goblins. He said he really liked the idea of finding a goblin village while exploring in infinite mode, for example. Goblins will be small and swarming, while things like trolls will be huge and can throw destructive boulders. Golems were also confirmed.
[*:1a79fo1x]On that note, "Monster Towns" will be one of many things you can find in Infinite mode. Again, he mentioned the possibility of many goblins living there. You can play around with them or try and destroy them.
[*:1a79fo1x]The game will eventually have ragdolls for all models.
[*:1a79fo1x]He talked about making the crafting tree much deeper, but says he'll keep the actual method.
[*:1a79fo1x]Magic and Enchanting are planned but he hasn't really worked out any details yet, which is why we don't know anything about how it'll function.
[*:1a79fo1x]Apparently he gets less than 40% of all money, since paypal takes a few percent and Swedish taxes on it are roughly 60% (but hey he gets almost-free healthcare!)
[*:1a79fo1x]As of June 1st he's quitting his job to work solely on Minecraft.
[*:1a79fo1x]You can in fact haul lava with buckets, if you're using a suitable material.
[*:1a79fo1x]Zoos and the like are feasible since it will be possible to move and keep animals more easily, and they won't despawn.
[*:1a79fo1x]Smaller, weaker enemies may come in large groups
[*:1a79fo1x]Maps, compasses, and clocks are all confirmed, the latter two using animated textures.
[*:1a79fo1x]Like walking in the original Prince of Persia, crouching will make it so you can't fall off ledges, thus making crouching an easy way to build bridges!
[*:1a79fo1x]Diamond will last longer and be even better, right now Notch thinks it sucks.
[*:1a79fo1x]People keep asking for ladders, so he might end up adding them. But "ladders SUCK in games! Remember that time you fell off a ladder in [ANY FIRST PERSON SHOOTER HERE] and died? Or when you got stuck to one? Yeah, good times."
[*:1a79fo1x]He's going to attempt to make not only carts that can carry large amounts of goods over long distances (for things like caravan trains, trading between nations, moving to a new settlement) but also mine carts.
[*:1a79fo1x]There will be a downloadable offline version sometime during beta (that is, when MP survival mode is up).
[*:1a79fo1x]Megabeasts are again confirmed, and should hopefully be fun, and a challenge no matter how well-equipped you are, but never just annoying and uncontrollable like Sim City disasters.
[*:1a79fo1x]Mobs that can destroy blocks are confirmed, so you can no longer just camp out in a dirt-doored hut and be fully safe. However, "it has to be in some obvious way. Coming back to a ruined house when you weren't even around to stop it would be no fun. But seeing a couple of lava golems advance on your settlement and know they'd mess it up bad if they reach it would be quite fun indeed."
[*:1a79fo1x]Wild speculation on magic/enchanting: "I'm thinking you find ingredients by killing monsters (harder to farm), then you assemble them with some kind of alchemy, and attach it to items that decay when you use them. So if you manage to get a Sword of Being Cool +2, you might still want to avoid it because of the damage thing. Hopefully it's fun."
[*:1a79fo1x]Seasons: Leaves change color, more rain during the spring and fall, colder weather during the winter, causing the upper layer of still water to freeze into ice blocks (only when connected to land or other ice blocks, though, so it'd slowly spread), and snow falling to the ground, creating loads of snow blocks everywhere.
[*:1a79fo1x]Smoke blocks may be added, necessitating a chimney.
[*:1a79fo1x]The ability to play as monsters would be possible, he says, and in fact very easy. But if you didn't have an inventory survival mode would probably get boring.
Quite a mouthful, no?
Notch was on a real info splurge this morning, and I'm glad to hear about all the new stuff!
I didn't bother highlighting anything (except for the first perhaps most immediate bit) since I figure all these announcements will be big news to someone, and I don't want my preferences to stand out in the discussion.
Last night, my curiosity got the best of me. I emailed Notch about how Minecarts, and by association other vehicles, will factor in to MineCraft's future.
I doubt he'll mind if I simply do a copy-paste of the original Email's contents:
Quote from Notch »
I honestly have no idea myself. :biggrin.gif: Your idea sounds pretty fun.
I'd probably add them as a special case of creatures, except they can only follow tracks. Perhaps the ability to derail could be fun, though..
And it HAS to be possible to ride them!
My "Idea" was treating them like miniature trains, with the ability to link together multiple, different carts.
(...)
*He really likes the idea of carts to carry large amounts of resources over long distances (esp. with infinite maps) but isn't quite sure how to deal with their moving restrictions.
(...)
*He's going to attempt to make not only carts that can carry large amounts of goods over long distances (for things like caravan trains, trading between nations, moving to a new settlement) but also mine carts.
(...)
*Smoke blocks may be added, necessitating a chimney.
(...)
*Seasons have been delayed, Survival Multiplayer has moved up in priority and is now the first task after infinite worlds!
*Carryable light sources are now a possibility. He ruled them out initially as taking too much processing power because of the way lighting worked, but with the new lighting system it may be feasible, and you can even have colored light (glowing fungus, orange-tinted lanterns, etc)
*Multiplayer competitive modes with an end goal are planned. He used an example of two teams having an 'altar' at which gold must be burned away for points, and after a week (real time, but just an example) whoever had the most points would win and a new map would generate. He said since gold would burn off slowly the teams could raid each others' bases to steal their unburned gold. Evidently this was just one example of such a mode. This, of course, on top of normal or more open multiplayer modes.
*Magic and Enchanting are planned but he hasn't really worked out any details yet, which is why we don't know anything about how it'll function.
*You can in fact haul lava with buckets, if you're using a suitable material.
*Maps, compasses, and clocks are all confirmed, the latter two using animated textures.
*He's going to attempt to make not only carts that can carry large amounts of goods over long distances (for things like caravan trains, trading between nations, moving to a new settlement) but also mine carts.
*Seasons: Leaves change color, more rain during the spring and fall, colder weather during the winter, causing the upper layer of still water to freeze into ice blocks (only when connected to land or other ice blocks, though, so it'd slowly spread), and snow falling to the ground, creating loads of snow blocks everywhere.
I love most of the entire list, but these are my absolute favorites.
*Wild speculation on magic/enchanting: "I'm thinking you find ingredients by killing monsters (harder to farm), then you assemble them with some kind of alchemy, and attach it to items that decay when you use them. So if you manage to get a Sword of Being Cool +2, you might still want to avoid it because of the damage thing. Hopefully it's fun."
Sounds like it can lead to grinding.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
My Youtube channel.
Contains Pachebel's Canon made with noteblocks, a working Rubik's cube made with pistons, and the ultimate TNT cannon.
If there are monsters that can break blocks, they should only break certain blocks, like dirt, which force the player to make the fort out of something other than dirt.
Lava golems that throw rocks? Playing as monsters? Hehehe... I might just become a skeleton so I have infinite arrows, or a spider so I can fit under low ceilings.
Alchemy, deeper crafting, monster towns, ramps, lanterns, crouching to build bridges off any ledge, zoos, carrying lava, ladders, super diamond, download-able, seasons, smoke, etc!
WOW! Now all I need to ask him is if he is going to let you hold an item in your left hand for combat purposes (like holding a torch for at night, a shield, or even a fire starter to burn enemies while using a sword) and other combat stuff. He probably doesn't know yet, so I will just suggest it to him once infinite maps are done and he is working on multiplayer.
Monsters should make it so the brightest light is dark, and the darkest light is the darkest. Except for creepers and spiders, where they can see easily in light anyhow, though spiders see like it's always night in the brightest light.
I can see so many cool things coming out of this.
Goblins should be able to see better in the dark, but they shouldn't be able to use normal weapons, having to craft special weapons that only they can use.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"Tell me this, when in the world did virtual posts gain the ability to crap?" -Monork2 on ROBLOX.com
I have to say, I just don't like the idea of controlling monsters. You would have no other purpose but to grief (It can become a possibility) and harass the human players. Also on the griefing note... human griefers are already bad enough.
The only monster I can see being reasonable is goblins since they're pretty much their own society. They just have different needs and will be using the same resources for their unique tools. Now this would be interesting. Other monsters... no.
I have to say, I just don't like the idea of controlling monsters. You would have no other purpose but to grief (It can become a possibility) and harass the human players. Also on the griefing note... human griefers are already bad enough.
Why is any form of fighting between players considered griefing?
Fighting intelligent skeletons and creepers that plan against you and react to what you do > fighting the mindless AI.
Why is any form of fighting between players considered griefing?
Fighting intelligent skeletons and creepers that plan against you and react to what you do > fighting the mindless AI.
Well, griefing is the wrong word to in this case, since the motive of the monster is to hinder and regress the player advancement.
Anyways, monsters sooner or later will have the ability to dig stuff. So I can't see it becoming anything but a "Creeper the hell out of the human settlement!" sort of thing. Maybe worst when the bigger, badder monster comes around.
I'm not totally against the idea if its a quick game of sort., like survival at the moment. If its like Indev... no way. The amount of work to rebuild will be a pain.
So in no particular order:
[*:1a79fo1x]Seasons have been delayed, Survival Multiplayer has moved up in priority and is now the first task after infinite worlds!
[*:1a79fo1x]Carryable light sources are now a possibility. He ruled them out initially as taking too much processing power because of the way lighting worked, but with the new lighting system it may be feasible, and you can even have colored light (glowing fungus, orange-tinted lanterns, etc)
[*:1a79fo1x]Torches will eventually burn out, but lanterns (harder to make) will last forever
[*:1a79fo1x]Multiplayer competitive modes with an end goal are planned. He used an example of two teams having an 'altar' at which gold must be burned away for points, and after a week (real time, but just an example) whoever had the most points would win and a new map would generate. He said since gold would burn off slowly the teams could raid each others' bases to steal their unburned gold. Evidently this was just one example of such a mode. This, of course, on top of normal or more open multiplayer modes.
[*:1a79fo1x]He really likes the idea of carts to carry large amounts of resources over long distances (esp. with infinite maps) but isn't quite sure how to deal with their moving restrictions.
[*:1a79fo1x]Ramp tiles may eventually be added since he dislikes the current half-blocks so much and doesn't want to add more of them.
[*:1a79fo1x]Future mobs and enemies will be fantasy themed, his example included kobolds and goblins. He said he really liked the idea of finding a goblin village while exploring in infinite mode, for example. Goblins will be small and swarming, while things like trolls will be huge and can throw destructive boulders. Golems were also confirmed.
[*:1a79fo1x]On that note, "Monster Towns" will be one of many things you can find in Infinite mode. Again, he mentioned the possibility of many goblins living there. You can play around with them or try and destroy them.
[*:1a79fo1x]The game will eventually have ragdolls for all models.
[*:1a79fo1x]He talked about making the crafting tree much deeper, but says he'll keep the actual method.
[*:1a79fo1x]Magic and Enchanting are planned but he hasn't really worked out any details yet, which is why we don't know anything about how it'll function.
[*:1a79fo1x]Apparently he gets less than 40% of all money, since paypal takes a few percent and Swedish taxes on it are roughly 60% (but hey he gets almost-free healthcare!)
[*:1a79fo1x]As of June 1st he's quitting his job to work solely on Minecraft.
[*:1a79fo1x]You can in fact haul lava with buckets, if you're using a suitable material.
[*:1a79fo1x]Zoos and the like are feasible since it will be possible to move and keep animals more easily, and they won't despawn.
[*:1a79fo1x]Smaller, weaker enemies may come in large groups
[*:1a79fo1x]Maps, compasses, and clocks are all confirmed, the latter two using animated textures.
[*:1a79fo1x]Like walking in the original Prince of Persia, crouching will make it so you can't fall off ledges, thus making crouching an easy way to build bridges!
[*:1a79fo1x]Diamond will last longer and be even better, right now Notch thinks it sucks.
[*:1a79fo1x]People keep asking for ladders, so he might end up adding them. But "ladders SUCK in games! Remember that time you fell off a ladder in [ANY FIRST PERSON SHOOTER HERE] and died? Or when you got stuck to one? Yeah, good times."
[*:1a79fo1x]He's going to attempt to make not only carts that can carry large amounts of goods over long distances (for things like caravan trains, trading between nations, moving to a new settlement) but also mine carts.
[*:1a79fo1x]There will be a downloadable offline version sometime during beta (that is, when MP survival mode is up).
[*:1a79fo1x]Megabeasts are again confirmed, and should hopefully be fun, and a challenge no matter how well-equipped you are, but never just annoying and uncontrollable like Sim City disasters.
[*:1a79fo1x]Mobs that can destroy blocks are confirmed, so you can no longer just camp out in a dirt-doored hut and be fully safe. However, "it has to be in some obvious way. Coming back to a ruined house when you weren't even around to stop it would be no fun. But seeing a couple of lava golems advance on your settlement and know they'd mess it up bad if they reach it would be quite fun indeed."
[*:1a79fo1x]Wild speculation on magic/enchanting: "I'm thinking you find ingredients by killing monsters (harder to farm), then you assemble them with some kind of alchemy, and attach it to items that decay when you use them. So if you manage to get a Sword of Being Cool +2, you might still want to avoid it because of the damage thing. Hopefully it's fun."
[*:1a79fo1x]Seasons: Leaves change color, more rain during the spring and fall, colder weather during the winter, causing the upper layer of still water to freeze into ice blocks (only when connected to land or other ice blocks, though, so it'd slowly spread), and snow falling to the ground, creating loads of snow blocks everywhere.
[*:1a79fo1x]Smoke blocks may be added, necessitating a chimney.
[*:1a79fo1x]The ability to play as monsters would be possible, he says, and in fact very easy. But if you didn't have an inventory survival mode would probably get boring.
Quite a mouthful, no?
Notch was on a real info splurge this morning, and I'm glad to hear about all the new stuff!
I didn't bother highlighting anything (except for the first perhaps most immediate bit) since I figure all these announcements will be big news to someone, and I don't want my preferences to stand out in the discussion.
Quite a list, and well summarized. Thanks ChocolateySyrup!
And he mentioned alchemy! Makes me hopeful! :smile.gif:
Voyager of the Seas WIP ~~~~~ Big Book of Alchemy ~ Crafting Tech Tree
Last night, my curiosity got the best of me. I emailed Notch about how Minecarts, and by association other vehicles, will factor in to MineCraft's future.
I doubt he'll mind if I simply do a copy-paste of the original Email's contents:
My "Idea" was treating them like miniature trains, with the ability to link together multiple, different carts.
So you can slap that onto the list of "Maybes"
My mind is racing thinking of the possibilities.
EPIC.
<3
Also, thanks for the list!
I love most of the entire list, but these are my absolute favorites.
Sounds like it can lead to grinding.
Contains Pachebel's Canon made with noteblocks, a working Rubik's cube made with pistons, and the ultimate TNT cannon.
*<=D
I love the list! Can't wait for these to become reality! XD
lies
Edit: Nvm, turns out it really IS Notch.
I'm hyped, except the 'sword of +2 coolness' part, I don't want this to turn into Dungeons and Minecraft. >_>
Raise my dragons please!!
Alchemy, deeper crafting, monster towns, ramps, lanterns, crouching to build bridges off any ledge, zoos, carrying lava, ladders, super diamond, download-able, seasons, smoke, etc!
WOW! Now all I need to ask him is if he is going to let you hold an item in your left hand for combat purposes (like holding a torch for at night, a shield, or even a fire starter to burn enemies while using a sword) and other combat stuff. He probably doesn't know yet, so I will just suggest it to him once infinite maps are done and he is working on multiplayer.
I can see so many cool things coming out of this.
Goblins should be able to see better in the dark, but they shouldn't be able to use normal weapons, having to craft special weapons that only they can use.
Raise my dragons please!!
The only monster I can see being reasonable is goblins since they're pretty much their own society. They just have different needs and will be using the same resources for their unique tools. Now this would be interesting. Other monsters... no.
See? I'm not so malicious...
Why is any form of fighting between players considered griefing?
Fighting intelligent skeletons and creepers that plan against you and react to what you do > fighting the mindless AI.
Well, griefing is the wrong word to in this case, since the motive of the monster is to hinder and regress the player advancement.
Anyways, monsters sooner or later will have the ability to dig stuff. So I can't see it becoming anything but a "Creeper the hell out of the human settlement!" sort of thing. Maybe worst when the bigger, badder monster comes around.
I'm not totally against the idea if its a quick game of sort., like survival at the moment. If its like Indev... no way. The amount of work to rebuild will be a pain.
See? I'm not so malicious...
Diamondillium!