Minecraftmay have started out as a crafting and survival game, but it’s evolved into a wonderfully complex virtual environment. Now, a team from Sweden has turned it into an amazing tool for teaching about geology.
The basics were already there, of course. You could mine rock to fashion tools and weapons or build structures, turn iron ore into a suit of armor, and stockpile sand to make into glass. BetterGeo expands on what’s already there in a major way. It’s exactly what you’d expect from a mod that was developed by a group fromthe Geological Survey of Sweden. BetterGeo adds numerous minerals and metals, including aluminum, feldspar, garnet, titanium, tourmaline — and even lithium and rare earth elements (both useful for those of you who plan on manufacturing cell phones from scratch insideMinecraft).
What about rocks? BetterGeo has those, too. Igneous, metamorphic, sedimentary — they’re all accounted for. You can stockpile basalt, gneiss, limestone, and shale. And for anyMinecraftplayers out there that share my dad’s penchant for combining geological puns and potty humor, you’ll be glad to know that BetterGeo will let you make a big pile of schist.
A kimberlite pipe with diamond deposits, just like the ones they work in Africa.
As for how they’re placed throughout the world, SGU tried to keep things authentic. “Ore deposits are limited to realistic geological sequences,” they say, “which increase(s) the thrill of exploration.” No true geek can argue with that logic!
The mod doesn’t stop there, though. There are a bunch of new items that you can craft, too. Don the fire proximity suit, mix metals in the alloy furnace, or whip up some rechargeable batteries and a charger that can supply power to your new defribillator. You can even build display cases to show off the rare specimens you mine.
What are you waiting for?Download BetterGeonow and install it to add its geological wonders to yourMinecraftworld.
Microsoft and Oculus VR held a press event yesterday to demo Minecrafton the Gear VR for the first time. Oculus’ chief technical officer, John Carmack, was on hand to give his thoughts, and it turns out he’s been strapping smartphones to his face for a while now. But the demonstration showed that the game is still not quite performing up to its potential.
“About a year ago I gotMinecrafton the Gear VR and I couldn’t tell anyone about it,” said Carmack. “And it was extremely frustrating because I was playing this game and I could spend hours playing. […] I thought it was the best VR experience that we had available. For anything.”
The reason the Gear VR is the ideal platform forMinecraft, Carmack said, is because there are no wires tethering the user to a computer. With all the processing power built into the headset itself — in the form of a Samsung smartphone — there’s nothing holding the user back from moving in any direction.
“In VR, I want to go explore the world,” Carmack said. “I think that the ability to be wireless, to spin around and have that freedom, really makes this a unique experience. […] Minecrafthits all of those buttons very, very well. It is the quintessential open-world game, and being able to explore that world in VR was what I always thought the core of this was all cracked up to be.”
To enable that kind of experience, the demo space was littered with spinning office chairs and Gear VRs fitted with Samsung Galaxy S7 phones.
But whileMinecrafthas been up and running on the Gear VR for some time, it still has no release date. Looking atMinecraft: Pocket Editionside by side withMinecrafton the Gear VR, it’s easy to see why; right now, the view distance is remarkably shorter in VR.
The play space designed for journalists to experience was very narrow. While the frame rate was acceptable — I had no issues with nausea — the grand vistas I’ve come to appreciate inMinecraftwere almost entirely absent.
Once I broke free from the prepared environment and ran off into the world, I immediately noticed how details were only visible out to a stone’s throw away, a distance of perhaps 40 or 50 blocks. Past that, the edge of the rendered space manifested itself as an opaque white wall. Underground, in the pitch dark, that wall actually lit entire caves, meaning I could glitch the game into giving me enough light to see.
RIGHT NOW, THE VIEW DISTANCE IS REMARKABLY SHORTER IN VR
Inside the prepared environment, it seemed as if I could see farther up and down than I could see out into the distance.
Despite these technical issues with view distance, the locomotion system was particularly well-refined. Jumps had been smoothed out, and felt more like mantling obstacles in a third-person shooter than leaping into the air.
That freedom of movement was a recurring theme in Carmack’s short speech.
“Knowing that you don’t simply control your character to turn 90 degrees this way, to move over here and turn around, but instead to actually turn your body all the way around [is powerful],” Carmack said. “You know that you’re 200 meters away this way down the hill and around the bend from where you started, and that sense of being in a big world is wonderful.”
Carmack closed by reaffirming his belief thatMinecraftwould be available in VR for consumers very soon.
“I said this was my grail for VR, that this was the most important gaming application that I could do, or that I could be involved with, and so I’m very proud for the part that I’ve had and I’m happy to have worked with Microsoft and Mojang to get this at the point that it’s at. I’m excited to be supporting it in the coming years as things continue to improve.”
Seeds are pretty important in Minecraft—and not just because they’re the key to amassing a mighty army of virtual chickens. World seeds, the magical strings of numbers that generate the game’s terrain, are an excellent tool to help you kick-start your adventure. Bored of spawning into flat, uninspiring plains? Wearing out your blocky booties searching for a decent spot to set up shop? Get seeding, and take advantage of exotic locations filled with possibility.
Whether you’re after unique strongholds to loot, floating islands to build upon, extreme landmasses to scale, survival challenges to face or simply a cosy spot for your swanky new pad, our essential list has you covered.
It couldn’t be simpler. Step one: check that the seed version matches up with the version of Minecraft you’re running. Step two: plug those delicious digits into the seed field when creating your new world. Step three: enjoy some of the best Minecraft world seeds ever discovered. (Optional step four: move in that sinister chicken army of yours.)
1. Gorgeous Extreme Hills
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Hope you’re wearing your enchanted flip-flops and have a hankering to scale ridiculous terrain. It could well take you several Minecraft days to climb these Extreme Hills… but justlookat the view you’ll be clocking on the way up. Waterfalls cascade through the air, enormous swathes of rock overhang verdant plains, and hollows in the mountain practically beg to be excavated and explored. Just imagine how awesome your base of operations would look built into this natural structure.
2. Flower Forest and Ice Plains,
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The Ice Plains Spikes biome is a rare variant of the Tundra biome, featuring huge sculptural pillars of Packed Ice and, er… not a lot else, actually. It doesn’t half make a lovely backdrop though—which is why this seed is so spectacular. You spawn in a picturesque flower forest, the ocean lapping at one side and a frigid paradise skirting the other. The perfect setting for an Adventure Time tribute build, perhaps.
3. Jungle Oasis,
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It’s worth uncorking this version 1.4 vintage for the chance to dip your toes in one of Minecraft’s most gorgeous natural pools. Jungle biomes are somewhat rare, and finding such an exquisite example of one as a randomly-generated archipelago rarer still. But this little looker is more than just a pretty place. It’s chock-a-block with animal life and rich in easily-accessible resources—a fine choice for playing Survival mode in style.
4. Giant Floating Island feat. Ominous Abyss
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Paradisiacal islands are all well and good, but if you fancy something a little more existential, why not try this highly improbable seed? A gigantic grassy landmass hovers in the air with a flagrant disregard for the laws of physics, overlooking the dark, hopeless maw of a perversely alluring ravine… But before you go flinging yourself in in search of treasure, we should mention there’s a jungle temple just across the river. Slightly less drastic.
5. Lava-filled Desert Mountain with Splash of Greenery
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Normally, I’d deem throwing all your favourite things into a blender and mixing them together madness (step away from your cat, please). With this particular seed, however, the Frankenstein fusion of biomes really works. A vast desert setting; an Extreme Hills mountain; a high-altitude forest; an inexplicably-lush base camp area; a village; a desert temple… It all comes together to produce endless potential for a variety of adventures.
6. Beautiful Mesa Forest
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As if layer upon fudgy layer of colourful clay wasn’t a tasty enough prospect for you, this mesa seed boasts several other interesting quirks. You start in a ravine where thick clusters of oak trees grow: a short stroll up onto the plateau, and you’ll notice a wide-ranging mesa forest with a lake inside a deep crater. Find the cave hidden around the rim of the crater, and you’ll drop right into an extensive system of underground tunnels.
7. Minimalist Survival Island
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As Gandhi once remarked, “To achieve true enlightenment, one must isolate themselves upon an unforgiving Minecraft survival island seed”. This pared-down setting might well inspire some soul-searching. Essential supplies are practically non-existent here, the nearby squid your only friends—not counting Mr. Grass, Mr. Sand and Señor Gravel. After some time you too may find yourself anthropomorphising inanimate blocks. Best survival seed ever; 10/10, would go mad there again.
8. Village Surrounded by Snow
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Best return to civilisation, eh? There’s no NPC village more scenic than this one, a diminutive hamlet nestled in a thawed patch of Cold Taiga biome. You’ve a friendly neighbourhood blacksmith, a quaint little farm for food, and there are even diamonds to, erm,borrow, if you poke about. If you’re after something to build a thriving metropolis off of, and are a sucker for a snowy backyard, this is the seed for you.
9. Landlocked Mushroom Biome
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Minecraft’s shroomy kingdoms are normally rather lonely affairs: tiny little landmasses far out to sea, with a few Mooshrooms sprinkled about for good measure. This seed, however, generates a uniquely landlocked Mushroom Biome. Upon spawning, you’re at liberty to leg it into the emerald wilderness, butarmed with just a wooden bowl and your wits, it’s possible to craft a fungal abode and live on infinite mushroom stew. Going veggie has never been so simple.
10. Hollow Mountain, Hello Zombies
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Being an aspiring Minecraft supervillain in this day and age is no picnic. In fact, it’s a logistical nightmare. Where to find room to install an intimidatingly large lava wall? How to conceal your TNT-powered superweapons? And the bodies? Well, this seed has a solution: a 244-block-high hollow mountain practically made for housing all your dastardly designs. There’s even an exposed zombie dungeon at the summit for unlimited XP farming.
11. Seaside Mega-Taiga
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Live out all your wildest lumberjackin’ fantasies in this Mega Taiga seed, which contains an absolutely massive redwood forest. You’ll spawn by the cave seen at the bottom of this picture, so you can get your shelter or mineshaft started quickly, leaving more time to enjoy your surroundings. One of the two paths inside the cave leads to a dead end—but the other leads you to a gorgeous ocean vista.
12. Crazy Crater
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I’m not entirely sure how Steve survived the End Times, but this seed proves that it must take a whole lot more than a piddling shower of flaming meteors to kill him. A giant, perfectly-circular crater in the earth leads deep down into an underground network of caves, ravines, and mineshafts. There’s tons of ore to mine, including plenty of sparkly diamond goodness. The crater’s also a handy natural mutton-generating trap. Sorry, sheep.
13. Mountainous Snowy Island
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Not all islands have to be tropical, you know. The highest points of this Extreme Hills island are dusted with snow and covered with clouds. The downside is that there are no animals living on the island, so your lunchtime BLT ain’t happening here. It’s far from a hostile place, though: there’s tons of exposed coal in the cliffs, and plenty of trees and grass to get you up and running.
14. Ravine Stronghold/Library
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Don’t be fooled by your spawn point—that’s not the ravine you’re looking for. Want a glimpse of a true underground wonder? Head towards coordinates 236 68 -704. Peeking into the chasm, you’ll spot an oaken, open-plan (alright, it’s just missing a few walls. Let us play estate agent) library intersecting a stronghold. Ladders and bookshelves line the walls: you might need a few tomes to enchant your gear, seeing as though the end portal is nearby…
15. Witch Hut on Stilts
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You’re probably used to coming across the odd Witch Hut (then booking it in the other direction lest you’re poisoned to a sticky pulp). But a Witch Hut onstilts? Well, it’s possible. Mosey on over to coordinates 207, 66, 614 and take a gander at those long, loggy legs extending into the ground. Heading southwest from spawn brings you to a village: there’s a loot-filled abandoned mineshaft directly below it.
“Minecraft’s” lead developer at Mojang has revealed that work on the game’s 1.10 update has already begun despite just releasing 1.9 a few days ago. Apparently, a new mob is in the works!
The news comes to Design & Trend straight from the Twitter account of“Minecraft” lead, Jens Bergensten. In one tweet, he gave franchise fans a sneak peek at content that’s likely many months away.
(Photo : Jens Bergensten/Twitter)
The tease is obviously quick, but it came when one fan asked what’s planned for the game’s future patches up to a hypothetical version 1.10. Bergensten quickly replied that he “started working on a new mob today,” which makes it seem likely to debut in a future tweak.
For those not too invested inthe “Minecraft” craze, mob is a term that generally applies to all thecreatures found within the world. There are over 40 different mobs on the platform today, and they all serve various purposes. Creepers and Skeletons, for example, can harm players. Chickens and Cows litter the environment to make some areas of the map feel more populated. As far as this unnamed new mob is concerned, we don’t know what role it will fill.
“Minecraft”has been on the market for a number of years, but new mob additions don’t happen too often. For the most part, they’re saved for major version number updates. The last mob to be officially introduced was the Rabbit in July of last year. It was a huge draw of the 1.8 revision.
That being said, it will likely be a long while before version 1.10 comes to fruition. The gap between 1.8 and 1.9 lasted well over a year, which leaves many fans wondering if the same time span will be the norm from here on out. “Minecraft” enthusiasts were certainly rewarded for their patience, however, considering the latest release offers a complete overhaul of the game’s combat system. Fresh mechanics like Attack Strength were added, as well as a swath of new forms of defense.
WithMojang just beginning its development process, it’s hard to say what the team’s immediate focus will be in the future.
Do you think “Minecraft” 1.10 will take a while to release? What mob would you want to see in the next big update? Tell us in the poll and comments section!
Minecraft just got a whole lot more aggressive with the 1.9 Combat Update on PC.
Players will now be able to hold two items at the same time and use them independently. You can equip one of the new shields for instance, alongside a sword or axe. Or a weapon and a torch for better visibility during night fights.
There are now sweeping attacks for swords, and a cool down for attacks. If you swing wildly and constantly you’ll do less damage than timing a more accurate blow.
There’s also a bunch of different arrows added to the game, new sound effects and other changes. Check out all the big changes below.
Added shields
Attacking now has a “cool-down” delay, making it more important to time your attacks
You can now hold items in both hands (default quick key to swap items is ‘F’)
Swords have a special sweep attack
Axes have a special crushing blow attack
Added the elytra
New mob: Shulker
Expanded The End
Added Chorus plants
New Purpur blocks
New End Rod block
Added dragon head block
Ender Dragon can be resummoned
Added beetroot and beetroot soup (from MC:PE)
Added grass path block
Added igloos
Armor protection values have been lowered
Added tipped arrows
Added spectral arrows
Added Frost Walker enchantment and frosted ice block
Added a whole bunch of new sound effects
Added sound effect subtitles
Brewing Stand now requires Blaze Powder to activate
Added skeleton riders
We believe we’ve fixed MC-10 and a whole bunch of other issues
For a brief period, the stars were aligned and the PC and Console Editions ofMinecraftreached near parity. TheMinecraft 1.8.8update for consoles rolled out a huge list of changes and updates, bringingMinecrafton consoles closer than it had ever been to the PC version. At that point, us console players really had everything we could want, besidespersistent serversand unlimited worlds and those sorts of things. It was good times. It stillisgood times—the new updateis fantasticand really breathes new life into the game. But at the same time, the PC version has soldiered on, getting even better and more exciting than before.With the official release ofMinecraft 1.9on PC,available now, the original version of the game has lots of new and exciting stuff we don’t have. This is no complaint… it’s just new stuff for us to look forward to in futureMinecraftupdates.
Combat Update For Console Edition?
Technically, that brief period of alignment betweenMinecraftPC and Console just ended. Until the release of the Combat Update, the latest release ofMinecrafton PC was very similar to the current console release, minus a few bells and whistles. However, the newest major PC update is finally available. Lots of people are playing it already.Minecraft1.9, the so-calledCombat Update, is a major revamp. It changes the basic combat dynamic, adds a left hand, shields, new types of arrows, and all kinds of things to make combat more challenging and exciting.
But that’s not the juicy stuff. The Combat update also adds some new gameplay features to explore. First off, igloos.There are igloos now! Pretty cool as far as structures go. More notably, the Combat Update revamps the PC version of the Ender Dragon fight to be more like the one in the console version, but it also adds an endgame following that fight (which can now be repeated).
After the Ender Dragon, the PC player can now explore something truly new—the outer islands of the End, which are home toEnd citiesand the new types of monsters that inhabit them. There are beautifulchorus trees, awesome newpurple blocks, major structures hovering over the Void. And there areEnd ships, filled with danger and treasure anda truly rare artifact, the Elytra, that lets players fly—after a fashion. It’s a huge expansion to the end-game content inMinecraft,at least as exciting as the Ocean Monuments. And someday it will surely come toMinecrafton consoles.
When will the Combat Update come toMinecrafton PS4, Xbox One, Wii U and everything else? It’s going to be a long while. Remember, the Update just came out on PC on Feb. 29. Now that it’s locked and loaded, the countdown for the update on the Console Editions starts. And even after that, it’ll be a long wait. 4J Studios takes its time with the updates, although the last one (which took a year!) wasa bit of an exceptionbecause of its sheer breadth and size.
Don’t expect the Combat Update anytime soon.
But that doesn’t mean you can’t start getting excited for it.
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