by Stone Marshall | Jul 14, 2016 | Minecraft questions |
I am a huge Minecraft fan. So great a fan, in fact, that before last Friday I hadn’t played in about a year. That’s because Minecraft is a bit like the Bat-Signal, and should be fired up only in times of greatest need. Usually it’s the need to escape from something without leaving my spare bedroom. That could be the sudden descent of family upon my abode, unprecedented mountains of laundry, Brexit—anything that I just can’t face right now.
Each time such a crisis arises, I start a new world. Great cities and blocky wonders have been lost to the Recycle Bin or in hardware upgrades, but it doesn’t matter, because I’m not interested in the finished project. Finishing means I’ll have to face up to the fact that my country just voted itself into political oblivion. No, the real escapism lies in the first few days and nights, when you’re alone and unequipped in an infinite, empty world.
Loading into a new world—after a few experiments with seeds, of course—is like the first sip of icy water on a blazing summer’s day. Everything around you is clear, simple and refreshing, both in the literal sense of the signature aesthetic and in the ritual I must perform.
The sacred Building Of The First Hut (or Digging Of The First Hole, depending on how long I’ve spent placidly wandering) is the first opportunity to collect my thoughts. My brain disconnects as my muscle memory carries me through the task of punching trees, getting wood, making a table, crafting a pick, gathering stone and cobbling it into an appalling hovel.
Architectural concerns are secondary. Later, depending on the magnitude of the real-world problem that forced me to seek refuge, huts become halls and fields turn to fortifications. Right now we’re looking at a 1:1 reimagining of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon.
It’s really about lasting the first few nights, though. Minecraft sparked the survival fashion, so despite its rudimentary mechanics it that regard, it’s still the quintessential wilderness. That is, until I can afford to build a real log cabin deep in British Columbia and live as a hermit with only a faithful hound for company.
Played like this, Minecraft is an infinite source of solitude. The thought of its many bustling multiplayer servers is horrifying. Sometimes it’s good to be antisocial for the sake of your sanity, and on those occasions, Minecraft has just the empty expanse for you.
Why I love being alone in Minecraft
by Stone Marshall | Jul 2, 2016 | Minecraft questions |
“Minecraft” will be blowing up the big screen on May 25, 2019.
Warner Bros. set a release date on Monday for the video game adaptation, which will be presented in 3D and on Imax.
“It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” star and co-creator Rob McElhenney is directing the movie.
“Minecraft” will go head to head against two massive films in May of 2019: Disney’s “Star Wars: Episode IX” and Marvel’s “Avengers: Infinity War — Part II.”
Warner Bros. acquired film rights to the video game franchise from Swedish developer Mojang AB in February of 2014. Roy Lee (“Lego Movie”) will produce through his Vertigo Entertainment production company along with Jill Messick (“Mean Girls”).
Director Shawn Levy, and writers Kieran Mulroney and Michele Mulroney were initially attached to the project. The trio departed in December of 2014 after their concept didn’t fit the video game developers’ vision.
The game, which debuted in 2009, allows players to create their own avatars and build an environment using textured cubes in a 3D world as they battle nocturnal monsters. Multiple gameplay modes are available, including survival mode, creative mode and adventure mode.
“Angry Birds” is the most recent mobile game to get the movie treatment, with “Candy Crush” and “Fruit Ninja” films in the works.
‘Minecraft’ Movie Gets Release Date From Warner Bros.
by Stone Marshall | Jun 17, 2016 | Awesome Book News, Minecraft questions |
Minecraft was released for the Wii U back in December 2015 via the Nintendo E-Shop and made a perfect fit for the Wii U, probably more so than any other video game console available today.
Compared to the likes of the Windows 10 version and Xbox version, the game is mostly the same but Nintendo wants to change that with a recently released Super Mario theme pack for the Wii U version. This is no doubt going to become very popular, and will be the envy of Minecraft players on other platforms.
The new content is set to launch on May 17, 2016, bringing with it a Super Mario themed world. Furthermore, 15 pieces of Mario-related music and 40 themes to spice up your Minecraft world are also included. This is definitely the best Minecraft theme packs we have ever seen, but unfortunately, it is only available on the Nintendo Wii U — a console on its way to the graveyard. Still, we’ve already seen several individuals claiming they are prepared to purchase a Nintendo Wii U just for this version of Minecraft, and why not? It’s the type of experience that can’t be found anywhere else.
The Super Mario theme pack is freely available via the E-Shop. Furthermore, those who purchase Minecraft for the Nintendo Wii U come May 17 on disk for $29.99 can also get it from the disk itself, so there’ll be no need to download it. If you’re interested in grabbing the digital version of Minecraft for the Nintendo Wii U, then jump to the E-Shop right here and pick it up.
Minecraft recently celebrated its 4th birthday on the Xbox. To celebrate, Microsoft made sure to gift players with several theme packs to help spice up their world. The packs are available for the Xbox 360 and Xbox One video game consoles only. You can also grab the Minecraft Xbox One Edition Favorites Pack come June 7 from the Xbox Store. As the name suggests, this will not be available on the Xbox 360.
Super Mario theme comes to Minecraft for Nintendo Wii U
by Stone Marshall | Nov 24, 2015 | Minecraft questions |
The new Minecraft update version – snapshot 15w46a was released by Mojang, the update is mainly focused on fixing the bugs that many players have reported. In addition the 0.13.0 update for the Minecraft Pocket Edition was released and the owners of mobile devices can test it out. Unfortunately, we’re not sure when the final version of Minecraft Pocket Edition 0.13.0 will be released, but we’ll let you know as soon as we find out.
The new Minecraft Update version 1.9 – snapshot 15w46a has also brought the “fallen trees” feature. Unfortunately, there is no news regarding the release date of the Minecraft Update 1.9, but we’re sure that the developers are getting closer and closer on releasing it for the entire public.
As we’ve told you above, the new snapshot 15w46a comes with some bug fixes and changes and we will enumerate a few below:
– Mobs will not spawn anymore on rails, sprinting will no longer stop after a period of time,
– Redstone dust hitbox have been created,
– A bug that caused the third person view to revert to first person view if he head goes inside a block has been fixed, a bug that was causing the breaking doors to move the other parts of the door has been fixed,
– The IPv6 now works as it should, a bug that was causing the end portal frames to act like solid blocks has been fixed,
– You can now see the Horse Health in Creative Mode, a bug that was causing the boats to be sunken in water has been fixed,
– A bug that was causing the guardians to spawn in random places has been fixed and a bug that was causing the doors to not have any placement sound has been fixed.
Minecraft 1.9 Update Available With Bug Fixes, New Features and Improvements
by Stone Marshall | Nov 2, 2015 | Minecraft questions |
Minecraft is a very popular game.
Star Wars is a very popular series of movies. It was really only a matter of time, then, before the two properties were combined into one guaranteed moneymaker. With two packs of
Star Wars skins having already been released for
Minecraft: Console Editions, there is now a third pack in the mix that includes characters from the oft-maligned prequels.
The new pack is available on all consoles for the microtransactional price of $2.99. For that small amount of coin, buyers get a bevy of characters both popular and obscure, ranging from series stalwarts such as Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi to more hilariously named characters such as Poggle the Lesser and Kit Fisto.
One notable character from the prequels seems to be absent, though: Jar Jar Binks, the embodiment of everything Star Wars fans lamented about episodes I through III. Was he left out to avoid controversy, or just because the programmers couldn’t figure out how render his floppy ears as pixelated blocks? Either way, Star Wars fans won’t have blocky Jar Jar to kick around.
The full list of characters who did make the cut is below:
- Anakin Skywalker, Jedi Knight
- Obi-Wan Kenobi, Jedi Master
- Qui-Gon Jinn
- Queen Amidala, Naboo Throne Room
- Senator Padmé Amidala, Geonosis
- Mace Windu
- Darth Maul
- Senator Palpatine
- Count Dooku
- General Grievous
- Jango Fett
- Watto
- Boss Nass
- Aayla Secura
- Clone Commander Cody
- Clone Trooper, Phase I
- Security Battle Droid
- Zam Wesell
- Ki-Adi-Mundi
- Lama Su
- Kit Fisto
- Mas Amedda
- Captain Panaka
- Plo Koon
- Poggle the Lesser
- Captain Typho
- Nute Gunray
- Padmé Amidala, Pilot Disguise
- Queen Amidala, Battle Dress
- Padmé Amidala, Peasant Disguise
- Bail Organa
- Adi Gallia
- MagnaGuard
- Clone Commander Gree
- Kashyyyk Trooper
- Tion Medon
- Asajj Ventress
- Savage Opress
- Ahsoka Tano
- Clone Captain Rex
- Hondo Ohnaka
- Cad Bane
- Mother Talzin
- Wat Tambor
- Shaak Ti
- C-3PO on Battle Droid
- Battle Droid on C-3PO
- Commander Battle Droid
- Infantry Battle Droid
- Pilot Battle Droid
- Beru Whitesun Lars
- Owen Lars
It’s worth noting that these skin packs are for the console versions of the game only. Players of the PC or mobile versions are out of luck, although PC players only have to do a Google search for “Minecraft Star Wars mod” to find all sorts of fun ways to bring the movies to their game of choice. Maybe some of those mods even include Jar Jar Binks, for those who might want to put him in a cage on a remote island surrounded by zombies or something like that.
Is the $2.99 a solid investment or another attempt to milk Minecraft players for all they’re worth? Maybe a little of both, depending on how much you want Pilot Battle Droids patrolling the hallways of your blocky castle, while Queen Amidala awaits you on a bed made of chickens. One’s imagination is the only limitation when it comes to the silly things one can do with licensed characters in Minecraft.
The Minecraft Star Wars Prequel Skin Pack is available now for all console versions of the game.
Star Wars Prequel Skins Now Available for Minecraft: Console Editions
by Stone Marshall | Oct 11, 2015 | Minecraft questions |
that will be coming to Minecraft Pocket Edition in future updates, during a livestream on Twitch. Here’s what we’ve learned.
The build height limit will be increased “pretty soon”. Some technical limitations will need to be overcome to keep the game running at the same speed.
Mojang would like to add in-game music, but says the issue is that the music is about 20 times bigger than the game itself, so says it would likely provide it as an optional add-on.
It is thinking about providing optional crafting methods, where you can choose and place ingredients manually – more like the PC version.
The developer says it will add new resource packs, so you can skin boxes and your interface, but “that will take a while”.
When asked if it would make a version of Minecraft Pocket Edition that works with virtual reality devices, a developer said “we are working on that right now”, and says to expect a version for Gear VR.
But probably not Google Cardboard because “it’s a bit crap”.
It will look into 3D Touch support on iPhone 6s. But Mojang says “we want to do everything, but if it’s just for one device it will be lower down the priority list”.
Mojang was asked if it would support old phones in future updates.
It says it will try to support everything, and offer optional features only for new devices, but says “if a few hundred old devices are holding millions of new ones back, we may decide to remove support”.
Will Mojang provide more modding tools for Pocket Edition? The Swedish studio says it’s “part of the vision” that you should be able to mod Minecraft, regardless of platform, but calls that a “far-fetched” goal. So, keep on waiting.
“We’re not there yet with The Wither”, the developer says. So maybe don’t expect this three-headed boss monster in 0.13.
The stonecutter will be killed off soon. It was added to avoid having hundreds of stone items in the crafting menu. But with a new crafting system coming, it will no longer be needed.
It wants to have chests you can open in creative mode. But it will need to overcome some technical and interface issues first.
Pocket Edition will “eventually” get books you can read and writer. And Realms is “incoming”. But monkeys, penguins, and programmable robots are not planned, says Jens. Boo.
Mojang has no plans to make Minecraft more realistic. The studio says it likes the current style, saying it’s more approachable to lots of different types of player.
Don’t expect Game Center achievements. It’s more likely to get Live achievements (the Microsoft ones).
Horses and trading with villagers are almost done, but the UI isn’t finished. So don’t count on either of them appearing in 0.13.
Witches and witches huts? Yes, eventually. But wizards? Maybe.
Minecraft Pocket Edition will get music, Gear VR, and expanded build height in future updates
