by Stone Marshall | Feb 26, 2017 | Awesome Book News, Minecraft News, Minecraft questions, parent-news, State of Stone |
The big, recently released Star Wars mobile game is getting its first wave of new content.
Netmarble is updating Star Wars: Force Arena, its head-to-head strategy battler, on iOS and Android today. This patch is the publisher’s first major attempt to bring changes to the game, and that means a shift in how seasons work, new units, and an upgraded user interface. Force Arena plays a lot like Supercell’s 2016 mobile hit Clash Royale, but it features hero characters like Han Solo and Boba Fett that players control and use in conjunction with grunts like Rebel soldiers and Stormtroopers. Updates like this keep the game running smoothly, but it should also potentially bring lapsed players back to the game and get them spending money on the microtransactions.
One of the biggest changes to Force Awakens is how its reward system works. These balance tweaks will increase the likelihood that players will get powerful units that can compete at a higher level. New units are the other major tweak. Force Arena now has an Aqualish Engineer and Wed Treadwell Droid, which can each repair turret units for the Rebel Alliance and the Empire, respectively.
“We are happy to announce an upgraded reward system into Star Wars: Force Arena, which will give players more gold packs and leader cards,” Netmarble chief marketing officer Seungwon Lee said in a statement. “The two new characters will bring in more strategy into the game as we expect more players to enjoy and have fun and play with their favorite Star Wars characters.”
Additional changes to Force Arena include improvements to guilds, trading, and the tutorial.
Star Wars: Force Arena gets first big update as Netmarble adds new units, improves rewards
by Stone Marshall | Feb 25, 2017 | Minecraft News, Minecraft questions, parent-news, State of Stone |
Minecraft lives on Windows Mobile devices.
Developer Mojang has updated Minecraft for Windows 10 Mobile, and you can get it for free if you already own it and update your Windows Phone 8 device to Windows 10 Mobile. In this version of the game, players can access important new features like achievements, the update that adds Minecraft’s The End region, and the Realms multiplayer functionality. That support for Realms also means that you can use your Windows 10 Mobile smartphone to log into official Mojang servers to play online with you friends on iPhone, Android, or Windows 10 PCs.
“We stopped shipping Minecraft updates for Windows Phone 8 back in October last year,” Mojang developer Marsh Davies wrote in a blog post. “Of course, players can still carry on building and exploring their worlds as they always have, but, to get access to the newest Minecraft goodies, DLC, and other fun stuff, you’ll have to upgrade to the Windows 10 Mobile version of the game.”
This is a small part of Mojang and Microsoft’s efforts to bring all of Minecraft under one code base. The game still runs on separate foundations when it comes to the original PC version, the console versions, and the mobile versions, but the company has made a lot of effort to bring all of the mobile versions into parity. Moving ahead, the companies have a long-term plan to further join together the various offshoots of Minecraft across platforms.
Minecraft gets updated for Windows phones — yes, really
by Stone Marshall | Feb 25, 2017 | Minecraft News, Minecraft questions, parent-news, State of Stone |
Swedish National Land survey has put its maps on Minecraft to promote its work
Since December 2015, anyone playing popular sandbox game Minecraft has been able to build their worlds on the actual map of Sweden.
Lantmäteriet, the Swedish National Land survey, launched the country’s maps as Minecraft-friendly downloads to increase interest in geospatial information and open data, particularly among younger citizens.“We were going to launch some maps as open data and I thought it would be great to do it on Minecraft, and our managers liked the idea,” Bobo Tideström, business developer at the Lantmäteriet, told Computer Weekly.
By submitting your email address, you agree to receive emails regarding relevant topic offers from TechTarget and its partners. You can withdraw your consent at any time. Contact TechTarget at 275 Grove Street, Newton, MA.
You also agree that your personal information may be transferred and processed in the United States, and that you have read and agree to the Terms of Use and the Privacy Policy.
Tideström introduced the idea of a Minecraft Sweden in August 2015, and the complete map of Sweden and individual maps of each of its 290 municipalities were released to the public four months later. “For a governmental department, we completed the project very fast,” said Tideström. Lantmäteriet had a small internal team working on the project while the map data was converted to Minecraft by outside consultants using FME mapping tools.
The maps have gathered over 19,000 downloads to date, but Tideström believes their reach is far wider through the visibility of the project and the use of the maps in various other projects, such as a competition for schools to design a future city in the municipality of Kiruna.
“We were surprised that municipalities and organisations have started to use Minecraft as an actual planning tool for city development and have a dialogue with citizens,” said Tideström. “It is an easy way to translate maps into 3D, which makes it far easier for people to see how their city will look.”
The project, which cost an estimated kr400,000 (£36,000), has also received an accolade from the IT community, winning Digital Project of the Year at the Swedish CIO Awards.
Sweden is not the first country to recreate itself in Minecraft. Denmark and Norway have previously had similar projects, but Tideström said Lantmäteriet has gone a step further with the granular data the maps offer, from roads and lakes to forests and grasslands.
Lantmäteriet used the earlier project in Denmark for benchmarking, namely in opting for downloadable maps instead of a server-based approach. “In Denmark, they had an open server so people could log in and play,” said Tideström. “They had big problems with houses being torn down by players.”
The Swedish maps are available in 8×8 metre resolution (each Minecraft block is equivalent to eight meters). While this means small file sizes for downloading, the maps are more suitable for roaming the landscape than building detailed houses. To address this Lantmäteriet has so far launched four municipalities in a higher (1×1) resolution to enable more creativity.
“In some areas, schoolkids have built the whole centre of a town so it looks like real life, with the right textures and colours,” said Tideström.
Tideström said the Minecraft project hasn’t faced any major technical issues, but it has had an impact on Lantmäteriet’s approach to IT projects. The agency is now encouraging more experiments and fast deployments in addition to traditional large-scale projects.
“We realised if we would have taken this project through our normal process of driving things, we would have released it in 2018 or 2019,” he said. “We are now looking into how we can change this prioritisation and act faster with the deployment of ideas.”
Sweden uses Minecraft for urban planning
by Stone Marshall | Feb 24, 2017 | Minecraft News, Minecraft questions, State of Stone |
“Minecraft” is an incredible game. It’s basically virtual Legos, and you can play it with dozens of friends. And sometimes, friends who play “Minecraft” together become people who create something magical in “Minecraft” together.
Such is the case with “Pokémon Cobalt and Amethyst,” a “60- to 80-hour” Pokémon game built entirely within “Minecraft.” For real! Just look at this:
YouTube
We’re talking about the good stuff: finding, battling, and capturing Pokémon — and then battling other Pokémon with the ones you’ve enslaved. There’s a full story, various locales to explore, and much more. Better yet, it’s entirely free! All you need is a copy of “Minecraft” on PC or Mac, and about 15 minutes.
Here’s the deal:
The game is called “Pokémon Cobalt and Amethyst” — a nod to the naming convention of the Nintendo-made Pokémon games:
It’s a full-on, brand-new “Pokémon” game — albeit one that isn’t officially supported by The Pokémon Company or Nintendo.
Just look at this madness! Since it’s built in “Minecraft,” it’s a 3D version of the normally 2D “Pokémon” games.YouTube
There’s a brand new Pokémon game, and it’s built entirely within ‘Minecraft’ — take a look
by Stone Marshall | Feb 24, 2017 | Minecraft News, Minecraft questions, parent-news, State of Stone |
In all likelihood, 3-D printing will forever remain a niche thing. But if you or your kid happen to reside in that niche, making your own stuff has become crazy accessible.
Much of the reason is software: Microsoft’s Paint 3-D app in the upcoming Windows 10 Creators Update makes designing 3-D objects super simple, and kids can even print out their own Minecraft creations. But the hardware is following suit, as 3-D printers are now much cheaper and easier to use.
How cheap? For less than $300, you can now buy a capable and beginner-friendly 3-D printer. There are solid models from Monoprice that cost even less, but XYZprinting has 3-D printers for kids and beginners that will look better in your workspace. They’re essentially designed to fill the void left empty by the long-delayed Mattel ThingMaker. But as a well-timed bonus, they also play nice with Windows 10’s latest maker-minded features.
The cheapest and smallest of the lot is the Da Vinci Nano, a $230 box slated to ship by the middle of the year. It’s designed to just plug in and work with a Windows PC like a mouse or keyboard, with the ability to print out objects up to the size of a 4.7-inch cube. In case you’d rather just print stuff without futzing around in Paint 3D, there’s a database of toys and other objects on XYZprinting’s site.
But there’s even an easier version of the printer designed for kids. The Da Vinci MiniMaker sells for $250, and it’s capable of larger 5.9-inch-cubed print jobs. In addition to being able to print out Paint 3D projects and Minecraft models in Windows 10 Creators Update, XYZprinting has a downloadable STEAM education package with tutorials and projects for K-12 students.
Both printers use XYZ’s proprietary PLA filament, which is non-toxic in case your kid decides to eat the green hamburger they just conjured. The printers have a resolution of 100 microns, which is far from what the industry considers high resolution, but a lower quality is to be expected for the price. If you fork over an extra $250 for the separately-sold 3-D Scanner Pro, you can make low-res 3-D clones of every object in your home. Even a (non-working) version of the 3-D printer itself.
Bring Minecraft to Life With These Cheap 3-D Printers
by Stone Marshall | Feb 23, 2017 | Minecraft News, Minecraft questions |
US gamers can now get the Xbox One S 500GB with Minecraft Favorites from online retailer Ebay for only $199.99, with free shipping. The Xbox One S Minecraft Favorites Bundle (500GB) includes the Xbox One S 500GB console, an Xbox Wireless Controller, Minecraft: Xbox One Edition Favorites Pack, Minecraft Builder’s Pack, Minecraft: Windows 10 Edition Beta, and a 14-day Xbox Live Gold trial.
Get full game downloads of Minecraft for Xbox One and Windows 10, plus thirteen fabulous, community-favorite content Packs, including Halo Mash-up and Festive Mash-up. Craft new Minecraft worlds together with friends on Xbox Live, the most advanced multiplayer network. And now with the new Xbox One S, you can even watch 4K Blu-ray™ movies, stream Netflix and Amazon Video in stunning 4K Ultra HD, and play a growing library of Xbox 360 games. With all the biggest blockbusters this year, there’s never been a better time to jump ahead with Xbox One.
This is a new system you will be receiving, you can grab it from here.
Deal: Get Xbox One S 500GB with Minecraft Favorites from Ebay for $199.99
