FAIRMONT — When East Fairmont High School senior Justin Hardwick started playing the video game Minecraft four years ago, he didn’t think his hobby would turn into anything more than just that.
However, after entering a statewide competition to re-create the state’s Capitol with Minecraft earlier this summer, Hardwick used his love of the game to become one of the contest’s two winners.
Minecraft is a video game in which players can explore, fight monsters and build structures in a randomly generated world. One of the biggest uses of the game in its online community has been building just about anything one’s mind can conjure up and sharing it with everyone else.
In that spirit, the State Capitol Minecraft Design/Build contest saw students from around the state compete to remake the West Virginia State Capitol Complex in the video game.
While one group competed to make the closest replica of the Capitol, Hardwick joined the other group, in which he was able to redesign the Capitol from scratch and make it his own vision.
“I chose to design a new model just because I’m not very good at intricacies and details and stuff,” Hardwick said. “I definitely knew I wanted to do gold domes and marble because that’s similar to what’s there now. … but I didn’t want it to be so stereotypical as to all the Capitol buildings that look kind of the same. I wanted to make it more modern.”
While the contest took place over the summer, the winners were only announced Wednesday. Hardwick, the only winner from Marion County, traveled to Charleston to meet Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin.
Tomblin said in a press release that using educational methods and applying them to areas that the students can connect with and enjoy is one of the best ways to grow skills and experience.
“I applaud each student who took the time to create their own versions of our state Capitol,” Tomblin said. “More than once this summer, I saw students exploring the Capitol grounds, taking notes and preparing for the hours they would spend creating their submissions. Their efforts certainly paid off. It’s important that we encourage our students to develop the skills and interests that build a foundation for future success in STEM fields — into college, training programs and careers.”
Hardwick, who is also a member of the school’s champion soccer team, started playing Minecraft to unleash his creative side and has been playing the game for several years.
Upon graduation, Hardwick hopes to go to nursing school, all while playing the game that propelled him to the governor’s office.
Though the open-world crafting phenomenon doesn’t really have an end, any more than a big box of assorted LEGOs has some final way to assemble it, Minecraft does have an endgame. The original PC release was expanded with a “final” level and boss in 2012, but the Microsoft-branded Windows 10 version and the Pocket Edition on Android haven’t had access to it so far. According to Mojang’s developer blog, The End is nigh, and it has a gameplay trailer.
In the appropriately-titled “Ender Update,” which also finally brings the game up to version 1.0, players will be able to travel to a Lovecraft-inspired alternate dimension complete with new creatures and new crafting materials. There’s also the final boss, the Ender Dragon, and slaying it will grant players a peek at the elusive credits and a feel-good achievement. It’s best to tackle this final challenge in a group, if you can.
Other features promised in the 1.0 update include the World Seed Library, polar bears and cubs in appropriate environments, and free access to the Minecraft soundtrack (though that will be offered as a separate download). Exactly when Pocket Edition will receive this update hasn’t been shared yet, but Mojang usually posts these announcements a few weeks before they go live. Hopefully you’ll be able to get a little dragon-slaying done before the end of the year.
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Villa La Rotonda
Minecraft, the megahit video game, comes with a creative mode that lets players construct whatever they want from the game’s characteristic blocky elements. Many kids will experiment with building houses and castles, but serious creators invest many hours building elaborate constructions.
This rendition of the Villa La Rotonda, originally by architect Andrea Palladio but made in Minecraft by a two-person team from a company called BlockWorks, took a week to make. It’s one of dozens of constructions in a new book called “Beautiful Minecraft.”
Minecraft is a game that seems to run on anything. Be it your phone, PC, Xbox, or even your VR headset, Minecraft has a version for it. What all these versions all lack, however, is feature parity. The Windows 10 PC edition even lacks content found in the Java PC edition, and it results in a pretty different experience when you try the game out on another device. The team at Mojang has been taking steps to fix that, and a big leap ahead is coming soon to both the mobile and Windows 10 versions: 1.0.
This update adds a variety of things depending on your platform, but the biggest addition is The End. This area was originally released in version 1.0 of the original Java PC version of the game, and feature’s the game’s final boss. It’s a big enough addition to the game that this update’s even being officially called The Ender Update.
It’s been five long years since the original release of Minecraft: Pocket Edition, and it was the first of many strides to get Minecraft running on all the platforms it runs on today. Originally an insanely barebones port that hardly featured anything, it’s gone on to become almost as big as the original version of the game. One big thing it’s consistently been missing is the game’s soundtrack, and that’s thankfully changing with 1.0. It won’t be included in the main download for the game, but it will presumably be easy to find.
Minecraft: Windows 10 Edition owners who happen to have an Oculus Rift with Oculus Touch also have a special reason to be happy, as 1.0 will bring support for Oculus Touch.
Those who’ve been following my articles on Minecraft: Pocket Edition [$6.99] know what feature I’ve been patiently (and impatiently) waiting to see come to the game, and we are finally getting it in the upcoming 1.0 update, or The Ender Update. Yes, we are finally getting the original soundtrack, and I can’t wait for it. It will be a separate download, so if you don’t have the space you shouldn’t worry about it. The iconic Minecraft music is for me one of the best parts of the game, and I’m very excited to finally have it in MCPE. The Ender Update is bringing much more than just the music, though. We are also getting The End, which makes the game a “complete loop” as the developers call it.
The End is coming to MCPE with all its sights and sounds: Shulkers, Elytra, End Ships, and the Ender Dragon. For those who are into questing, now you have the ultimate prize to hunt for. We are also getting Polar Bears and Igloos in the Snowy biomes and a new World Seed Library, an ever-growing curated list of fantastic seeds. We don’t have a release date yet, but I don’t think it’s going to be too far off given that Mojang is celebrating MCPE‘s 5th anniversary and might want to give us all a present. I’m very excited about this update, and I can’t wait to go exploring and crafting while listening to that amazing music.
The Ender Dragon update should bring Minecraft: Pocket Edition to version 1.0, an achievement that took more than 5 years to accomplish.
Well, we’re not there yet, but Mojang thought it would be nice to celebrate 5 years since the game was launched on the mobile platforms with a little sneak peek at what’s to come. So, with the Ender Dragon update a new chapter opens up for Minecraft: Pocket Edition.
The Ender Update will bring the game version up to the big 1.0, in honour of introducing Minecraft’s complete ‘gameplay loop’, as the devs like to say. But even though we’ve brought you The End, we’re a long way from finished with Pocket Edition.
That being said, Mojang released a comprehensive trailer that shows some of the new features and improvements the Ender Dragon update brings to Minecraft game on mobile devices.
Some of them have already been announced weeks ago, but if you don’t know anything about it here is a quick roundup of what’s to come.
First of all, Minecraft players will be able to battle the ultimate boss, the Ender Dragon. Then, the update will make it easier for players to locate weird and amazing worlds with a curated catalog of superior seeds.
Polar bears will be introduced as well, but as long as you don’t approach their cubs too much you should be fine. The original soundtrack will finally make it to the mobile version, but it will be available as a separate download for those who want it.
So, there you have folks, happy birthday and, hopefully, the Ender Dragon will come sooner rather than later.
