VR Is Big This October: Google Daydream, PlayStation VR, ‘Minecraft: Gear VR Edition’ And Oculus
Virtual reality is still far from being a certified household name, but its continuous leaps mean it’s headed there eventually, and it’s headed there even faster once October rolls around, with Google, Sony, Microsoft and Oculus all revving up VR-related announcements next month.
For most, the concept of virtual reality is still a daunting sideways glance, going largely undiscussed but marveled at upon direct contact, like touchscreens back in the day, which were revolutionary the first couple of years, until they were just obviously and unthinkingly the right input mechanism for phones.
Come October, with these huge companies slapping their brands as prefixes or suffixes to their individual VR ventures, expect VR to filter through more channels of murmurs in and out of circles, expanding VR dialogue by leaps and bounds.
But enough about forecasting. Here are some of the biggest announcements in VR on October:
Google Daydream
Coming out of its beta stage, Google’s own VR effort, dubbed the Daydream VR, had recently opened its doors for developers. Daydream is much more sophisticated than the Google’s makeshift Cardboard peripheral, allowing users to port their favorite Android apps onto Daydream as VR experiences.
Google announced its Daydream platform back in May during its Google I/O conference, but details about it are scant to this day. Google is expected to provide more details about its direction for the Daydream platform on its upcoming Oct. 4 event.
Google is credited for largely letting casual users understand VR technology in a way that’s sufficient enough to make them care about it. It’s Google Cardboard peripheral is raw and not very high-tech, sporting a toolshed, shop-class aesthetic, but it gets its message about VR clear: It’s the next big thing in a lot of ways you don’t need expensive and fancy gear to experience it, and most importantly, it’s not about to go away anytime soon.
PlayStation VR
Sony will release its own PlayStation VR headset a week after the Oculus conference at $399. It will be the first mainstream VR gear able to integrate natively with a gaming console, specifically Sony’s own PS4. The PlayStation VR had a huge presence back in the E3 bubble but has since remained laconic despite excellent preorder figures, outselling at a rate much faster than any product at GameStop.
Consumer adoption for the PlayStation VR headset will possibly be much easier than some VR gear because of the PS4 units already sitting in millions of households. It’s also priced much lower than the HTC Vive or the Oculus Rift, but the main drawback is that it offers a lower-resolution experience compared to other PC-based VR setups.
Sony promised that the PlayStation VR will come with eight demo titles upon its launch on Oct. 13, with a stellar list of titles still in the pipeline, not to mention Sony is also bringing Vive and Rift games available to play.
Minecraft: Gear VR Edition
Starting October, Xbox Wireless Controllers will be compatible with Samsung Gear VR headsets, Tech Times previously reported. The first game to take advantage of the Gear VR and Xbox One controller pairing is Minecraft: Gear VR Edition, and if you have Minecraft: Windows 10 Edition, you can go ahead and download the Oculus store version.
Oculus Touch
Following a store display spotting in London, the Oculus Touch is rumored to be released on winter, with the exact release date still vague. As per the store displays, the Oculus touch will cost £190 ($246) in the UK, with the US price is still obscure for the time being.
Once released,the Touch controllers will offer more sophisticated and complex motion control mechanisms and options for Oculus Rift headset owners who have been waiting since its unveiling. More details about the Touch controllers are expected to make the rounds once the Oculus Connect conference begins on Oct. 5.
Fans and enthusiasts closely following developments in the VR realm should have plenty of material to chew on this October, and who knows, there may even be surprise announcements none of us saw coming, so expect due coverage as we reach the dates. Meanwhile, October isn’t the end for VR announcements and news. On November, the Virtual Reality Developers Conference will be held in San Francisco, with developers expected to showcase new VR apps before the holiday season.
VR Is Big This October: Google Daydream, PlayStation VR, ‘Minecraft: Gear VR Edition’ And Oculus
Minecraft dev would ‘love’ to see an Uncharted collaboration
It’s not off the table
As I sat down to speak with Rog Carpenter, Executive Producer for Minecraft’s console branch, I wanted to know one thing immediately — now that they’re under Microsoft’s umbrella, how open is the team to working with other publishers? Pretty open, as it turns out.
In addition to a massive amount of support from Nintendo directly for the Mario Mash-Up pack for the Wii U version of Minecraft, the team is in “constant” communication with just about everyone. “We talk to all the major players, and we have a back and forth with them, so there’s no real barriers in place. In fact, we’d love to tackle a property like Uncharted for Sony next, or even Gears for Microsoft…we’ve looked at doing both of those things as Mash-Ups.
So the Minecraft team is seemingly the hope diamond in the rough of the console wars, but what about cross-platform play on consoles? Carpenter was a little less enthusiastic about that, but according to him, they’re always looking at it: “We go with what our fans want, and obviously, that’s been asked many times. So we know there’s limitations there on a technical level and on a publisher level, and other developers we’ve talked to have said the same thing. Our mission is to make Minecraft as open as possible, which is what the Windows 10 and mobile editions are doing, so we’ll continue to monitor the situation as it unfolds. For now, nothing is definite.”
While he wouldn’t comment on the situation directly, the ball really is in Sony’s court. Microsoft, the IP holder in this case, is willing to have cross-platform console play. It took them forever to decide this and many eager Japanese developers have been spurned in the process, but it’s something that can happen now. “Maybe Mojang and 4J will be the ones to finally break down that wall?” I asked. “Maybe, maybe,” is all I got with a laugh.
Minecraft dev would ‘love’ to see an Uncharted collaboration
Minecraft 1.11 Update to Add Llamas, Mansions, and Maps
Mojang is preparing to launch Minecraft‘s 1.11 update, which will add llamas, mansions filled with Illagers, and treasure maps, among many other changes.
Mojang is hard at work, as ever, on the upcoming 1.11 update for the original PC version of Minecraft. Debuting what the team has been working at over the weekend during Minecon, Mojang’s “Exploration Update” adds several significant pieces of content including llamas, mansions, and maps. Larger system-based gameplay additions like enchanting and experience are absent, but Mojang is hoping to make up for that with pure content.
Here’s a short list of the major additions coming in Minecraft‘s 1.11 update:
Woodland Mansion – Giant end-game dungeons that spawn in in Dark Oak Forests.
Treasure Map – Leads to hidden structures like monuments and dungeons.
Shulker Shell and Shulker Box – Shells dropped from Shulkers can be turned into boxes which keep their inventory when broken.
Cartographer Villager – Trades maps.
Illagers – Melee “Vindicators” and caster “Evoker” Illagers populate the new Woodland Mansion dungeons.
Vex – Flying enemy type that is spawned by Evoker-type Illagers.
Llama – Animal that can be saddled, tamed, leashed and equipped with a small 6-slot inventory.
Observer Block – Observes block updates and outputs a redstone signal.
This is just a shortlist of changes from Minecraft‘s 1.11 patch featuring content shown during Minecon and does not represent the final list of changes Mojang will likely be releasing soon. As for when the patch itself will be released, Mojang says 1.11’s snapshot will be available as soon as Wednesday of this week, and an official change-log will accompany the snapshot’s release.
Minecraft 1.11 to Add Llamas, Mansions and Maps – Sheep
While the initial reveal of patch 1.11 was met positively, as no Minecraft fan would ever be disappointed by new content, some criticism has since followed. 1.11 has been known as the “Exploration” update for some time and many fans built up certain expectations regarding that title. While maps may encourage players to get out and explore more, some fans fear 1.11 won’t meet its obligation in creating new, exciting content worth looking for. The Woodland Dungeon is interesting for end-game players, but it’s not a new biome filled with interesting new blocks and units.
Patch 1.12, the “Fanon” update, is coming in 2017 and could deliver some of the content that those disappointed in 1.11 would like to see. It will include new types of trees, a new metal in steel, and a village generation in snowy biomes, as well as female villagers. Mojang has promised to deliver smaller, faster Minecraft updates so fans constantly have something new to try out — and to avoid the lengthy update hiatuses that plagued the game for some time.
The original Java version of Minecraft is currently exclusively available on PC, with update 1.11 planned to release on Wednesday later this week. The staggeringly popular “Pocket” version of Minecraft, available on consoles, mobile platforms, and through Windows 10, should eventually receive the 1.11 update, but it may be some time before that happens.
There’s an alternative Minecraft server without any rules
Time moves differently in Minecraft. A day lasts 20 minutes. A night lasts only seven. With the right conditions, Rome can be built in a day. And with the right supplies, a troll can burn it to ashes in minutes.
2b2t, a malevolent form of Minecraft, is full of such ruins: It’s a place of beauty and terror.
Ranked among the world’s most popular video games, Minecraft is often praised for fostering creativity and constructive play. It is the parent-approved successor of Lego, even used as an educational tool in schools. In addition to the usual gameplay modes, multiplayer servers turn the game into a social activity. These communal worlds are subject to rules: start a fight or destroy property, and a moderator will usually ban you.
2b2t is an “anarchy server,” the oldest and most infamous of its kind. It offers a world without rules, where aggression is encouraged and survival is rarely assured. 2b2t plays out like a Cormac McCarthy novel built with thousands of 1×1 digital bricks.
While Minecraft is the terrain of the imagination, 2b2t gives free rein to your darkest impulses. And now, 2b2t is being ravaged by war.
Anarchy servers are a dark tradition within Minecraft. In a standard game, you are dropped into a randomly generated world, where you mine for resources and build structures, one block at a time. There’s a survival mode – players have to scrounge for food and fight off zombies at night – and a more free-form creative mode, where players have unlimited health and resources. Players can join friends and strangers to play in servers online, though they are discouraged from attacking others, laying waste to buildings or using pornographic terms to describe someone’s mother.
There are no such rules on the anarchy servers. They are by nature inhospitable – in general, players are advised to bury their supplies, arm themselves to the teeth and be prepared to die many times over. 2b2t – “2builders2tools” – was created in 2010 by a user named Hausemaster and is known as “the worst place in Minecraft”. It has its own subreddit, a webcomic and a “2b2t Press” news site, where pseudonymous players post updates on the ongoing war’s latest atrocities. One writer exploring it found it to be littered with Isis flags.
Its first colonisers were users of the Facepunch forum, hence 2b2t’s seminal “Facepunch Era”. Members began to map and establish bases. The first factions were formed as rival forums signed up to the server and began to launch raids to destroy each other’s work.
Today, the server is more chaotic still. Players are divided into two camps. “Rushers” are disorganised players that are new to the game, seeking to infiltrate 2b2t’s settlements and claim them as their own. They battle the “veterans”, more experienced residents who have rigged the “spawn” (the point at which players arrive in the game) with traps to kill off new players.
The wave of new players was triggered by TheCampingRusher, a YouTuber whose video exploring the server was posted on 1 June and already has over two million views. In the video, his elation is palpable as he enters this previously hidden world. Almost immediately after it was posted, new players began to flood into 2b2t, throwing the server deeper into chaos.
Since then, the battle lines have become more ambiguous: 2b2t’s oldest users have retreated to edges of the map to preserve their settlements and sit out the siege in peace, leaving the new players to attack each other.
Much of the appeal of 2b2t is about learning what is possible – a world with few limits other than one’s will to power and survival. In the server, cuddly Minecraft becomes a horror game, one that demands a zen-like sense of self-effacement as you die repeatedly and re-spawn back to where you started. In the chat window, a stream of insults blends in with server updates. No arrival goes unannounced. No death goes unsung. While playing, I’m informed that a player called Dr Funky Pepper has just “become lava”. Two others get “slashed by a zombie pigman” and reduced to “a bloody meat pile with just fists.”
To traverse 2b2t is to feel lost and overwhelmed, and to play is to accept this pain and confusion as a condition of existence. The ordeal begins even before you enter: The queue to join the server is over 1,000 players long. A very slow-moving countdown appears on screen; when it reaches zero, you’re allowed in.
It took me three tries and over four hours to join 2b2t. It was worth the wait. I spawned before an abyss – I was standing looking at a heady drop into sea and stone and lava. After I overcame my virtual vertigo, I edged my way up a gigantic craggy mountain.
Hidden across the landscape are some especially cruel traps: fake sanctuaries that explode in flames, pits that drop you into a river of lava and false floors that open into prisons built from obsidian, with no way to dig out. (Players entombed there have no choice but to log out and sit through the queue all over again.)
To navigate this land requires an arsenal of hacked clients – altered versions of the game with enhancements, similar to cheats, like X-ray vision or teleporting. Popular cheats include the power to see through walls to find supplies and victims and one to improve aim. (This might explain how a figure in the far distance was able to shoot me down with a crossbow. In the dark.)
As I played, alerts in my chat window listed the deaths occurring by the second; the calming, ambient Minecraft theme song played as body after body hit the floor.
Nazi propaganda, racist slurs and a succession of death threats pour into the chat window with mechanical efficiency. Their sheer volume negates the effect, and they become part of the background. I want to beat this. I want to feel at home in chaos.
I too am cursing now, shouting very loudly at my screen. I fall. I re-spawn. I fall again.
For several years now, Devi Ever has been known on 2b2t as something of a pirate and a griefer (those who terrorise other players for their own amusement). She says the best sights in 2b2t are far out from spawn, logged by players on interactive maps where the distance is measured in bricks – one brick is roughly equal to a cubic metre. “The million [brick] mark, that’s where all the cool stuff is,” she says. “The thing I enjoyed the most wasn’t destroying, it was exploring.”
She adds, “Exploring 2b2t is like archaeology, there’s so much that it says about the nature of Minecraft itself and about the design of the game. 2b2t deserves a book.”
As a seasoned player, Ever has access to the priority queue, which allows her to skip the four-hour wait (some fans believe this is an artificial barrier, one thrown up to slow anyone who joined since June. Players have approached her asking to buy her old accounts for their quick access privileges. Sometimes they’re looking to trade inteligence for espionage or offering payments of hundreds of dollars. Information is currency in 2b2t: Ever traded a spare account for the location of 2b2t’s fabled Jesus statue, built in homage to the Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro.
The server’s massive size and ephemeral nature make it difficult to track its history. Still, there are attempts to organise its past into a coherent narrative. Reddit user ArchCrono, known in-game as ArchQuantum, authored a series of posts detailing 2b2t’s history, which eventually made it to the site’s front page. Their popularity is why he was asked to lead a faction into 2b2t, a challenge he reluctantly accepted.
Why do players queue for hours just to spawn and be killed off in seconds? “Minecraft notoriously lacks a standard story mode,” ArchCrono theorises. “This is a very real void the developers have not chosen to directly address.”
2b2t provides a meta-narrative beyond the game, similar to the half-time show during American sports broadcasts. Players post about the server on YouTube and Reddit, like amateur sports analysts. “If you are on 2b2t, what you do matters more than what you do on a single player or local setting, because it is available to so many people,” ArchCrono says. “The YouTube channels that cover 2b2t, particularly TheCampingRusher and FitMC, are providing commentary that crafts the plot of a story mode. When I posted on Imgur, I basically added an entire new section of plot.”
The rushers, then, are queuing up to play a role in Minecraft history.
Hausemaster, the founder of 2b2t, is a quasi-mythical figure both praised and trolled. He says he set up the server in 2011, when Minecraft Multiplayer was first released. Players flooded in, forming settlements and communities. He picked 2b2t’s final setting, “anarchy” mode without moderation. “I wanted to see what destruction would be made, but also whether there would be connections between players in such a chaotic, rule-free environment.”
I assumed Hausemaster would disapprove of the current influx of rushers, but he’s happy to see the server getting attention, even if the world he helped create erupted in violence. “2b2t is definitely not ruined – in my opinion it’s how it should be: absolutely chaotic.”
2b2t gives players free rein to abuse, destroy and self-destruct. It is essentially nihilistic, as players thrash against the walls of their virtual cage, taking out their disaffection on the same technology they are addicted to. Their behaviour is more than not safe for work: it is not safe for life itself.
Perhaps enduring this noxious landscape is ultimately 2b2t’s true appeal. “2b2 is about pride,” says Ever. “Pride in being able to flourish in what is considered the most notorious environment you can play in.”
Nobody survives very long in 2b2t – the pride comes from having died there.
‘Minecraft’ novel in the works by ‘World War Z’ author
With Microsoft’s billions behind it, Minecraft’s momentum is showing no signs of slowing. The game now supports VR and has lets players fine-tune their worlds with Add-Ons, the movie has a release date (although it is in 2019) and soon it’s going to have its very own official novel. Mojang has confirmed that the new book, titled Minecraft: The Island, is being written by none other than Max Brooks, the scribe behind the apocalyptic zombie novel World War Z.
“Think cuboid Robinson Crusoe, but madder: a hero stranded in an unfamiliar land, with unfamiliar rules, learning to survive against tremendous odds,” says Mojang’s Marsh Davies. “I’ve peeked at an early draft and it’s entirely amazing, just as we knew it would be.”
It’s not yet known when the book will be released or if it will have ties to the movie but it does appear that it will be the first of many. Publishing house Del Rey — the science fiction offshoot of Penguin Random House — is overseeing everything and the company has already remarked that it’s “fortunate to have someone of Max’s incredible talent and passion on board for the launch of the series.”
While parents will likely be on the hook for more money, some will be thankful that the Minecraft brand is extending its reach into education. Minecraft: Education Edition will help teachers from November 1st and the release of the upcoming novels can only further childrens’ love of reading.
Minecraft console editions finally get polar bears, beets and banners
The PC version of Minecraft has had these features for some time – but as of next week they wil be available on console as well.
A free update will roll out for Xbox on Tuesday, 4th October, and then for all over platforms on the day after.
Another PC-only feature, grass paths, is also included – so you can finally mark out routes without having to waste stone or gravel.
Arctic biomes will now generate igloos and gigantic subterranean fossils. Other new blocks include End Bricks, Red Nether Bricks, Nether Wart Blocks, Bone Blocks and Frosted Ice.
At the same time, there will be a paid-for Chinese Mythology Mash-Up pack with a pre-built ancient Chinese city, new textures, skins and music, plus another level for the Battle Mini Game.
Our favourite thing about it? The Ender Dragon is replaced by a Chinese Dragon, as you can see in the trailer above.
Minecraft console editions finally get polar bears, beets and banners
Here’s everything that’s coming to Minecraft in the upcoming 1.11 Exploration Update
Minecraft lead designer Jens Bergensten took to the main stage of Minecon on the final day of Minecon 2016 to go through the changelog of the upcoming 1.11 update for Minecraft. Dubbed the ‘Exploration Update’, most of the additions are aimed at adding more things to do in the game outside of mining and, well… crafting.
If exploration is what you’re after, check out the best Minecraft seeds.
All of the new features were also demoed in brief videos, each seemingly minor tweak met with rapturous applause from the thousands in attendance. No need to worry about the community staying passionate, then. There’s no solid release date for update 1.11, but a snapshot of the update will be available to try out on 28 September. Anyway, here’s what’s up in Minecraft’s next feature haul.
Llamas
By far the fan favourite announcement of the whole convention, the revelation that llamas would be coming to Minecraft is, bizarrely, huge news. Apart from looking like llamas, the new mobs will have a number of bespoke features to make them stand out. For starters, they’ll be able to spit, which despite being incredibly rude and obnoxious is also an effective means of ranged attack.
Jens also said the player would be able to “swag them out with carpets,” which are essentially saddles but with some added visual flair. You can also attach satchels to llamas in order to use them like pack mules. Better still, if you use a lead on a llama, all nearby llamas will automatically form a caravan behind the llama you’re leading.
Woodland Mansion
New places for treasure and dungeon crawling are always welcome among the Minecraft community, and the addition of incredibly difficult, procedurally-generated mansions should give players plenty more to do when they reach the end of the game. The Woodland Mansion dungeon type will be very rare, but will offer some intriguing rewards courtesy of its three new hostile mobs: Evoker, Vex and Vindicator. As menacing as those names are, the mobs are actually just outcast variants of the game’s adorable Villagers. More on them below.
Evoker
Basically a Villager in black robes, the Evoker has two unique moves, both of which are tough to beat, putting Evoker on par with some of the game’s proper bosses in terms of sheer difficulty. Firstly, Evoker can cast a wave of pillars that deal a lot of damage if the player is caught by one. Evoker’s other ability is that it can summon a small, impish mob called Vex.
Vex
Tiny, sprite-like ghosts that float around vexing the player – hence the name. They don’t do much damage, but these guys are summoned in high enough numbers to make up for it. They’re also too quick to shoot with a bow and often out of reach for melee weapons, making them very difficult to get rid of even if you’ve dealt with their summoner.
Vindicator
The final and most conventional of the new hostile mobs is Vindicator – which is a great name to have if you’re basically just a villager with an axe.
Totem of Undying
Giving you reason to stalk a Woodland Mansion, the Totem of Undying is a rare drop from the new Evoker mob. You can equip the Totem of Undying as a consumable item in one of your hands, so that should you receive a fatal blow, you’ll instead use the item and be granted a temporary boost to your stats – ensuring that you can survive any near-death experience. Extra handy for Survival Mode.
Cartographer and Treasure Maps
Villagers get more useful by the update, and 1.11 is no different, turning some of them into cartographers, who the player can buy maps from. Those maps can be used to hunt for treasure – because literally everyone loves treasure. Treasure maps will show a top-down view of where the treasure is, and will also have a handy reference point that will let the player know the rough direction and distance they are from a tasty heap of loot.
Location Console Command
Finally, a more official way of finding your way around a gigantic Minecraft world. The new slash command will give players the coordinates to key locations in the world, which players can string into the command if they’re looking for something more specific.
Shulker Box
A Shulker Box is a new kind of chest made from Shulker Shells. Doesn’t sound like news, does it? However, if you store items in a Shulker Box and destroy it, you’ll be able to pick up the same box and place it elsewhere without the items moving or vanishing.
That’s everything coming up in the new Exploration Update. You’ll be able to give the new features a try on 28 September when the snapshot goes live, and help Mojang find all the bugs before 1.11’s full launch.
Here’s everything that’s coming to Minecraft in the upcoming 1.11 Exploration Update
Minecraft Boss update and add-ons to launch next month
Microsoft announced at this past weekend’s MINECON event in California that the next big update for “Minecraft” will launch October 2016.
After revealing earlier this year that a Boss Update was coming, the company finally revealed that “Minecraft: Windows 10 Edition Beta,” “Minecraft: Pocket Edition” and “Minecraft: Gear VR Edition” are all set to receive the updates on October 18.
The Boss Update will bring boss battles to these versions of Minecraft for the very first time, along with changes to the Wither boss battle and exciting additions to the Elder Guardian and its Ocean Monument. The Boss Update will also enable fans to play using their Xbox Wireless Controller with Bluetooth while playing the Gear VR and Windows 10 Editions.
New slash commands will also be introduced so players can tweak the game itself by summoning, teleporting and more, while the Add-Ons will enable users to play around with the game creating new monsters to fight, making villagers run away for them or chase them, and simply having fun making chickens that explode.
So players can find out more, Microsoft will make available free downloadable examples of Add-Ons on Minecraft.net once the update has launched on October 18. A FAQ and how-to video are also available now.
The Most Hardcore Ways To Play Minecraft
For years now, masochistic Minecraft players have developed all sorts of ways to test their mettle against a merciless and unforgiving blocky world.
For vanilla Minecraft, the core element of the survival challenge is Hardcore mode, which cranks the difficulty up to max by increasing the strength and spawn rate of mobs, but most importantly by instituting permadeath. This feature has been around since the 1.0.0 update, but before that, players developed their own rules for a hardcore mode, and these were based on an honor system rather than in-game mechanics. Eventually, Minecraft’s actual hardcore mode stopped challenging more ambitious players and they had to come up with more inventive ways to add difficulty to the game.
In 2011, the popular YouTube channel Yogscast tried their hand at a “Survival Island” custom map, which spawns you on an inhospitable patch of dirt and tasks you with staying alive. The original map gives you the bare minimum that you need to survive—one tree, some food, and a place to dig. Staying alive long enough to grow or hunt more food while dodging creepers and zombies is brutally difficult even on regular difficulty, and requires solid grasp of game mechanics and Minecraft lore. This map proved so popular that it spawned an entire genre of play, and it remains one of the most challenging ways to play even in 2016.
The popularity of the survival island gave rise to a growing number of survival-challenge maps. Many of these, like the ever-popular Skyblock (and offshoots like SkyGrid, OceanBlock, etc.), tasked you with surviving on a tiny island in the sky with limited resources and challenged you to use your knowledge of Minecraft to combine materials to create the items you needed. This differed from ‘Survival Island’ in that you couldn’t just dig down to find more dirt and ore — you needed to use the items provided by the chests in very specific ways (like combining lava and water to create obsidian) in order to survive and thrive. Though these maps have fallen out of favor after years of mod madness, it’s sort of amazing how difficult the game can be with a few self-imposed restrictions and limited resources.
Survival challenges have since thrived on YouTube — a search for any of the challenges I’ve mentioned above will yield at least one video to watch, if other people’s suffering is your thing.
The Yogscast, again, has some of the best survival series around, including a set of videos about their crack at SkyBlock on Hardcore, a multiplayer series, and one particularly hilarious game set on the back of a flying whale. Graser10 is also a great source of survival challenges, and he has uploaded intense videos where he races to kill a Ghast in 25 minutes, starting from scratch. SethBling has some videos worth checking out as well, including one of my favorites (to watch, not to play, because you’ve got to draw the line somewhere), The Floor is Lava.
One of the coolest long-running series is Mindcrack’s Ultra Hardcore, which places a bunch of YouTubers on a limited map with natural regeneration turned off and player combat encouraged. The PvP element is at least as important as the survival element here, but if you want to see the most brutal survival mode that Minecraft has to offer, this is a great place to start.
It would be impossible to discuss anything about Minecraft without mentioning mods, and in this case, there are plenty that are aimed at the survival challenge crowd. Mods like ‘Better Than Wolves’ makes the game more realistic and adds challenges like different move speeds on different surfaces, whereas mod Blood and Bones, ramps the difficulty up across the board. Some mods, like TerraFirmaCraft, take the idea of ‘survival’ to the extreme. TerraFirmaCraft actually closely mirrors the feel of Minecraft survival without adding too many extra mechanics. Instead of being able to mine and gather by punching things, in TerraFirmaCraft you have to painstakingly gather sticks and rocks to make tools, plant seasonally, eat from multiple food groups, and agonizingly make your way up the tech tree in order to achieve the same security that you might reach in an afternoon in vanilla Minecraft.
I fancy myself a pretty hardcore player, but TerraFirmaCraft made me feel like a filthy casual. I starved to death almost immediately after starting the mod, because I had planted incorrectly and failed to lay up enough food for the winter. If you think you’re Minecraft-tough, I strongly recommend you give it a try and test your mettle.
Even with so many mods and customs maps for Minecraft players, the most interesting survival challenges are the ones that the players impose on themselves within the restriction of vanilla Minecraft. Having to work within the constraints of the original game has produced some truly grueling, inspiring, and jaw-dropping challenges, many of which have been documented with screenshots or via YouTube. You could spend weeks digging through all of the challenges that players have set up for themselves and others, but I’ll dive into some of the best here.
One thread from early in Minecraft’s lifespan institutes a series of restrictions and milestones that must be met before advancing to the next stage, called the City Construction Challenge. This forces the player to slowly, carefully, and deliberately build their settlement (rather than, say, digging straight down and making diamond armor right away). It’s not especially unforgiving, except in the sense that it’s time consuming, but it’s fascinating how it produces a radically different result from most free-form Minecraft play. Other construction based challenges add increasing degrees of difficulty, like The Tree Spirit, which forbids you from ever leaving your home tree, or the no-craft challenge, which tasks the player with defeating the Ender Dragon without ever using a 3×3 table.
Survival challenges run from the simple to the irritatingly complex, but adding just one self-imposed restriction can radically change the way you play the game. A ‘naked’ playthrough, where you don’t wear armor, or a fists-only attempt, or a vegan playthrough, or a pacifist playthrough, or a nomad playthrough, can feel like entirely different games (Logdotzip’s nomadic survival series is a particularly awesome example). One of the most interesting restrictions you can place on yourself is limiting yourself to no mining — meaning that you only look for ore and gems in natural caves or ravines, rather than strip-mining everything (which is much easier and safer). This forces you to explore and encounter more dangerous foes, extending what many (myself included) consider to be the most interesting and exciting part of Minecraft.
Recent updates to Minecraft allow players to tweak settings which opens up even more brutal survival opportunities, too. One of the best ways to ramp up the difficult of Minecraft (especially if you’re playing in Hardcore mode) is to set the game to be always nighttime, vastly increasing your risk of running into mobs and removing any sort of reprieve from the onslaught. Turning off natural regeneration forces you into a sort of ‘Super Hardcore’ mode—the only way to regain health is through Golden Apples or Health Potions, meaning that you need to know exactly what you’re doing or you’re going to die very quickly. From personal experience I can tell you that ‘always night’ and ‘no natural regeneration’ are not for the faint of heart.
These changes have also spawned an entire subcommunity of hardcore fanatics who hang out in /r/flatcore. These players know that setting the world to flat not only adds a whole new set of challenges to the game, it also works exceptionally well as a framework for adding other restrictions on top of that. The best variation that I have found is Swampcore, which places you on an infinite flat swamp with an eternal thunderstorm. The only place to get stone is from lava pools and the only way to find villagers to trade with is by curing the zombified ones who come after you.
Swampcore wrecked me when I tried it. I was repeatedly overwhelmed by zombies and creepers, carelessly dug into lava and was melted, and generally had a rough time. It was madness. If you think that Minecraft is too easy, I strongly encourage you to give this a shot.
Though it rapidly departed from this vision, Notch initially conceived of Minecraft as more of a survival horror game. He described a much scarier, more desperate version of the game in a 2009 Tumblr post that envisioned a challenging scrabble for life in a hostile game world.
Over the years, the community proved to have a mind of its own regarding what Minecraft was ‘about,’ but thanks to the popularity of survival challenges, that original vision for a more grueling Minecraft continues to live on through fans.
Minecraft’s ‘Infinite World’ Versus No Man’s Sky’s ‘Infinite World’
After enjoying years of undisputed dominance as the king of unlimited exploration, Minecraft has a new challenger in—you guessed it—indie darling/gaming messiah/space sim extraordinaire, No Man’s Sky. Boasting an explorable universe with an inconceivably large number of planets (2^64, or 18 quintillion, but who’s counting?), it seems that No Man’s Sky has seized the title of “biggest game” from Minecraft once and for all.
But how much bigger is No Man’s Sky, exactly? YouTuber and guy with way more patience than me, ibxtoycat, set out to answer exactly that question in a recent video. Both games are billed as functionally infinite, but functionally infinite is not actually infinite, so let’s break it down.
Any given Minecraft overworld is 60 million blocks by 60 million blocks, just on the X and Z axes. If you include the blocks above and below, you end up with an absurdly large number of blocks: something like 921 quadrillion. If you bear in mind that each Minecraft block is a square meter, you’re talking a surface area the size of Neptune. It would take months of in-game walking to reach the edge. (It’s worth noting that on older editions of Minecraft the edge of the world gives way to the ‘Far Lands,’ a procedurally generated zone of weirdness that is theoretically infinite, but increasingly likely to crash your game the further you go.)
As big as 921 quadrillion is, it’s dwarfed by No Man’s Sky’s 18 quintillion, which is a little over twenty times larger. That means that for every block in the Minecraft overworld there are twenty planets in the No Man’s Sky universe. And each planet, even if it’s small, is several thousand kilometers across. That’s a whole lot of real estate.
There’s a lot to be said here about quality vs. quantity—after all, you can meaningfully interact with every single block in the Minecraft overworld, whereas No Man’s Sky is filled with great stretches of empty nothingness and desolate planets that force you to come to grips with the horrible vastness of the universe. But there’s no question that No Man’s Sky is not just bigger, but considerably so. That being said, the distances involved are so inconceivably vast that it is unlikely to matter. The difference between needing two lifetimes and a thousand lifetimes to fully explore a game world is pretty much academic.
Whether or not either game has the staying power that will allow players to eventually exhaust their near-infinite depths remains to be seen (but hey, people are still playing Desert Bus, so who knows?). But for the time being, they should be enough to keep you busy.
The Denizens of Minecraft’s ‘Worst’ Server Are At War With YouTube
A war is raging on one of the longest-running servers in Minecraft, 2b2t. Some of the battle is fought with diamond swords and lava buckets, as you might expect, but the rest of it unfolds with racist memes, shocking gore and porn, as well as monstrous contraptions designed to make the server literally unplayable. It’s not just a war for imaginary space: it’s a war for what kind of server 2b2t wants to be.
Warning: the pictures in this post contains content that readers may find objectionable.
While some know 2b2t—short for 2 builders 2 tools—as one of the oldest servers in Minecraft, 2b2t’s own denizens insist that there are older servers out there. Perhaps it’s more accurate to say that 2b2t might be the server that’s gone the longest without a reset, meaning that the world has structures that are at least five years old.
2b2t is simultaneously a desolate wasteland, and a monument to builders past. Inside 2b2t, you can find time-consuming builds erected by players come and gone, or you can walk through the ruins of a base that has been ‘griefed’ or destroyed by vengeful vandals. It’s at once both beautiful and kind of horrifying.
What makes 2b2t unique (and what most veteran citizens are most proud of) is that 2b2t is known as the worst server in Minecraft. According to redditor and 2b2t legend, Sato, all the other stuff—the history, the lore, the amazing builds—is “just a bonus for the people to find out if they played long enough.”
Not only are there are no moderators on 2b2t, the admin, Hausmaster, is mysterious and hands-off, doing only what is required to keep the server running (and sometimes barely that.) There are rules to prevent players from unleashing disruptive hacks, but modded clients and cheats are almost mandatory if you want to stay alive for long (I stubbornly refused to use one and it took me an entire day to successfully escape spawn.)
As for etiquette, if you can build it, it’s yours, and if you see someone, you can kill them. Some of the builds are wondrous and awe-inspiring. Others contain large swastikas, phalluses, burning crucifixes, and other delights. One player, for example, built a whole village called Hitlerville.
2b2t’s chat is a mess of 4chan-style edgelordiness, trolling, shit-talking, and general chatter. When I played, the chat was mostly obnoxious spam and weirdness, but from what other visitors have said, it can get much worse. People gleefully try to trick you to do things like click on links to gross porn and screamer videos. It’s not uncommon for players to lie to you, with the intent of sending you to traps or terrible locations. At the very least, you’re likely to get insulted by other players just for existing.
For a long time, the server rolled along, mostly uninterrupted, for almost six years. Every now and then there would be an infusion of new players when 2b2t came to the attention of a new group of people, either through an article or through word of mouth, but for the most part, the community stayed small. By some accounts, there were only 30 or so dedicated users in early 2016.
In early June of this year, however, something happened that would shake 2b2t to its core. A YouTuber called The Camping Rusher learned of the existence of 2b2t, and subsequently made a video of his breathless exploration of the world he found there:
TCR has almost a million subscribers, and that video now has over two million views. 2b2t’s playerbase, even at the best of times, only numbered a few dozen—so as soon as that video went live, the worst server in Minecraft started to get inundated with new players. Most of these players were of course fans of TCR, meaning they considered themselves ‘Rushers,’ not shitlords or trolls.
At first, these newcomers were mostly tourists, taking in the same breathtaking and bizarre sights that TCR had so gleefully exposed in his video. But really, conflict with 2b2t veterans was inevitable. The server buckled under the strain of so many players—even a tiny fraction of Rusher’s fanbase could completely overwhelm 2b2t’s hardware and make it unplayable. And if the server managed to survive the overload, most of its roster was filled by Rushers, not veterans.
Long-timers of 2b2t are usually hostile to most newcomers (which they call ‘newfags’), so they took to killing Rushers whenever possible. Rushers, who outnumber the original players heavily, responded by destroying bases, resources caches and dismantling large monuments that had stood peacefully for years. This prompted veteran players to start treating Rushers more seriously, as much as giving a shit about anything went against the spirit of the server.
FitMC, a self-proclaimed veteran leader and popular YouTuber, has lead some of the most successful responses to Rusher aggression, calling Rushers “clowns” and “punks” and generally mocking their playing ability.
The Camping Rusher, to his credit, seems to want to preserve the server: he has discouraged his fans from destroying cool builds or from being too disruptive. He even donated a large chunk of money to 2b2t to offset the effect of his fans overwhelming the server’s hardware. Still, the newcomers were not a good fit with the existing culture of the server: they’ve tried to make certain areas ‘friendlier’, and often treat the server as a loose Factions-style map. Nothing The Camping Rusher could do would make 2b2t’s veterans respect the presence of newbies, and they’ve even taken to calling Rusher a ‘Jewtuber’ in retaliation.
Eventually, to deal with the server strain, a queue was set up that could manage the constant influx. That queue gives veterans priority over newcomers, though you can pay a $20 monthly fee to access a separate queue. This has cooled tempers somewhat, but the original denizens of 2b2t aren’t backing down. They’ve formed a loose coalition of veteran players that exist only to oppose Rusher and his followers. Some pretty epic content has resulted from this conflict, such as fights with real stakes.
A lot of bases have griefed and a lot of caches have been destroyed, but in terms of in-game resources it’s essentially a stalemate—Rushers have a significant numbers advantage, but vets have had years to build up resources and defenses, with stores of diamond, ender pearls, and food to draw from even if they die.
Unable to deter the Rushers with simple murder and destruction, some veterans of the server have resorted to more devious means of attack. The denizens have worked to make spawn completely uninhabitable. To wit, when I tried to play, it took me three tries after my most recent death to find anything but barren rock before I starved to death.
Veterans have also begun construction of massive resource-eating machines that lag the server, hoping to make the server unusable for TCR and his fans. One recent strategy involves placing objectionable content, like genitalia and loli paintings, around spawn points and the major thoroughfares in an attempt to get TCR’s videos taken down. At the very least, the lewd content makes it hard for new YouTubers to continue publicizing 2b2t, since nudity puts videos at-risk of violating YouTube’s terms of service.
Of course, the problem with an ‘anarchy’ server is that, well, there aren’t any rules. Even some of the old-timers, though they have no fondness for Rushers, disagree with the suggestion that there’s a war, or that there are even sides. To them, it’s always been ‘everyone for themselves,’ and banding together at all violates the spirit of 2b2t. Most players will at least agree that something has changed with the onset of the Rushers, and that the result is less than good — they’re raging against the morphing of a 4chan subcommunity that’s coming into conflict with a much larger YouTuber fanclub.
To some degree, it feels like writing is on the wall: The Camping Rusher recently started university, where presumably he’ll have less time to mess around on 2b2t. The queue is onerous, and escaping spawn is a chore. Veterans are wearing down the enthusiasm of the Rushers, thanks to a huge homefield advantage. In the process, the experience is creating entirely new 2b2t-ers out of Rushers, because any fan who sticks around long enough is bound to have a tolerance for profanity, lack of rules, and general edgelording. 2b2t might be at war, but when the dust settles, 2b2t will have recruited more people to keep the spirit of the worst server on Minecraft alive for years to come.
The Denizens of Minecraft’s ‘Worst’ Server Are At War With YouTube
‘Minecraft: Education Edition’ officially arrives in November
After a summer of test runs, the full version of Minecraft: Education Edition will officially launch on November 1st. When it goes live, the service will require a $5 yearly membership per user or a district-wide license, but the Early Access edition is still free until November.
According to the MinecraftEdu team, over 35,000 students and teachers around the world have been playing around in Minecraft’s sandbox since the program went live at the beginning of the summer. With the official release, the team has built out a few new education-focused features like a “Classroom Mode” that offers a top-down look at the Minecraft world via a companion app. In the app, teachers can manage world settings, talk to students in-game, give out items or teleport their kids around the map from a single interface. As the main Minecraft world evolves and gains new features, so will the education edition, and educators are encouraged to submit feature ideas and feedback.
Finally, for any teachers who haven’t stepped into Minecraft‘s blocky world yet, education.minecraft.net offers some starter worlds, tutorials, free lesson plans in subjects ranging from storytelling to city planning, and a mentoring program to connect them with other educators. At launch, Minecraft: Education Edition requires OS X El Capitan or Windows 10, plus a free Office 365 account to use.
‘Minecraft: Education Edition’ officially arrives in November
All of Pokémon Go’s level up rewards and unlockables in one list (update)
Pokémon Go players have a long list of rewards to look forward to once they level up. It’s going to take a lot of experience to get there, though — thousands of points’ worth. In our guide below, we’ll show you exactly how much experience you need to reach each level and what gifts await you.
Pokémon Go encourages players to get out there and gain experience so that they can level up. But instead of leveling up their Pokémon, trainers themselves are the ones who reap the benefits of powering up. For every level you gain in Pokémon Go, you’ll earn a set of items. Sometimes, you’ll unlock new items to purchase or pick up at various PokéStops around the world.
Fans have already uncovered how much experience you’ll need to earn (from battling gyms, visiting PokéStops, evolving Pokémon and other methods) in order to reach up to level 30. These are discovered through both data dumps, which include other files said to be culled from the game, and our hands-on playtime with the game. We’ve collected our findings for you here in the following chart.
Make sure to check in on this page so you can gauge your item stock, and use these incentives to get yourself outside and get some experience with Pokémon Go.
All of Pokémon Go’s level up rewards and unlockables in one list (update)
Minecraft: Console Edition gets big update, Chinese mythology DLC in early October
Minecraft on consoles will be getting a large, free update and a premium Chinese Mythology Mash-Up pack on Oct. 4, Mojang announced this weekend at Minecon 2016.
The update will add seven new building blocks, new terrain generation features (including fossils buried underground), polar bears in snowy biomes, banners (pictured below) and a new plant, beetroots, which can be crafted into a soup with restorative properties.
The Chinese Mythology Mash-Up Pack (trailer above), for $4.99, adds 41 new skins, plus an intricately crafted world based on the lore of the Far East. It also includes a map for the Battle Mini Game that Minecraft released back in June, and will feature ancient cities to explore and more than a few dragons.
Both launch on Xbox One, and Wii U in North America, on Oct. 4, and on all other consoles and in all other regions the day after.
Minecraft: Console Edition gets big update, Chinese mythology DLC in early October
5 Easiest Dyes To Make in Minecraft
For those new to Minecraft who want to add some color to it, we recommend checking our list of 5 easiest dyes to make in Minecraft.
If you didn’t live under a rock for the past couple of years, then you are certainly familiar with Minecraft video game. Released on November 18th, 2011, Minecraft is a sandbox game that allows the player to build constructions, explore, fight, craft items and much more. With over 106 million copies sold, as of June 2016, Minecraft is the best-selling PC game to date and the second best-selling video game ever, right after Tetris. This game is also available for other gaming systems and mobile phones. For those looking for mobile games with extensive story line should rather look into our list of 7 Android games with best story lines.
Now let’s talk about dyes in Minecraft since that’s why you are here. In the world of Minecraft, dyes are items used for the coloring of some mobs, leather armor, hardened clay, wool, the patterns on glass and banners. Dyes are produced by crafting or combining other dyes to make a new one. The dyes obtained by crafting are called primary, and dyes obtained by combining primary dyes (or some other items) are called secondary. It’s that simple. However, getting the preferred color isn’t a piece of cake, since some items for crafting dyes are not so easy to find.
The question is – how we managed to get our list of 5 easiest dyes to make in Minecraft? Well, first, we decided to count only primary dyes, since secondary dyes require obtaining primary first; hence, they are a lot harder to make. Then, we took three elements into consideration: the number of items needed for crafting, how easy is to find these items and finally in how many different ways dye can be made. Let’s take a look at our list, shall we?
5. Ink Sac
This is the darkest dye in Minecraft. It can be obtained in two ways. The first way is by killing squids, which drop one to three Ink Sacs upon their death. Squids spawn in water between sea level and layers 46. The other way to get Ink Sac is by fishing, where they are obtained as “junk item”. Ink Sac in combination with Bone Meal gives Gray and Light Gray Dye.
4. Lapis Lazuli
Lapis Lazuli is equivalent to the color blue. It can be obtained by mining or natural generation. Lapis Lazuli occurs in 17% chest minecarts in abandoned mineshafts. Other ways to get Lapis Lazuli include crafting Lapis Lazuli Block and smelting Lapis Lazuli Ore with any fuel. It is used to create Purple Dye, Magenta Dye, Cyan Dye and Light Blue Dye.
3. Bone Meal
The third entry on our list of 5 easiest dyes to make in Minecraft is obtained by crafting bones and bone blocks. Each bone placed in the crafting table gives you 3 Bone Meals and each bone block gives you 9 Bone Meals. Bones can be acquired from the skeletons that drop up to 2 bones after death. They are also found in 29.0% of desert temple chests, 72.2% of jungle temple chests and 57.8% of dungeon chests. Bone blocks are acquired by mining. Bone Meal is used in crafting Gray and Light Gray Dye, Lime Dye, Magenta Dye, Pink Dye, Light Blue Dye.
2. Dandelion Yellow
To make Dandelion Yellow you will only need Dandelion or Sunflower. Each of these flowers gives one Dandelion Yellow Dye when placed into the crafting table. Dandelion is widespread and can be found in Plains, Sunflower Plains, Forest, Flower Forest and any other biome in Minecraft. Sunflower only appears in Sunflower Plains. Dandelion Yellow combined with Rose Red gives Orange Dye.
1. Rose Red
Last dye on our list of 5 easiest dyes to make in Minecraft can be created by using 4 different kinds of flowers. Poppy, Red Tulip, Rose Bush or Beetroot placed in the crafting table will each give you a Rose Red Dye. They are all very easy to find. Poppy is found in Plains, Sunflower Plains, Forest, Flower Forest and any other biome in Minecraft. Red Tulip can be found in Plains, Sunflower Plains, and Flower Forest while Rose Bush appears in Forest and Flower Forest. You can get Beetroot by harvesting a fully grown crop block. Rose Ted is used in making Orange Dye, PurpleDye, Magenta Dye, Pink Dye and Cocoa Beans.
Learn More About Minecraft Pocket Edition’s Boss Update This Weekend
Minecon is almost here. The Minecraft-themed convention will take place at the Anaheim Convention Center in California this weekend, on September 24 and 25. Minecon will be a haven for Minecraft fans and a source of new Minecraft announcements. For iOS and Android players (and Windows 10 players), it means we’ll finally get to learn more about the upcoming Boss Update.
As announced near the end of August, the Boss Update is coming soon to Minecraft: Pocket Edition and Minecraft: Windows 10 Edition. While it’s properly called Update 0.16, they refer to it as the Boss Update because bosses are included among the new features it will add.
The Boss Update’s new enemies include the underwater Elder Guardian and the three-headed Wither. It also adds Slash commands, ocean monuments, new blocks, beacons, and more. Some aspects of this update have already been made available to players participating in the beta test on Android.
The full release of the update hasn’t been dated yet. Its announcement said it would be coming “soon-ish,” and we know it will be sometime after Minecon, but nothing more concrete has been stated about it yet.
At the end of the announcement, Mojang promised more details about the Boss Update would be provided at Minecon. Well, Minecon is almost here! We should have a better idea of what the Boss Update has in store—and when it will be released—this weekend during the convention.
If you’ve been playing Minecraft: Pocket Edition (or the Windows 10 Edition), are you looking forward to this new update? And for Android players, if you participated in the beta, share your impressions of the update in the comments.
Update 0.16, or the Boss Update, will be a major update for the Pocket Edition and Windows 10 Edition of Minecraft. What other updates do you hope to see in the future?
Learn More About Minecraft Pocket Edition’s Boss Update This Weekend
What Will the Next Minecraft Console Update Contain?
And for that matter, when will it come?
Minecraft is now available across a wide variety of devices. Since then, the console versions have been slowly catching up to the PC version as new features are added. However, it hasn’t caught up yet, and it’s been a while since it had a major update.
Although the previous update for the console version of Minecraft came this month (September 15 for the Wii U version and September 9 for all others), all it did was fix bugs and remove the ability to kick players out during mini-games.
The last console update before that came at the end of August and added a new mini game, new Battle Maps, and achievements, along with fixing bugs. (It also added the vote-to-kick option that was removed in the September update.) In fact, although there have been some skin packs, the majority of console Minecraft updates lately have been focused on mini games and bug fixes, without a lot of other content.
Some players enjoy the mini games, while others do not. There are really two ways to look at it. You could take it to mean the developers are focusing their efforts on mini games instead of other Minecraft gameplay elements players might want more (which contributes to why they dislike the mini game updates). On the other hand, you could look at it from the perspective of the developers not having major Minecraft content ready yet, but adding the mini games in order to give players new things to do.
Either way, it’s been a while since Minecraft received an important console update, so fans can look to the future and speculate on what might be added next.
What Minecraft features are you still hoping to see added to the console versions of the game? Which PC elements have yet to make the jump?
We don’t know when the next Minecraft update will come for consoles, but we’ll let you know if we learn anything new.
Dragon Quest Builders channels Minecraft into something greater
Specifications
Available formats: PS4, PS3, PS Vita
The comparisons with Minecraft are inevitable. With its blocky, voxel-based landscape and reliance on crafting to make your way in the world, Dragon Quest Builders unashamedly draws on the same driving mechanisms as Mojang’s mega-hit.
And yet, for all Minecraft’s might and popularity, it’s Dragon Quest Builders that has me itching to play more. It begins in much the same way, asking players to dig deep and build their way out of a pit, before constructing a simple two-block-high house out of mud. However, Builders’ foundations go a little deeper, with the focus being on creating communities for its dozens of NPC characters that roam the dark, gloomy land of Alefgard.
It’s a simple addition to Mojang’s tried-and-tested formula, but one that helps give its minute-to-minute crafting a much-needed girder of purpose; it adds a welcome sense of structure to Minecraft’s sometimes terrifying blank canvas. Rather than leaving players to simply fend for themselves and go forth into the unknown, DQ Builders pins its progression on a string of villager mission requests, asking players to build more complex pieces of furniture in order to grow their towns and increase the resident population.
You’ll start small, first building a simple bedroom, before progressing to a workstation, kitchen and additional, decorated rooms. Eventually, though, you’ll progress onto more advanced projects and create further outposts across the world.
Of course, having played only the first three hours of Dragon Quest Builders, it’s hard to tell exactly what lies beyond the game’s rather more prescriptive set of early tutorials. However, the more quests you complete and the bigger your town becomes, the more people will flock to your newly developed digs to ply you with quests, so you should have plenty to keep you entertained over the course of its run-time.
It helps that Dragon Quest Builders keeps things simple, too, as players are automatically notified what they can make (or to use the in-game parlance, “learn new recipes”) as soon as they discover a new material. Of course, some might say this takes the fun out of the experimental nature of crafting, but for me, it only strengthens DQ Builders’ commitment to making the game more accessible. I provides an easy way to keep on top of your ever-growing inventory and spiralling list of objectives.
For starters, there’s less guesswork involved, and it provides an immediate indication of whether you’re on the right track. This enables you to carefully focus your efforts, rather than simply going out and gathering every last mineral you see and hoping for the best. You’ll still need a workstation to see the rest of the necessary ingredients, but it really doesn’t take much to set up shop and get crafting.
The only thing DQ Builders doesn’t quite improve on is Minecraft’s combat. While the cast of creatures draws extensively from Dragon Quest’s lauded bestiary, defeating them and claiming their prized materials still boils down to crudely beating them with sticks – or, eventually, whacking them with a hammer.
It’s entirely lacking in that classic turn-based combat for which the series is known, but then switching to a dedicated battle screen every time you encounter an enemy would severely hamper the game’s overall pace, so I can understand the need to keep battles taking place in real-time. It remains to be seen how Builders handles larger enemies, but for now, it certainly helps make short work of the general rank and file.
There isn’t long to go now before the game’s final release. Coming to PS4, PS3 and the PS Vita on 14 October (all with cross-play compatibility, I might add), Dragon Quest Builders looks like it could finally be a worthy contender to Minecraft’s crown, offering a more mature, structured take on gaming’s unstoppable behemoth.
I’ll have to wait and see how the combat fares later on in the game, but for now, Dragon Quest Builders is definitely one to watch for would-be Minecraft players.
Dragon Quest Builders channels Minecraft into something greater
Coming soon to a theater near you: VR pods and Minecraft?
Beware if you tend to veer into dystopian paranoia: Cinemark CEO Mark Zoradi offered a glimpse of moviegoing’s future Wednesday, and it includes windowless rooms where our children have replaced Little League baseball with Minecraft tourneys.
The executive said Wednesday that Cinemark anticipates virtual reality and gaming as opportunities for “significant alternative content” to the traditional feature-length films in its theater chain, which is the third biggest in the US by number of screens.
The comment is a sign of the shifting tastes of consumers. Once upon a time, a simple run of movies was enough to satisfy audiences. Now tastes have gotten more sophisticated as consumers seek more-immersive forms of entertainment.
Zoradi touted the opportunity for hosting video-gaming events both for players and spectators. Commonly known as e-sports, video gaming as spectator entertainment has been growing in mainstream popularity, with researcher Superdata estimating its worldwide audience will widen to 275 million people this year.
Plano, Texas-based Cinemark is already hosting Super League Gaming competitions, which Zoradi likened to video game Little League. “Your kids are in a league…and they’re playing literally in our seats on their laptops against another team in another city,” he said.
Zoradi also said the company is looking into all aspects of bringing virtual reality into theaters. That could be “pods” for individual viewers to watch 15-minute VR shorts in theater lobbies, or it could mean group VR experiences inside some of its small cinemas, he said, speaking at the Goldman Sachs investor conference in New York.
Cinemark is the latest to talk up virtual reality, an entertainment format that makes viewers feel like they’re in the middle of the action. It’s among the buzziest consumer technologies this year, as big investments in VR hardware by tech giants like Facebook and Samsung start to deliver those products to consumers more widely.
Cinemark’s bigger rival AMC has begun bringing virtual-reality demos into its theaters. In the last year, it’s offered some moviegoers the opportunity to check out VR experiences related to the “Paranormal Activity” franchise and “The Jungle Book.”
Last year, Zoradi said VR wasn’t likely to be a “big strategic initiative” for the company in the near future.
Mattel teams with Minecraft to deliver 3D printed skins, available at Minecon
As Minecraft developer Mojang is gearing up for Minecon 2016 in Anaheim this weekend, the game studio has announced today that it has partnered with American toy manufacturing company Mattel to bring your Minecraft avatar to life. Minecon attendees will be able to use the company’s skin printing service to create a skin for a nice figurine with the Minecraft avatar of their choice:
It’s seriously cool. You craft the look of your unique figure by using an actual skin from the game. Mattel creates and prints a custom label based on your in-game skin (or one of the exclusive soon-to-be-revealed MINECON 2016 designs!), and then you stick it onto the figure.
dwv90_c_17_202-887×630 Mattel teams with Minecraft to deliver 3D printed skins, available at Minecon
Minecon attendees will be able to design their own Minecraft figurine.
To try the skin-printing service, attendees will have to purchase a Survival Mode Player One Figure ($15.00 + tax) at the the Mattel booth and also print their label over there. To get prepared, Mojang is inviting all attendees to check the skin editing app Skin Studio which is available on iOS and Android devices.
Additionally, Mojang has announced today the release of a new Minecraft Snapshot tagged 16W38A and you can find the full list of changes and bug fixes below:
Notable changes:
The poor squids shouldn’t spawn in lava anymore. At least I would not enjoy spawning in lava
We have a new gamerule: maxEntityCramming
Mooshrooms now really appreciates to walk on mycelium. Probably it feels soft and cosy on their hooves
Bugs fixed in 16w38a:
[Bug MC-3841] – Attacking an unsaddled pig while holding a saddle saddles the pig
[Bug MC-36927] – Durability of Golden Swords occasionally dropped by Zombie Pigmen is not random (always 25)
[Bug MC-46456] – Written books given by command crashes when copied in crafting table if “Author” is missing
[Bug MC-61997] – squids spawn in lava
[Bug MC-66946] – 2-block tall hitbox on small armor stands.
[Bug MC-67406] – Small armor stands display items differently than normal ones
[Bug MC-70424] – Baby Zombie Pigmen’s sword slightly tiled forward
[Bug MC-70738] – Killing Guardian with Lava does not give Cooked Fish
[Bug MC-80551] – You can place redstone, doors, rails etc. onto 7/8 layers of snow
[Bug MC-86130] – Shields changes its base color when damaged & repaired / Crafting different in colors results in damage
[Bug MC-86164] – armor stands can’t be renamed by name tag
[Bug MC-89921] – Elytra not rendered on entities/mobs
[Bug MC-91383] – Horses (now only skeleton horses and zombie horses) drop different amount of loot than before
[Bug MC-92772] – Saddled pigs don’t drop saddle with doMobLoot=false
[Bug MC-92776] – Ink sacs are fished in stacks of 1 instead of 10
[Bug MC-93435] – Cobblestone walls listed in “Building Blocks” tab
[Bug MC-93609] – Player is floating above the saddle of a mule
[Bug MC-93824] – Feeding golden carrot to breed horse works if InLove is greater than 0
[Bug MC-94476] – Killing Rabbits with Looting does not give more raw rabbit
[Bug MC-94947] – Chicken “steping” sound still works when the chicken is swimming
[Bug MC-95450] – Villager Loot Table missing
[Bug MC-95469] – Middle click / pick block on farmland gives dirt
[Bug MC-96499] – Boats collide with any entity (Arrows, Paintings, etc.) even if Marker:1b is on (armor stand)
[Bug MC-98260] – Water bottles have inconsistent NBT tag depending on how you obtain them.
[Bug MC-99602] – Impossible to detect Water Bottle from ocean in player’s inventory
[Bug MC-100950] – Boats can travel / remain on the fog of lingering potion / dragon’s breath
[Bug MC-101615] – Silverfish do more damage to players on easy difficulty than on normal difficulty
[Bug MC-101642] – Iron golem / VillagerGolem is holding red flower client side 400 ticks too long
[Bug MC-103339] – Mushroom Cows do not path to mycelium, but grass. Causes unintended spawning requirements
[Bug MC-105071] – Random green/gray dot in anvil GUI
[Bug MC-106485] – Banner applied to a Shield doesn’t change the shield correctly
[Bug MC-106747] – Wither bosses break structure blocks / structure voids
[Bug MC-106842] – Target selector stops parsing its arguments if an entry is not =
[Bug MC-106896] – Crash when using backspace after deleting all the characters in the name of anything with a custom one
[Bug MC-107054] – lit_furnace item model but no item
[Bug MC-107055] – 2 models for old wooden slab’s item
[Bug MC-107062] – Hitting backspace in the anvil naming field when empty causes the game to crash
For those of you who can’t wait for the release of the 1.11 build of Minecraft, the game developer added that it will reveal “info about several new exciting 1.11 features” during Minecon 2016. The annual event will take place on September 24-25 at Anaheim Convention Center and those of you who can’t attend will be able to watch the live stream on the dedicated website.
Mattel teams with Minecraft to deliver 3D printed skins, available at Minecon
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