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This game is simple yet addicting. It has the classic sensibilities of games like Pacman, but it's core is the survival crafting of games like Dwarf Fortress. It's very much an Alpha, and there's a long long way to go before it is fully featured, but there's lots to do in the meantime.
Be warned, though, that it may suck you in. Before long you'll be down underground, feeling claustrophobic, desperately looking for iron, and the sudden sound of a zombie somewhere very close will cause you to nearly fall out of your chair.
My neck hurts from playing it, because whenever I'm digging an upwards tunnel I keep craning my neck back. It's completely unnecessary, yet I can't stop doing it.
The main page has suffered a server meltdown, and until it's fixed the full version of Minecraft is free to play. If you are at all intrigued, this is a good time to check it out for free.
http://minecraft.net/
Minecraft
This is why I build with stone:
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"ATTENTION: Customers browsing porn must hold magazines with both hands at all times!"
Nope, it's a real game.Malcolm wrote:The hell? Is that a screensaver?
The graphics are simple, and yet there's plenty of pretty vistas around anyway. And what's more important in a game: how it plays or how it looks?
Me, I care more about the former.
Of course some would say that since there's no score or goals there's no game to this game, but I disagree. This is what so-called "sandbox" games want to be but never are.
"ATTENTION: Customers browsing porn must hold magazines with both hands at all times!"
Yup. For now.
One of the interesting aspects is Notch is working on it all the time. So it keeps changing. Sometimes this is bad, if say you built a wooden house with a lavafall in it for lighting back when lava didn't burn things and then one day an update comes and your house burns down. But mostly it's good and interesting.
This past weekend the recipe for a fishing rod was added. They can now be crafted. They don't do anything yet, but they will soon.
I'm having fun with minecarts right now. There's an interesting thing that happens when two carts run side-by-side where it boosts the momentum tremendously. So with some planning you can build minecart tracks where they just go and go and go without stopping.
One of the interesting aspects is Notch is working on it all the time. So it keeps changing. Sometimes this is bad, if say you built a wooden house with a lavafall in it for lighting back when lava didn't burn things and then one day an update comes and your house burns down. But mostly it's good and interesting.
This past weekend the recipe for a fishing rod was added. They can now be crafted. They don't do anything yet, but they will soon.
I'm having fun with minecarts right now. There's an interesting thing that happens when two carts run side-by-side where it boosts the momentum tremendously. So with some planning you can build minecart tracks where they just go and go and go without stopping.
"ATTENTION: Customers browsing porn must hold magazines with both hands at all times!"
I remember a long time ago agruing that fact with you. You said that EQ was better than UO cause it was first person and pretty and you could get into it more. We said UO was better, even with it's crappy out dated graphics because of game play and depth and sandbox aspects.
I'm glad you finally realized we were right.
I'm glad you finally realized we were right.
Last night's update killed my sound. Which is saddening as sound design is a huge part of setting the mood in this game. There's the sudden sounds of monsters in the darkness to warn you of your imminent death. The sound of a nearby pig letting you know breakfast is about to be served. The ominous tones of the spooky music that plays when you are near a hidden dungeon. And the glorious sunrise piano melody that greets every morning, letting you know that the surface world is safe to traverse once more.
All of that is gone. That just makes the game feel ... lonely.
All of that is gone. That just makes the game feel ... lonely.
"ATTENTION: Customers browsing porn must hold magazines with both hands at all times!"
Just watched some of the videos on the home page.
Between the roller coaster and the person who built the big model of planet earth, this "game" looks absolutely terrible in every way I can think of.
If those videos are not representative of the game as a whole, they would be doing themselves a favor by removing them from the front page of their website.
Between the roller coaster and the person who built the big model of planet earth, this "game" looks absolutely terrible in every way I can think of.
If those videos are not representative of the game as a whole, they would be doing themselves a favor by removing them from the front page of their website.
"Be bold, and mighty forces will come to your aid."
Although this was funny.TPRJones wrote:This is why I build with stone:
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"Be bold, and mighty forces will come to your aid."
Yeah, the earth thing is silly, and the rollercoaster is bland. I've done much better coasters myself by far. The vids Notch has chosen to post are an odd selection.
Is that what the game is about? Maybe. It really is a completely sandbox game. For the people that did that, that's what it was about. Me, I'm just enjoying strip mining in massive quantities right now. I don't know why, it's just ... soothing, mainly because of the geometric patterns of my expanding strip mine.
It is one of those games that is what you make of it.
Is that what the game is about? Maybe. It really is a completely sandbox game. For the people that did that, that's what it was about. Me, I'm just enjoying strip mining in massive quantities right now. I don't know why, it's just ... soothing, mainly because of the geometric patterns of my expanding strip mine.
It is one of those games that is what you make of it.
"ATTENTION: Customers browsing porn must hold magazines with both hands at all times!"
That's a nice way to put it.
I've been thinking of it as being graphically equivalent to the first EQ release, but blockier.
Truth be told I don't notice it in game anymore. The world just happens to be made of blocks.
I've been thinking of it as being graphically equivalent to the first EQ release, but blockier.
Truth be told I don't notice it in game anymore. The world just happens to be made of blocks.
"ATTENTION: Customers browsing porn must hold magazines with both hands at all times!"
At minecraft.net, there's a stats page:
269,628 x $9.99 = $2,693,583.72
Not bad for a single guy working on a game in his spare time.*
Of course that's changing. He's now forming a development company around minecraft. He's got four employees lined up and is searching for some others. So before too long the development cycle will start to really ramp up.
It's an interesting approach he's taken here. Come up with something compelling and fun, but of course still very basic and rough. But good enough to sell full access to for $10 a pop. Then use those funds to ramp up development and found a new company.
I hope this works out in the long run for him. He's done good stuff here. Because if it weren't already so fun to begin with he'd have never pulled this off with selling access to an Alpha.
*Okay, so that's not a completely accurate description, but it's pretty darn close.
Edited By TPRJones on 1285775517
930967 registered users, of which 269628 (28.96%) have bought the game.
269,628 x $9.99 = $2,693,583.72
Not bad for a single guy working on a game in his spare time.*
Of course that's changing. He's now forming a development company around minecraft. He's got four employees lined up and is searching for some others. So before too long the development cycle will start to really ramp up.
It's an interesting approach he's taken here. Come up with something compelling and fun, but of course still very basic and rough. But good enough to sell full access to for $10 a pop. Then use those funds to ramp up development and found a new company.
I hope this works out in the long run for him. He's done good stuff here. Because if it weren't already so fun to begin with he'd have never pulled this off with selling access to an Alpha.
*Okay, so that's not a completely accurate description, but it's pretty darn close.
Edited By TPRJones on 1285775517
"ATTENTION: Customers browsing porn must hold magazines with both hands at all times!"