By Alec Meer on November 11th, 2011 at 4:36 pm.
Minecraft is, hilariously enough, due for release next week. The game that we’ve all been playing for the last two years will finally be granted its version 1.0 tag, but those dedicated four million who already own it can try out a near-complete version right now. Mojang have slipped out a pre-release build of version 0.9, including the fabled boss fight. That boss is, of course, an Ender dragon. Dragons are proper cool these days, see. It’s like Anne McCaffrey never happened.
Try the early build here. All that’s left from hereon in is polish and bug-squashing, apparently. Hmm, does this mean we need to do a ‘Wot I Think: Minecraft’? That seems far too weird, somehow. It’d be like running ‘Wot I Think: Breathing.’
Breathing is Overrated.
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But essential. Minecraft is overrated and inessential. In fact, it’s overrated and harmful.
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So is your mother!
Just kidding, I know nothing of your mother or her work.
I just saw an opening and went for it.
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You’d be a good Nidhogg player! IF YOU COULD PLAY IT! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA… *sniff*. (Hearing about games not released gives me this effect)
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If this isn’t baiting Bethesda’s lawyers, I don’t know what is.
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How is having dragons in your game baiting bethesda’s lawyers? Because they have dragons in their game? If that’s the case you could as well say that “They have 3d graphics, just like Bethesda’s games have. If this isn’t baiting Bethesda’s lawyers, I don’t know what is”.
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You might as well say they own all usage of the word ‘scroll’ in any form…
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Minescrolls: Infinite Dragon Blocks.
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I somehow read that as “Infinite Dragon Bollocks”. I could do with some sleep.
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I’d play Infinite Dragon Bollocks.
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Scroll Rimmed: Finite Mine Bollocks
Maybe I should get some sleep too..
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ArcaneSaint, do you know what game was released today that involves dragons?
Hexagonal, you mean like Mojang trademarking the word “scrolls”?
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Skyscrolls: The Elder Rim ??
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Minecraft: Skyrim mod, I summon you!
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There was talk in an interview between Notch and… er… the lead designer guy for Skyrim in an interview they did together about creating Skyrim in Minecraft. Of course that was back when Minecraft was supposed to come out on the same date as Skyrim. Would’ve been pretty cool though.
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Would settle for a new, extended episode of Mine The Gap (maybe by the member of the team that’s been least minecrafted these past few years). That series is one of my favourite on RPS. :)
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Surely this!
Maybe a Quinn’s guest spot. I still miss the big lug
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I’d like John to do it, but then again I’d pretty much like John to write everything on the site.
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What Arthur said. :P
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Mine The Gap made me (MADE me, I tells ya!) buy Minecraft. Best gaming purchase I’ve ever made, without a shadow of a doubt.
Thank you, RPS.
Edit: Not only that, but it opened me up to the entire world of indie gaming. I’d never considered parting with cash for any game not officially branded, as it were, before.
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“I’d never considered parting with cash for any game not officially branded, as it were, before.”
People think like this.
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Having never played Minecraft myself I would really appreciate a WiT. I mean after 4 million people beta tested this thing it must be polished like nothing else!
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Graphics are all blocky on my machine though
Tried switching on self-shadowing and it made no difference and the FOV is atrocious.
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You can actually adjust FoV in the game’s settings. It goes from “normal” to “Quake pro”.
/ boring no-fun response
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I think it’s the distinct lack of polish that makes me wonder if it will ever really be finished. It’s unflinchingly apparent that there’s so much missing from the game (such as basic stability) that I’m not sure I even have to justify that sentence with reasons.
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Hard to say, as they dont actually take in much feedback, if any at all ;p
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So, let’s remember the beginning:
http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2009/06/13/simply-splendid-minecraft-multiplayer/
(PS: it’s version 1.9)
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I bought the game that day :D There’s also a notch’s comment in this post
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God the game was so different back then :p
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Wow, the comments on that article are fantastic. So amusing. It’s like all of the opinions on Minecraft through time boiled down to their simplest form. People comparing it to Infiniminer and Dwarf Fortress, and people sharing their experiences.
Most important quote “True to form, the first thing I built was a giant cock.”
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@Niche93
True words. It’s definitely a snapshot of a major moment in PC gaming.
Edit – no sarcasm intended.
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Been a while since I’ve played it. I’ll have to play some more once the final version hits my PC.
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Notch could try a low cut and say they have procedurally generated dragons, to further enrage Bethy.
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I don’t think Bethesda would be able to hear Notch over the noises of awe and wonder emanating from 250,000 PC Gamers as they play SkyRim.
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Just defeated the dragon in creative mode. I have to say, it’s a challenge to kill it, even in creative mode, so I can’t imagine how hard it’s going to be in survival.
Anyway, the “ending” is worth it: The death of the dragon is epic, and entering the portal it generates makes you go to some “ending screen” with the credits at the bottom (longer than I would have thought, but shorter than most other games), which contains a funny dialogue. I wont spoil it for you, but it’s great.
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Did you keep track of how much damage it took? If not I’ll just wait for minecraft wiki.
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Edit: removed. Must have Clicked the wrong edit button. Dopey me.
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Yeah, please watch the spoilers. I’m deliberately holding off updating until the official release.
Edit: Ignore the above. I’m just being a bit precious. Apologies.
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I would like a complimentary hat for beta testing.Thanks.
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These minecraft updates do drag-on a bit don’t they?
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You, sir, have made me giggle.
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I hear that when you corner the Ender Dragon, it curls up in a ball and starts playing XBawks. The good news is that Minecraft is on 142 different platforms; the bad news is that none of them are done. Expect at least another year before this thing is actually finished.
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To quote Notch: “Minecraft will never be actually done. It’s part of the charm.”
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There doing a competition to win MC. I can’t enter though, because Google think that 21 is too young for a YouTube account.
Google are becoming shitter by the minute.
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Dear Mr. Meer,
“It’s like Anne McCaffrey never happened.”
Superb! That cheered me up no end! I proper LOL’d.
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He’s being ironic, silly hipster Meer. He’s totally a McCaffrey fan!
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He HAD to mention Anne.
RIP Anne :’(
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Anne McCaffrey and Bethesda have one entertaining thing in common.
They’re both pretty damn incredible world builders, but they can’t write anything good and/or memorable for shit. And characters? Fergedaboudit.
Anne’s world was an interesting one, but she portrayed it in the most boring way possible, this is why people whom are world builders shouldn’t also be writers. I’m definitely all for seeing co-authoring in books, with one person handling the world, lore, and little details, keeping it all internally consistent and detailed, and the other actually writing the story.
Bethesda is lacking in the same regard and they always will be, it seems. Just like you mentioned with how you can’t name a character in Skyrim, Alec. They can make incredibly intricate worlds, and actually interesting ones if you get into the lore, but compelling, inspired, emotional, and brilliant? Not so much.
So if you damn Anne McCaffrey (as I sometimes do), then you must damn Bethesda in the same breath.
They’re both cursed with exactly the same problem.
Bethesda are the Dragonriders of Pern of videogames. But thankfully at least they are not the Twilight of videogames. Unfortunately they’re not the Terry Pratchett of videogames, and I’m not really sure whom I’d award that title too. Most developers are too dry for it. Hrmn.
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Do I just imagine or did you just get into a Minecraft-related news to diss Bethesda?
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Yeah. Wulf’s persecution of Bethesda knows no bounds. It’s quite disturbing.
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I want to see wulf and Wizardry make a game each.
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I have no idea what I just read.
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Argh, reply fail.
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Word of warning: the update broke wooden doors. They currently require electricity to open. Normally you would use these to keep the scary out of your bedroom.
So you might want to wait till a patch release Sunday.
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I have pressure plates on the interior side and on most of my internal doors anyway, so that as soon as I walk outside my home the door automatically shuts behind me.
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So what happened to 11/11 release? Did they get scared by Bethesda’s dragons??
(Though, Skyrim is “Unavailable in (my) region at the moment, sorry for the inconvenience”)
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I think (although am not sure) that Minecon was rescheduled precisely because of Skyrim’s release date.
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Online Store,Get Name Brand Fashion From 12USD Now!
Welcome to:
http://mcaf.ee/xc7bt
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I’ve still not played minecraft.
Yet.
I know I’m going to lose of my life to it, so I’ve been holding off for the right time. I’ve got a new graphics card arriving on monday, finally allowing me to get in some PC gaming more complex than solitire, so I figure now, the last week it’s still beta, is the right time to dive in.
See you on the other side.
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@phuzz
It would be really interesting to find out your opinions on the game, coming at it brand new. Feel free to send me a message through the forums if you feel like it. If not, I’ll maybe find your comments here. No pressure.
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+1 for the Condemned 2 reference.
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Release version and still no gates for fences…
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? There is a gate for fences.
http://www.minecraftwiki.net/wiki/Fence_Gate
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Gates-for-fences or not, I reckon they’ve done pretty well getting everything into the game as it is.
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Figures. Miss the one update that actually introduced my most requested feature.
Thanks for the info, Seeker.
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The Ender Scrolls V: Dragons
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Looking forward to it. I still pump far more hours into Minecraft on a weekly basis than I do all the other big budget AAA titles I have. By far the best $10 I have ever spent.
Myself I’ve just stuck to the release version of 0.8, so can’t wait to get working on a farm with the animal husbandry because my landscape is running out of animals and I’m running out of meat, wool and feathers.
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Yeah I can’t believe the amount of gaming hours I’ve gotten out of Minecraft and virtually all of that is vanilla single player without exploring mods yet. As well as that, because I bought it at Alpha I think I get all future content for free.
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Wish I’d bought it at alpha. For some reason because it was described as ‘like crack for nerds’ and because of the name Minecraft I thought it was in some way comparible to WoW so I avoided it. Highly stupid I know.
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http://www.flying4biz.com
http://www.flying4biz.com
http://www.flying4biz.com
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I hope Mojang do a twist of/pay homage to this: http://thesiteformerlyknownas.zachtronicsindustries.com/?p=713
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I’m very glad for Minecraft 1.0, especially if it means we’ll finally stop seeing articles about this game everywhere…
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So are Mojang releasing this without an internal tutorial/help/recipe guide?
Or is there news of this finally being added?
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All that’s left from hereon in is polish and bug-squashing, apparently.
Wait, wait, what? Did Adventure Mode ever get added? What about the cloud world thing? Is RPS just being ironic here, or did I miss a hell of a lot of released content?
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