Notch Yet: 0x10c On Hold, Won't Release Unless It's Fun
REPORTER: "Mr Notch, you just made several quadrillion dollars and simulated a nigh-infinite terrestrial expanse where nearly anything is possible via the wide-eyed machinations of human ingenuity. What are you going to do now?"
NOTCH: "I'm going to Disneyland space! Only it's more of a space-themed hacker heaven. But it's also kinda like Firefly somehow. Or something."
EVERYONE EVER: "Ooo! Wait, huh?"
Seeing as Minecraft is basically a series of unending, entirely re-moldable Earths, a giant leap into the stars makes sense for Notch, and he's got some intriguing ideas backing it up. But allow me to echo the confused dog head tilt of everybody else in saying, er, how? How will all those elements fit together? What will I actually be, you know, doing? Turns out, Notch himself is part of that very same everyone, and for now, he's stumped. As a result, 0x10c's frozen in carbonite for the time being, and Notch feels no need to rush its development into high gear.
Speaking with Polygon, Notch was his usual frank self about the whole situation. When asked if there's a chance the game will never even come out, he replied:
"It depends if it's just going to be me and I'm going to still feel this kind of weird pressure. It's not really pressure, it's just some kind of weird creative block that's been going on for too long, and [0x10c] is going to be put on ice until we can fix that. I'm very excited about the actual game. We have two prototypes going on now. It's not really fun yet, but it feels like it could be fun because there's nothing to do in there yet."
He added, however, that any sort of release is "a ways off," though he hopes to bring one other developer aboard to jump start the process. Further, he fielded questions about modding, noting that ox10c - assuming it ever comes to fruition - will eschew proper modding for its own brand of in-game programming.
Somehow. Once again, it's quite easy to understand why 0x10c's getting tangled up in the frayed wires of its own ambitions, and Notch's approach is far preferable to blindly rushing forward. Problem is, he's one of the few developers who can absolutely afford to do a perfect impression of The Thinker atop his jewel-caked block throne for all of eternity. Bleeding bank accounts and tightened belts certainly aren't healthy for game development, but the polar opposite means no urgency whatsoever. That said, Notch strikes me as a hard-working guy, so I'm sure he's toiling away on something. But near-unlimited time and resources often serve as conduits for obsessive perfectionism. Hopefully, then, Notch and 0x10c are able to find a happy medium.