Difference between revisions of "Minecraft"

Revision as of 05:35, December 22, 2011

Minecraft is a game that was created by Mojang AB. It has millions of players, and has been voted the top downloadable game by pcgamer^[1] It is a sandbox building game, written in java, originally by Swedish indie gamer, Markus Persson.^[2] Official releases for iOS and Android have been released and the full version of the PC game was released on November 18, 2011 at MineCon(Minecraft Convention) 2011. The Android release was temporarily exclusive to the Xperia Play but is now available to the rest of the Android market. A version of the game for the Xbox 360 with Kinect support is under development by 4J Studios and is to be released in 2012.The gameplay is heavily inspired by Infiniminer by Zachtronics Industries, and Dwarf Fortress by Bay 12 Games.

History

Minecraft was first released to the public on May 17, 2009, as a developmental "alpha" release. Although Persson maintained a day job with Jalbum.net at first, he later moved to working part time and has since quit in order to work on Minecraft full time as sales of the beta version of the game have expanded. Persson continues to update the game with releases distributed to users automatically. Persson plans to continue these updates after the release of the full game as long as there is still an active userbase. These updates have included features such as new items, new blocks, an alternate "Hell" dimension (accessible through construction of a portal) that Persson terms "The Nether", tamable wolves that assist the player, and changes to the game's behavior (e.g., how water flows). Persson plans to eventually release the game as open-source after sales have dropped off and when he wants to move onto other projects.

Gameplay

Minecraft is heavily reliant on the gamer's creativity, and is centered around construction. The game world is essentially made of cubical blocks arranged in a fixed grid pattern which represent different materials, such as dirt, stone, various ores, water, and tree trunks. While the players can move freely across the world, objects and items can only be placed at fixed locations relative to the grid. The player can gather these material "blocks" and place them elsewhere, thus potentially creating various constructions.The game starts by placing the player on the surface of a huge procedurally generated game world. The player can walk across the terrain consisting of plains, mountains, caves, and various water bodies. The world is also divided into biomes ranging from deserts to snowfields. The in-game time system follows a day and night cycle. Throughout the course of the game the player encounters various non-human creatures, referred to as mobs. During the daytime, non-hostile animals spawn, which can be hunted for food and crafting materials. Hostile monsters, such as large spiders, skeletons, zombies and the dangerous exploding "creeper" will spawn in unlit areas, such as in caves or during the night.

References