After looking at all the low quality live stream footage of Minecraft from PAX Prime over the last several days, we’re starting to get better quality stuff posted on YouTube. Last night I found a video from IGN with Notch giving a tour of the high points of the update on the show floor.
Notch has been talking a lot about splitting the update, so it sounds like a 1.9 update will be coming along sometime soonish to finish up the adventure features.
The other video I found, courtesy of TheShaft podcast twitter, was of the Notch’s hat giveaway ceremony.
Well that’s the end of it for Mojang’s appearance at PAX Prime. I was just able to catch the ole’ Android phone live stream of the Minecraft Griefer party (from my iPhone no less), where they gave away all the booth stuff. It wasn’t terribly exciting for an observer who couldn’t win, so don’t feel bad about not catching it live.
The Griefer Party Android phone stream
The video had lots of crowd noise and chanting people excited for the Notch’s hat giveaway throughout. I did get a blurry view of the kid(?) who won the hat in the end, and Notch shed a tear for everyone’s benefit on the occasion. But that was about the most interesting bit, unless you really like listening to MinecraftChick call out random numbers.
Now I’m looking forward to the 1.8 adventure update getting released sometime soon! Still incredibly excited, and trying to be patient! Happy Crafting!
The Mojang crew look like they have been really busy already out at PAX Prime in Seattle. I’m a bit bummed that I have a previous obligation this weekend, and so wont be able to be on top of all the info that will be coming at us. Nevertheless, I shall do my best here to sum up the few Minecrafty bits that happened on Friday.
First of all, you can take a look at the schedule for Mojang over on their official blog. Most of the Minecraft events look to have been scheduled to happen yesterday, aside from the costume contest coming up tonight. At several points yesterday I saw Notch was streaming live on his Android phone from PAX, which was really great and amazing to watch. Honestly I feel like that was great of him to do, since I know that when I’m busy at an event that last thing I feel like doing is playing cameraman. Check below for the videos:
My blog has been a bit neglected as of late, so I thought I’d give it a bit of attention today! I’m just going into my workweek so gotta get this post up while I can.
On the Minecraft front we’ve got PAX just about to get underway, which should be bringing along a lot more detail about the soon to arrive 1.8 update. I don’t have a big summary post ready or anything, but my pals over at Encrazed Crafts have been keeping up to date with most of the bigger “leaks” that have come across, so allow me to link you: Creepy Endermen! - Rivers! - Other exciting goodies!
This past weekend the annual Ludum Dare event also took place, where a plethora of programmers do their best to write a game within a 48 hour stretch. Notch participated and churned out a game called Prelude of the Chambered while also streaming his coding throughout the weekend. The game is really good for only having 48 hours, and is reminiscent of Wolfenstein 3D, though less violent.
Watching Notch implement a new game feature every 1/2 hour on stream was inspiring to me and got me thinking about programming again. So I’ve pulled out Java and started whipping up some of the basic framework for a game idea I have. I don’t want to spoil anything just yet, but once I get a tad further in development you can expect more posts about my progress! I’ve never programmed a game from scratch before, to my shame, but I’m looking forward to rectifying that now! For any curious, I’m writing the game in Java using Slick2D and Marte Engine. Together they are giving a very good base to build things upon quicly.
As of today the official site for Minecon in Las Vegas has gone live! You can check out the site to get a few small details about what will be happening, as well as purchase tickets and book a room under a special Minecon rate! The main events will be taking place at the Mandalay Bay Resort, which looks pretty swanky. Even their basic rooms are mini-suites.
I’ve been waiting for details about Minecon, and getting more excited it since it was first announced! Now comes the part where I have to figure out if I’m actually going to be able to make it out there. I can’t say I’m optimistic about that, since we’re going on a family vacation in about a month, and we’ll have additional expenses to go with that. I am really looking forward to the family vacation though, as we’re going to Disney World!
Perhaps I’ll have a sudden windfall of cash… Hey, it’s happened.
Over the last extended weekend I was away on vacation, part family, part just my Wife and I. We went up to the Wisconsin Dells and had some fun and relaxing time at the water parks there. A good time and nice to do some relaxing, but I’m certainly glad to be back in my own bed!
Shortly before leaving, and now that I’ve returned, my eye has once again been caught by Dwarf Fortress. The large amount of coverage in the NYT magazine helped get me back into it a bit. If anyone is aware of my first fortress, Fatallash, it still exists. I haven’t played it anymore since the last goblin siege I posted about, but for a few minutes the other day just to see how it was holding up. The Dwarfs are quite hardy and haven’t given up. In fact, it appears that everyone has emerged from their horrible depression and the fortress can get back on track!
The current state of the entrance to Fatallash. I have a lot of extra clothing from deceased dwarfs.
Aside from Fatallash I started up a new fortress recently, (which I cannot currently recall the name of) to allow me to correct a few of my oversights in the first fortress design. One thing I still messed up was the embark location. I didn’t think about my wanting to mess with water and such, so I didn’t choose a site with a river. It also seems I may have chosen too peaceful a location, as my fortress has already surpassed a population of 170 dwarfs and been declared a barony. In all that time, not a single attack, not even a snatcher, has threatened the fortress. I do have plans to rectify that problem, as I’ve begun digging much further downward. Still, I’m about 50 levels below the surface and still haven’t found a cavern.
Now that I’m back onto my more regular schedule I really need to get myself back into the habit of posting more often! I know I’ve been neglecting Minecraft a bit, but I must go where the brain takes me! I’ll be back with more gaming randomness soon.
