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Minecraft creator banks $350k a day, turns down job offers from Valve and Bungie

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Re: Minecraft creator banks $350k a day, turns down job offers from Valve and Bungie

#61

Post by ido »

derefr wrote: post #51
nihilocrat wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On a similar note, Minecraft is written in... get this ... Java Which seems to be the dorkiest and most uncool language on the planet if you were to ask HN.

Eh, a good programmer can just treat Java as an object code format, compiling it in their heads from something like Scala or Clojure. The real problem isn't that Java is spent, it's that (most) Java programmers are dorky. I avoid the language mainly to avoid associating with the community.

Funny, the java community is one of the best and most helpful I've encountered.

Much better experience than I've had with the supposedly enlightened lisp community.

Also, Markus programs in straight java, not scala or clojure.

Re: Minecraft creator banks $350k a day, turns down job offers from Valve and Bungie

#62

Post by ojbyrne »

nihilocrat wrote: post #39
aresant wrote: post #6

The most refreshing part of this story is that it's not about the Apple / Google / etc App stores. Shows that exceptional indie products can get huge traction on a traditional platform, sort of like Braid on XBOX / PC / etc. That said, also excites me for the future when MSFT's & Apple's standard OS come with a servicable app store baked in.

On a similar note, Minecraft is written in... get this ... Java Which seems to be the dorkiest and most uncool language on the planet if you were to ask HN.

I suspect that the Lightweight Java Game Library is seeing a spike in downloads.

Re: Minecraft creator banks $350k a day, turns down job offers from Valve and Bungie

#63

Post by jokermatt999 »

klbarry wrote: post #4

It's kinda sad that the Dwarf Fortress creator only earns about 2k a day. It shows what some business savvy will do for you. Then ago, the DF creator is passionatr about his vision, so who knows.

I love Dwarf Fortress to death, but it will never have the success or mass market appeal that Minecraft does. Minecraft I managed to get a complete non-gamer playing in about 15 minutes. Dwarf Fortress has hardcore gamers shying away from its brick wall learning curve and obtuse interface. Toady One could be a marketing genius, and DF still would never sell like Minecraft.

Not that there's anything wrong with that; he's making a game he loves and he's lucky that enough people agree with him to donate to him that he can survive on just those earnings. It's a great and fascinating game, but it's one that most people won't like.

Re: Minecraft creator banks $350k a day, turns down job offers from Valve and Bungie

#65

Post by henrikschroder »

9ec4c12949a4f3 wrote: post #59
kevingadd wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

1) Health care, taxes, payment processing fees, development tools... There are a lot of expenses covered by an employer, especially when you're a game developer. 2) It's not $350k/day versus $50k/year, unless he can somehow sustain his current income indefinitely (he can't). 3) The value of games publishers and platform developers being willing to talk to you (and having access to development kits, etc) is hard to pu…

He'll be fine if he gets a financial planner and keeps running a business. He should start a business or foundation. Healthcare concerns are done away with because all your company really gives you with it's health care is the fact they've purchased into a group-policy with some company... you could do the same with your extended group of friends if you can organize the thing. 350k/day = 7 years of 50k/year. If he pu…

Pay attention to the article if you're commenting on it. Healthcare is done away with because of where he lives.

Re: Minecraft creator banks $350k a day, turns down job offers from Valve and Bungie

#66

Post by InclinedPlane »

zacharycohn wrote: post #46
vaksel wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

looks can be changed, my guess is that the first thing he'll do is update the graphics to give the game mainstream appeal. right now people are playing for the gameplay...just like they do with WoW

The graphics are simple on purpose - because the game is essentially infinitely scalable (theoretical max map size is 3x surface of the Earth), simple graphics are super important for not lagging servers and clients to hell. He's said in interviews that the improvements he wants to make are improvements that make the game more fun. He's not going to add features that won't somehow add fun, and if he finds that someth…

The graphics are fine. I'd rather see improvement made in speed of rendering (even on a decent machine, setting "fancy graphics" and a "far" viewplane is a recipe for low framerates and lag) before trying to change the look.

Re: Minecraft creator banks $350k a day, turns down job offers from Valve and Bungie

#67

Post by dasil003 »

rwhitman wrote: post #50

The question is how long will it take major game developers to build a similar game and turn on the marketing faucet? I don't know much about game development, but it sounds like it would be a pretty easy game to replicate, right?

If he's already sold hundreds of thousands of copies, it seems like he's made significant inroads into the market. Not sure how much more the marketing faucet could do.

Re: Minecraft creator banks $350k a day, turns down job offers from Valve and Bungie

#69

Post by taloft »

rwhitman wrote: post #50

The question is how long will it take major game developers to build a similar game and turn on the marketing faucet? I don't know much about game development, but it sounds like it would be a pretty easy game to replicate, right?

Apparently not difficult

http://manicdigger.sourceforge.net/news/

Re: Minecraft creator banks $350k a day, turns down job offers from Valve and Bungie

#70

Post by msie »

nihilocrat wrote: post #39
aresant wrote: post #6

The most refreshing part of this story is that it's not about the Apple / Google / etc App stores. Shows that exceptional indie products can get huge traction on a traditional platform, sort of like Braid on XBOX / PC / etc. That said, also excites me for the future when MSFT's & Apple's standard OS come with a servicable app store baked in.

On a similar note, Minecraft is written in... get this ... Java Which seems to be the dorkiest and most uncool language on the planet if you were to ask HN.

I wonder if this will get more people doing 3d games in Java. It certainly is a ringing endorsement. Java has some nice features over C and C++ and the performance is good enough as demonstrated by the game. Plus it has a very good collection of libraries.
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