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The secret of Minecraft (2014)

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Re: The secret of Minecraft (2014)

#151

Post by KronisLV »

teaearlgraycold wrote: post #105
superb_dev wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I dislike the auth changes as well, but it hasn’t had any impact on server hosting in my experience. It’s still just as easy as getting the right JVM and running the jar. The only thing new is the EULA you have to accept on first launch

You can even still disable user authentication. That’s a pretty sweet deal for a game owned by Microsoft. There’s legit support in the game for pirated copies.

For a while I hosted a server for some friends that used TLauncher, turning off the "online mode" was indeed super simple! Then they also got the proper copies from Microsoft and I could just change the configuration setting, and we could all play with the proper accounts, although if I recall correctly they lost their old items and such, because those were considered different player IDs and whatnot.

Not condoning it per se, but the game could be way more draconian in its implementation of auth.

Re: The secret of Minecraft (2014)

#152

Post by lynndotpy »

Something else vital is that it ran on almost everything. Even before it expanded to every smartphone and console available, you could get it to run on a cheap and old laptop. Even 10fps was serviceable if you played on peaceful :)

I actually got into Minecraft during classic, and I chased performance optimizations all the way to Linux. Even with all the feature additions, by the time it hit beta, it ran better on my laptop than it did in infinidev / alpha.

When it entered beta and Jeb took over in 2011, it felt like an inflection point. Minecraft just _kept_ _getting_ _bigger_. Every time I come back, there's something new that I discover.

I think that's part of the secret. Even with a wiki up at all time, there's still the delight and horror of discovery. I went got back into the game recently, went strip mining 5 blocks above bedrock, and was pleasantly surprised by the whole process :)

Re: The secret of Minecraft (2014)

#153

Post by mrob »

The "secret" knowledge isn't necessary if you're persistent enough. Japanese Youtuber PiroPito has an ongoing series of videos (with English subtitles) of an almost entirely unspoilered playthrough:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbqkLu2V1bJJUQ2aLZjFd...

Only things he used external information for were nether portals (which were made more difficult by poor Japanese translation) and summoning the wither. The devs added ruined portals in response to this series as an in-game hint for nether portals.

Re: The secret of Minecraft (2014)

#154

Post by kaba0 »

kevinsync wrote: post #86

Microsoft didn't ruin Minecraft -- all they did was graciously allow the Java version (moddable) to continue to exist and improve while making Bedrock work consistently cross-platform (way more important than you may realize, so many kids are introduced via phones and tablets) and be the place where branded IP / predictable content goes. My 12 year old son has been playing since he was 6 I think, and is an unbelievab…

Maybe they would have been better off by simply trying to make it run on mobiles as is? It’s java, there is no reason why it couldn’t just work - some people do play the java version on ipads even.

Re: The secret of Minecraft (2014)

#155

Post by ben0x539 »

ACow_Adonis wrote: post #63
rootforce wrote: post #23

I’ve been playing Minecraft off and on since beta, and I’ve been able to introduce each of my kids as they’ve gotten old enough to play. It is pretty amazing, they all started in creative running around punching random things and now each one has their own way they like to play. One loves to build, another mini games, survival, parkour, mods etc. we are currently watching MCC live and it’s like the Super Bowl. They a…

I just introduced my kid to Minecraft and it's fascinating how quickly they take to it, but to my (internal silent) horror, they've added so much that changes the survival experience from the early days that it's not really the same any more. Now there's villages which provide pre-made shelter, you can just trade and build up villager slaves to make all the resources for you, you can get a bed (which you find in all…

> Now there's villages which provide pre-made shelter, you can just trade and build up villager slaves to make all the resources for you, you can get a bed (which you find in all villages) which let's you skip the night phase completely, and they've even added in wings so people are flying everywhere.

Yeah, it really kinda surprised me that Minecraft went in that direction. What got me hooked was 100% the need for shelter and some landscaping to make sure you wouldn't have eg. a bunch of skeletons standing under each tree on your front lawn every morning, a creeper waiting around the corner of your house, etc. Being able to skip night completely means there's basically never monsters on the surface unless you want there to be, and without that sort of ever-present threat, there's just that much less pressure that the game can put on you towards cautious gameplay and 'functional' protective structures and so on. Of course people keep themselves entertained with amazingly extravagant builds and ridiculously complicated redstone machinery anyway, so I'm not saying it's a bad direction for the game, it obviously worked out well for them etc. I just really wish there was more gameplay directly motivated by basic survival, instead of progressing past survival in the first five minutes.

Conversely I think flying is entirely fine. Unless you're, like, speedrunning, flight is only available once you've progressed through basically the entire game, and I think at that point it's reasonable that there's a more convenient way to explore distant areas.

Now, shields, those are just too powerful for how early they're available!

Re: The secret of Minecraft (2014)

#156

Post by dariosalvi78 »

ineptech wrote: post #71
rootforce wrote: post #23

I’ve been playing Minecraft off and on since beta, and I’ve been able to introduce each of my kids as they’ve gotten old enough to play. It is pretty amazing, they all started in creative running around punching random things and now each one has their own way they like to play. One loves to build, another mini games, survival, parkour, mods etc. we are currently watching MCC live and it’s like the Super Bowl. They a…

It's hard not to mourn what was lost though. Minecraft mods were how a lot of teenagers got acquainted with scripting, and it's a lot harder to get started with your own server since MS bought it and forced it to authenticate through Azure. In my kids' friendgroup at least, the "modding games as an entry point to programming" concept has been handed off from Minecraft to Roblox. It's nice that they've added a bunch o…

You can try minetest, an open source clone. It's fun!

Re: The secret of Minecraft (2014)

#157

Post by dariosalvi78 »

herewulf wrote: post #75
ineptech wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's hard not to mourn what was lost though. Minecraft mods were how a lot of teenagers got acquainted with scripting, and it's a lot harder to get started with your own server since MS bought it and forced it to authenticate through Azure. In my kids' friendgroup at least, the "modding games as an entry point to programming" concept has been handed off from Minecraft to Roblox. It's nice that they've added a bunch o…

Minetest, which has been around nearly as long and is a FOSS game with more or less feature parity, covers all these bases. Super easy to script in Lua. Simple to set up servers. I've gotten my kids into Minetest after they kept hearing about Minecraft and asking to play, and they absolutely love it. Runs great on lower end hardware too.

Same here! Got a server on an old Rpi 2 and as client an old Samsung tablet. All works great and we have a lot of fun! The only thing is to setup the game as you like, with mods etc. it takes some trial and error, but it's also fun.

Re: The secret of Minecraft (2014)

#158

Post by 29athrowaway »

5636588 wrote: post #141
29athrowaway wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When Apple released the iPhone, several smartphones were in existence. But the iPhone created a much more cohesive and simplified experience compared to those. There's merit in that.

It's called the Second-Mover Advantage.

Apple wasn't even the second mover. There were many smartphones and pocket PCs from a myriad of vendors by the time the iPhone appeared.

Re: The secret of Minecraft (2014)

#159

Post by sandworm101 »

ilaksh wrote: post #106

He makes a good point about "secret" knowledge, but I don't think that's the real secret. I believe almost everyone, including the author here, misunderstands what made Minecraft take off. It was NOT just the fact that you have creative control (which is what most people mistakenly assume is the main point) or that you need to learn how to craft to advance, or the procedural generation. It was the _combination_ of al…

And youtube. The rise of youtube gaming channels made minecraft, and vice versa.

Re: The secret of Minecraft (2014)

#160

Post by trallnag »

lolinder wrote: post #77
ineptech wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's hard not to mourn what was lost though. Minecraft mods were how a lot of teenagers got acquainted with scripting, and it's a lot harder to get started with your own server since MS bought it and forced it to authenticate through Azure. In my kids' friendgroup at least, the "modding games as an entry point to programming" concept has been handed off from Minecraft to Roblox. It's nice that they've added a bunch o…

This is the kind of pessimistic take that gets a lot of traction on HN, but man does it not match my experience. > Minecraft mods were how a lot of teenagers got acquainted with scripting, and it's a lot harder to get started with your own server since MS bought it and forced it to authenticate through Azure. First off, the pivot from mods to running a server is sort of related, I guess? But it's not at all clear how…

> Microsoft bought Minecraft in 2014

That was such a long time ago... I remember people proclaiming the death of Minecraft.

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