Since PAX finished and team Mojang headed back to their office in Sweden, Minecraft development has greatly increased – most likely due to the post PAX feedback on the Adventure Update.
In a bold move, Jens even announced a prediction for 1.8′s release.
@jeb_The plan right now is to release the “PAX version” of Minecraft ASAP, but there is some crucial work remaining. Sep 8th is a good guess
If all goes to plan, this means we should be playing the long anticipated Adventure Update by the weekend! But there was a lot of tweaks to make to 1.8 before it was ready and both Notch and Jens have been hard at work with fixes, tweaks and additions all week.
@notch Fixed the biome code so villages only spawn on flat areas. Nice.
@jeb_ Received a fix for the “empty chests” bug from the bukkit team
@notch I spent most of today tweaking stuff for 1.8. You can bind any action to a mouse button now, or to a keyboard key. Really helps trackpads.
…and so on. Fixes and tweaks are great to hear about, but what a lot of people really wanted to see was more screen-shots, and the pair didn’t disappoint, egging each other on to post their latest achievements.
@notch Oh my lord, @jeb_ showed me one of the features he’s been working on and it looks amazing. He should tweet a screenshot. ;)
@jeb_Heh as @notch asked (visitors at PAX have already seen this):
And it’s not just images being leaked this week; videos have also been released to show off some of the newest abilities.
@notch Today I cleaned up sprinting (it’s infinite now, but drains lots of food. Jumping is boosted) and added the player list in multiplayer.
Even @MinecraftChickgot in on the action, showing off some footage of 1.8 at PAX.
I’m glad the update’s coming out this week, because with teasing images this good I’m not sure how much longer I can contain my excitement! This really is setting itself up to be the biggest game-changing update to hit Minecraft.
And for all those budding texture pack creators out there, Jens was kind enough to share with us the new item and texture images.
@jeb_ Posted terrain and items from 1.8 for texture packers:
Thursday can’t come soon enough.
Feature
Notch has always been an avid supporter of the modding community, working with modders to implement some into the game, adapting Minecraft to make modding easier and sometimes even promoting them on twitter.
The Paint Mod (from Hippoplatimus, the creator of the original Piston Mod) allows the player to create their own works of art on any surface, using various dyes and brushes to paint with. The creative possibilities with this mod are almost endless (so long as each idea involves painting something). I can’t wait to see some of the great pieces created with this mod.
But, as Notch tweeted about it, the question on everyone’s lips was “will it be implemented into the official game?”
@notch We have no plans to integrate that into core Minecraft, no. Just play the mod! It’s awesome. :D
Spectacular structures and ingenious contraptions built in Minecraft have always been my favorite things to marvel at on YouTube. Train stations never cease to amaze me, as their absurdly complex designs and brilliant mechanics can also be used as practical means of transportation.
People feared that after the minecart bug fix a few updates ago was released, the ingenuity of train station makers might be weakened. Cleary they were wrong, as this is easily the greatest transportation mechanism I’ve ever seen in Minecraft.
The Yogscast frequently release excellent “Mod Spotlight” videos, showcasing some of the better up-and-coming mods created. Recently, two particular mods caught my eye, the first being the wonderful Coral and Scuba Diving mod.
The scuba diving and its apparatus don’t impress me too much – if anything they hinder the gameplay substantially – but the coral is a different story. The vast colours brighten the ocean floor immensely, bringing a much needed boost to water areas. Something like this has to eventually end up in the game, as I believe it adds so much more aesthetically pleasing elements to the game.
I’ll give you a minute to let that one sink in. This simple water effect increases the games beauty exponentially. Sadly, though, I can’t see this being implemented into the core game any time soon as it may cause players to lag or crash. Making the effect optional, however, would certainly be a great move – but if that’s the case, it might as well stay as a mod.
New to That Gamer Hub?
Visit our Getting Started guide.
That Gamer Hub App
Download the That Gamer Hub App.
Join us on Facebook:
Follow us on Twitter:
Follow @ThatGamerHub