We have another SnapShot

Here’s the development snapshot of week 5, 2012! List of changes:

• Many mob-related bug fixes (and some new behaviors)
• Ocelots are easier to tame, and cats can be told to sit
• Many small bug fixes and tweaks
• Villagers will try to detect village houses and live in them
• Updated language files (now with 50% less profanities!)

Get the snapshot here:

• 12w05a Client: http://assets.minecraft.net/12w05a/minecraft.jar
• 12w05a Server: http://assets.minecraft.net/12w05a/minecraft_server.jar

If you havent downloaded Minecraft you can grab it here: www.minecraft.net/download

// jeb and jon

See the original post here.

It is good they have made taming Ocelots (Cats) easier, that would have saved @Mangler112 and myself a good 40mins.

See the Minecraft 12w04 videos here.

I managed to find a good video by the M1neTube going through some of the updates;

Click here to view the embedded video.

Also check out this crazy Flying Squid glitch;

Click here to view the embedded video.

In Other News…

Notch reminds us about the “mojang streaming making a game from scratch for charity” thing;

notch: Remember that “mojang streaming making a game from scratch for charity” thing I talked about before? We’re doing it Feb 17-19th!

Could be fun…

Daniel shows us the final Xbox cover art for Minecraft;

Kappische: The new cover art for Minecraft for xbox

Very nice Loving the colours.
I’m not sure if you guys are aware of @MinecraftTeachr, the guy who uses Minecraft to teach kids. Well he runs a site called MinecraftEdu.com (If you want to play Minecraft in your school check it out!) Anyway, I’m going off on tangent…

Basically these guys took it a step further and made a Minecraft super-science video;

Click here to view the embedded video.

Read more on Wired.com

And finally….

Notch was very lazy about his drink today

notch: I was too lazy to keep lifting my orange soda to my mouth, so I got a branch, trimmed it, and put the drink on top. It was fantastick.

miraclemans made him this infographic.

Some Late Additions

Some more bugs being fixed;

jeb_: Public announcement: @jonkagstrom has made doors much less glitchy Also, mobs will know if they’re open or closed

And a sneak peak at the next SnapShot from Daniel

kappische: Sneak peak of the new Minecraft update

Catch you soon guys.

#DoneyKebab

The foundation for unique horror was laid by Silicon Knights’ Eternal Darkness back on the Gamecube, yet it was never built upon, which to this day feels like a truly missed opportunity. While other genres have advanced and grown, it seems horror has merely been merged into a sub genre of action. It seems strange that Nintendo’s Wii, a console geared towards family and children, is home to the most pure horror titles this generation. The Xbox 360 and PS3 have a massive void waiting to be filled in the horror genre.

Horror took a nose dive after Resident Evil 4 – with more and more horror franchises and IPs going the route of action-horror

There have been a few horror titles in the past that were fantastic, such as Monolith Productions’ Condemned. It didn’t depend on jump scares like some of the more recent horror titles (F.E.A.R. 2 and 3, I’m looking at you). Instead, Condemned offered an intense atmosphere and an impending sense of dread and mystery wrapped into one fantastically creepy video game experience. It also featured one of the most memorable final bosses of modern gaming. Condemned came out at the start of the current generation and seemed like a sign of things to come, however, things went a bit pear shaped.

Horror took a nose dive after Resident Evil 4 – with more and more horror franchises and IPs going the route of action-horror. Silent Hill was once the pinnacle of horror. Unfortunately, even that franchise fell victim to the idea of action-before-horror with the release of Homecoming. While this trend offered an aspect of horror, it wasn’t a very strong aspect and failed to scare due to the player being more than capable of defeating said horror with a pull of the trigger.

Today’s games offer no sense of menace anymore as the only horror titles available now tend to drive towards action. The player is placed in a position in which they are armed to the teeth and able to take on anyone or anything. Silent Hill: Homecoming felt almost alien from the rest of the franchise as Alex Sheppard could take out his enemies in a very effective manner. The player now has the advantage and thus the sense of terror and menace is instantly gone.

Even Condemned 2 went the way of action-horror with the game progressing into yet another first person shooter. This was a true sign that even the last beacon of genuine horror on the consoles was gone.

As action-horror games become increasingly popular, the question to ask is, are they all bad? The answer to that question is no. The F.E.A.R. franchise has done a decent job of combining horror and action into an effective mix. The first in the series was by far the best example of horror and action coming together. The horror in F.E.A.R. took inspiration from Asian cinema as it used creepy child demon Alma to jump scare and stalk players throughout the game. While the horror was quite reliant on jump scares, there was a decent amount of creepy imagery and audio that was spliced into the intense action. Although it wasn’t the horror that laid the scares on thick and fast in the fashion of classic horror titles, F.E.A.R. did manage to prove that both horror and action could be combined well on modern day consoles.

Another surprising title that also managed to bring elements from classic horror games to modern systems was Valve’s Left 4 Dead. While the game was fast and furious and didn’t contain any dark atmosphere, it did contain a broad sense of panic and doubt to whether you would survive or not. The world that Left 4 Dead was set in also contained some classic elements of horror with locations seemingly void of population (until the infected turned up) and the great use of audio (for example the screams of the Hunters that prowl on the rooves above you).

Of course, it would be unfair not to mention Resident Evil 5 (aka Resident Evil 4.5) when talking about combination of action and horror that works. However, Resident Evil 5 went slightly off course towards the end of the game and threw itself into all out action with little to no scares or even many horror elements.

The potential for fantastic horror is immense and there is a market crying out for it. Both the 360 and the PS3 have proven they can render fantastic environments and visuals that suck a player in and keep them hooked, yet both systems have not shown current generation horror at its finest.

With a few years left for the current consoles, perhaps there’s still hope for a true return to pure horror video games, a hope I cling onto.  There is a slight return of familiar horror franchises in the shape of Silent Hill: Down Pour and the Kinect title, Rise of Knightmares. Hopefully, those titles will bring the horror back.

Light gun games on consoles were a mixed bag, obviously the buzz of the packed arcade was detracted and the social aspect lowered, with games either feeling too light in content or just feeling rather dull to play. But there were some sparkling examples of games that made the cross over well, such as House of the Living Dead 2 on the Dreamcast, this was always a great game to pick up and play either solo or with friends. Its  unique co-op experience is under appreciated in today’s modern multiplayer formalities.

Booting up House of the Living Dead 2 armed with my light gun is a memory I’ve always looked back on when talking about light guns and arcade shooters.  The game was a fantastic light gun experience that played just as well on the Dreamcast as it did in the arcade. The official Dreamcast light gun was nothing short of brilliant (the VMU unit added some nice little touches). It had a good weight to it, it was able to take punishment (rage throws to the floor after a cheap death) and was responsive.  Playing light gun games with Playstation Move and the Wii motes feels like a pale imitation. This isn’t to say the Move or the Wii doesn’t work or is particularly bad, they just feel rather soulless compared to using a brightly coloured light gun, which feels almost natural while playing the game.

While light gun games are disappearing and/or are merged into the first person shooter genre (for example Killzone 3) it would be nice to see a little more activity in the genre.  There are of course the few bastions carrying the torch for light gun titles in today’s market, such as the fantastic House of the Dead: Overkill, but these games are far and few between. While the light gun is set to become something of a relic, and the genre either obsolete or merged into another genre, it should be remembered and treasured for being one of the most fun video game experiences to date. While the arcades have all but gone (in the UK anyway) and video games now strive towards motion control, I will always look back at the light gun with a sense of joy and regret. Joy for the great times I had with a light gun in my hand, be it in the arcade blasting zombies in House of the Dead with my father or playing the Dreamcast equivalent alone in my room, it was always fun to play.

The regret is that within a year or so light gun games will be all but gone; a mere relic of days gone by. While this realization is disheartening, I can rest in the knowledge that playing my light gun collection is merely a press of a button away.

We have yet another snapshot! This one seemed to come up very quick.. I only just made a video showing 12w03a

This update adds Freaking Cats (Ocelot’s) .. haha

• New jungle-specific mob that can be tamed
• Skeletons have new AI and a few new behaviors
• Various minor bug fixes and changes
• Added an experience item to creative mode
• Added a flame item…
• Updated language files

Get the snapshot here:

• 12w04a Client: http://assets.minecraft.net/12w04a/minecraft.jar
• 12w04a Server: http://assets.minecraft.net/12w04a/minecraft_server.jar

If you haven’t downloaded Minecraft you can grab it here: www.minecraft.net/download

 You can read more about 12w04a on the Mojang blog.

Minecraft Forum also has some more information;

• Jungle Tree Saplings (thanks Minecraftman1)
• The textures for dispensers and saplings have been changed. (thanks Minecraftman1)
• If a 2×2 square of Jungle Tree Saplings is made and one is fertilized with bone meal, a huge tree is made (Thank you, Wolfrose88 via Minecraftman1)

The guys from the M1neTube attempted to tame/breed some Kitties;

Freaking Kitties Part 01;

Click here to view the embedded video.

Freaking Kitties Part 02;

Click here to view the embedded video.

How-To Tame And Breed Cats (Ocelots) In Minecraft;

Click here to view the embedded video.

Minecraft chick was very happy about the new Kitties!

minecraftchick: Yay!!!! Thank you to @jonkagstrom & @jeb_ for adding cats and KITTENS to the game!!!

minecraftchick: Hmmm looks like @jeb_ added his own cat to Minecraft. Notice the similarities?

Notch is also feeling unsure about the new AI of the Zombies;

notch: The zombies are creeping me out. They’re more intelligent than me! Feels wrong, man!

In other News….

Minecraft chick was sent an amazing picture by @WooonderCraft

minecraftchick: FINALLY someone sent me a package in Sweden! Amazingness by @WooonderCraft! YAY!

Notch is also asking people how they feel about them tracking the Minecraft logins. To gather data.

notch: Asking permission to add some tracking to Minecraft: notch.tumblr.com

We have no idea how you’re playing the Minecraft.
Right now, the only way we can figure out roughly what people are doing with the game is to track logins. Once you’re logged in, we have no idea what happens.

Looking like people don't mind so far.

notch: I’d rather not have it be an opt-in option, as most casual users would not activate it. But letting people turn it off, sure!

The Minecraft Lego project is also still moving forward.

LEGO + Minecraft model reaches next stage

carlmanneh: LEGO Version of Minecraft Is Seriously Going to Happen

Ok Guys.. Catch you soon

#DoneyKebab

The return of Leon is well welcomed as he as been my most favoured Resident Evil character (though his hair cut has always slightly confused me) but it does raise a few questions that the game will surely answer. Leon’s sections seem to be a mixture of the action packed Resident Evil 4 gameplay tied in with the classic T-Virus zombies. It’s a nice touch to see Resident Evil bringing back the classic zombies but it does present a few issues in terms of how well the gameplay can blend in with the established ‘slow’ zombies. While there is plenty of room to question Leon’s section in trailer I found myself easily looking past them and instead questioning the next showing.

Chris Redfeild takes a large role in the Resident Evil 6 trailer and this is where my problems arise. My issues don’t rest within the character of Chris Redfeild but instead rest with the actions we see him perform. There’s a certain clip within the trailer that shows Chris taking up a very ‘Gears of War’ like position. While its apparent Chris has became the face of the pure full on action side of Resident Evil, this jump to third person cover based shooter seems rather alien given the franchise we are talking about here. While I understand franchises must evolve/adopt to survive (for the most part anyway) I cant quite get past the mish-mash of gameplay styles Resident Evil 6 seems to be.

I worry that the sections I could possibly enjoy could often be broken up too often and the gameplay switched to something I enjoy a lot less (or perhaps even dislike). This could easily lead to the game feeling like a chore to play through which can easily kill any video experience. Of course I’m speaking from a personal point of view, there will certainly be people who enjoy the potential mixing pot of gameplay. The prospect at having such a mix and change in pace within one game, while trying to carry a storyline, is an extremely daunting idea.

Another problem I seemed to find myself having with the trailer stems more from the identity crisis Resident Evil seems to be suffering. Capcom are no strangers to experimenting with the Resident Evil franchise. A look back through the years shows new directions taken by the franchise with some having more success than others. The likes of Resident Evil Survivor showed Capcom were willing to push their franchise into new genres. Even when they met failure they were still willing to try again and use their past experiences improve future efforts. You could not accuse Capcom of lacking ambition with the Resident Evil franchise after the releases of Out Break 1 & 2 which were met with a mixed reception. After a number of experiments and new directions it seemed Capcom had stuck gold with Resident Evil 4. The core gameplay of Resident Evil 4 seemingly set the tone for Capcomls numbered entries into the franchise. This hasn’t resulted in Capcom sticking to just one style of gameplay or genre, but has in fact allowed them to return to their experimental ways allowing them to branch out the franchise. The existence of the Wii Resident Evil light gun titles (Umbrella Chronicles) was further proof Capcom felt comfortable returning to their meddling ways within the Resident Evil world, the same can be said for Resident Evil:Raccoon City. Capcom have also began to embrace new technology in the shape of their title for Nintendo’s 3DS named Revelations.

I may have my issues with Resident Evil 6′s trailer and indeed with Capcom as a company, but I can see to why they have seemingly took the route that Resident Evil 6 is on. The mixture of gameplay is a double edged sword that could allow the game to offer a decent range of experiences or turn out to be a mess. I may be against the ‘Gears of War’ style action we seen in the Chris sections of the Resident Evil 6 trailer but the Leon sections and the sections belonging to the new character did raise a slight interest for me. Resident Evil 6 could be potentially franchise changing event for a number of reasons but until the game ships all we can do it sit back and wait.

Maybe I’m stuck in the past, maybe I’m just jaded but what I do know is I’m willing to have my mind changed. Just don’t charge us for content that’s locked on the disc Capcom.

Me again. With yet another Minecraft Snapshot.

I assume you all caught up on my Minecraft 1.1 post recently. That grouped all the Snapshots from before together. This is the first one since 1.1

I also assume you all noticed Minecraft.net and Mojang.com were down in protest of SOPA last week.

Check out my post on it here;

Mojang SOPA Protest

The guys did a little teasing befor the snapshot was released;

minecraftchick: I just saw the world’s CUTEST wolf babies in Minecraft!!! @jeb_ & @jonkagstrom are the best!

jeb_: Green jungle is green

jeb_: Jon (@jonkagstrom) wants to add jungle animals later, but they will not be included in today’s snapshot

PC Gamer did a little story on the Jungle Biome;

PC Gamer Minecraft Jungle Biome

Shortly after he released the Snapshot;

Time for the snapshot of week 3, 2012! List of changes, since 1.1 last week:
•    Ladders regained their collision box, and vines are climbable when they have a solid block behind them
•    Added jungle biome (requires a new world) with new tree and leaf types
•    Updated language files
•    Dispensers will place mobs instead of releasing the spawner egg
•    Zombies have new path-finding AI
•    Wolves have new AI and can be bred (when tame)

Get the snapshot here:
•    Minecraft 12w03a Client: http://assets.minecraft.net/12w03a/minecraft.jar
•    Minecraft 12w03a Server: http://assets.minecraft.net/12w03a/minecraft_server.jar

I must say the Jungle biome sounds amazing! Also the possibility of Monkeys! I wonder what they would do? Steal your stuff? The ability to fire mobs form dispensers is also going to be quite fun.. Imagine firing creepers Sssss. BOOM!

Well that about wraps it up for this Snapshot. If you want to check out the jungle you can watch my series here;

Minecraft Jungle Adventure Part 01 What A Lovely Cave HD;

Click here to view the embedded video.

Minecraft Jungle Adventure Part 02 The Flying Squid HD

Click here to view the embedded video.

Minecraft Jungle Adventure Part 03 Doney’s Stupid Steps HD

Click here to view the embedded video.

For now I leave you with this;

notch: Here's a terribly helpful infographic:

Catch you next time

#DoneyKebab

Welcome..

Well it seems Mojang are getting involved in the SOPA protests after all

 

No sane person can be for SOPA. I don’t know if we’re sane, but we are strongly, uncompromisingly against SOPA, and any similar laws. Sacrificing freedom of speech for the benefit of corporate profit is abominable and disgusting. — Notch

Tomorrow, January 18, we will close down www.minecraft.net, www.mojang.com and www.playcobalt.com in a protest against the Stop Online Piracy Act. Read more about the protest on reddit’s blog, Wikimedia Foundation, WordPress’ blog and Destructoid.

(Minecraft and Cobalt login servers will still be available.)

Info taken from the Mojang Blog

Mojang.com

Update 18th January

Minecraft.net is now down, along with Mojang.com. They both display the following message;

Check out http://www.minecraft.net here 

Wikipedia is also down;

Wikipedia SOPA Protest

If anyone is wondering WTF is SOPA (like me) then check out this video by TotalBiscuit;

Click here to view the embedded video.

Post SOPA Protest

Well as you know SOPA has been shelved.. SO that is a bonus,, We do need to stay aware and look out for PIPA.

Notch seems cool about it though;

notch: The SOPA protest downtime cost us $200,000 in “lost sales”. We should sue SOPA.

notch: Yes, it was a joke. Sales are higher than average today, so it seems like players just waited and bought it later. We didn’t lose that much.

notch: I was mocking the industry’s worry about “potential sales” and “lost income”, two made up fake concepts used to keep accountants busy.

Funny guy

Catch you soon

#DoneyKebab

Hello again.. Well we have a ‘proper’ release of Minecraft for you today (well last Thursday)

Jeb_: Was going to upload Minecraft 1.1, but first Bohemian Rhapsody singalong

Jeb tweeted the above along with this link;

http://mojang.com/2012/01/12/minecraft-1-1-update/

Read the full Minecraft 1.1 Update List (Above)

Below is a list of some of the added features:

- Bow Enchantments
- Golden Apple recipe
- New language translations.
- Slightly smoothed color transitions between biomes
- Reduced brewing time to 20 seconds
- Added spawn eggs to creative (the colors of the eggs even look like the mobs)
- Added world type options (currently only super-flat and default)
- Removed collision box from ladders
- Sheep eat grass and regain their wool

Plus many bug fixes!

I know a lot of these features are already available in the Snapshots but it will be good to see them in an ‘Official Release’

The ability to spawn mobs is a really nice feature..

Download Minecraft 1.1 here;

Minecraft.net

The H.A.T. Films guys made a great Trailer for 1.1

Click here to view the embedded video.

The M1neTube guys also took a look at the Minecraft 1.1 Update;

Part 01 Apples & Ladders;

Click here to view the embedded video.

Part 02 Egg, Fire & Potions;

Click here to view the embedded video.

In Other News…

Jens has been working with translations some more.. It seems there is so much to do in this area!

jeb_: Getting correct letter and word order of Arabic text was hard, and alignment is still wrong:

And fixing bugs…

jeb_: Spending the day fixing bugs. Doors are weird because they have 5 bits of data put into 4 bits of memory with some coding tricks.

Also if you remember the Super-Flat worlds in the last Snapshot? Well when you turn on Generate-Structures;

jeb_: Just for fun, if you have "structures: on" you may find this in superflat worlds:

jeb_: Also added server property setting “generate-structures” to avoid that in multi-player

Notch was also very impressed with the work Jens has been doing on Minecraft;

notch: Oh my! @jeb_ showed me his tweaks to the biome generator. There are beaches now! And more hills! Very cool stuff!

In fact I expect these are in Minecraft 1.1

Well I think that is it for me..

Catch you soon

#DoneyKebab

What more? Here’s a short list.

- Make Tropico fit for the 21st century: Evolve the island from the Cold War era to modern times and even into the future

- 30 new buildings become available as time progresses, including condos, skyscrapers, Organic Ranches and Biofarms. Replace obsolete buildings with these modern and inspiring designs

- Upgrade old buildings to new variants — modernized apartment buildings, banks, museums and much more

- 10 new edicts allow even more control over your citizens’ lives. Block or limit citizens’ Internet use, create a police state or be a “good guy” and launch the Festival of Love edict

- New single player campaign comprised of 12 comprehensive scenario missions. Protect Tropico from unseen and sinister forces

The expansion releases March and will bleed your pocket a decent 1200 Microsoft Points, until then you can check out the teaser trailer released earlier below.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Apart from announcing a heart-warming date for the game’s release, Namco Bandai is also boasting about the game’s 60fps 3DS WiFi battles and exchangeable ”Tekken Cards” through the game’s Street Pass features.

The strangest addition to Tekken 3D Prime Edition has to be the animated film Tekken: Blood Vengance that will be included on the game’s cartridge; a first for the system.

Source: Destructoid