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  1. #1
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    Default Minecraft, or my new virtual crack

    Minecraft is a great game, but it's sort of difficult to explain to people who haven't played it previously. Technically, it is classified as a survival RPG, but that doesn't really explain anything. This video here can you a basic idea of the look of minecraft:


    <iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/m_yqOoUMHPg" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

    I know, it looks like something built out of legos or drawn with an etch-a-sketch, but all of those terrains are randomly generate with full biomes that classify different types of trees, plants, and even animal/monsters. Minecraft was written by one man, known as Notch, who wrote the original programming for minecraft, and now has a multi-million dollar business off of it... and the game is still in beta. there are no commercials for minecraft, it's all been spread by word of mouths from players, and the reviewers who have come across it.

    To explain how Minecraft "works", I guess I'll go over my initial experiences with playing. I start the game getting dumped along a rather nice beach with some forested hills before me, the sun just rising over the ocean behind me, and I figure that the tutorials that almost all games have will pop up any moment. Yeah, that doesn't happen here, there is nothing to explain what all you're supposed to do. I fiddle with the keys and mouse, learning that WASD controls movement, while the mouse controls where you're looking. Pretty simple and straightforward, so I start fiddling about some more, and discover that if you can pick up blocks of dirt by holding the left mouse button down to dig them up, and place them elsewhere.

    This forms the most rudimentary part of the gameplay for Minecraft, with the ability to make buildings out of various block combinations as you so desire. Unfortunately, I took too long and fooling around with dirt blocks, and the sun set. At night, the stars came out with the moon rising, and that's not all. I was suddenly assaulted by a skeleton archer who kept shooting arrows at me, and with no weapons or armor, I was forced to run away swiftly, only to have a kamikaze shrub rush up and detonate on me, killing me instantly.

    ............ "What the fuck was that thing?!" I literally paused blinking at the screen for ten second before the WTF moment. My buddy tells me to check a FAQ, but I'm a little ticked now, and screw the FAQ, I'm not getting my ass beat by a shrub and a skelly, so I respawn, and I go again. Um, yeah, died again, but I took out the skelly first. Problem being that I didn't pay attention to the sounds of a giant spider that was near me, and got eaten. This cycle admittedly goes on for a while, until I have my moment of epiphany: I'm disobeying my basic survival training. Not for video games, but for real life, and the game is beating me like I owe it money because of that. If I were actually in the wild, the first thing I would do is find/make a shelter, not fight everything in the surrounding countryside. So the next go, I use my digging to bore into the side of a hill enough to be able to close all but a single block behind me, and I wait until morning.

    When day comes, I watch as skeletons and zombies a like are set on fire by the sun's rays, and I can go out without too much hassle. Now armed with a different manner of thinking, I go after the nearest tree, breaking the blocks to get me wood. I check my inventory (the i button), and I see I have 2x2 crafting square. When I place the wood I've gathered onto it, it turns out that it will make 4 blocks of wood planks, which I can use to build a more secure shelter, and set about it. The tree itself yields a number of saplings that I learn can be planted to make more trees. I manage to get a better shelter built by the time nightfall comes around, and since I know I'm stuck in my little cabin till morning, I start playing with the crafting screen, learning how to use the wood planks to make sticks, and a crafting table, which, once place as my first piece of furniture, gives me access to a 3x3 crafting grid, so that I can now build now advanced tools, such as wooden pick, shovel, ax, hoe, and sword. they wear out somewhat easily, but hey, I'm doing better than I was, but I'm still stuck in the dark, and I worry that creatures might spawn inside the house at night. So in the morning, I make light a priority, remembering seeing torches in the promos for the game.

    Walking around for a bit I stop when I see some black mark on stones along a mountainside, and use my pick to mine out not only coal, but discover gravel, which produces flint, and mining stone, which becomes cobblestone. Cobblestone allows me to upgrade to stone tools and weapons. This essential cycle continues on as I play, and its one of the founding principles of Minecraft: It isn't there to tell you how to play it, it's there to let you discover the game as you want it.

    From those early days, I've discovered, built and mined, and once you start figuring things out, you take on projects of your own creation, with some truly stunning worlds being created by users, such as this:

    <iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/r_M3_uxkdSU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

    This game delivers on so many levels, and with new expansions and updates coming regularly, the experience will continue to expand as far as your own imagination lets you.
    "Government screws up everything. If government says black, you can bet it's white. If government says sit still for your safety, you'd better run for your life!"
    --Wayne Allyn Root
    www.rootforamerica.com
    www.FairTax.org

  2. #2
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    omg dude it's not even comprehensible how amazing this game is. The only game I've enjoyed more in the past 5 years is portal, no question.

    And to say virtual crack is no undeestament, I got home from work at 2am last night, and ended up on minecraft til well past sunrise >>
    If you also agree that an animals suffering should be avoided rather than encouraged, consider what steps you can take.

  3. #3
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    My 14 year old and 9 year old LOVE this game. Me personally I get annoyed with it. It eats up a lot of cpu when in use, and I dont have a gaming computer. I keep trying to tell the kids that,,..

    You guys ever go to the ether world (sp) Through a portal and get the always burning stuff??? what ever it is.....
    Experience is what you get when you don't get what you want." -Dr. Randy Pausch


    Death is lighter than a feather, Duty is heavier than a mountain

  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by Noir View Post
    omg dude it's not even comprehensible how amazing this game is. The only game I've enjoyed more in the past 5 years is portal, no question.

    And to say virtual crack is no undeestament, I got home from work at 2am last night, and ended up on minecraft til well past sunrise >>
    My moment of realization of how far it had gone was when I realized I was literally watching grass grow. I was terraforming some desert squares over to dirt squares, so I had to run a bunch of dirt blocks over to where there were grasslands and wait for the grass to grow across to the field.
    "Government screws up everything. If government says black, you can bet it's white. If government says sit still for your safety, you'd better run for your life!"
    --Wayne Allyn Root
    www.rootforamerica.com
    www.FairTax.org

  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by Nukeman View Post
    My 14 year old and 9 year old LOVE this game. Me personally I get annoyed with it. It eats up a lot of cpu when in use, and I dont have a gaming computer. I keep trying to tell the kids that,,..

    You guys ever go to the ether world (sp) Through a portal and get the always burning stuff??? what ever it is.....
    I went into the Nether fairly early.... and I wasn't suitably armed for the assault that came down on me. Gonna go back once I've got my full diamond armor and sword, and enough obsidian to make a basic structure.
    "Government screws up everything. If government says black, you can bet it's white. If government says sit still for your safety, you'd better run for your life!"
    --Wayne Allyn Root
    www.rootforamerica.com
    www.FairTax.org

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by Nukeman View Post
    My 14 year old and 9 year old LOVE this game. Me personally I get annoyed with it. It eats up a lot of cpu when in use, and I dont have a gaming computer. I keep trying to tell the kids that,,..

    You guys ever go to the ether world (sp) Through a portal and get the always burning stuff??? what ever it is.....
    actually, it isn't really about the video card you have in this case. It eats a lot of RAM as it runs, so if you have a way of freeing up processes on your cpu, or if you upgrade your RAM (which I reccommend in any case), it should do a lot better.
    "Government screws up everything. If government says black, you can bet it's white. If government says sit still for your safety, you'd better run for your life!"
    --Wayne Allyn Root
    www.rootforamerica.com
    www.FairTax.org

  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by DragonStryk72 View Post
    My moment of realization of how far it had gone was when I realized I was literally watching grass grow. I was terraforming some desert squares over to dirt squares, so I had to run a bunch of dirt blocks over to where there were grasslands and wait for the grass to grow across to the field.
    Yep, terraforming is a good way to while away a depressingly sunny day xD

    Mine came when i realised i was looking up fort designs purely for the purposes of recreating it loll

    Quote Originally Posted by Nukeman
    My 14 year old and 9 year old LOVE this game. Me personally I get annoyed with it. It eats up a lot of cpu when in use, and I dont have a gaming computer. I keep trying to tell the kids that,,..

    You guys ever go to the ether world (sp) Through a portal and get the always burning stuff??? what ever it is.....
    Yar its RAM you need ta look at, my comp is awful graphics processing but has 4GB 1067MHz RAM, which isn't too decent but its plenty to run MC simultaneously with other programs
    If you also agree that an animals suffering should be avoided rather than encouraged, consider what steps you can take.

  8. #8
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    2011-09-17_13.44.54.jpg2011-09-17_13.44.57.jpg

    The town I'm working on currently. I just finish surrounding the outer walls with a moat of lava. Those fucking Endermen kept taking blocks out of my walls, and a creeper (kamikaze shrub monster) got through the line. Had to repair a whole chunk of ground and walls, so I finally got a bunch of buckets and start hauling lava up from the ravine under the town.
    "Government screws up everything. If government says black, you can bet it's white. If government says sit still for your safety, you'd better run for your life!"
    --Wayne Allyn Root
    www.rootforamerica.com
    www.FairTax.org

  9. #9
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    I should also include that youcan try out minecraft for free in classic mode online through http://www.minecraft.net/, and selecting it on the right side of the page for singelplayer or multiplayer modes.
    "Government screws up everything. If government says black, you can bet it's white. If government says sit still for your safety, you'd better run for your life!"
    --Wayne Allyn Root
    www.rootforamerica.com
    www.FairTax.org

  10. #10
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    Out of curiosity did an activity monitor while MC was running along with a few common apps, Safari, Skype and iTunes.

    It was averaging over 500 MBs and between 50-70% CPU. So really anything under 4 Gigs RAM is gonna
    struggle

    .
    Attached Images Attached Images
    If you also agree that an animals suffering should be avoided rather than encouraged, consider what steps you can take.

  11. #11
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    haha my 13 year old loves this game he's been playing for about a year now, I think....along with Runescape and Terrairia (sp)......He's mad at me now though, cause I switched his OS to Linux and now he's trying to learn how to install his mods to use in the game.....
    You get more with a kind word and a two by four, than you do with just a kind word. ~ Gaffer



  12. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by Trinity View Post
    haha my 13 year old loves this game he's been playing for about a year now, I think....along with Runescape and Terrairia (sp)......He's mad at me now though, cause I switched his OS to Linux and now he's trying to learn how to install his mods to use in the game.....
    just go hit youtube ,and he'll be fine. I came in on 1.4, and it's now up to 1.8 which is just a ton of fun, though several of friends keeping dying because they forget that they need to carry food now.
    "Government screws up everything. If government says black, you can bet it's white. If government says sit still for your safety, you'd better run for your life!"
    --Wayne Allyn Root
    www.rootforamerica.com
    www.FairTax.org

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    Quote Originally Posted by DragonStryk72 View Post
    just go hit youtube ,and he'll be fine. I came in on 1.4, and it's now up to 1.8 which is just a ton of fun, though several of friends keeping dying because they forget that they need to carry food now.

    That's what I told him...You learned how to do it on Windows with youtube, so why can't you learn Linux the same way.

    That's about the version my youngest started on and he loves the 1.8 version....I just asked him about the food...he said yep if you don't carry it with you and you get hungry, you die.
    You get more with a kind word and a two by four, than you do with just a kind word. ~ Gaffer



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    Quote Originally Posted by Trinity View Post
    That's what I told him...You learned how to do it on Windows with youtube, so why can't you learn Linux the same way.

    That's about the version my youngest started on and he loves the 1.8 version....I just asked him about the food...he said yep if you don't carry it with you and you get hungry, you die.
    Yeah, I load up whenever I head down into a dungeon. I usually carry a full stack of pork chops. Mushroom stew is better, but isn't stackable, and you're left with a wooden bowl taking space in your inventory. I had to burn through most my stores, though, when my friend eli ran low, and was typing like mad because he had nothing at all on him, and a full inventory load.



    And this is a picture of my town at night:

    2011-09-20_23.56.16.jpg

    It's not my best one, honestly. My best was an obsidian fortress I built. total pain in the ass though
    "Government screws up everything. If government says black, you can bet it's white. If government says sit still for your safety, you'd better run for your life!"
    --Wayne Allyn Root
    www.rootforamerica.com
    www.FairTax.org

  15. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by DragonStryk72 View Post
    Yeah, I load up whenever I head down into a dungeon. I usually carry a full stack of pork chops. Mushroom stew is better, but isn't stackable, and you're left with a wooden bowl taking space in your inventory. I had to burn through most my stores, though, when my friend eli ran low, and was typing like mad because he had nothing at all on him, and a full inventory load.



    And this is a picture of my town at night:

    2011-09-20_23.56.16.jpg

    It's not my best one, honestly. My best was an obsidian fortress I built. total pain in the ass though


    Pretty sweet....is that on a server or your comp???
    You get more with a kind word and a two by four, than you do with just a kind word. ~ Gaffer



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