re: Minecraft (360)

A) Is this only on 360?

B) how would i go about joining your server..or are there servers like the PC version?

Does that mean these are dedicated servers?

I think it is only Xbox and not sure on dedicated servers like PC. From what he posted earlier, you may only be able to join friends that are currently playing or hosting so it might be tied to your box and you would have to be online.

quote:

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Question: Can you share minecraft worlds with friends or can you only join your friend's world when they are playing?

Answer: In the first release, you can only join your friend's game when they are playing/hosting it.

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No problem.

eta: I know Stout is likely playing. He needs to get back in here and let us know how it is.

I'm going to be bad at it if the first 10 minutes today was any idea. Only I could fall into a hole with two burning zombies and no way out

eta: But I am looking forward to it. <3

I'm subscribed to so many Minecraft players on Youtube that I feel like I'll be a pro as soon as I start it up. I find myself criticizing what other players are doing when I see some of the 360 gameplay.

:lol: :lol: :lol:

Dont worry broke, i am still bad at it

I have no idea what I'm doing. I stacked big fricking blocks on our chest while I was trying to open it to get a pick out. Then I couldn't move the blocks to get the pick and I couldn't break the blocks. Because I didn't have a pick.

frick

I recently finished a ~2 hour session with the 360 version.

The first thing I noticed once my world loaded was the fluidity of the game. Even though I have no problems running the game on my computer, and can play consistently with no perceptible lag, it was apparent the 360 version was running at a solid 60 FPS with no slow down.

World size is indeed limited to the map. You essentially spawn on an island, while a a collection of smaller islands populate the periphery of the main world. It takes about 6 minutes in real time to travel the entire distance of the map, which is a little over half a day in Minecraft time.

I noticed that depending on the biome array in your world, wood could become rare if you're playing with 5+ people. My first world consisted largely of deserts and grasslands, with only two isolated forests. If you have 8 people and everyone wants wood for their own projects, it's likely everyone will be in the same area of the map chopping down trees.

The game definitely holds your hand early on, inundating you with informative pop ups every chance it gets. Crafting has be simplified, as the recipes have been integrated into the crafting system. If you have the requisite materials, selecting the item and hitting/holding "A" will produce the desired amount. It worked well, and was optimized about as well as it could have been for the controller.

Inventory management was cumbersome, as expected. Organizing items in the inventory and chests became tedious once I accrued a relatively large trove of items. Building wasn't as horrid as I thought it was going to be, but it was still quite slow. The precision a mouse affords just makes all the difference here. Cliff surfing was easily executed by pushing down on the right thumbstick. But even after playing around with different sensitivity levels, though, the precision just wasn't there, which really is important. This is fine, though, because if one has never played the PC version at length, this isn't a negative.

I also found that with swimming, you hold the "A" button to stay afloat. Most players use their thumb to access the A button. However, if you're constantly pressing the A button to stay above water, your thumb can't be on the right thumbstick to orient yourself in the right direction. This problem manifests itself in a few others areas as well, such as when your chasing a monster or animal up a hill or cliff - you have to jump, stop, turn, and then continue jumping.

I didn't encounter any weather effects, so I'm not sure if they're currently in the game. They were added back in 1.5, so, presumably, they should be there. It was fun though to relive Minecraft back in its 1.7 form. It was enjoyable hearing the old sizzling sound effect emitted by nearby creepers, as well as the grotesque grunts Steve makes whenever he takes a hit.

Aside from the world size and the controls, the only other issue for me is the way in which servers work. If you join your friends game, and he has to go, then the game ends for everyone. The idea of building a persistent, ever evolving world is somewhat unrealistic on the Xbox, for a few reasons. One, obviously, is the limited map size. If you keep building and building, eventually, you're going to run out of space. Secondly, players can't come and go as they please, adding and building whatever they want. If your friend isn't on when you log on, you can't access the map. It removes a sense of permanence or attachment to your world. However, this may actually be the intended effect. The Xbox version is all about socialization and adventure with your friends, and not necessarily constructing massive cities or replicas. It's a more transient experience. Many players will likely just want to join a world with their friends and quest around for a few hours, with no concern over whether or not they play in that exact world again.

This is why I actually think some of the most recent updates to the PC version are ideal for the Xbox version, and hopefully they'll be included soon. Additions like potions, enchantments, strongholds, nether fortresses, XP, The End, abandoned mineshafts - these all add to the "adventure" aspect of the game, and would make multiplayer questing that much more engaging.

tl;dr