oh internet

A deceptively simple yet addictive game with a clingy online community.

Summary

Minecraft is an independently produced sandbox game written in Java in which players build things using cubes of various materials, either obtained by digging or from an infinite supply, depending on the mode in which they are playing. It can be played in single- or multi-player versions and has quickly become one of the most popular games available on the internet.

Modes

There are two different modes available at this time, both available in single- and multi-player varieties:

Creative

There are two versions of this game: Classic: Essentially Creative, but has very few blocks and is running on 0.30 (one of the earliest game builds). It's the only legitimate "free" version of Minecraft. Creative: Mode that was added to 1.8. Included all the blocks, fly-mode, and much moar. Exclusive to the paid version of Minecraft.

Survival

The games' main selling point. When players create a new world, they have to gather items (wood, meat, flowers) and make a shelter and some tools to survive the night and gain moar resources. Many multiplayer servers run this mode only. Also, it's only available with the paid version of Mincraft.

Mobs

In the survival modes, there are several creatures other than the player that roam the game, and are either neutral or hostile. Most drop items of some use when killed.

Cows, pigs, chickens, and sheep

Appearing in daytime, these four animals provide meat and materials for players to use in creating armor or food. Their AI is decidedly lacking and you'll often find them drowning in small bodies of water.

Zombies

The simplest of the monsters, Zombies shuffle towards the player and attack close-range. They are susceptible to fire and metal tools and weapons.

Spiders

Spiders are short and wide, allowing them to crawl into spaces that are only one block high. However, they can only pass through openings two blocks wide. They can also climb walls. They move much more quickly than the other monsters and can survive during the day (during which they are passive until attacked). At times one might find a skeleton riding them. Drop zero to two string when killed

Skeletons

Skeletons are one of the most dangerous enemies in Minecraft. They can shoot from a distance, and can cause damage to unsuspecting players in their range. They can also be seen very rarely riding a Spider, in which case they are called Spider Jockeys, also considered a very dangerous enemy due to the Spider's long range of vision and wall-climbing plus the bow and arrows of the Skeleton.

Creepers

The most iconic and destructive being in Minecraft and the game's mascot. They are known for their stealth attacks, when they creep up behind you, mostly in a cave, start hissing, then explode. Often or not, the explosions will kill you. They explode only if they are close to you, and they will flash for a couple seconds and make a crater. If you do, however, kill one, you are awarded with 0-2 Gunpowder. They are also the only source of it, and it's required to make TNT.

Zombie Pigman

Half Zombie/Half Pig mobs that are found mostly in the Nether. They are usually found in large groups. They all carry Golden Swords, so it's best that you wear Iron armor when attacking them. Can also rarely be found on the overworld, when pigs are struck by lightning.

Ghasts

Jellyfish like creatures that float around and shoot fireballs. They reside in the Nether. Their cries can be heard from far away, and can be very annoying.

Slimes

Rare gelatin-like mobs. They come in three sizes; small, medium, and large. The large and medium sized ones can hurt you, whereas the small ones can only push you. Kill a large one and it splits into several medium ones; kill a medium one and it splits into yet more small ones.

Wolves

Wolves are neutral mobs, but can be tamed. Throwing them bones will spark the magical appearance of a red collar around their neck, and they will proceed to follow you everywhere and kill mobs for you. If you find a neutral wolf and hit it, it will kill you.

Endermen

They are neutral mobs. They become aggressive if you look at their face or torso,they will start staring,if you look away they will teleport and attack you. They can move and place blocks. They're a shout-out to Slenderman.

Silverfish

You will likely never seen one,since they can only be found in very rare strongholds. Once a stone brick breaks, there's a small chance that silverfish will spawn out of it; they deal only half a heart of damage, but about 5 silverfish will spawn from other blocks making them tough to deal with when they are in swarms.

Cave Spider

Possibly the hardest enemy in the game,they are small so they can fit through almost anything and due to their size, they are hard to hit, once they hit you they poison which decreases your life rapidly, and the poison can decrease your health to half a heart.

Snow Golem

The first craftable mob in Minecraft: place two snow blocks at the bottom and a pumpkin on top (not on a crafting table) to create one. They throw snowballs at enemies, but since snowballs deal 0 damage, it only angers them. However, they can be useful for mob traps or snow farming, and if you have an army of them you can surround them with fences and they will continuously push back mobs.

Blaze

A Nether enemy similar to the ghast, they have rods spinning around them and fire 3 fireballs which cause no explosions but burn the player instead.

Magma Cube

A slime-like mob from the Nether. Like slimes, they split into smaller pieces.

Villager

NPC villages were added into 1.8,in 1.9 prerelease villagers were added. They have folded arms,large bald heads and big noses. They have bad AI but it will be improved in 1.10.

Mooshroom

A type of cow that only spawns in mushroom biomes. It can be sheared for red mushrooms.

Online community

Minecraft has an extensive online community which is often criticized for being immature, relatively illiterate, and obsessive. The official Minecraft forums are shunned by the more savvy users, who discuss the game elsewhere, such as on /v/ or Something Awful. Members of the Minecraft forums and Minecraft players in general are frequently labeled aspies, due to the nature of the gameplay and how well it meshes with symptoms of Asperger's syndrome.

Redstone Naming

In July 2010, Notch added a new type of block to the game that would allow players to construct simple circuits. Unfortunately, he decided to leave the block nameless to see what the community came up with. Initial discussion favoured the name "Cuprite", however /v/ decided a more fitting name would be Aspergite. This led to an edit war on the Minecraft Wiki before Notch announced that the official name was now Redstone.

Origins

Minecraft's creator, Notch, has worked on other games (including "Wurm Online") but quit his job to pursue independent development. The first release was written in a week before going public, being inspired by other games such as Dwarf Fortress.

Current status

The game is in continuous development. The current stable version is Beta 1.8.1. Notch is now working on 1.9,the second part of the adventure update.

On December 20, 2010, the game entered the beta stage of development. Notch announced that the game would be moved out of beta on November 11, 2011 - the same release date as Skyrim.

Facts

Images

Creeper Advice dog variant.	Ssssssss...	Final Fantasy's iconic Black Mage.	Creepers take whatever they want.
It would be a shame, indeed!	A criticism of Minecraft and bug-to-content percentages.	A criticism about Notch and taking a day off.	Quack quack! (a modded duck)
Notch and the Mojang staff busy on the latest updates.	Fat son	Essential Minecraft player. Note the Iron Helmet.	You begin the game by punching trees.
deadmau5's Minecraft stage show.	Minecraft block distribution (for hyper-nerds only!)	A castle constructed in Minecraft.

Videos

Related Pages

Dwarf Fortress

Garry's Mod

Roblox

/v/

Wurm Online

External Links

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