The Word of Notch

Pre releases and Adventure Updates

The adventure update is going great! We’re adding features and cramming in content, and then started feature creeping and content creeping. What we’ve got on our hands now is somewhere in between a finished Adventure Mode update and a version of the game we’d be proud to call just “Minecraft”. Not “Minecraft Beta” or “Minecraft Alpha”, but just plain and simple “Minecraft”.

And we’re going to release that version of the game live on stage in Vegas at MineCon! Woooo!

Up until then, instead of trying to squeeze in another real release, we’re going to do weekly (or so) pre releases, aimed at advanced players. We release these via twitter, so make sure to follow me (@notch) and Jens (@jeb_) if you’re interested in those.

Also, we’re finally adding a dragon.

posted 7 months ago

A short response

I just saw this:

http://kotaku.com/5846111/mojang-v-bethesda-or-i-hate-it-when-mommy-and-daddy-fight

I feel the need to clarify a couple of things:

We realized we should apply for the trademark “Minecraft” to protect our brand. When doing so, we also sent in an application for “Scrolls”. When Bethesda contacted us, we offered both to change the name to “Scrolls: <some subtitle>” and to give up the trademark.

They refused on both counts.

Whatever reason they have for suing us, it’s not a fear of us having a trademark on the word “Scrolls”, as we’ve offered to give that up.

posted 8 months ago

Real games for nerdy gamers

There are many games like this (captive, hired guns, ishar, might and magic, wizardry, most of the gold box games, and so on), but these are the games all capture a certain common theme and feeling in a way that hasn’t really been done before or since.

Dungeon Master (1987)
A fairly straight forward first person dungeon crawler where going deeper means getting closer to your goal. Gameplay consists of pushing buttons, sidestepping monsters and drinking potions.

Eye of the Beholder (1991)
A fairly straight forward first person dungeon crawler where going deeper means getting closer to your goal. Gameplay consists of pushing buttons, sidestepping monsters and drinking potions.

Eye of the Beholder II  - The Legend of Darkmoon (1992)
An evolved version of the original. This time you have to explore different branches and return to the central hub. The boss fight is epic, and the graphics are much better this time around.

Dungeon Master II - The Legend of Skullkeep (1993)
An evolved version of the original. This time you have to explore different branches and return to the central hub. The boss fight is epic, and the graphics are much better this time around.

Eye of the Beholder III - Assault on Myth Drannor (1993)
More of the same, except this time it isn’t fun. The charm is gone. Where is the charm?

Lands of Lore: The Throne of Chaos (1993)
Oh, there it is!

And then the genre died. Sure, there were more dungeon crawlers, but they were all too complex. Dungeon Master II is one of the best games ever made. With every new game release, I hope to experience something like it again, but it’s never the same.

But now, something wonderful is happening. A small Finnish studio  is making a game called Legend of Grimrock (http://www.grimrock.net/), and it’s looking amazing. I realize it’s a niche game that might not fit everyone, but to me it is one of the most exciting games in development.

I am very excited!

(.. but why do they have the free look camera? :-/)

posted 8 months ago

The eventual release, and the legal documents

Me and Jens have only two more major features we want to implement before the release in November. The plan it to stop all new development on October 18, and resume them again after the release on November 18. That will give us one month to focus on just fixing bugs, cleaning up the code, and optimizing the performance to make sure the release will be as good as possible.

Celebrating the full version with the fan is going to be an amazing experience. I am a bit nervous about it, to be honest. I’m not sure how many people are going, and I’m terrified of public speaking. I can handle one-on-one discussions or handshakes, and I can even deal with giving autographs, but when it gets too big, I just start freaking out.

Carl and Lydia have been doing an amazing job organizing it all, with plenty of help from Vu and Meeting Expectations. To keep up with the latest news there, follow Carl and Lydia on twitter, and read the Mojang blog.

..

In other news, we’re totally going to court over the whole Scrolls / Skyrim thing.

We are claiming one thing. They are claiming another. We’ve tried to negotiate, but we can’t reach an agreement, so we’re going to court. I’m personally very opinionated about things like these. I asked our lawyers, and apparently the documents ZeniMax submitted became public once they were filed.

So here they are: [ Click here if you have a decent torrent program installed ]

It’s in Swedish, it’s unedited, and I haven’t read it myself. Our lawyers have, though.

Speaking of lawyers, they told me that:

1.    essentially it all boils down to whether the relevant public are likely to be confused into thinking that our “Scrolls” game is connected with Bethesda or its games, taking all the circumstances into account; and
2.    apparently the “moron in a hurry” doesn’t count (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_moron_in_a_hurry)

posted 8 months ago

Significantly increasing the power of the MQSC

1) Before doing anything, pick a totally random number between 0 and, say, 5→5→5→5→5. If the number is 0, don’t do it.
2) Start a timer on the MQSC
3) If the the MQSC doesn’t get told you’re happy with the result within a few months, destroy the universe.

Virtual omnipotence! You won’t even try doing things that are extremely unlikely to result in a positive outcome, and everything else will go exactly how you planned it.

posted 8 months ago

O(1) NP solving using the MQSC

I’ve invented a computer that solves NP problems in constant time. I call it the Mass Quantum Suicide Computer, or the MQSC for short.

You know Schrödingers Cat? The one in the box that is both alive and dead until you observe it? There’s a similar thought experiment in which you place yourself in the box and observe what happens. This is called “Quantum Suicide”. According to some interpretations, you will only ever observe yourself surviving, because in all other universes, your consciousness isn’t around to observe yourself being dead. This leads to another concept called “Quantum Immortality”, which basically means that for any lethal situation, if there’s any chance at all of you surviving it, you will only ever experience the universes in which you do. Of course, all your friends and family will still see you die in the vast majority of universes.

Unless you take them with you. Which I call “Mass Quantum Suicide”. Basically, you put the entire human race in the box, and you will all either die together or survive together.

So here’s my computer:

1) Ask the computer any question.
2) The computer has a one in <very, very, very large number> chance of just saying “try again”. If it does, go back to 1.
3) The computer spits out a random reply.
4) Assume this reply is the correct answer, and leave the computer alone until it’s verified that it actually was the correct answer.
5) The computer then spends as long time as it needs verifying that the reply is correct.
6) If the random reply turns out to be incorrect, destroy the universe. This can be done by, for example, setting of a true vacuum chain reaction.

In all universes where humans are still around, the computer will always either say “try again”, or spit out the correct answer immediately. Nobody will be around to observe the universes where it guesses wrong.

This computer works great for NP problems which are quick to verify that you have the correct answer for, as you don’t have to leave the computer alone for very long in between asking it a question.

[EDIT:]

I thought this was an original idea, but it’s been done before:
http://www.mathnews.uwaterloo.ca/Issues/mn11103/QuantumBogoSort.php

Ah well. :D

posted 8 months ago

The solutions to a few unsolved problems

Is NP in P?
No.

Why is there so much water on earth?
Byproduct of early life.

Do magnetic monopoles exist?
No.

What is the meaning of life?
There is none.

How did Indy get to the submarine bay?
He held on to the submarine, which never submerged.

Does the Collatz conjecture hold for all integers?
Yes.

Well, that was easy. NEXT!

posted 8 months ago

Oh yeah, we released 1.8!

We released Minecraft Beta 1.8! It’s the first half of the Adventure Update, with the remainder coming eventually!

Looking around the office, everyone appears to be keeping busy. Jens is working on some content for the Nether, Daniel and Jakob are trying to finish up an internal Scrolls demo for tomorrow, I’m working on Snow biomes, Tobias is rubbing his temples and cursing (which is normal behavior for web developers), Daniel is talking to someone in the hallway, and Mattis is hunched over a tablet. I can’t see the rest of the team from here.

I think we may have hired someone to do economics and accounting and all that. That would be neat.

posted 8 months ago

Update on the “Scrolls” lawsuit, and a list of games

I’ve received some questions about what the status of the Bethesda lawsuit thing is. I don’t have much news, but I can try to summarize the recent events in a colorful way:

Lawyers have been sending papers back and forth, threatening each other with deadlines and court dates. “Why don’t we settle this in a mature way?”, one party asks the other. “Your MOTHER settles things in mature ways”, the other party cleverly retorts, “because of her age.”
Last thing I heard, we were a couple of weeks past a “super seriously, we will sue you for real this time” deadline, and letters are still being sent back and forth.

In other news, here’s a list of games I’ve been playing recently, and my thoughts on them:

Deus Ex: Human Revolution
Charmingly retro, with a totally rubbish tranq sniper rifle. Unfair boss fights, fun level layout. The level up perks are kind of uninteresting, but it’s still a lot of fun. Inventory management feels very Resident Evil 4, for good and for bad.
[edit: This makes it sound like I don’t like the game! That is incorrect. I love it!!]

Legends of Yore
I’m just getting started playing this more seriously. It’s a low res graphical roguelike made by one guy who I happen to know. Available on both phone types and on pc. I haven’t gotten deep into it yet, but it seems to have everything I want.

The Binding of Isaac
I got sneak peeks of this game, and it’s shaping up nicely. It’s a very lightweight action roguelike with plenty of dark humor and zelda references. Danny B’s done a great job on the soundtrack again, even if it makes me a bit depressed.

Diablo III Beta
No, just kidding, I didn’t get in. :(

posted 8 months ago