Minecraft Creator's New Game Called 0x10c

silentbrad writes "As announced last month, Notch — creator of Minecraft — is working on a sandbox space game (no, not the Mars Effect April Fools joke, though it's similar). "The game [0x10c] is still extremely early in development, but like we did with Minecraft, we expect to release it early and let the players help me shape the game as it grows. The cost of the game is still undecided, but it's likely there will be a monthly fee for joining the Multiverse as we are going to emulate all computers and physics even when players aren't logged in. Single player won't have any recurring fees. ... The computer in the game is a fully functioning emulated 16 bit CPU that can be used to control your entire ship, or just to play games on while waiting for a large mining operation to finish. Full specifications of the CPU will be released shortly, so the more programatically advanced of you can get a head start.""

Re:Towns

[ak_hepcat]

Seriously? You think a site like /. doesn't have readers that might be interested in a game that contains
a VIRTUALIZED CPU THAT CAN BE FREELY PROGRAMMED?

What are you, some sort of reddit user?

Re:Towns

[Mr Z]

How many games run the scripts on the server, even when you're not logged in?

Re:Not Java. Please not Java.

[Sperbels]

If you don't like it, nut-up and write a C compiler!

There probably will be a few different compilers of different languages available by the time this game hits the shelves.

Re:Not Java. Please not Java.

[Zaphod The 42nd]

Man, Java isn't my favorite language in the world, but you really need to get over yourself. Notch can make whatever games he cares about, and you're free not to play them if you don't like the engine. Programming is WORK, and if he's putting it in, he can decide what language he wants to work in. If he thinks that being able to run it on any device without recompiling and targeting a separate architecture is worth the performance problems (and these days you can get away with quite a lot) and limitations, then thats his call. No, he can't do the sort of state-of-the-art efficiency that Frostbite 2 engine can pull off, but Notch isn't interested in that, and he doesn't have a big enough team to try to do that, and again, he can do whatever the fuck he wants. You're free to ignore it, but we don't need to hear your "AGH, JAVA!" moans over and over. "Java sucks" isn't really a joke anymore, java is what java is. Use it for what you will. Its one tool of many.

I can only imagine how godawful this would be if written in Java. Minecraft was bad enough on that front. I don't want to know what an emulated CPU would do in a JVM...

You mean like redstone computers that ALREADY EXIST? There's plenty of turing-complete implementations. And notch wasn't even TRYING to do that with minecraft. So please eat your words, immediately.

You're just showing how ignorant you are about software languages.

Re:Not Java. Please not Java.

[Anonymous Coward]

Why the Java hate? I have the sneaking suspicion that half the people commenting have never used it, and instead rely on their experiences of web applets ten years ago and bloated software packages like Vuze.

Recent JVMs have come a long way and java code executes quite fast these days. Still not as fast as native c++ and friends, granted, but somewhere in the same ballpark. What you get in return is a higher lever language which takes care of annoying, time consuming details like managing memory and garbage collection so that you can actually focus on the stuff that matters, which would be game logic. Does anyone know a better solution for this? Some language that's easy to use yet powerful enough to do the job, and which runs on all systems with a modern JVM and OpenGL driver? Mono is still not quite complete. Python and Ruby are even worse than Java performance wise. Do you really want notch to write bad code in c++ or related languages?

Why do you even care? It's obvious that this indie game will not be like Crysis. It will not be a pixel pusher, and depending on the gameplay, it might not need that much performance.

Re:Not Java. Please not Java.

[Surt]

You don't really need a compiler to write programs for a device with less than 512 bits of memory. You can write the whole program by hand in less than the time required to launch a compiler.

Re:Not Java. Please not Java.

[wmbetts]

I'm kind of happy it's in Java. This means I'll actually be able to play it. He'll more than likely get a monthly subscription fee out of me, because of it.

Re:Towns

[Baloroth]

Or you could make a program that works amazingly well at what it does, but with a backdoor to malfunction at a critical point (bonus points for doing so in a way that makes it difficult to detect the source, like cause a weapons control program to make the engine malfunction). Lots of malware spreads that way, and for good reason (it's easy: the user spreads it for you). More of a trojan than a virus specifically: unless there is some method of semi-automated communication between the ships, though, a true virus seems hard to do.

Unless the server architecture itself has some sort of vulnerability that allows you to circumvent the normal gameplay and install software that way. That would be... interesting, to say the least.

Re:Not Java. Please not Java.

[DurendalMac]

Um, no MInecraft does not run just fine. I find it funny that you mention redstone. Try using a fairly complex redstone mechanism. Maybe put a dozen lamps on it. Watch everything grind to a stuttering crawl...on an i7 2600k. The new chunk loading system often will load chunks in the distance, but you have to practically step into a nearby chunk for it to load, which seriously ruins actually being able to see the cool stuff people have built until you run face-first into it. The new lighting engine is much buggier than the old one, often not lighting areas that are plainly visible until you stand in them, and even then it may not. How this sort of thing even gets into the final product is beyond me. Why does Mojang get a pass when anyone else would be nailed to the wall for this crap? No real evidence? Are you kidding me?

Re:Minecraft + Eve Online = 0x10c

[Teancum]

Agree, I wish he had finished Minecraft before boredom set in. Makes me wonder if he'll do it again. Won't be buying during alpha or beta this time around...

Do you really think Mojang is going to have a shortage of developers who would be willing to continue maintenance on something like 0x10^c? As long as the money keeps coming in, it will be maintained. Just because Markus Persson moves on to another project should be irrelevant.