8 ms·

This looks ambitious enough to be met with skepticism. What matters most for gameplay is the UX implementation and AR has serious barriers to overcome in that r

This looks ambitious enough to be met with skepticism. What matters most for gameplay is the UX implementation and AR has serious barriers to overcome in that regard. Holding a device up at eye level for extended periods, interacting with the game by touching the same device that is also serving as the viewport and battery limitations are just a few practical hurdles that have yet to be overcome. What is really hard to believe is that one can recapture the experience or something close to it and that this is not just the expansion of a brand into a new product. Like Pokemon Go, this will likely be Minecraft's equivalent to the Star Wars Christmas Special but without the "so bad it's good" quality.

criley2 7y ago
The biggest issue I see is building, because builds take a long time and you don't want to stand around using the worst input imaginable (touch screen) to do nice builds. Other than that, it seems like they're making a Pokemon GO clone with Minecraft mobs (collect passive mobs and fight hostile ones). W.r.t to your "Pokemon Go::SW Christmas Special" you're absolutely wrong, while the initial popularity didn't stick around, the game is at a very strong and profitable point and the ideas introduced in the GO app have moved into actual Pokemon titles, notable the "no fight, just throw to catch pokemon" mechanic was ported to Let's Go Pikachu/Eevee Switch remakes of Gen 1. Basically the opposite of the SW Xmas Special! As a (modded) Minecraft player there's a lot to be excited about in this concept, but my suggestions would be * Allow players to explore the virtual-real-world that they've visited with the phone app from a console or computer. So you can "tag" your local park, a cool bit of a forest, etc, then go home and explore a digital version. * Allow players to build at home The point here would be that you go out side, collect building materials, catch some passive mobs you want, then go home to take advantage of these collected goods to start a pretty build. This would also fix UX issues because the goal of using the phone app would be moving around, collecting, interacting, NOT standing still and building. I'd play the heck out of that, it'd be another reason to get out of the house and an interaction between phone game and console/pc game could be huge.
- Crinus 7y ago
  > using the worst input imaginable (touch screen) to do nice builds. Minecraft's controls for building stuff is very simple - you just point and click to place or remove stuff depending on your active item. Here you can point (via gyroscope, etc) and tap and you could even "scrub" to remove stuff. This could be done with just a hand (the phone in portrait mode, you tap/scrub with your thumb).
  - Cthulhu_ 7y ago
    One scene in the trailer showed a smaller model on a table; what if they use the Minecraft for mobile's UI to create a model in-game, which you can then place (to scale) in a location?
    - ethbro 7y ago
      I was going to say the same thing. I'd be really surprised if they didn't have some sort of blueprint link from full game -> mobile. Seems a no-brainer.
  - drinfinity 7y ago
    Do you even play, bro? Building is not performed while standing still, also it is quite finicky. Walking around touching the screen will get old really fast.
  - nobody271 7y ago
    At some point you might be able to just hold your hand in front of the phone and have it recognize your gestures.
- bryanlarsen 7y ago
  According to the verge preview they have some sort of mechanic where you build on a "table" and then use AR just to place.
- soulofmischief 7y ago
  > ideas introduced in the GO app have moved into actual Pokemon titles, notable the "no fight, just throw to catch pokemon" mechanic Which is why I won't be buying the Let's Go series... I might as well be watching TLC reality TV shows all day for all the intellectual stimulation I'm getting out of swiping pokeballs with my finger. I'm mainly curious as to how team Mojang plans to solve multiple builds in the same location. Ranked by popularity? Swarm mechanics like Niantic? Idk. I could see myself getting some good wows from this after a few years when the most talented builders have come by and placed some cool stuff. I don't think it's bad, it's experimental tech which continues to break new ground in a game I've enjoyed for a good decade. Sure, they'll probably bumble it just because this is unexplored space and Daddy Microsoft is at the table, but I think Mojang is just excited to be in a position to try something so interesting.
intothev01d 7y ago
Yea I'm with you on this. I think the UX of holding a phone to interact with AR is awful. Google glass and some sort of glove or camera on the glass that can recognize gestures is the way to go, a la Minority Report. I've wanted that to take off more as an unobtrusive way record/interact with the surrounding world and layer on top of that AR as needed. I think we'll see more of that going forward as hardware tech continues to advance. Just don't think it's there yet, in a non clunky way, to support that UX yet but it will be
sailfast 7y ago
I'm not a Minecraft player, but if the intent here really allows you to build your own virtual community together (to see what others are building around you and contribute, etc) that would be pretty fun to play. If you want a bigger screen go to a tablet (spurring a new market for tablet easels I guess)? Who wouldn't want to put a fortress around your house that everyone on the "inside" could see? This could also be a pretty great starting application for AR goggles, Magic Leap, HoloLens, etc. Kinda pricey to play Minecraft but bootstrapping via phones isn't a terrible idea and would get the tech in the hands of more people. All of this is clearly an optimistic interpretation of what could happen, but good on them for trying something ambitious. I hope it jumpstarts the AR future we've all been promised.
- Quenty 7y ago
  Of course since Microsoft owns hololens and and open source AR strategy, they’re motivated to do this well.
  - AJ007 7y ago
    One could certainly see Azure as a big beneficiary here. Skepticism is always applicable but it seems like Microsoft has the resources to pull this off. From the point of view of Augmented Reality layers being an important and large business in the future, getting something running at large scale now would be a good idea. Between Magic Leap and Microsoft, I would put my money on Microsoft. The big wildcard, as others have pointed out, are a bunch of penises everywhere. Very hard to actively moderate.
    - egypturnash 7y ago
      I wonder what kind of rules it has for interacting with other people's work. "oh god steve dropped a giant penis on my front yard AGAIN, fuck it lemme drop a bunch of TNT on it"
chaostheory 7y ago
I'm not excited about this release either, but Microsoft is behind Hololens. I imagine that this just needed so ship to stay alive and relevant. The version I would get excited about would be paired with an affordable version of Hololens.
Supermancho 7y ago
This cant turn out much different than other persistent AR games. They are always too expensive and not very fun for long, without an accessible device to switch living inside the AR smoothly (eg: google glass). This is doa, but is good for making ppl more aware of where AR is....ie the engines have gotten much better at detecting, targeting and discerning surfaces.

criley2 7y ago

The biggest issue I see is building, because builds take a long time and you don't want to stand around using the worst input imaginable (touch screen) to do nice builds. Other than that, it seems like they're making a Pokemon GO clone with Minecraft mobs (collect passive mobs and fight hostile ones). W.r.t to your "Pokemon Go::SW Christmas Special" you're absolutely wrong, while the initial popularity didn't stick around, the game is at a very strong and profitable point and the ideas introduced in the GO app have moved into actual Pokemon titles, notable the "no fight, just throw to catch pokemon" mechanic was ported to Let's Go Pikachu/Eevee Switch remakes of Gen 1. Basically the opposite of the SW Xmas Special! As a (modded) Minecraft player there's a lot to be excited about in this concept, but my suggestions would be * Allow players to explore the virtual-real-world that they've visited with the phone app from a console or computer. So you can "tag" your local park, a cool bit of a forest, etc, then go home and explore a digital version. * Allow players to build at home The point here would be that you go out side, collect building materials, catch some passive mobs you want, then go home to take advantage of these collected goods to start a pretty build. This would also fix UX issues because the goal of using the phone app would be moving around, collecting, interacting, NOT standing still and building. I'd play the heck out of that, it'd be another reason to get out of the house and an interaction between phone game and console/pc game could be huge.

Crinus 7y ago
> using the worst input imaginable (touch screen) to do nice builds. Minecraft's controls for building stuff is very simple - you just point and click to place or remove stuff depending on your active item. Here you can point (via gyroscope, etc) and tap and you could even "scrub" to remove stuff. This could be done with just a hand (the phone in portrait mode, you tap/scrub with your thumb).
- Cthulhu_ 7y ago
  One scene in the trailer showed a smaller model on a table; what if they use the Minecraft for mobile's UI to create a model in-game, which you can then place (to scale) in a location?
  - ethbro 7y ago
    I was going to say the same thing. I'd be really surprised if they didn't have some sort of blueprint link from full game -> mobile. Seems a no-brainer.
- drinfinity 7y ago
  Do you even play, bro? Building is not performed while standing still, also it is quite finicky. Walking around touching the screen will get old really fast.
- nobody271 7y ago
  At some point you might be able to just hold your hand in front of the phone and have it recognize your gestures.
bryanlarsen 7y ago
According to the verge preview they have some sort of mechanic where you build on a "table" and then use AR just to place.
soulofmischief 7y ago
> ideas introduced in the GO app have moved into actual Pokemon titles, notable the "no fight, just throw to catch pokemon" mechanic Which is why I won't be buying the Let's Go series... I might as well be watching TLC reality TV shows all day for all the intellectual stimulation I'm getting out of swiping pokeballs with my finger. I'm mainly curious as to how team Mojang plans to solve multiple builds in the same location. Ranked by popularity? Swarm mechanics like Niantic? Idk. I could see myself getting some good wows from this after a few years when the most talented builders have come by and placed some cool stuff. I don't think it's bad, it's experimental tech which continues to break new ground in a game I've enjoyed for a good decade. Sure, they'll probably bumble it just because this is unexplored space and Daddy Microsoft is at the table, but I think Mojang is just excited to be in a position to try something so interesting.

intothev01d 7y ago

Yea I'm with you on this. I think the UX of holding a phone to interact with AR is awful. Google glass and some sort of glove or camera on the glass that can recognize gestures is the way to go, a la Minority Report. I've wanted that to take off more as an unobtrusive way record/interact with the surrounding world and layer on top of that AR as needed. I think we'll see more of that going forward as hardware tech continues to advance. Just don't think it's there yet, in a non clunky way, to support that UX yet but it will be

sailfast 7y ago

I'm not a Minecraft player, but if the intent here really allows you to build your own virtual community together (to see what others are building around you and contribute, etc) that would be pretty fun to play. If you want a bigger screen go to a tablet (spurring a new market for tablet easels I guess)? Who wouldn't want to put a fortress around your house that everyone on the "inside" could see? This could also be a pretty great starting application for AR goggles, Magic Leap, HoloLens, etc. Kinda pricey to play Minecraft but bootstrapping via phones isn't a terrible idea and would get the tech in the hands of more people. All of this is clearly an optimistic interpretation of what could happen, but good on them for trying something ambitious. I hope it jumpstarts the AR future we've all been promised.

Quenty 7y ago
Of course since Microsoft owns hololens and and open source AR strategy, they’re motivated to do this well.
- AJ007 7y ago
  One could certainly see Azure as a big beneficiary here. Skepticism is always applicable but it seems like Microsoft has the resources to pull this off. From the point of view of Augmented Reality layers being an important and large business in the future, getting something running at large scale now would be a good idea. Between Magic Leap and Microsoft, I would put my money on Microsoft. The big wildcard, as others have pointed out, are a bunch of penises everywhere. Very hard to actively moderate.
  - egypturnash 7y ago
    I wonder what kind of rules it has for interacting with other people's work. "oh god steve dropped a giant penis on my front yard AGAIN, fuck it lemme drop a bunch of TNT on it"

chaostheory 7y ago

I'm not excited about this release either, but Microsoft is behind Hololens. I imagine that this just needed so ship to stay alive and relevant. The version I would get excited about would be paired with an affordable version of Hololens.

Supermancho 7y ago

This cant turn out much different than other persistent AR games. They are always too expensive and not very fun for long, without an accessible device to switch living inside the AR smoothly (eg: google glass). This is doa, but is good for making ppl more aware of where AR is....ie the engines have gotten much better at detecting, targeting and discerning surfaces.