6 ms·

Minecraft released for android.

127 points by xd 15y ago

brackin 15y ago
I would say "How can this work on such a small screen" but when I was younger, Age of Empires for Dell Axium was one of the most exciting games to to play. Felt so futuristic.
- dkersten 15y ago
  The default applet version of minecraft doesn't have a much higher resolution than a decent smartphone has and its perfectly playable! PS: yes, Age of Empires did seem futuristic at the time! Try play it now though - the low resolution may just burn your eyes :-)
mwill 15y ago
For prosperity: Right now its Xperia Play only, Mojang have said it'll be available on other devices in a month or two. Some people have already thrown the .apk on other devices, and gotten in game, however it's unplayable without the physical inputs on the Xperia Play. (http://imgur.com/a/bknX7 http://imgur.com/a/bknX7) They've committed to further updates following a similar model to the desktop version. The current version is actually 0.1.
- sspencer 15y ago
  Unless you are making a point I can't understand, I think you mean "posterity" instead of "prosperity."
  - mwill 15y ago
    You're right, thanks. My bad. : P
TillE 15y ago
"This item is not compatible with your device." Curious. I'm trying to think of which restriction would exclude my device. Or...could it be that I'm running CM7, when the Motorola Milestone is only officially on 2.2?
- starwed 15y ago
  It could be the Milestone simply doesn't have enough RAM.
- pieter 15y ago
  It's Xperia Play only for now: http://mojang.com/2011/08/16/say-hello-to-minecraft-pocket-edition/ http://mojang.com/2011/08/16/say-hello-to-minecraft-pocket-e...
  - fredoliveira 15y ago
    Sadly it does read "Xperia PLAY optimized" on the market. If it's Xperia Play only, thats what it should stay instead :-/
- nabilt 15y ago
  Doesn't work on the Samsung tab 10.1 either, which is an awesome gaming device if you don't mind virtual controls.
klausa 15y ago
So far, it only works on one phone - Xperia Play, also known as Playstation Phone, although notch said that they are working on bringing it as 'regular' Market release.
TamDenholm 15y ago
My main problem with this is i've bought minecraft already, why must i pay again if i already have a legitimate license?
- runjake 15y ago
  Because Minecraft Pocket Edition is different software that required months of work and financing (if you've followed its development) to develop. You have to pay again in order for the software developer to make those funds back. There would be a lot less incentive to port software or develop future versions if they had to be made free.
  - pyre 15y ago
    They wouldn't necessarily need to be for free. Porting it to another platform opens up a new market. There are probably a lot of people that have an Android phone that haven't bought Minecraft for iPhone or PC.
    - jokermatt999 15y ago
      Minecraft for iPhone doesn't exist, so that's out. Minecraft for PC has existed for months. I could see it drawing in new people with the promotion a new port gives, but I doubt it would be enough to cover development costs considering how many people have already bought Minecraft PC.
      - shinratdr 15y ago
        > Minecraft for PC has existed for months. > Minecraft is a sandbox building indie video game...It was released on May 17, 2009, with a Beta on December 20, 2010. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minecraft http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minecraft Years, actually.
- MonkeyCrumpets 15y ago
  When you buy a game for the Wii, do you expect to get the 3DS version free?
fondue 15y ago
No multiplayer? Not worth it to me.
- mwill 15y ago
  There is local wireless multiplayer.
bignoggins 15y ago
I wonder why they chose android first over iOS, considering paid apps generally do better on iOS.
- city41 15y ago
  Based on Notch's G+ updates, I get the impression he's pretty content and not really looking to maximize profit. So he probably went with the platform he prefers for whatever his reasons are.
- ghiculescu 15y ago
  Probably because Minecraft was already written in Java so this wouldn't require as much porting.
  - exDM69 15y ago
    This brings me to a point. I was thinking about writing a game (real time 3d graphics, etc) for desktop and mobile, as many platforms as possible. What would be the language or tool of choice to go with? My conclusion: in 2011 you should write your program in C if you want to reach the widest audience with a single code base. You'll still have to write some Obj-C for OSX/iOS but it's easier to interop Obj-C with C than any other language. With Android you go with NDK and you might have to write a little Java/Dalvik if the default launcher of NDK is not good enough. On desktop Linux you'll need a little bit of X11 programming. On iOS, OSX, Android and Linux you can do use Posix system calls pretty liberally but have to keep some portability issues in mind (e.g. epoll vs. kqueue). Of course then there is Windows, that has almost nothing in common with any other platform out there but it can still be programmed with C. I've seen products that claim to give you portability across all these platforms but my experiences with that kind of frameworks have always been negative. Some cross platform game engines may be able to deliver a bit better. Of course then there's the option of simply duplicating the code base for all platforms which seems to be popular with small apps. With a game, where the graphics and game logic are the majority of the code, you probably don't want to duplicate that part. You could also try writing some of the non-speed critical stuff (like game logic) with a scripting language like Lua (if your appstores allow you to do such a thing). I am slightly disappointed that we still have to write C to write code that's fast and portable, esp. on mobile platforms. Also the lack of any kind of standard library (apart from libc and posix) makes a cross-platform developers job a bit harder.
deleted 15y ago
[deleted]
exDM69 15y ago
Is this creative mode ("minecraft classic") only? Or is there a survival mode too? Survival and Multiplayer? All the screenshots and video teasers I've seen have been creative only.
- joelhaasnoot 15y ago
  All the reviews on the marketplace indicate it's creative only. Bummer, survival is lots of fun. Sure that it'll be ported over though, they're working on Xbox versions too...
- citricsquid 15y ago
  This is the first release, it's creative only for now but they're expanding into survival eventually.
fedorabbit 15y ago
Consider Minecraft is entirely coded in Java, I'm surprised it's not been ported to Android platform sooner... But again, although game's size itself is not big, Minecraft is very resource consuming as the world expands.
- citricsquid 15y ago
  Yes, Minecraft is very resource intensive and a lot of people with powerful computers (relative to smartphones) can't run it, a straight port would not work. It's been rebuilt from the ground up.
extension 15y ago
Let me hop on my soapbox for a minute and say that Mojang really seems to be squandering the greatness that they have discovered in this game. Minecraft's level of success is unheard of for an indie game, by a huge margin, and it's well deserved. My favorite critic quote called it something like "an end to the era of shallow games". I think they've created a new genre, or possibly multiple genres, with more potential than any one developer could realize in a lifetime. And yet: They hocked exclusivity rights to a marginal platform. Now they have to develop and promote a game that nobody can buy for some mysterious amount of time. I seriously doubt that whatever amount of cash Sony dumped on them was worth it. And what they released, and attached the Minecraft name to, is a drastically dumbed down version of the game: 36 blocks, no survival, no mining, no infinite worlds, no online multiplayer. You can see the disappointment reflected in the market reviews. I'm aware that a straight port is not technically feasible, but I'm confident that they could make something a lot closer to the desktop version if they took advantage of cloud resources and took mobile more seriously. Notch is a very talented game designer and I think he has great vision, but maybe not enough confidence in his vision. He's still thinking like an indie developer and grasping at opportunities.
- windsurfer 15y ago
  I think it's fine, personally.
- weavejester 15y ago
  He's still thinking like an indie developer and grasping at opportunities. Or perhaps he's thinking incrementally. Notch has always been a big proponent of incremental development, rather than keeping a game secret and releasing it only when it's done.
  - extension 15y ago
    They've said as much, but that process works a lot better for obscure indie desktop games than for mobile apps trying to capitalize on fame. A lot of potential new players are going buy it to see what all the fuss is about, not see the point of it, and move on. If the mobile version is being developed independently of the desktop version, then it's always going to lag way behind and not share the same base of players. It's the t-shirt, not the game.

127 points by xd 15y ago

I would say "How can this work on such a small screen" but when I was younger, Age of Empires for Dell Axium was one of the most exciting games to to play. Felt so futuristic.

dkersten 15y ago
The default applet version of minecraft doesn't have a much higher resolution than a decent smartphone has and its perfectly playable! PS: yes, Age of Empires did seem futuristic at the time! Try play it now though - the low resolution may just burn your eyes :-)

mwill 15y ago

For prosperity: Right now its Xperia Play only, Mojang have said it'll be available on other devices in a month or two. Some people have already thrown the .apk on other devices, and gotten in game, however it's unplayable without the physical inputs on the Xperia Play. (http://imgur.com/a/bknX7 http://imgur.com/a/bknX7) They've committed to further updates following a similar model to the desktop version. The current version is actually 0.1.

sspencer 15y ago
Unless you are making a point I can't understand, I think you mean "posterity" instead of "prosperity."
- mwill 15y ago
  You're right, thanks. My bad. : P

TillE 15y ago

"This item is not compatible with your device." Curious. I'm trying to think of which restriction would exclude my device. Or...could it be that I'm running CM7, when the Motorola Milestone is only officially on 2.2?

starwed 15y ago
It could be the Milestone simply doesn't have enough RAM.
pieter 15y ago
It's Xperia Play only for now: http://mojang.com/2011/08/16/say-hello-to-minecraft-pocket-edition/ http://mojang.com/2011/08/16/say-hello-to-minecraft-pocket-e...
- fredoliveira 15y ago
  Sadly it does read "Xperia PLAY optimized" on the market. If it's Xperia Play only, thats what it should stay instead :-/
nabilt 15y ago
Doesn't work on the Samsung tab 10.1 either, which is an awesome gaming device if you don't mind virtual controls.

klausa 15y ago

So far, it only works on one phone - Xperia Play, also known as Playstation Phone, although notch said that they are working on bringing it as 'regular' Market release.

TamDenholm 15y ago

My main problem with this is i've bought minecraft already, why must i pay again if i already have a legitimate license?

runjake 15y ago
Because Minecraft Pocket Edition is different software that required months of work and financing (if you've followed its development) to develop. You have to pay again in order for the software developer to make those funds back. There would be a lot less incentive to port software or develop future versions if they had to be made free.
- pyre 15y ago
  They wouldn't necessarily need to be for free. Porting it to another platform opens up a new market. There are probably a lot of people that have an Android phone that haven't bought Minecraft for iPhone or PC.
  - jokermatt999 15y ago
    Minecraft for iPhone doesn't exist, so that's out. Minecraft for PC has existed for months. I could see it drawing in new people with the promotion a new port gives, but I doubt it would be enough to cover development costs considering how many people have already bought Minecraft PC.
    - shinratdr 15y ago
      > Minecraft for PC has existed for months. > Minecraft is a sandbox building indie video game...It was released on May 17, 2009, with a Beta on December 20, 2010. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minecraft http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minecraft Years, actually.
MonkeyCrumpets 15y ago
When you buy a game for the Wii, do you expect to get the 3DS version free?

fondue 15y ago

No multiplayer? Not worth it to me.

mwill 15y ago
There is local wireless multiplayer.

bignoggins 15y ago

I wonder why they chose android first over iOS, considering paid apps generally do better on iOS.

city41 15y ago
Based on Notch's G+ updates, I get the impression he's pretty content and not really looking to maximize profit. So he probably went with the platform he prefers for whatever his reasons are.
ghiculescu 15y ago
Probably because Minecraft was already written in Java so this wouldn't require as much porting.
- exDM69 15y ago
  This brings me to a point. I was thinking about writing a game (real time 3d graphics, etc) for desktop and mobile, as many platforms as possible. What would be the language or tool of choice to go with? My conclusion: in 2011 you should write your program in C if you want to reach the widest audience with a single code base. You'll still have to write some Obj-C for OSX/iOS but it's easier to interop Obj-C with C than any other language. With Android you go with NDK and you might have to write a little Java/Dalvik if the default launcher of NDK is not good enough. On desktop Linux you'll need a little bit of X11 programming. On iOS, OSX, Android and Linux you can do use Posix system calls pretty liberally but have to keep some portability issues in mind (e.g. epoll vs. kqueue). Of course then there is Windows, that has almost nothing in common with any other platform out there but it can still be programmed with C. I've seen products that claim to give you portability across all these platforms but my experiences with that kind of frameworks have always been negative. Some cross platform game engines may be able to deliver a bit better. Of course then there's the option of simply duplicating the code base for all platforms which seems to be popular with small apps. With a game, where the graphics and game logic are the majority of the code, you probably don't want to duplicate that part. You could also try writing some of the non-speed critical stuff (like game logic) with a scripting language like Lua (if your appstores allow you to do such a thing). I am slightly disappointed that we still have to write C to write code that's fast and portable, esp. on mobile platforms. Also the lack of any kind of standard library (apart from libc and posix) makes a cross-platform developers job a bit harder.

deleted 15y ago

[deleted]

exDM69 15y ago

Is this creative mode ("minecraft classic") only? Or is there a survival mode too? Survival and Multiplayer? All the screenshots and video teasers I've seen have been creative only.

joelhaasnoot 15y ago
All the reviews on the marketplace indicate it's creative only. Bummer, survival is lots of fun. Sure that it'll be ported over though, they're working on Xbox versions too...
citricsquid 15y ago
This is the first release, it's creative only for now but they're expanding into survival eventually.

fedorabbit 15y ago

Consider Minecraft is entirely coded in Java, I'm surprised it's not been ported to Android platform sooner... But again, although game's size itself is not big, Minecraft is very resource consuming as the world expands.

citricsquid 15y ago
Yes, Minecraft is very resource intensive and a lot of people with powerful computers (relative to smartphones) can't run it, a straight port would not work. It's been rebuilt from the ground up.

extension 15y ago

Let me hop on my soapbox for a minute and say that Mojang really seems to be squandering the greatness that they have discovered in this game. Minecraft's level of success is unheard of for an indie game, by a huge margin, and it's well deserved. My favorite critic quote called it something like "an end to the era of shallow games". I think they've created a new genre, or possibly multiple genres, with more potential than any one developer could realize in a lifetime. And yet: They hocked exclusivity rights to a marginal platform. Now they have to develop and promote a game that nobody can buy for some mysterious amount of time. I seriously doubt that whatever amount of cash Sony dumped on them was worth it. And what they released, and attached the Minecraft name to, is a drastically dumbed down version of the game: 36 blocks, no survival, no mining, no infinite worlds, no online multiplayer. You can see the disappointment reflected in the market reviews. I'm aware that a straight port is not technically feasible, but I'm confident that they could make something a lot closer to the desktop version if they took advantage of cloud resources and took mobile more seriously. Notch is a very talented game designer and I think he has great vision, but maybe not enough confidence in his vision. He's still thinking like an indie developer and grasping at opportunities.

windsurfer 15y ago
I think it's fine, personally.
weavejester 15y ago
He's still thinking like an indie developer and grasping at opportunities. Or perhaps he's thinking incrementally. Notch has always been a big proponent of incremental development, rather than keeping a game secret and releasing it only when it's done.
- extension 15y ago
  They've said as much, but that process works a lot better for obscure indie desktop games than for mobile apps trying to capitalize on fame. A lot of potential new players are going buy it to see what all the fuss is about, not see the point of it, and move on. If the mobile version is being developed independently of the desktop version, then it's always going to lag way behind and not share the same base of players. It's the t-shirt, not the game.