7 ms·

Notch's New Game - Minicraft (And An Android Port)

104 points by Mizza 15y ago

Mizza 15y ago
There's already a little community forming around the game, which is neat. They've got a wiki: http://minicraft.wikia.com/wiki/Minicraft_Wiki http://minicraft.wikia.com/wiki/Minicraft_Wiki
tibbon 15y ago
What's the license on Minicraft? Or in spite of particular license, is Notch pretty much giving the thumbs up on porting anyway?
- sp332 15y ago
  I think it's still "All rights reserved". The rules for Ludum Dare say that you have to submit the code for judging, but you don't give up copyright. And he didn't put any license in the source archive. Although I doubt he'll complain, this porting effort might violate his copyright.
  - eropple 15y ago
    Last I heard at least, he still seem to regard mods to Minecraft as some bad terrible thing (though apparently Jeb has at least gotten him to go along with a mod framework--which is a good thing, because it's the only way Minecraft remains playable!), so "I doubt he'll complain" might be reaching a bit.
    - wtallis 15y ago
      My impression was that Notch is fine with mods, but he just doesn't think there's a way to make Minecraft very moddable without effectively open-sourcing it, which he doesn't want to do.
  - icebraining 15y ago
    There's not might - without a license, even the Github mirror made by Rich is infringing.
    - sp332 15y ago
      Actually, isn't he still in Sweden? In that case, I have no idea if computer software is automatically copyrighted the moment it's written. I think maybe that's a US-only thing?
      - manveru 15y ago
        Sweden signed the Berne Convention [1] in 1904 [2], and has automatic copyright since at least then They also signed the WIPO Copyright Treaty [3] in 2002, which expclitly says that computer programs are to be treated as literary works, and receive the same protection (that has been implemented by the DMCA in the US). According to Directive 2006/116/EC [4] the copyright term in the EU for literary works up to 70 years after the author died. If life expectancy continues to increase, they will probably extend the term again to cover the intended 2 generations. Have fun playing your copy on vintage hardware then :) [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berne_Convention_for_the_Protection_of_Literary_and_Artistic_Works https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berne_Convention_for_the_Prote... [2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_parties_to_international_copyright_treaties https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_parties_to_internation... [3]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WIPO_Copyright_Treaty https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WIPO_Copyright_Treaty [4]: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:32006L0116:EN:HTML http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:...:
- joakime 15y ago
  Notch has stated it's not released under any license. https://twitter.com/#!/notch/status/149273594667606017 https://twitter.com/#!/notch/status/149273594667606017 Interpret that as you wish, but make no assumptions.
  - icebraining 15y ago
    There's not much to interpret: not under any license means the default copyright terms apply - meaning any distribution is forbidden.
    - sp332 15y ago
      Oh wait - if he's still in Sweden, isn't it different? Don't you actually need a copyright notice attached for the code to be copyrighted?
      - orjan 15y ago
        No, copyright in Sweden is by default. Copyright notices are optional, not mandatory.
mrspeaker 15y ago
The livestream was awesome again too - it's up here: http://www.twitch.tv/notch/b/302823358 http://www.twitch.tv/notch/b/302823358 Though I made the dreadful mistake of watching it with comments on: http://www.mrspeaker.net/2011/12/20/troll-at-notch/ http://www.mrspeaker.net/2011/12/20/troll-at-notch/
- swah 15y ago
  Now I understand how '10x more productive programmer' works.
- jasonlotito 15y ago
  Oh, thanks for the links to your post. Interesting read. =)
dminor 15y ago
I've been working on an Android game that I envision as a mashup of Zelda and Minecraft, so it's pretty entertaining to see Notch whip out a pretty similar idea over a single weekend.
- jiggy2011 15y ago
  Entertaining or frustrating? The guy is a machine, I watched his stream (not the whole thing but a few minutes here and there) and he was almost never not typing (or editing something in paint.net). How he maintains his focus for that long and doesn't get stumped by bugs for any great length of time is truly impressive.
  - SquareWheel 15y ago
    It's true, I was amazed at how fast he worked. A bit of programmer envy from me.
  - dminor 15y ago
    Entertaining, definitely. Notch has been making games for years, so he's drawing on a lot of experience.
  - ronnier 15y ago
    I love how he uses the most uncool tools out there. Eclipse, Java, Pain.net, Windows, yet produces more than most of us combined.
    - AndyKelley 15y ago
      Pain.net: Typo, or subtle joke?
      - ronnier 15y ago
        Funny, it was a typo :)
    - deleted 15y ago
      [deleted]
joelackner 15y ago
i'm not a programmer. how do i build his source in eclipse? the closest i get is this and i'm stumped: http://i41.tinypic.com/opxrna.png http://i41.tinypic.com/opxrna.png
- hovvit 15y ago
  That happened to me as well (also not a programmer). It is because the directory with the sounds and images, called 'res', is not in the right place. You need to move the 'res' folder into the 'bin' folder.
  - andrewcanis 15y ago
    Try this version on github, you can compile and run the source with 'ant run': https://github.com/skeeto/Minicraft https://github.com/skeeto/Minicraft
  - eru 15y ago
    I hope you two will have some fun browsing the code and just messing around. Might be a well-motivated introduction to programming.
- samfoo 15y ago
  I don't know how to configure eclipse to build this, but I spent a few minutes and made an ant script. Save [it](https://gist.github.com/1dd9bd89748f489f67c9 https://gist.github.com/1dd9bd89748f489f67c9) as `build.xml` in root directory of the project and run `$ ant jar`. This will produce `minicraft.jar` which you can execute by running `$ java -jar minicraft.jar`. (Details: The reason eclipse is complaining is because the images weren't included as resources in the classpath. This cause a null pointer exception when the game attempts to load it's sprites. I don't really use eclipse, so I'm not sure how to fix it)
hackermom 15y ago
When I see this I don't think of Minecraft, I think of Realm of the Mad God - http://www.realmofthemadgod.com/ http://www.realmofthemadgod.com/
- newobj 15y ago
  Which came out of another game programming competition, "Assemblee 2" : http://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?board=38.0 http://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?board=38.0
- libraryatnight 15y ago
  That game is a lot of fun, I usually use it to waste time while when I'm waiting for my fiance to finish getting ready.
andrewcanis 15y ago
It's actually very easy to hack the code. I've created a "God-mode" version that you can play on github: http://acanis.github.com/Minicraft-God-Mode/ http://acanis.github.com/Minicraft-God-Mode/
chrislott 15y ago
I made a working android port. video here:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9UylEe04Rw http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9UylEe04Rw Link on github: http://github.com/chrislott/ http://github.com/chrislott/

104 points by Mizza 15y ago

Mizza 15y ago

There's already a little community forming around the game, which is neat. They've got a wiki: http://minicraft.wikia.com/wiki/Minicraft_Wiki http://minicraft.wikia.com/wiki/Minicraft_Wiki

tibbon 15y ago

What's the license on Minicraft? Or in spite of particular license, is Notch pretty much giving the thumbs up on porting anyway?

sp332 15y ago
I think it's still "All rights reserved". The rules for Ludum Dare say that you have to submit the code for judging, but you don't give up copyright. And he didn't put any license in the source archive. Although I doubt he'll complain, this porting effort might violate his copyright.
- eropple 15y ago
  Last I heard at least, he still seem to regard mods to Minecraft as some bad terrible thing (though apparently Jeb has at least gotten him to go along with a mod framework--which is a good thing, because it's the only way Minecraft remains playable!), so "I doubt he'll complain" might be reaching a bit.
  - wtallis 15y ago
    My impression was that Notch is fine with mods, but he just doesn't think there's a way to make Minecraft very moddable without effectively open-sourcing it, which he doesn't want to do.
- icebraining 15y ago
  There's not might - without a license, even the Github mirror made by Rich is infringing.
  - sp332 15y ago
    Actually, isn't he still in Sweden? In that case, I have no idea if computer software is automatically copyrighted the moment it's written. I think maybe that's a US-only thing?
    - manveru 15y ago
      Sweden signed the Berne Convention [1] in 1904 [2], and has automatic copyright since at least then They also signed the WIPO Copyright Treaty [3] in 2002, which expclitly says that computer programs are to be treated as literary works, and receive the same protection (that has been implemented by the DMCA in the US). According to Directive 2006/116/EC [4] the copyright term in the EU for literary works up to 70 years after the author died. If life expectancy continues to increase, they will probably extend the term again to cover the intended 2 generations. Have fun playing your copy on vintage hardware then :) [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berne_Convention_for_the_Protection_of_Literary_and_Artistic_Works https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berne_Convention_for_the_Prote... [2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_parties_to_international_copyright_treaties https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_parties_to_internation... [3]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WIPO_Copyright_Treaty https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WIPO_Copyright_Treaty [4]: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:32006L0116:EN:HTML http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:...:
joakime 15y ago
Notch has stated it's not released under any license. https://twitter.com/#!/notch/status/149273594667606017 https://twitter.com/#!/notch/status/149273594667606017 Interpret that as you wish, but make no assumptions.
- icebraining 15y ago
  There's not much to interpret: not under any license means the default copyright terms apply - meaning any distribution is forbidden.
  - sp332 15y ago
    Oh wait - if he's still in Sweden, isn't it different? Don't you actually need a copyright notice attached for the code to be copyrighted?
    - orjan 15y ago
      No, copyright in Sweden is by default. Copyright notices are optional, not mandatory.

mrspeaker 15y ago

The livestream was awesome again too - it's up here: http://www.twitch.tv/notch/b/302823358 http://www.twitch.tv/notch/b/302823358 Though I made the dreadful mistake of watching it with comments on: http://www.mrspeaker.net/2011/12/20/troll-at-notch/ http://www.mrspeaker.net/2011/12/20/troll-at-notch/

swah 15y ago
Now I understand how '10x more productive programmer' works.
jasonlotito 15y ago
Oh, thanks for the links to your post. Interesting read. =)

dminor 15y ago

I've been working on an Android game that I envision as a mashup of Zelda and Minecraft, so it's pretty entertaining to see Notch whip out a pretty similar idea over a single weekend.

jiggy2011 15y ago
Entertaining or frustrating? The guy is a machine, I watched his stream (not the whole thing but a few minutes here and there) and he was almost never not typing (or editing something in paint.net). How he maintains his focus for that long and doesn't get stumped by bugs for any great length of time is truly impressive.
- SquareWheel 15y ago
  It's true, I was amazed at how fast he worked. A bit of programmer envy from me.
- dminor 15y ago
  Entertaining, definitely. Notch has been making games for years, so he's drawing on a lot of experience.
- ronnier 15y ago
  I love how he uses the most uncool tools out there. Eclipse, Java, Pain.net, Windows, yet produces more than most of us combined.
  - AndyKelley 15y ago
    Pain.net: Typo, or subtle joke?
    - ronnier 15y ago
      Funny, it was a typo :)
  - deleted 15y ago
    [deleted]

joelackner 15y ago

i'm not a programmer. how do i build his source in eclipse? the closest i get is this and i'm stumped: http://i41.tinypic.com/opxrna.png http://i41.tinypic.com/opxrna.png

hovvit 15y ago
That happened to me as well (also not a programmer). It is because the directory with the sounds and images, called 'res', is not in the right place. You need to move the 'res' folder into the 'bin' folder.
- andrewcanis 15y ago
  Try this version on github, you can compile and run the source with 'ant run': https://github.com/skeeto/Minicraft https://github.com/skeeto/Minicraft
- eru 15y ago
  I hope you two will have some fun browsing the code and just messing around. Might be a well-motivated introduction to programming.
samfoo 15y ago
I don't know how to configure eclipse to build this, but I spent a few minutes and made an ant script. Save [it](https://gist.github.com/1dd9bd89748f489f67c9 https://gist.github.com/1dd9bd89748f489f67c9) as `build.xml` in root directory of the project and run `$ ant jar`. This will produce `minicraft.jar` which you can execute by running `$ java -jar minicraft.jar`. (Details: The reason eclipse is complaining is because the images weren't included as resources in the classpath. This cause a null pointer exception when the game attempts to load it's sprites. I don't really use eclipse, so I'm not sure how to fix it)

hackermom 15y ago

When I see this I don't think of Minecraft, I think of Realm of the Mad God - http://www.realmofthemadgod.com/ http://www.realmofthemadgod.com/

newobj 15y ago
Which came out of another game programming competition, "Assemblee 2" : http://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?board=38.0 http://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?board=38.0
libraryatnight 15y ago
That game is a lot of fun, I usually use it to waste time while when I'm waiting for my fiance to finish getting ready.

andrewcanis 15y ago

It's actually very easy to hack the code. I've created a "God-mode" version that you can play on github: http://acanis.github.com/Minicraft-God-Mode/ http://acanis.github.com/Minicraft-God-Mode/

chrislott 15y ago

I made a working android port. video here:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9UylEe04Rw http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9UylEe04Rw Link on github: http://github.com/chrislott/ http://github.com/chrislott/