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Could Minecraft be that little thing that teaches kids about logic? Maybe Jeb and co. should consider adding even simpler logic based building blocks, more akin

by bryanh 15y ago

Could Minecraft be that little thing that teaches kids about logic? Maybe Jeb and co. should consider adding even simpler logic based building blocks, more akin to Lego's Mindstorm as an alternative to relays and switches. I find it fascinating to think in 10-20 years many will be looking back fondly on how they learned to hack with an unassuming little game: Minecraft.

cookiecaper 15y ago
There is an unbelievable amount of potential in Minecraft that is completely untapped. It's really an amazing environment and I'm surprised it hasn't spawned "sandbox games" as a completely separate and significant genre, especially since a big reason Minecraft remains "untapped" is Notch's reticence to open the platform up and push the game forward.
- deleted 15y ago
  [deleted]
- withad 15y ago
  It is steadily becoming a lot more open - Jeb's the lead developer now and a big focus has been put on adding mod support. They've hired the guys behind Bukkit (a popular third-party mod manager for servers) to help with that, I believe. Clones have also started to appear but it's still small indie companies making them, meaning it'll take time before many are at the same level as Minecraft. However, the bigger companies do seem to be paying attention (an EA bigwig spoke about Minecraft in a Gamasutra piece the other day [1], though he was saying fairly obvious things), so it'll be interesting to see what the genre's like in 5-10 years' time. [1] http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/167137/Minecrafts_future_depends_on_more_than_just_Mojang_says_EA_CCO.php http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/167137/Minecrafts_future_...
- elisee 15y ago
  Just thought I'd mention CraftStudio (http://craftstud.io/ http://craftstud.io/), the multiplayer game-making platform I'm working on. You could say it's a Minecraft-style engine but you get to make your own models, paint your own map blocks and (soon) write your own game rules (so you'll be able to make any kind of games, not just first person stuff). Video of CraftStudio in action: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1QbJO3y_O0 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1QbJO3y_O0 Hacker News thread from yesterday: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3751455 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3751455
- mbell 15y ago
  Have a look at Spout[0]. Its an open source server that generalizes the minecraft concept. They are actually supporting 'minecraft' as a plugin called vanilla which communicates with the stock minecraft client. They also have an improved client which is currently a modded minecraft client but I believe the eventual plan it rewrite the client from scratch also. [0]http://www.spout.org http://www.spout.org and https://github.com/SpoutDev https://github.com/SpoutDev
- deleted 15y ago
  [deleted]
- ido 15y ago
  I'm surprised it hasn't spawned "sandbox games" as a completely separate and significant genre Maybe you haven't noticed, but "minecraft-like" is a a burgeoning young genre - every week I see a new one on the /r/gamedev subreddit or tigsource forums. And there are already a dozen or so commercially successful ones on steam and XBLIG.
iwwr 15y ago
That's where mods like Redpower comes in. http://www.minecraftforum.net/topic/365357-123-eloraams-mods-redpower-2-prerelease-4e/ http://www.minecraftforum.net/topic/365357-123-eloraams-mods... The mods are really what set Minecraft apart.
- JrodS 15y ago
  Redpower is fantastic! I built an 8 bit ALU with it and its so much more pleasant (and faster) to work with than the standard redstone
- saulrh 15y ago
  Buildcraft[1] and Industrialcraft[2] are also good for teaching automation, logistics, and resource management. For example, buildcraft+redpower will let you build a machine that digs a giant hole in the ground, smelts the ores, incinerates the useless cobble, and sorts everything into the proper chests for easy access. [1]: http://www.mod-buildcraft.com/ http://www.mod-buildcraft.com/ [2]: http://wiki.industrial-craft.net/index.php?title=Main_Page http://wiki.industrial-craft.net/index.php?title=Main_Page
ThomPete 15y ago
Have you read Seymour Papert's book Mindstorm? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seymour_Papert http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seymour_Papert You might be on to something there.

by bryanh 15y ago

cookiecaper 15y ago

There is an unbelievable amount of potential in Minecraft that is completely untapped. It's really an amazing environment and I'm surprised it hasn't spawned "sandbox games" as a completely separate and significant genre, especially since a big reason Minecraft remains "untapped" is Notch's reticence to open the platform up and push the game forward.

deleted 15y ago
[deleted]
withad 15y ago
It is steadily becoming a lot more open - Jeb's the lead developer now and a big focus has been put on adding mod support. They've hired the guys behind Bukkit (a popular third-party mod manager for servers) to help with that, I believe. Clones have also started to appear but it's still small indie companies making them, meaning it'll take time before many are at the same level as Minecraft. However, the bigger companies do seem to be paying attention (an EA bigwig spoke about Minecraft in a Gamasutra piece the other day [1], though he was saying fairly obvious things), so it'll be interesting to see what the genre's like in 5-10 years' time. [1] http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/167137/Minecrafts_future_depends_on_more_than_just_Mojang_says_EA_CCO.php http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/167137/Minecrafts_future_...
elisee 15y ago
Just thought I'd mention CraftStudio (http://craftstud.io/ http://craftstud.io/), the multiplayer game-making platform I'm working on. You could say it's a Minecraft-style engine but you get to make your own models, paint your own map blocks and (soon) write your own game rules (so you'll be able to make any kind of games, not just first person stuff). Video of CraftStudio in action: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1QbJO3y_O0 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1QbJO3y_O0 Hacker News thread from yesterday: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3751455 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3751455
mbell 15y ago
Have a look at Spout[0]. Its an open source server that generalizes the minecraft concept. They are actually supporting 'minecraft' as a plugin called vanilla which communicates with the stock minecraft client. They also have an improved client which is currently a modded minecraft client but I believe the eventual plan it rewrite the client from scratch also. [0]http://www.spout.org http://www.spout.org and https://github.com/SpoutDev https://github.com/SpoutDev
deleted 15y ago
[deleted]
ido 15y ago
I'm surprised it hasn't spawned "sandbox games" as a completely separate and significant genre Maybe you haven't noticed, but "minecraft-like" is a a burgeoning young genre - every week I see a new one on the /r/gamedev subreddit or tigsource forums. And there are already a dozen or so commercially successful ones on steam and XBLIG.

iwwr 15y ago

That's where mods like Redpower comes in. http://www.minecraftforum.net/topic/365357-123-eloraams-mods-redpower-2-prerelease-4e/ http://www.minecraftforum.net/topic/365357-123-eloraams-mods... The mods are really what set Minecraft apart.

JrodS 15y ago
Redpower is fantastic! I built an 8 bit ALU with it and its so much more pleasant (and faster) to work with than the standard redstone
saulrh 15y ago
Buildcraft[1] and Industrialcraft[2] are also good for teaching automation, logistics, and resource management. For example, buildcraft+redpower will let you build a machine that digs a giant hole in the ground, smelts the ores, incinerates the useless cobble, and sorts everything into the proper chests for easy access. [1]: http://www.mod-buildcraft.com/ http://www.mod-buildcraft.com/ [2]: http://wiki.industrial-craft.net/index.php?title=Main_Page http://wiki.industrial-craft.net/index.php?title=Main_Page

ThomPete 15y ago

Have you read Seymour Papert's book Mindstorm? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seymour_Papert http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seymour_Papert You might be on to something there.