5 ms·

What are some examples of poor design decisions that were made?

by jeffmk 12y ago

DanBC 12y ago
Modding is a very popular part of Minecraft. TO mod Minecraft you have to:- i) find the right mod - it has to be for the correct version of Minecraft ii) Locate the Minecraft jar; expand it. iii) Copy the mod into the correct folder iv) Delete a file (if you haven't already) v) recompress vi) test vii) do all this again for the next mod you want to apply A better mod interface would be lovely.
- electromagnetic 12y ago
  Compare this to a game like KSP where modding is also very popular. Installing a mod is generally: extract rar to game folder. Step two is play the game.
- Havvy 12y ago
  Modding hasn't been like that for over two years nowadays. These days it's: 1) Download the MinecraftForge Installer and run it. 2) Find the right mods you want. 3) Copy the mod into the correct folder. 4) Change configuration (if you want) 5) Test Furthermore, you can use various launchers such as the Feed The Beast launcher where you download the launcher, run it, pick a pack that it'll download and then run with a very low chance (< 1%) of there being problems. Oh, and you can also join servers that are configured to that modpack too without doing anything.
  - josephlord 12y ago
    You miss the bits where you pray the mod isn't carrying anything malicious and you hunt around for a version that is compatible with the engine version you are running.
  - Rapzid 12y ago
    That's a lot of copying. Sounds like minecraft could do with a proper package manager. Maybe Microsoft will give it nuget support(har har).
- pandler 12y ago
  Sure, adding a mod is not trivial, but that's just a technical hurdle for an advanced feature. Nor is that process difficult for someone who can follow a list of instructions. Neither this nor your original comment actually address the core user-level design features. The point at which you feel whatever pain there is in trying to mod the game happens only after you enjoy the game and decide it's worthwhile to mode.
- tripzilch 12y ago
  I teach kids to do cool stuff with computers. I don't teach them Minecraft. Sometimes I wonder if maybe I should. But then, I really don't need to. The kids that want to, seem to have no problems at all figuring out the seven steps you just posted. They use a combination of youtube videos/tutorials, persistence, and if all else fails, reading the docs/wiki. What I help them with is basic computer literacy (I can read English faster, and know my way around the OS, file system, zip/jar files, etcetera, quicker). I'm just a catalyst in that sense. In fact I know very little about Minecraft at all (I think I know slightly more about modding the game than actually playing it). The kids that have a drive to figure this out (and some are as young as 7 years old, incredible), also happen to be the same ones that will want to learn other types of programming such as shell scripting (or .bat/VBS programming, depending on the OS), relatively advanced Gamemaker stuff, things like that. They also like explaining these things to the other kids (which we try to encourage). For that reason, and that reason alone[0], I do ban Minecraft in certain circumstances. I only allow it if they're actually modding stuff instead of just playing. They only get to play games the second half of the day (if they want), otherwise they have to do something more creative on the computers (or go play somewhere else). This limitation is because I've found, by experience and experiment--not just because I want to believe this is the case--that there are many kids who have talents to do truly amazing things on the computer at a young age, and that it really helps them if they're not surrounded by peers simply playing games on those same computers (peers that have other, non-computer-related talents, but just happen to like playing video games, become a distraction). Of course they have to test their mods in a real life network setting later on, which makes it even cooler :) [0] okay, there is one other reason. you may be familiar with applications such as TeamSpeak or Ventrilo. Kids like to use a similar voice-based, wireless communication protocol known as "shouting across the room".
  - visarga 12y ago
    I have kids playing Minecraft too, how many minutes/hours of screen time do you allow per day?
    - thaumasiotes 12y ago
      http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2014/06/30 http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2014/06/30

What are some examples of poor design decisions that were made?

by jeffmk 12y ago

What are some examples of poor design decisions that were made?

DanBC 12y ago

Modding is a very popular part of Minecraft. TO mod Minecraft you have to:- i) find the right mod - it has to be for the correct version of Minecraft ii) Locate the Minecraft jar; expand it. iii) Copy the mod into the correct folder iv) Delete a file (if you haven't already) v) recompress vi) test vii) do all this again for the next mod you want to apply A better mod interface would be lovely.

electromagnetic 12y ago
Compare this to a game like KSP where modding is also very popular. Installing a mod is generally: extract rar to game folder. Step two is play the game.
Havvy 12y ago
Modding hasn't been like that for over two years nowadays. These days it's: 1) Download the MinecraftForge Installer and run it. 2) Find the right mods you want. 3) Copy the mod into the correct folder. 4) Change configuration (if you want) 5) Test Furthermore, you can use various launchers such as the Feed The Beast launcher where you download the launcher, run it, pick a pack that it'll download and then run with a very low chance (< 1%) of there being problems. Oh, and you can also join servers that are configured to that modpack too without doing anything.
- josephlord 12y ago
  You miss the bits where you pray the mod isn't carrying anything malicious and you hunt around for a version that is compatible with the engine version you are running.
- Rapzid 12y ago
  That's a lot of copying. Sounds like minecraft could do with a proper package manager. Maybe Microsoft will give it nuget support(har har).
pandler 12y ago
Sure, adding a mod is not trivial, but that's just a technical hurdle for an advanced feature. Nor is that process difficult for someone who can follow a list of instructions. Neither this nor your original comment actually address the core user-level design features. The point at which you feel whatever pain there is in trying to mod the game happens only after you enjoy the game and decide it's worthwhile to mode.
tripzilch 12y ago
I teach kids to do cool stuff with computers. I don't teach them Minecraft. Sometimes I wonder if maybe I should. But then, I really don't need to. The kids that want to, seem to have no problems at all figuring out the seven steps you just posted. They use a combination of youtube videos/tutorials, persistence, and if all else fails, reading the docs/wiki. What I help them with is basic computer literacy (I can read English faster, and know my way around the OS, file system, zip/jar files, etcetera, quicker). I'm just a catalyst in that sense. In fact I know very little about Minecraft at all (I think I know slightly more about modding the game than actually playing it). The kids that have a drive to figure this out (and some are as young as 7 years old, incredible), also happen to be the same ones that will want to learn other types of programming such as shell scripting (or .bat/VBS programming, depending on the OS), relatively advanced Gamemaker stuff, things like that. They also like explaining these things to the other kids (which we try to encourage). For that reason, and that reason alone[0], I do ban Minecraft in certain circumstances. I only allow it if they're actually modding stuff instead of just playing. They only get to play games the second half of the day (if they want), otherwise they have to do something more creative on the computers (or go play somewhere else). This limitation is because I've found, by experience and experiment--not just because I want to believe this is the case--that there are many kids who have talents to do truly amazing things on the computer at a young age, and that it really helps them if they're not surrounded by peers simply playing games on those same computers (peers that have other, non-computer-related talents, but just happen to like playing video games, become a distraction). Of course they have to test their mods in a real life network setting later on, which makes it even cooler :) [0] okay, there is one other reason. you may be familiar with applications such as TeamSpeak or Ventrilo. Kids like to use a similar voice-based, wireless communication protocol known as "shouting across the room".
- visarga 12y ago
  I have kids playing Minecraft too, how many minutes/hours of screen time do you allow per day?
  - thaumasiotes 12y ago
    http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2014/06/30 http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2014/06/30