Notch has finally announced some details of his new game (go visit the site here).
Well, actually, he’s announced some things about his game that he’d like to hopefully someday think about possibly including when he starts to think about making it. Eventually.
I never got on the Minecraft-bandwagon. I’d like to say that it’s because of some self-imposed aversion to playing alpha-builds of games. Or that I have a finer palate, one that has become accustomed to big-budget thrillrides filled with scripted sequences, cut-scenes, and highly-paid voice talent. That might be part of it, but it basically comes down to two things:
- I like high-end, graphics—the ones that put me right next to the Uncanny Valley.
- I have played enough MMOs to recognize gaming crack when I see it.
Dear God, please make it look better than this…
But looking over the new game website, I came across these little tidbits in the game features section:
- Hard science fiction.
- Lots of engineering.
- Fully working computer system.
- Space battles against the AI or other players.
- Abandoned ships full of loot.
- Duct tape!
- Seamlessly landing on planets.
- Advanced economy system.
- Random encounters.
- Mining, trading, and looting.
- Single and multi player connected via the multiverse.
Okay, that looks pretty cool. A sci-fi game with loot and duct tape? Crap. That’s neat. But I need a creative story whenever I play a sci-fi game. I’m getting pretty sick of the whole crash-on-a-planet-and-kill-aliens thing. As far as the story is concerned, this is the last paragraph of the backstory description:
“It’s now the year 281 474 976 712 644 AD, and the first lost people are starting to wake up to a universe on the brink of extinction, with all remote galaxies forever lost to red shift, star formation long since ended, and massive black holes dominating the galaxy.”
Fuck.
That sounds pretty cool. Okay, Notch. You’ve got my attention. Make this game pretty, and I’ll pay $15 for it.
“The cost of the game is still undecided, but it’s likely there will be a monthly fee for joining the Multiverse as we are going to emulate all computers and physics even when players aren’t logged in.”
Son of a… So wait, now I’m gonna have to pay a monthly fee for your game, and it’ll probably be in beta for a couple of years? This is starting to sound like a Kickstarter presentation…
It might be cool, and it might be great. He was quoted as saying that he’d like to do a Firefly-esque game, and while this sounds nothing like Firefly (I mean, he didn’t mention the possibility of carrying prostitutes in your spaceship), I’m cautiously optimistic.
Did you play Minecraft? How does all this sound to you?
