Minecraft Headed to iOS Devices This Year
Mojang founder Markus 'Notch' Persson explained to Gamasutra that the iOS version won't necessarily receive all the same updates as the original version, which is still in beta, but rather only features which "make sense" for the touch-screen devices. The port is being handled by a new member of Mojang, Aron Neiminen.
There's no word yet on a price nor a release date more specific than "later this year."
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Lukiopimp
replyThis game may be too frustrating and mind boggling for the casual crowd.
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No, it's really frustrating, for a few reasons (that could be easily solved).
1.) The game has no tutorial. If you aren't a member of shacknews to see the daily Minecraft thread, you probably have no clue how to do anything.
2.) The way you figure out how to make or do anything is by opening the game's wiki page and having it open while you play. I don't know about you, but I don't consider this the ideal way to play a game.
3.) The difficulty is brutal. If you die, you respawn potentially "miles" away from your camp, with nothing, potentially in the dark. It took me several hours/play sessions to figure out how to create a lit path to relocate my base after I died, not to mention figuring out how to build a suitable structure.
The iOS crowd is a very different beast. There are hundreds of free games and $.99 games, so customer patience isn't something you can rely on.
To support my point, check out this awesome article written by 2D Boy, the creators of World of Goo, and some of their learnings on bringing their game to the iPad: http://2dboy.com/2011/02/08/ipad-launch/
I think Notch and crew are fantastic developers and designers. I think they can solve these problems. But the game is anything but forgiving. Granted, that may be why it's so satisfying when you do succeed, but I think the PC crowd is more willing to deal with some weirdness than the iOS crowd.-
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Hahaha. No, there should be a tutorial to explain a few basic recipes, like the workbench and tier 1 tools.
Just b/c the game is entirely open doesn't mean you shouldn't tell your players how to do a few things. Legos make complete sense b/c you can touch them and they snap together -- there is literally one thing you can do with them. Snap them.
In minecraft you punch things, but the game isn't exactly always rational or logical (DUH, IT'S A GAME!).
I love Minecraft. Love it. But, they should explain a few things. Notch even acknowledged this a little bit on Twitter after Yahtzee (Zero Punctuation) wrote an article about how it needed a tutorial.-
Based on what Notch has said, I think it's a given that there will eventually be a tutorial. The game doesn't handhold you right now because it's in Beta still, so it's not for mass consumption yet.
But yes, I also played with another window open explaining recipes and workbench stuff. That stuff isn't really intuitive.-
Yeah, the game is still early. It says that all over the site, so I'm not trying to crap on Notch. The Mojang guys work super hard and their game is already more fun than most.
I just think it should have a tutorial at some point. And it'll definitely need some sort of new user flow for the iPhone.
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I disagree. First thing you do is wander around, then you punch stuff. You get a block. Then you punch a tree, grass, anything you can find. Then you put your tree block into your inventory crafter, and you realise it's for crafting. So you make lots of wood blocks, then maybe build a house. Then you think, maybe I can do more - and you try 4 blocks in your inventory, and realise it makes a table. You can do more and more then, and the game just keeps going.
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A quick tutorial could do a lot, since it takes about 5 minutes to figure out how to play the game and make all of the essential tools.
I wouldn't say the difficulty is brutal, though. If you build your base miles away from spawn, yeah, you'll have to run miles to get back to your base after you die. So, you shouldn't do that. Also, building a suitable structure isn't that difficult... four walls and a roof. And don't forget to leave a door so you can go in and out. -
You are 100% right.
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"We found that the average iPhone/iPad gamer is more interested in pleasantly passing time than being intellectually engaged or challenged, at least when compared to the average PC or console player."
http://2dboy.com/2011/02/08/ipad-launch/
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You dig and build. Sometimes monsters try to kill you. Its not that hard a concept.
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concept is easy, it's the details. How do you get a shovel? It's a not entirely intuitive set of steps to get there
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We've all been there...
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World of goo is hard? Some people.
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LOL This game "IS" for the crowd of 'mind-boggled' citizens. You got yer shit backwards yo.
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