Mojang Blog

Source code: http://www.mojang.com/compo/metagun/metagun-source.zip (linked from http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-18/?action=preview&uid=398)

I compiled (yucky) with (after unzip + mkdir build):

javac -cp build src/com/mojang/metagun/{entity,level,screen,}/*.java -d build/
cp {src,build}/com/mojang/metagun/screen/exposition.txt
jar -cf app.jar -C build . -C res .

You need some html to run an applet; App.html just needs this:

<applet code="com.mojang.metagun.Metagun" archive="app.jar" height="480" width="640"></applet>

Run with:

appletviewer App.html

New to me (but probably standard to game writers) is: using a png to represent all the maps combined (like 10x10 maps), with each pixel's color representing a game tile type (eg. yellow for oil drum, purple for portal cube, red for spikes, green for signs etc). This representation is really cool, because it looks like what it represents (an isomorphism): you can "see" the level in a png editor, even though what you're seeing is not the actual level.

Another aspect of how the data representation drives the game, is that there are no explicit arcs between game screens - instead, the screen design allows your character to walk off-screen, then that point enables you to transition to the next screen. I guess it's the most obvious way to do it: it's as if you are zoomed into a particular section of the 10x10 maps, and then you can move to adjacent maps. Maybe it's just that I've spent too much…

Following the link on that page to the "translated" version of the new EULA, their reasoning seems to still be "we don’t want our players to be exploited or to have a frustrating time unless they pay." [0] I find a lot of things wrong with this mentality, mostly in that it assumes that the servers that charge for gameplay have some kind of monopoly over the servers. If you don't want to pay for gameplay, just visit another server. You don't have to put up with them. Heck, if you really wanted to you could host your own. The bottom line is you don't need to pay anyone, they're not exploiting you. If you're getting frustrated because they're charging you then that's your own dumb fault for visiting that server and putting up with it. If you want to pay, go ahead, support the server hosts. All of this is under the false assumption that people are being forced into paying, which simply isn't true.

[0] https://mojang.com/2014/06/lets-talk-server-monetisation/

We recognized that problem pretty early on. Some of our favorite customers have been teachers using Minecraft in their classrooms and in cases like that having one person paying makes total sense. Working on it! We decided to launch with individual accounts first because that's what made most sense for us and our friends.

Regarding Bukkit, we've been holding off support because of this: http://www.mojang.com/2012/02/minecraft-team-strengthened It's running in beta but the real value of Bukkit is being able to use mods. We're working on an experience that lets people enjoy mods without having to handcraft massive YAML files or run up SQL databases.

I love this! When learning to program, I wrote a clone of a basic java game by Notch:

Mine: http://codelucas.com/pages/island-overlord.html
His: https://mojang.com/notch/ld12/breaking/

The code:
Mine: https://github.com/codelucas/islandoverlord
His: https://mojang.com/notch/ld12/breaking/BreakingTheTower.zip

I also "cloned" a well known python article extraction library (goose) on Github with my own api & new functionality and my repo ended up doing super well (even better than the original).

https://github.com/codelucas/newspaper
vs.
https://github.com/grangier/python-goose

> It’s been developed for iOS devices by 13th Lab – a bunch of clever augmented reality folks – with the help of Mojang. [1]

> Created by 13th lab and Mojang [2]

Looks like 13th lab is an augmented reality group Mojang contracted and worked with to build the product. Mojang may not have written the core technology, but they seem to have initiated and funded it, they're now publicizing it, and I'd guess they will be splitting profits with 13th lab.

1 http://www.mojang.com/2012/11/announcing-minecraft-reality-for-ios/
2 footer image: http://minecraftreality.com/

I of course meant "most people", but thanks for calling me out. Shouldn't assume!

If you check out http://www.mojang.com/notch/ , he's made a few (dozen) little Java games, and he's been doing it for many years. The only awards mentioned on that page are a win at Java4k in 2006 and a third-place at Ludlum Dare in 2008. I could have sworn there were one or two more, but since GDC 2011 it's become pretty impossible to research :P

Incidentally, that win in 2006? That was for a Java Lemmings clone called... Miners4k. I'm sticking with "not a fluke."