Minecraft.Print(): bring your Minecraft objects into the real world

Emil

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Minecraft , the immensely popular PC sandbox game, just got a whole lot more awesome thanks to MIT Media Lab researhers Cody Sumter and Jason Boggess. They created Minecraft.Print(), a Python script that makes any Minecraft object printable so that you can bring it into the real world. While you can't do this yourself (unless you're one of the few lucky people in this world that have access to a 3D printer), it's quite amazing to watch.

The whole thing is a three-step process:

  1. Play it. Make Stuff! You know how to build things in Minecraft. It's really up to you. Just make it awesome, ok?
  2. Prep it. To avoid printing the entire world, it is necessary to specify the region you wish to process. By placing a combination of specific blocks (obsidian, diamond, gold, iron) at two points you can define the 3-dimensional area to print.
  3. Minecraft.Print() then outputs a standard model file for printing to either a professional 3D printer or (MakerBot or RepRap). Now that you've printed out your creation, it's time to show it off. We figure you know how to do this part.

Unfortunately, the script doesn't appear to be available for download. Fortunately, there's a gallery available for you to check out once you've drooled over the following demonstration video:

Earlier this month, Minecraft passed 10 million registered users. There is still no official release date for the game. It was supposed to leave beta status on November 11, 2011 but that date was pushed back about a week since the game's creator, Markus Persson (also known as Notch) wants to find a good venue for MinecraftCon and the date 11/11/11 is fully booked.

Minecraft was originally released (now referred to as the classic version) on May 17, 2009. It entered Indev status on December 23, 2009, Infdev status on February 27, 2010, alpha status on June 28, 2010, and finally beta status on December 20, 2010. When it finally ships, Minecraft will be available for €20.00 ($28.87); right now it's still in beta and goes for €14.95 ($21.58).

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What a trip! Wouldn't it be wild if you could do that with any game? I'd love to have a copy of one of the rifles from Borderland.
 
I still can't figure out why people like Minecraft... I've been watching the vids of it online and I can't figure out the infatuation at all.
 
Yeah, I agree. You can't just sit back and watch others...but then again, it sure would suck to pay $14 or so for a game you'll end up hating, lol. I haven't bought it yet, but that's because I just bought a $550 laptop and can't afford to shell out any kind of money on anything that isn't a bill or food, lol.
 
lncpapa said:
I still can't figure out why people like Minecraft... I've been watching the vids of it online and I can't figure out the infatuation at all.

I made a post a couple of pages back on another Minecraft new note about its popularity. Long story short, it's an online legos game you can play with your friends. If you ever spent your childhood playing with legos and building all kinds of neat stuff, or building a fort in your house, that's basically what Minecraft is. You can also have a survival mode where monsters will spawn all the time and you have to mine for better materials to make weapons and complete your fortress.

There are free versions of Minecraft available on their website, www.minecraft.net and you can play around with some basic blocks and stuff.

All of that said, this game is definitely a multiplayer type of game. It's much more dull to build something on your own. You can be more exacting and spend more time on it that way, but it gets to be more of a chore unless you're wanting to flex your e-peen in a youtube video.
 
Terraria is really fun too. It's a 2d Minecraft like game but in some ways more fun.
 
More than just some ways. Boss fights, tons of interesting weapons and armor, neat rare enemy spawns, and some other much more basic features that make it a much more fun game to play.

Some of those small features were that if you chopped down a tree from its base, the whole tree would break apart. In Minecraft you have to hit every single piece of the stupid thing. Terraria also lets you hold left or right click to craft items until all your materials are used. Minecraft doesn't.

But Minecraft is 3d and gives you a real sense of scale. It allows for some really impressive structures to be built and presents its own unique game mechanics. And both games are still being constantly updated and tweaked to add more items, enemies, and other nifty features. Terraria is cheaper though :3
 
IvanAwfulitch said:
More than just some ways. Boss fights, tons of interesting weapons and armor, neat rare enemy spawns, and some other much more basic features that make it a much more fun game to play.

Some of those small features were that if you chopped down a tree from its base, the whole tree would break apart. In Minecraft you have to hit every single piece of the stupid thing. Terraria also lets you hold left or right click to craft items until all your materials are used. Minecraft doesn't.

But Minecraft is 3d and gives you a real sense of scale. It allows for some really impressive structures to be built and presents its own unique game mechanics. And both games are still being constantly updated and tweaked to add more items, enemies, and other nifty features. Terraria is cheaper though :3
Every video I have seen before focused on its custom building I had no idea there were even enemies in this game. I thought it was some giant build fest. I just watched the slime boss fight I can now see its appeal.

Just looked at there site you can play there old version for free as a flash game here
http://www.minecraft.net/
But Iv been told there are no weapons in the old one just building.
 
Terraria is interesting, but you need to play it with friends. The combat is, at a minimum, extremely frustrating, and I got little enjoyment playing solo.
 
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