Minecraft Update Actually Released!

Mojang updated Minecraft to 1.8 over the weekend. Yes, for real this time.

To recap, a pre-release version of Minecraft 1.8 was “leaked” to the ‘net, where anybody could play the next version of the game if they copied the leaked files into their game directory. To which Notch, the creator of Minecraft, responded: “Ooh, looks like 1.8 has leaked, not that I’d ever admit that.  Be careful when installing software you don’t trust though.” Then he asked for everyone to report any bugs they found.

For those of you who don’t follow game news, that’s not the response you’d expect from a developer after their product finds its way onto the Internet. Usually, the response is something like “Oh Christ what happened? I don’t care, put DRM on everything!”

Now the patch is officially released, and players are getting their first taste of the Adventure Update, which adds more content such as sprinting, guarding, and a leveling system that rewards the player for exploration. The Minecraft world now automatically generates towns and strongholds, but they’re always empty and it’s extremely buggy. There have been at least three times where either a stronghold has spawned over a ravine, meaning if I take the wrong door, I’m skydiving into a pool of lava, or the towns look like they were built by redneck monkeys.

Not only that, new creatures have been added to the game: The Silverfish, The Cave Spider, and the Enderman, which is now the creepiest thing in videogames. It’ll probably surpass the Creepers on my list of “things I don’t want to find in a dark alley ever.” Endermen look like they were co-designed by Stephen King and H.P. Lovecraft, and they’re basically harmless guys who just walk around and tidy up the place. That is until you look directly at them, at which point their mouth opens and they shake uncontrollably. As soon as you look away, they teleport right in front of you and start attacking you. Maybe it’s just very sensitive about its skin condition.

A full list of the updated features can be found here, and I can be found on Minecraft, re-lapsing into my addiction with the game.

Sources: Minecraft Wiki, The World of Notch, Game Bandits

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