Minecraft

[Jadzia]

Isn't a diamond tool one that mines hard materials more quickly?

I mean for the merged tool to perform the same as it's components, but lasts longer. eg 9 iron picks makes a super iron pick, that performs exactly like a normal iron pick, but lasts 9 times longer.

[Robert Maxwell]

Jadzia wrote:

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Isn't a diamond tool one that mines hard materials more quickly?

I mean for the merged tool to perform the same as it's components, but lasts longer. eg 9 iron picks makes a super iron pick, that performs exactly like a normal iron pick, but lasts 9 times longer.

There are five versions of every tool:

Wood
Stone
Iron
Gold
Diamond

(Gold tools are pretty damn worthless, though.)

The main difference between them is how long they last. Wood tools don't last very long at all, while Diamond tools have over 1000 uses before they crap out. The other difference is what they can mine. Wood tools can't mine very much at all, whereas Diamond tools can mine anything, and are in fact the only way to mine obsidian. There is a speed difference between how quickly the tools break blocks but I wouldn't say it's incredibly significant. Still takes a diamond pickax almost 20 seconds to break an obsidian block, but it's your only option.

The most efficient tools are stone tools, in terms of the ubiquity of their materials, how long they last, and what they can mine. Iron tools are also a necessity to mine redstone, gold, and diamonds, but since iron is relatively rare you don't want to use iron tools for everything, just what's necessary.

[Owain Taggart]

Jadzia, I have a feeling you'd love the game, and I'm sure Robert would enjoy having you on his server

[Jadzia]

Would the transatlantic lag not be an issue? I ping well to mainland europe, but I have no idea what happens further afield.

I might enjoy minecraft because I do enjoy creating things. But I've never devoted much time to playing games, as it's rare that I find lasting pleasure in one.

To indulge my creativity, what I find most relaxing and rewarding is spending time exploring my own ideas, which is why I enjoy programming, cooking, decorating, designing things, and making things.

For example, (coincidentally) tonight I made a block world of my own, because there are a couple of ideas I want to explore with hidden surface culling.

[Robert Maxwell]

Ping gorzek.com and see how bad it is. If the latency isn't too high it should be fine.

[Jadzia]

145

[Robert Maxwell]

That's not terrible. I get 80ms here.

[Owain Taggart]

Yeah, we have people from all over anyway. It's usually not much of an issue. I think I even have higher ping, but there's not much lag. Also part of the beauty of the game, at least in multiplayer is that you can play as little as you want and still see changes happening

[TheGodBen]

I get a ping around 145-150 and while there's a little lag on the server, it's not much and it's certainly not game-breaking. I've been meaning to go back to the server as I barely built anything there. I now have an interesting idea of something to build there, but there's a bunch of things I want to get sorted on my singleplayer world first.

Jadzia wrote:

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To indulge my creativity, what I find most relaxing and rewarding is spending time exploring my own ideas, which is why I enjoy programming, cooking, decorating, designing things, and making things.

All of which you can do in Minecraft. Why, just yesterday I baked a cake. Okay, I crafted a cake. I'm currently working with redstone wires to make all my double doors work, which is something I've been meaning to do for a long time. My problem is that I want to keep all the wires hidden and that causes constraints if there are other rooms nearby, which is kinda like a 3D puzzle that I have to solve.

[Robert Maxwell]

Yeah, it'd be nice if you came back, Ben. I like that penthouse you set up and I'd like to see more from you. The town has been built up a lot since you last appeared. Plus, monsters are now active.

[Owain Taggart]

Yep, in fact, we're just starting to build a wall around the city to try and keep the monsters out.

[Cutter John]

If nobody minds, I'm going to build a drawbridge from the shore behind Smooth's mansion over to one of the islands.

Ooooh, found another dungeon tonight and scored my first record.

[Owain Taggart]

Well, better wait until I finish my perimeter to see where it goes first.

[TheGodBen]

Minecraft is coming to Xbox 360 with Kinect support. Building things with a controller seems clunky enough, how the hell are you supposed to control it with Kinect?

[Owain Taggart]

Does that mean you literally get to hug creepers now?