Minecraft Survival Mode Preview

Here's a preview of Minecraft's Survival Mode, which paid customers will be able to test in a week's time (September 1st). Since our first blog post about the game there has been a lot that has happened. For instance, we've seen swimming cave pigs. That's right, swimming cave pigs. They are also fond of flesh however only if it's in Hot Pockets.

You can learn more about the upcoming release right here.

- jwill Fantastic! I'm excited for this game to start. But is this a toy? I believe this is a toy.

- Quetz Oh boy oh boy oh boy.

It's amazing how this game keeps getting better every day. It's beautiful :3

- sqrrl YES

- Behemoth Holy crap. This has made me realize how tiny I am on this planet, for this is proof that Notch is a God. He was the one who invented Minecraft and he will apparently rest in what is the seventh day. Indonesia?

- wiivn Yeah better, but I don't like the idea of bricks that are slower to destroy and limitations for construction and healthbar... It's beginning to appear like a typical MMO game.

MasterShake - MasterShake How could it be a Survival Mode even if it doesn't have a health bar Wiivn?

Scott Wiivn is quite retarded

- Wiivn Scott is not as retarded as your mother.

- http://0xdeadc0de.org Eclipse calm down kids...

It would be better to have the option of building and an survival mode. In this mode, you are able to only dig for a few things and you must crawl through the dungeons made by others.

-- ngajoe Man...I was ecstatic. When it mentioned "survival mode," I was thinking about Stranded 2. That was a fantastic survival mode!

- Nicholas Lee I don't know whether it's me or not but I don't "get" this game.

-- Eagle Guys, Notch is still in Sandbox mode. If you read his website, you'll find that he's currently in survival mode, zombie Siege mode, and other modes. and he's keeping the sandbox mode. The game is in the alpha stage in the moment, just three months old. It's not a real game yet it's just a toy, Notch is still working on the game and its various modes that it'll offer in the near future. :P

- Malasdair I'm certain Minecraft will be awesome in like a year. Is he using a pay-now-to-help-me-develop format?

The citricsquid is basically Malasdair. The pre-ordering process has allowed him to switch to working in Minecraft for 60 percent of the time - the other 40% of the time for his IRL "outside of his home" job, as it would be a nightmare to work on his own 100% of the time. So, yes, we're paying for him to work on it more

Gutter Nicholas Lee: It's not a game however I don't believe that it is. So we aren't that crazy.

FISH I would like to see the artwork was less muddy and blurred.

It would be fantastic if it had a cleaner style like Megaman Legends.

Can the game allow custom textures? that would be great. I would make one.

- Tim L. I hold patents on the words "Mine", "Craft", and "Scott's Mother" So, you're all being sued.

I've never been a fan of the super pixelated art style trend in games that are indie. If it doesn't serve a genuine reason in the game then it's just making the eyes tired.

Okay, you don't look like a typical game, I understand but you now appear like every other poorly rendered indie game.

- sinoth I find the pixelized textures to be extremely delicious.

ngajoe Concur with sinoth. Hurrah for teh pixels!

- Schwerpunk I've never considered the graphic style. Mcnames.net It just seems to be fitting.

Notch has also announced that he will release a DRM free version of the software. I would imagine that you can simply switch out the texture files.

I mean, the game itself illustrates how important for players to be able to achieve what they want to do is Notch.

- Anon Presenting the Dungeons and Levers Expansion Pack

+ Dungeon Mode. Similar to Survival, but you aren't able to destroy walls or craft objects. + Programmable Tiles. Pressure plates, levers, doors. + More mobs. + More usable items. (Potions? Teleporter stones? Keys?) + Official public level format + Play on randomly generated levels or player-generated levels + 100% for everyone who has purchased the game!

- contra Looks great. Although I don't have the time to spend making things in the beta sandbox it's still fascinating to look at. I also hope that the music featured in the video is included in the game. It fits perfectly and I'm tired of the chiptunes.

-- Sparky Every time I play this game, it makes me believe that there are millions of really amazing ideas that have yet to be explored.

(P.S. (PS.) - I'm in agreement with Fish about the intentionally low resolution textures. However, that's purely subjective.

This build really looks much more polished than the last one I played. Keep up the good work!

- FISH What I mean is that textures should be maintained at the same resolution, but removed and used with less colors.

Low-resolution is great, but it's not only about resolution. Every pixel counts. Every pixel is important. They don't have any weight as of now.

-- Sparky Yes, I can see the point you are making with the textures, and I'm with you. Sorry I'm sorry if my words weren't precise. Megaman Legends is a good example of a game which employs low resolution and low color depth textures but isn't intentionally sloppy or blocky visually. It features a lot of clear solid color regions and nice hand-pixelled details.