Updates: By the Numbers

By: Derek Yu

On: December 9th, 2011

Screenshot and texture pack by Leostereo of the Minecraft forums.

A number of alphas/betas I follow have had significant updates, so I thought I’d mention them together. Also, I’m updating the neglected “Dev Roll” on the sidebar to feature games that are in long-term development.

The first update is from Minecraft, which finally reached v1.0 last month, during the two-day Minecon that was held in Las Vegas. The update adds a proper ending and “hardcore mode” to the game, among other things (full changelog). After the release, Notch announced that he is relinquishing duties as lead developer to Jens Bergensten, who was originally hired to do back-end programming.

It’s worth noting that Minecraft made its public debut on TIGForums on May 17th, 2009. Check out the thread for a “Before They Were Stars”-style stroll down memory lane!

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Running with Rifles Pre-Alpha 0.1

By: Derek Yu

On: June 22nd, 2011

At Pre-Alpha version 0.1 Running with Rifles is already a lot of fun, so I’m excited to see where it goes from here. The goal of the game is to control the map by taking key points such as the Town, the East Trench, the Airport, etc., from the opposing team. You start at one of seven ranks that determine how many of your fellow soldiers will follow you as you pass by. As a lowly private you’ll probably want to stay with a squad until you rank up (through kills), but as a captain you can lead your own squads into battle. The AI is pretty lifelike – soldiers move as a team, find cover, and bark orders at one another.

Modulaatio Games has plans to bring online multiplayer to Running with Rifles eventually, and this singleplayer-only pre-alpha seems like a great jumping off point for that. I’m already impressed by the scale of the battles, with dozens of soldiers fighting over a square kilometer of land, as well as the freedom of how you can choose to play despite there only being one player class. The addition of multiplayer and other options will only be enhancing an already decent game.

Note: Press “G” to use your grenades. They can be refilled at the ammo boxes.