Mojang

Play BET ON COBALT! Honestly, it’s great

Tue, 19 Jan 2016 14:09:00 +0000

The code-wizards at Oxeye Games Studio have outdone themselves. We present… BET ON COBALT.

Team Strike is one of Cobalt’s most intricate modes. And it makes for a fantastic spectator sport, even when it’s played by bots. With that in mind we’ve set up a two week twitch stream where teams of bots battle each other to the death. TWO WEEKS of awesome.

But what’s a sport without a little wager and real-life prizes? Pointless, that’s what.

HOW DO I BET ON BET ON COBALT?

This is where things get really exciting. BET ON COBALT gives you the chance to bet Volts (which have no real money value) on the outcome of each match. you start with 1000 volts, and will earn even more just by watching the stream. It’s up to you whether you keep things simple and just vote on the winning team of each round, or go pro and spread-bet on specific happenings in the match, like Multi-kills or Aces.

Betting is relatively simple. Before a round begins, bot_cobalt will state the odds. Enter your bet in the public chat, or whisper it to bot_cobalt in between each round. Once the round is over, winnings are paid out.

You can check your funds at at time by typing “!v” into the chat.

BETTING ON A TEAM TO WIN A ROUND

To bet on an individual team, type !bet into the chat followed by the team name, then the amount. For example, to bet 50 volts on blue winning the round, type “!bet blue 50”. You can also bet with the first letter of your chosen team. For example: “!bet b 50”.

You can also bet a percentage of your current balance on the outcome. To bet 70% of your winnings on the blue team type “!bet blue 70%”.

BETTING ON ACHIEVEMENTS (THE WAY OF THE PROFESSIONAL)

Achievements can help you get rich quick. The chances of them happening are slim, but the odds are massive. Risky but lucrative.

You don’t need to pick a team for special events. If either team earns an achievement you’ll get the volts. There are four achievements.

MULTI - When a bot takes out two others in one shot. This normally happens with a well-placed grenade.
ACE - When one badass bot takes out the entire team.
WHOLE - When every bot of either survives the round.
COMBO - When one bot takes out two enemy bots in quick succession.

For example, to bet 500 Volts on either team scoring a combo in the following round, type “!bet COMBO 500”

BUT WHAT DO I DO WITH MY HARD-EARNED VOLTS? DID YOU EVEN THINK OF THAT?

Yes, we did think of that, thank you very much. You can spend your volts on loads of cool things.

PIMPING YOUR PROFILE

After each match the shop generates seven flairs with limited stock. There are five kinds of flair you can purchase, but you can only have one of each kind. Each flair has a unique value.

*prefix adds a cool thing at the start of your name
*suffix adds a cool thing to the end of your name
*tint gives your name a cool colour
*smiley adds a smiley after your name
*jingle means that your specific jingle plays if you’re the top earner in an individual round

To purchase a shop flair type in it’s offer number after ishop or !shop. For example, to purchase item 1, type “!shop 1” into the chat.

CUSTOMISING BOTS IN REAL-TIME

You can name a bot for the entirety of one match. It costs 500 volts. For example, to name a bot BOPO, type “!name BOPO” into the chat.

You can also make a random bot from each team say something during the match. For example, to make a bot say BOPO PWNS, type “!talk BOPO PWNS” into the chat.

At the end of each match, users can vote on the next map. To vote on BOPOTOWN as the next map, type “!map BOPOTOWN”.

ENABLING SPECIAL EVENTS

Each round features a special event that will trigger if enough Volts are donated. Shrewd BET ON COBALT players will understand how special events could influence the chances of Achievements triggering. To donate 600 Volts, type “!fund 600” into the chat.

OK - I HAVE MORE VOLTS THAN I KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH. WHAT’S THE POINT?

Glad you asked. We’re giving REAL-LIFE prizes to the top winners on February 2nd at 12pm CET. That’s Cobalt’s release date, in case you didn’t know.

THE RICHEST PLAYERS

The top five richest players will get a Cobalt game code on their platform of choice, and a signed cobalt postcard. The players in position 6-10 on the rich list will get a Cobalt game code for their platform of choice.

THE COOLEST PLAYERS

The top five players with the most valuable flairs on release day will get a Cobalt game code on their platform of choice and a signed Cobalt postcard. Players in positions 6-10 on will get a Cobalt game code on their platform of choice.

THE 100K CLUB

Any player who reaches 100,000 Volts will be automatically become a member of the 100K club. All players will be entered into a raffle on release day and will have the chance of winning 1 of 100 Cobalt game codes or 1 of 15 signed Cobalt postcards.

A MILD DISCLAIMER

BET ON COBALT is for fun, free, and will probably break at some point. We refuse to be sued for anything to do with BET ON COBALT. Don’t be sad if you lose, but feel free to gloat if you win.

Have fun!

Owen - @bopogamel

Announcing Minecraft: Education Edition

Tue, 19 Jan 2016 10:33:00 +0000

Hello!

News from a slightly different, arguably smarter, place today. We’re announcing Minecraft: Education Edition.

Of course, every Minecraft player learns essential life-skills like tree-punching and good Creeper-defence but, when used in the right way, Minecraft can help people around the world to learn lots more.

Over the past few years, educators around the world have been using Minecraft to explore subjects that might not spring to mind when you think of our block-based game. Since 2011, MinecraftEdu - a version of Minecraft built for the classroom - has been used in over 40 countries. Lots of people have learned loads of things since then.

Microsoft has acquired MinecraftEdu and is building upon its proven success to create a new version of Minecraft that’s dedicated to learning. The new title will be available as a free trial this summer. All existing MinecraftEdu customers will get the first year of Minecraft: Education Edition free of charge.

It’s going to be a collaborative thing. Development of Minecraft: Education Edition will be shaped by a community of educators thanks to education.minecraft.net. The site will host lesson plans and give Minecraft: Education Edition users somewhere to discuss ideas and provide feedback. We know teachers can be a rowdy bunch, so we’re looking into the best ways to moderate the forums as I type. Wish us luck.

For more on Minecraft: Education Edition, check out this post (which comes with bonus quotes), or visit the official page.

Have a great day, everyone!

Owen - @bopogamel

Minecraft: Story Mode coming to Wii U this Thursday

Mon, 18 Jan 2016 20:02:00 +0000

Hello!

I bring even more exciting news for Wii U owners. Just a few months ago you got Minecraft, and now I’m delighted to announce that Minecraft: Story Mode is coming to Wii U this Thursday, January 21st.

The Wii U version will feature off-TV play and mirroring for the Wii’s GamePad controller, so you can play when someone else is doing less-fun things on the TV. You can even use the nifty touch interface if joysticks and buttons ain’t your bag.

The first episode will cost $4.99 or equivalent, but you can also buy a season pass for $19.99. That way, you’ll get access to episodes 2-5 as they become available to download.

Minecraft: Story Mode is an episodic game series from Telltale Games. You play as Jesse who can be a male or female hero, and embark on an exciting adventure to save the world while learning about a group of legends known as The Order of the Stone. It’s a massive amount of fun for fans of Telltale’s games, Minecraft, or just good things in general. For more on Minecraft: Story Mode, check out Telltale’s official site.

Have fun, Wii U owners! Take care of Reuben for me, yeah?

Owen - @bopogamel

Cobalt coming to Xbox and Steam February 2nd

Thu, 14 Jan 2016 17:10:00 +0000

Hello!

I bring exciting news! We’ve locked down Cobalt’s release date. It’s coming to Xbox 360, Xbox One, and Steam for Windows on February 2nd. It’ll cost $19.99 or equivalent.

I am slightly biased, but it’s worth mentioning that Cobalt is an excellent video game. Your experience may vary but I’ve been playing multiplayer for over three years, and I still think it’s great. Why?

Read on for an impartial breakdown of Cobalt’s awesomeness. Note that Cobalt is developed by Oxeye Game Studio and published by Mojang. I work for Mojang.

ROLLING

Rolling things in real life isn’t usually that much fun. Well, it’s kinda fun. But rolling in Cobalt is extremely fun, especially when you do it mid-battle. Time a manoeuvre correctly and you can deflect incoming projectiles and bounce them back towards your enemies. That makes Cobalt’s gunfights a lot more enjoyable than the ones you might have experienced in other video games.

EXTREME LOCATION-SPECIFIC SLOW-MO

Unlike rolling, slow motion is extremely fun in both real-life and other video games. But Cobalt’s slo-mo is probably the best slow-mo in any video game to date. Why? Because it’s location-specific and triggers automatically. Whenever your cyborg (you control cyborgs in this game by the way) gets in danger from bullets, grenades, or incoming melee attacks, things slow down around you. That gives opportunity to switch weapons and retaliate, or pull out your fists and punch projectiles back in your opponent. It makes you feel even more skilled than you actually are. Spectacular stuff.

A MASSIVE CAMPAIGN

OK - it’s not massive. But it is pretty big. The latest estimate is around eight hours. You’ll end up shooting a lot of stuff, but there’s a lot more to Agent Cobalt’s adventure than that. Over the past six years, the development team have laced in a ridiculous amount of features from dancing mini-games, to tameable pets, to conversation trees that can lead to fulfilling relationships with mushroom people. You also get to upgrade your suit and weapons to your liking as the adventure progresses. It’s great, OK?

SPEED AND COMBAT CHALLENGES

Though I’ll get into more multiplayer aspects of Cobalt in a moment, it’s worth talking about another type of competitive mode - the Speed and Combat challenges. The rolling I mentioned earlier can be used for more than just deflecting bullets. Skilled players can punch the ground during a tumble to generate extra momentum. Master the technique and you can generate more speed than characters in other video games could even dream of - that’s why the timed challenges are so enjoyable. Combat challenges are a similar affair, but include guns, and combos, and extra explosions. There are leaderboards so you can see exactly how good you are compared to the rest of the world.

SURVIVAL MODE

You might be familiar with survival or “horde” based modes from other inferior video games. They’re the ones where you take on waves of enemies and upgrade your equipment as the difficulty ramps up. Cobalt’s got that mode too! And you can play it alone or in local co-op.

MULTIPLE LOCAL AND ONLINE MULTIPLAYER MODES

Cobalt also includes loads of multiplayer modes. My personal favourite is Plug Slam - Cobalt’s own future sport. Shoot, throw, or punch the plug into the opponent’s goal to score, and get more points than your opponent to win. It sounds a bit generic in that description but, honestly, it’s great. Cobalt also features deathmatch modes and and Team Strike - an entirely original gametype where two teams fight to the death over multiple rounds and earn currency for upgrades. All multiplayer modes can be played locally or online.

NOW A NOTE ABOUT THE ABOUT THE STEAM RELEASE

As mentioned earlier, Cobalt is coming to Steam for Windows. And it’s going to have Steam Workshop support. That means enthusiastic players will get the chance to create their own levels and share them with others around the world. Pretty cool. Its also worth noting that anyone who’s already bought into the Cobalt alpha will get a Steam code for free via their Mojang account. We’ll talk more about that closer to release.

So yes! Get hyped! In around 18 days you’ll be able to download Cobalt and experience this wonder for yourself, you lucky sons of a guns.

Owen - @bopogamel

Minecraft snapshot 16w02a

Wed, 13 Jan 2016 14:17:00 +0000

A new year has started and it’s time to celebrate it with a new Minecraft snapshot. The list of things we want to finish before the 1.9 release is getting shorter, more bugs are getting fixed, fewer new bugs are getting introduced.

Thanks to everyone who is reporting bugs, testing the snapshots and sending us feedback our changes. You are all helping to make 1.9 awesome.

Notable changes:

Fixed more bugs
Less rendering issues with glow effects
More balancing of the combat related mechanics
Tamed artificial enderdragons (artificial means /summon)
Changed everything, then changed it back

Bugs fixed in this snapshot:

[Bug MC-779] - Mobs are displayed outside of their spawner
[Bug MC-1072] - No Translation for “Air” in the superflat customization
[Bug MC-14722] - Social Zombies not affected by /gamerule doMobSpawning
[Bug MC-23952] - Bad alignment when using wide unicode fonts
[Bug MC-44140] - Acacia and Dark Oak Stairs do not burn and cannot be lit with flint and steel
[Bug MC-44280] - Eggs and Snowballs fired from dispensers don’t knockback mobs, but they do when thrown by the player or a snow golem.
[Bug MC-46258] - “ø” Character Has an Extra Pixel
[Bug MC-46690] - Items in inventory upon death in gamemode 3
[Bug MC-47941] - Creepers flash white when exploding
[Bug MC-59196] - Players can tick themselves arbitrarily
[Bug MC-60692] - gamemode selector m doesn’t work with negation
[Bug MC-63714] - Zombie Pigmen get angry when hit in creative
[Bug MC-69038] - /help in a command block shows /effect syntax
[Bug MC-71006] - Minecart with Hopper and Minecart with Chest’s GUIs’ name is Minecart.
[Bug MC-73304] - Scoreboard teamkill.”color” Is not registering entities
[Bug MC-74072] - Unicode Character “Small H with Stroke” (ħ) One Pixel Too High
[Bug MC-74392] - Copying written books creates 0-stacks/duplicates original
[Bug MC-76313] - Pressing the crouch key while flying will slow you down
[Bug MC-78557] - Buttons don’t have a special tool assigned - compare pressure plates
[Bug MC-79604] - Explosions do not repel players in creative
[Bug MC-81687] - Villagers accept less items for the same amount of emeralds
[Bug MC-82677] - /give @p minecraft:anvil 1 3 will crash your game
[Bug MC-85304] - Ender dragons going to XYZ 0 0 0 when spawned in any type of world
[Bug MC-87894] - Creeper damage disproportionate
[Bug MC-88268] - Glowing CustomName Items have blurry names
[Bug MC-88668] - Old Hopper Minecarts have Enabled:0b/do not gather items
[Bug MC-89592] - Death screen death message doesn’t hide when showDeathMessages is false
[Bug MC-89917] - Pick Block on Boats only give Oak Variant
[Bug MC-91803] - In the game / title does not automatically play background music / cave ambient sounds
[Bug MC-92208] - Summoned MinecartHopper defaults to Enabled:0b
[Bug MC-92783] - Setting LastOutput of a command block to an invalid JSON string causes crash
[Bug MC-93093] - Console Spam: “PLAYER is sending move packets too frequently (19 packets since last tick)”
[Bug MC-93119] - Survival player can obtain bedrock item
[Bug MC-94466] - zombies wont climb stairs
[Bug MC-94776] - Chicken will not follow the player with seeds up stairs
[Bug MC-95129] - Zombies don’t want to walk up a block (in some situations?)

Please report any and all bugs you find in Minecraft to bugs.mojang.com. If nobody reports a bug, we can’t fix it!

To get snapshots, open your launcher and press the “New Profile” button. Call it “snapshots” and check the box saying “Enable experimental development snapshots” and save. To switch to the normal version, you can select it in the dropdown at the bottom left corner of the launcher. Back up your world first or run the game on in a different folder (See the “new profile” dialog).

Snapshots can corrupt your world, please backup and/or run them in a different folder from your main worlds.

Cross-platform server jar:

Minecraft server jar

Report bugs here:

Minecraft issue tracker!

Watch Jens play Cobalt LIVE

Thu, 07 Jan 2016 15:41:00 +0000

Happy New Year, everyone. Hope you had a good ‘un!

Just a quick note to let you know that at 15:00 CET tomorrow, Lord of Minecraft and Oxeye Game Studio developer, Jens Bergensten will be playing Cobalt LIVE on air. I’ll be sitting close-by, pestering him with questions and trying to distract his l33t play.

The stream will be live at www.twitch.tv/jebox.

It’s going to be absolutely spectacular, and you should definitely tune in! Don’t worry if you’re in bed/school/work at that time though - the stream will be available to watch at a later date too.

See you tomorrow!

Owen - @bopogamel and @Jeb_

Happy holidays from all at Mojang!

Mon, 21 Dec 2015 15:38:00 +0000

Hey everyone!

It’s been a busy, eventful, year but it’s finally time to sit back, eat loads of food, and play unhealthy amounts of video games.

We’s like to take a moment to thank every last one of you for continuing to support us for all these years, and for inspiring us to make Minecraft into something truly special.

See you in 2016!

Owen - @bopogamel and the rest of the Mojangstas.

Here's the Pocket/Windows 10 Edition livestream!

Mon, 21 Dec 2015 11:30:00 +0000

Hello!

Lots of you caught our Festive Livestream last week but, thanks to timezones, a lot of you were sleeping/in school/doing other stuff. For that reason, it’s now available on-demand!

If you’re playing on a Windows 10 or Android device, it’s possible to download the map featured in the stream and play it! We’ve zipped them up and made them available for download here. If you’re not sure how to use the maps, follow the directions in this handy text document.

Have a great holiday season, everyone! See you next year.

Owen - @bopogamel

Minecraft.net localization update

Mon, 21 Dec 2015 09:00:00 +0000

We want Minecraft to be enjoyed by as many players as possible. A big hurdle for a lot of people wanting to play the PC/Mac version has been that the website where you buy the game so far only has been available in English, despite the game itself having been available in multiple languages for several years thanks to our awesome community translators. However, after a recent update, minecraft.net is now for the first time ever available in multiple languages!

Initially we’ve focused on the most crucial bits of the website, where you register for and buy Minecraft. These are now available in 14 different languages with some additional regional variations. In addition to this we’ve also added prices in 12 new currencies (previously only USD, EUR, and GBP were supported) and enabled more local payment options.

This is only the first step though. The Mojang Web Force is working on a completely revamped version of minecraft.net that will be fully localized. More on that in a future update!

Playstation and Xbox Editions get humongous update

Fri, 18 Dec 2015 10:36:00 +0000

Hello!

We’ve just updated Minecraft for Xbox 360, Xbox One, Playstation 3, and Playstation 4 with a staggering amount of features. Yes, we’re constantly improving Minecraft on all platforms but this is actually our biggest update ever, bringing the console versions closer to the current PC build than they’ve ever been before.

To prove this, I present the following changelog which will require significant amounts of vertical scrolling. From henceforth, this update will be known as “Update 1.8.8.”

Two quick notes about 1.8.8 on other consoles before we get into it: the update is slightly delayed for Minecraft on Playstation Vita so expect it to arrive in the next few days. And, though we’re working hard to bring these features to Nintendo’s console, 1.8.8 won’t be available on Wii U until some time next year.

OK. Enough chatter. Here’s a trailer and the full changelog!

New items for all modes

Armour Stand, Raw Rabbit, Cooked Rabbit, Rabbit Stew, Raw Mutton, Cooked Mutton, Rabbit’s Foot, Rabbit Hide, Potion of Leaping, Potion of Water Breathing, Salmon, Cooked Salmon, Clownfish, Pufferfish, Blue Orchid, Allium, Azure Bluet, Tulips, Oxeye Daisy, Sunflower, Lilac, Poppy (replaces Rose), Rose Bush, Peony, Double Tall Grass, Large Ferns, Prismarine Crystals, and Prismarine Shard have all been added!

New items for Creative Mode

Rabbit Spawn Egg, Endermite Spawn Egg, and Guardian Spawn Egg can now be used in Creative Mode.

New blocks

Podzol, Granite, Polished Granite, Andesite, Polished Andesite, Diorite, Polished Diorite, Prismarine, Dark Prismarine, Prismarine Bricks, Red Sand, Red Sandstone, Smooth Red Sandstone, Chiseled Red Sandstone, Red Sandstone Stairs, Sea Lanterns, Wet Sponge, Slime Blocks, Coarse Dirt, Packed Ice, Acacia Saplings, and Dark Oak Saplings are now available in-game.

New mobs

Endermite, Guardian, Elder Guardian, Rabbit, and Chicken Jockey now roam the lands!

New biomes

Mesa, Mega Taiga, Roofed Forest, Birch Forest, Forest, Savanna, Extreme Hills+, Deep Ocean, and Snowless Taiga are all available for exploration.

More features that I’ll list using bullet points to save bandwidth

Treasure can now be caught while fishing. There are a lot of cool things to find!
Enchanting now consumes Lapis Lazuli, and enchanting books can receive multiple enchants at once.
Villagers now have additional professions, and will harvest crops and breed. To encourage that kind of behaviour, give them 3 bread, 12 carrots, or 1 potato. They’ll also turn into Witches when struck by lightning.
Now any rectangular shape from 4x5 to 23x23 will work as a Nether Portal. Ghasts can travel through them too.
You can use Pumpkins or Wither Skeleton Skulls to spawn Golems and Withers.
We’ve rebalanced the Anvils.
Moss Stone, Mossy Stone Bricks and Chiseled Stone Bricks are now obtainable via crafting.
You can now use a furnace to create Cracked Stone Bricks and Sponge.
Empty Furnaces will now only accept fuel and empty Buckets in the fuel slot.
Item Frames now emit a Redstone signal, and can rotate in 8 directions.
Redstone comparators can now detect the rotation of an item in an item frame and output an equivalent power signal.
Buttons can now be placed on the top and bottom of blocks.
Powered Activator rails now dismount entities riding Minecarts.
Water-filled Cauldrons will put out burning entities, taking away one water level each time.
When harvested with Silk Touch enchantment, Huge Mushroom Blocks drop blocks with corresponding Mushroom texture (red or brown) on all sides.
We’ve reintroduced Sponge to Survival Mode with new behaviour and texture.
Sugar Cane colour is now affected by biome.
Baby Zombies now drop XP Orbs.
Creepers can now be ignited with Flint and Steel.
Adult Zombie Pigmen will now forgive after a short time.
Witches now drink a Potion of Water Breathing when they are trapped underwater and can drop a Potion of Water Breathing upon death.
Melons can now be found in patches similar to Pumpkins in the Jungle Biome.
Swamp Biomes now feature Blue Orchid Flowers.
Plains Biomes now generate Azure Bluets, Oxeye Daises, Tulips, and Double Tall Grass.
Extreme Hills Biomes now feature Snow at higher elevations.
Ocean Biomes now only feature Gravel on the floor instead of Sand, Dirt and Gravel.
Desert Temples spawn with Stained Clay instead of Dyed Wool.
Ocean Monuments now feature.
New enchantments - Luck of the Sea (I-III), Lure (I-III), Depth Strider (I-III) -have been added.

More fixes and tweaks which subtly make the game more enjoyable

Sheep now drop Mutton when they die.
Arrows decelerate more quickly underwater and extinguish if on fire.
Most mobs can now swim.
Skeletons flee from wolves.
Creepers, Skeletons, Wither Skeletons and Zombies drop their heads when killed by Charged Creepers.
Spiders no longer see players through solid blocks.
Baby mobs growth can be accelerated by feeding them.
Fix for players adding additional layers above the maximum height in Superflat.
Added Flint and Steel and Fire Charge sound effect when igniting blocks.
Updated audio for Cows and Mooshrooms.
Updated audio for Minecarts.
Created a new Tutorial World.

Phew! I am exhausted. Enjoy 1.8.8, and have a fantastic holiday, kind crafter folk!

Owen - @bopogamel