Mojang

What’s happening with redstone on Pocket / Win 10?

Mon, 22 Aug 2016 16:00:00 +0200

Hey there everyone!

As you may have heard, we’ve been making a few changes to the way redstone works in Pocket / Windows 10 Edition - just part of our ongoing mission to give minecrafters as many cool tools as possible. Most recently, we’ve been trying to simplify the peculiarities of redstone without compromising on the power.

Talking of power, right now a block can:

give off power (often referred to as a strong signal or directly powered signal)
be powered (often referred to as giving off a weak, or indirectly powered signal)
be unpowered

In the image below you can see this in action. The redstone block on the left gives off a strong signal, lighting up the adjacent lamp. But the lamp diagonal to the redstone block and the one next to that remain unpowered. Over on the right, a redstone wire has been placed on the middle lamp, allowing it to carry the strong signal from the redstone block and light the lamp next to it.

Pistons get powered the exact same way!

Of course, Redstone engineers from PC / Mac may note something missing here: something our community calls quasi-connectivity!

What’s quasi-connectivity? In a sense, it’s a bug. But it’s one that’s become so useful to crafters that it’s become a feature! In the PC edition of Minecraft, pistons can receive redstone power from a distance of two blocks when they are placed in a very specific diagonal position, rather than from a block right next to it. But blocks only get updated when something affects adjacent blocks. It means that you can power a piston and then remove the power without the piston detecting it! It puts the piston in this state where it actually needs to be deactivated, but doesn’t know yet. Clever minecrafters exploit that to build elaborate trigger mechanisms known as Block Update Detectors: when something happens to a block next to a piston - like a block being placed or destroyed, gravel falling, fire igniting, rails re-orientating or even cake being eaten - the piston will “wake up”, notice that it isn’t powered any more, retract and trigger something else.

We never really intended this - but the community quickly showed us its potential, using it to build automatic farming contraptions, flying machines and so much more.

When remaking Minecraft for Pocket, we had to rethink how redstone works: we decided it’d make more sense to remove the bug - or, rather, never put it in - but offer an alternative, official way to achieve the same result. And so we’ve introduced the Observer block. It checks for changes in the environment and, if triggered, switches between emitting a strong signal and an unpowered state - but without relying on a bug to do so.

We’ve tested this with lots and lots of different builds, and we can’t wait to see what you lot do with it. We’ve also added some other cool stuff: pistons can now push chests and many other things!

We’re not done yet, either! We’ll continue listening to what you folks have to say and refine redstone accordingly. PC crafters can rest easy, too: we aren’t planning to remove quasi-connectivity from that version. But stay tuned for other exciting developments there, too!

Cheerio!

Marsh - @marshdavies

Fixes, FAQs and a changelog for 0.15.6

Thu, 18 Aug 2016 09:29:00 +0200

Earlier this week we put out an update enabling a massive suite of VR-specific features that let you play Minecraft Windows 10 Edition on the Oculus Rift. Since then, we’ve worked doubletime to put out fixes for some of the issues you were encountering. Details below!

If you’re still having issues with your Magic Minecraft Goggles, scroll down and have a look through the FAQ we’ve prepared. As always, if you run into any bugs, please report them on Jira! We want to know what you think about our Oculus Rift integration. Click here to give us feedback!

Changelog

New Features:

Minecraft: Windows 10 Edition Beta now has Oculus Rift support! Wow!

Tweaks:

Better keyboard and mouse support when Oculus Rift is enabled.
Tweaked Windows 10 UI when in Oculus Rift mode for better usability.

Bug Fixes:

Oculus platform launcher updated with localization handling fixes & correct Virtual Studio redistributable packages.
Audio now plays through user’s selected audio device.
You can use the “C” button on your keyboard to switch between television mode & immersive mode.
Fixed some localization fonts (all editions).
Fixed a minor crash issue on Gear VR edition.

FAQ

Q: I don’t have Windows 10- I’m running Windows 7/Windows 8/Linux/OSX. Can I use Minecraft: Windows 10 Edition Beta with Oculus Rift support?

A: You will need to have the Windows 10 operating system running in order to use Minecraft: Windows 10 Edition Beta.

Note: you also need to be running version 1511 (aka TH2) – there is an in-game message that will direct you to update.

Q: The Oculus Minecraft app is crashing with the error 0x80070422. What do I do?

A: Make sure you have Windows Update enabled.

1. Press the Windows key

2. Type in Services

3. Scroll down to Windows Update and right-click.

4. Select Start from the menu.

Q: My Oculus Minecraft app is crashing but it is giving me an exception in ucrtbase.dll.

OR My Oculus Minecraft app is saying that Windows 10, Update 1511 is required. What do I do?

A: First, try restarting the Oculus store and seeing if the Oculus Minecraft app update fixes this. If not, this is may be due to a Windows Update either failing or not being applied.

1. Download & run the official Windows Update Troubleshooter here: Press the Windows key.http://download.microsoft.com/download/F/E/7/FE74974A-9029-41A0-9EB2-9CCE3FC20B99/WindowsUpdateDiagnostic.diagcab

2. Press the Windows key.

3. Type in Check for Updates

4. Check for and then install any missing Windows Updates

5. Restart your computer using the Restart option on the Power menu.

Q: The Oculus Minecraft app is telling me that launching Minecraft “failed”?

A: Check to make sure you aren’t already running Minecraft: Windows 10 Edition Beta. If you are, make sure you close the app first before trying to play it from the Oculus Minecraft app. If you continue to have problems, try running Minecraft: Windows 10 Edition Beta by playing it from the Xbox app. This may give you more insight into why the game won’t play. If you continue to have issues, you can always contact http://support.xbox.com or click on Contact Us on our feedback site at http://feedback.minecraft.net

Q: The Oculus Minecraft app is reporting a signature issue with the 2015.3 x86 redist DLLs.

OR The Oculus Minecraft app is crashing and my primary language files aren’t English.

A: Good news! We pushed out a fix that should resolve both of these issues. Just restart your Oculus store and accept the Minecraft app update that you should see waiting in your library.

Q: I am seeing strange graphics issues when I try to play the game.

A: Make certain your graphics drivers are up-to-date. If you have an Nvidia graphics card, you may need to manually visit the Nvidia website to get the most up-to-date drivers for your graphics card. Download, install the new drivers, and then restart your computer using the restart option from the power menu.

Q: I have dual graphics cards and multiple monitors. I can hear the Minecraft music but Minecraft is stuck on a white screen with ‘Please wait’.

A: This may be due to some confusion between your graphics cards regarding HDMI input and the Rift. If you have HDMI inputs going into both cards, unplug the HDMI input that is not associated with the Oculus Rift.

Hope that helps!

Cheerio!

Marsh - @marshdavies

Minecraft snapshot 16w33a

Wed, 17 Aug 2016 15:29:00 +0200

Oh happy day it’s Snapshot Time! We are releasing a new snapshot with several bug fixes, internal changes and probably also some new bugs. It would be amazing if you want to report any non-reported bugs you find in our bug tracker! Many thanks!

While we plan to keep larger new features as a surprise to reveal at Minecon, some of the smaller changes will make it into snapshots in the following next weeks. And this snapshot has…

Notable changes:

Shields will now keep enchantment level and durability when crafted with banners
Added an infinite loop
Added some more subtitles
More things will burn in the furnace (we don’t recommend wool as your main fuel though, and don’t even want to mention carpets…)
We have not lowered the range for using beds (we did add a proper error message though :) )
Fixed some crashes
Removed the infinite loop again, it took too long to finish

Bugs fixed in 16w33a:

[Bug MC-4582] - Can’t eat, throw, or shoot while looking at an Iron Door/Iron Trapdoor
[Bug MC-5330] - Range for using bed is lower than normal range
[Bug MC-9691] - Inconsistency: Some wooden items don’t burn in furnaces
[Bug MC-14525] - name tag item doesn’t work on entities with right click ability
[Bug MC-30630] - Double grass and fern use 2 different biome colors for top and bottom
[Bug MC-49666] - Trades Not Randomized for Farmer Villager
[Bug MC-75726] - Broken error message when loading (broken?) resource packs
[Bug MC-82811] - Attempting to use currently unusable items bobs item up and down
[Bug MC-82965] - Main hand item use animation plays when using offhand (3rd person mode)
[Bug MC-87048] - Putting Design on Shield will cause Shield to lose Enchantment
[Bug MC-91209] - Inconsistent word separation in chat help for F3+[key] combinations (resource packs, render distance)
[Bug MC-92294] - Elder Guardians drop normal sponge instead of wet sponge
[Bug MC-93371] - No armor stand breaking sound in creative mode
[Bug MC-94303] - Filling/emptying bucket/bottle sound doesn’t play for cauldrons
[Bug MC-102683] - Elder Guardians use the same subtitles as normal Guardians
[Bug MC-106030] - No longer receives xp when shift clicking ingots in furnace
[Bug MC-106045] - Fishing rod does not appear cast in offhand
[Bug MC-106067] - Unable to dye banners
[Bug MC-106072] - Resource pack loaded as FOLDER doesn’t show in-game anymore
[Bug MC-106100] - Crash reported by Hopper
[Bug MC-106101] - Another crash reported by Hopper
[Bug MC-106116] - Achievements which rely on crafting the item (such as Benchmarking or Time to strike!) don’t unlock when shift-clicking
[Bug MC-106133] - Skeletons / Stray / Wither Skeleton with Tipped Arrow in Offhand No Longer Shoot Tipped Arrows
[Bug MC-106152] - Zombie Villager has no independent subtitles
[Bug MC-106168] - Using spawn egg on side of block spawns mobs inside transparent blocks
[Bug MC-106172] - Wither Skeleton / Zombie Pigman emits a constant hissing sound despite not being on fire when standing on a submerged fence
[Bug MC-106190] - Husk / Zombie Villager drop zombie head when killed by charged creepers
[Bug MC-106193] - No enchantment books when you fishing

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!

Minecraft VR coming to Oculus Rift today!

Mon, 15 Aug 2016 17:57:00 +0200

How’s your face? Is it ready? Is it ready to have Minecraft right up in it? It’d better be: today we’re releasing a FREE update to Minecraft: Windows 10 Edition Beta which will enable you to play Minecraft on Oculus Rift. Win 10 players just need to download the bespoke launcher from the Oculus store to get the full stereoscopic experience!

Back in April, we released Minecraft VR edition for Gear VR. It was the product of many, many months of hard work, reshaping the game you know and love to precisely fit the new medium of virtual reality. After such an achievement, you’d think we’d pat our beleaguered VR team on the back and send them on holiday, but, instead, we tricked them back into the Coding Pits by saying we’d spotted a Mewtwo in there and quietly barring the door. Since then, in exchange for scraps of old meat dropped from an overhead grill, our heroic team have worked relentlessly to further tweak and refine the experience, making our Oculus Rift feature-set even more impressive.

Well done, team! Double gristle rations for everyone! By the way, Owen tells me he spotted a Porygon in the Quality Assurance Gulag.

Anyway, what are these new features?

Innate keyboard and mouse support!
VR control options for immersive comfortable turning with the Xbox One controller!
Fancy-pants graphics stuff, like MSAA for crisp visuals, new render distance settings that will make use of powerful VR graphics cards, and optimized Windows 10 DX11 performance!
Even more granular customisation of VR settings, so you can mix-n-match for personalised comfort!

Of course, this is on top of the major VR-specific features we had already developed. We have a Virtual Livingroom, allowing you step back from the fully-immersive experience and into a virtual armchair - a great way to minimise the intensity of VR without breaking play. We’ve also made all kinds of tweaks to the way you move, some super subtle, some striking - like a special turning mode which breaks up the smooth rotation of your camera into abrupt jumps. It looks strange in videos, but it huuuugely improves the experience in-game.

There are loads more besides. You can read more on our dedicated VR page, or watch the video embedded above in which VR heroes Saxs and Tommo explain how we came to make some of these counter-intuitive discoveries!

So, get your peepers prepped!

Cheerio!

Marsh - @marshdavies

Evil Live! Watch our devs stream their inner villains!

Wed, 10 Aug 2016 15:46:00 +0200

UPDATE: We are good to go! Wait, I mean: we are EVIL to go! Watch the embed below and/or download the Villains map for yourself here.

After the launch of the devious, the devilish, the downright dastardly Villains Skin Pack a week and a bit ago, our devs were inspired to build a special map in which those aspiring scoundrels could demonstrate just how demented they are. And tomorrow at 4.30pm CEST, we’ll be live-streaming a playthrough by our most murderous Mojangstas!

Watch the embed below!

The idea behind the map is that you and several so-called friends cooperate to complete a series of puzzles and challenges. This may not sound villainous, but here’s the twist: there can be only one survivor! Though you must collaborate early on, keep a beady eye on your companions. Those traitorous wretches are almost certainly scheming to betray you at the first opportunity and claim the crown for themselves. You can’t let those backstabbing baboons get away with that, surely? You’d better find your own way of thinning out the competition. It’s practically self-defence!

See you tomorrow!

Cheerio!

Marsh - @marshdavies

Minecraft snapshot 16w32b

Wed, 10 Aug 2016 14:42:00 +0200

Update: Minecraft snapshot 16w32b has been released!

Snapshot time! What you all have been waiting for is finally happening. We are releasing a new snapshot with all the latest internal changes, improvements, bug fixes and some new bugs.

Some of the internal changes are quite complex. If you encounter any problems that don’t have a bug report on our bug tracker already, please make sure to report them and help us improve the game in the next snapshots.

While we plan to keep larger new features as a surprise to reveal at Minecon, some of the smaller changes will make it into snapshots in the following next weeks. And this snapshot has…

Notable changes:

Some mobs are now more afraid to get wet in the water
There are now more spawn eggs for many different mobs and this time they are working properly, so we’ll keep them
Mob types are now separated like this:
- Guardian and Elder Guardian
- Skeleton, Stray and Wither Skeleton
- Zombie, Zombie Villager and Husk
- Horse, Skeleton Horse, Zombie Horse, Mule and Donkey
Changed the duration of hunger and saturation effects
Broke some bugs so they should not happen anymore
Resource pack format changed slightly, it’s now using version 3
- Version 3 resource packs have to use lowercase filenames for everything
Most commands can now use blockstate definitions instead of a numerical metadata value
Snowmen are now 10% less derpy
More robust handling of invalid items and hopefully less duping bugs due to this change
Lightning storm will now attract less skeleton horses

Bugs fixed in 16w32b:

[Bug MC-2188] - Item gets used when right clicking on a saddled pig
[Bug MC-100398] - "Marker" true ArmorStands can be pushed by Pistons
[Bug MC-102454] - Generic/green robed (zombie) villagers aren't spawnable.
[Bug MC-102638] - All sloped rail hitbox equivalent to the a complete block
[Bug MC-104259] - Player/Mob stuck/through when on farmland while it changes to dirt
[Bug MC-105948] - Selecting a language no longer changes it in-game/crash the game
[Bug MC-105950] - Zombie Villager spawn egg only spawns the farmer zombie villager
[Bug MC-105953] - Minecraft crashes with superflat preset that uses block which does not exist as item (Example: The Void)
[Bug MC-105954] - Game crashes when hit by an entity holding an item without a specified damage value
[Bug MC-105956] - Trying to ride donkey/mule from spawn egg crashes the game
[Bug MC-105960] - Entity ID in chat tooltip uses old format (e.g. ArmorStand instead of minecraft:armor_stand)
[Bug MC-105962] - Achievements for picking up (block) items don't trigger
[Bug MC-105969] - /summon minecraft:lightning_bolt does not work
[Bug MC-105970] - Structure Void Blocks Missing Textures When Breaking
[Bug MC-105975] - Incorrect entity translation name in statistics
[Bug MC-105978] - Splash Potions and Lingering Potions lose their effect when thrown in survival
[Bug MC-105989] - Execute detect stairs stops working after reloading the world
[Bug MC-105990] - Using single lead item in creative mode removes it from inventory
[Bug MC-106002] - Shift + double click no longer moves all stacks
[Bug MC-106014] - Crash when a fishing rod bobber goes in a nether portal
[Bug MC-106016] - When you put armor on an armor stand, you cannot get the armor off the stand

Bugs fixed in 16w32a:

[Bug MC-4] - Item Drops Sometimes Appear at the Wrong Location
[Bug MC-9] - Dropped anvil makes no sound when it breaks
[Bug MC-87] - When scaling a map with paper, shift-clicking on it won’t apply the correct scale level.
[Bug MC-679] - Compass points wrong direction after returning from nether
[Bug MC-1555] - Items get deleted when the crafting recipe overflows the inventory
[Bug MC-2153] - Chickens’ necks have no texture
[Bug MC-8293] - Dispensers spawn mobs without offset along the y-axis
[Bug MC-14640] - No hunger bar when riding a Boat or Minecart
[Bug MC-46341] - Some text isn’t translated and isn’t available on Crowdin
[Bug MC-83185] - Fishing rod in offhand, bobber immediately disappears/goes to 0,0
[Bug MC-83571] - Custom named bosses show “Wither” / “Enderdragon” at boss health bar
[Bug MC-85320] - End Bricks, purpur blocks, chorus plants, bone blocks and structure blocks don’t show the right colors on a maps
[Bug MC-87034] - Dragon’s breath and lingering potion area is invisible on minimal particles
[Bug MC-88096] - When using spawn eggs on fences the mobs fall through
[Bug MC-89064] - Lightning spawns Skeleton Horse when doMobSpawning/spawn-monsters is false.
[Bug MC-90191] - Armorstands, silverfish and endermites in boats spin rapidly
[Bug MC-91728] - Instant Health/damage potion tipped arrows got no effect
[Bug MC-93619] - Shooting potion tipped arrow in creative mode reduces arrow count
[Bug MC-93648] - Snow golems with pumpkins sheared off regain pumpkins
[Bug MC-94978] - Throwable items fired from dispenser do not hit mobs for the first two ticks
[Bug MC-95922] - Destroyed dropped Minecart items use entity name
[Bug MC-96954] - Passenger Entities get dismounted client-side when rerendered
[Bug MC-97916] - Items receive too much momentum when they’re squeezed
[Bug MC-105560] - Hoppers become stuck on world reload at chunk borders
[Bug MC-105787] - Structure void has unused model files

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

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!

The Survivors’ Book of Secrets now out in the US

Tue, 09 Aug 2016 10:08:00 +0200

Could you vanquish a zombie horde with a fishing rod? Or shut down a fortress assault with no more than a block of sand and a torch? The Survivors know how - they’re an elite group of players who’ve been around since the beta, living off their wits and in the shadows. Now they’ve stepped into the light to offer you their hard-won wisdom in The Survivors’ Book of Secrets.

The UK was lucky enough to receive the Survivors’ genius in June, but, as of today, this mighty tome is available in the US. Hooray! Choose how to buy it here!

Not only is it a rather useful book, but it’s a bit of a looker too - we were inspired by World War II era manuals, recreating the sort of hard-wearing, practical handbook that was given out to servicemen and women as they prepared to venture into unfamiliar lands.

We think it looks (and feels) rather good. Check out the embossed, canvas cover! Mmm… So, tactile! So, durable!

It’s illustrated, too!

Go snap it up and prepare to survive.

Cheerio!

Marsh - marshdavies@gmail.com

Mojang proud to stride at Pride

Mon, 01 Aug 2016 15:11:00 +0200

Last Saturday, Mojang was delighted to take part in Stockholm’s annual Pride parade - an amazing trundling carnival that this year braved both the burning sun and torrential rain to raise awareness for LGBT+ issues and promote free gender expression, love and equality. It was very cool and we were honoured to be a part of it.

The Mojang crew, along with some 300 square balloons, took our place between Hard Rock Against Racism and a formidable force of badass roller derby warriors. Somewhere behind us were Vikings for Equality and a flat bed truck containing maybe 80% of the world’s total mass of beards. In the distant beyond was another vehicle carrying seemingly tireless, spandex-clad dancers, who managed to throw shapes for the entire duration. Heroic stuff.

The whole journey lasted about five hours from our initial set-up and was great fun throughout - not even a freakishly heavy downpour dampened spirits (although our choice of carrying a large number of foil balloons in a lightning storm was momentarily worrying).

Thanks to everyone who waved, whistled, hooted and hollered at us along the way. We enthusiastically support gender equality here at Mojang, no matter how you define it. It shouldn’t even be controversial to want people to be happy in themselves, regardless of race, gender or sexuality. We’re privileged to have been able to express that, while having so much fun at the same time.

Love and peace, folks.

Cheerio!

Marsh - @marshdavies

p.s. Thanks to Lydia for the top photo and Josefina for the shot of us getting drenched!

It's big. It's bad. It's changelog 0.15.4 for Pocket & Win 10!

Fri, 29 Jul 2016 09:27:00 +0200

What’s this?! It seems that while I was all snoozed up in bed, our dogged dev teams toiled away to unleash the 0.15.4 update of Pocket and Windows 10 edition - which contains the all new and diabolical Villains Skin Pack.

Truly, evil never sleeps.

The changelog’s a bit of a whopper, and since all devices are now getting the changes from the 0.15.3 update (previously only available on Google Play) it’s even bigger than normal! Monstrous, you might even say.

If you find any pesky new bugs, please fill out a report on http://bugs.mojang.com

Click here to give us feedback about the new release on our official feedback.minecraft.net site- we want to know what you think!

Please note: we are aware of a possible crash when you set your draw distance to maximum on the 32-bit Win 10 edition if you have a discrete graphics card. We’re working on it!

New Features:

Villains skin pack!

Tweaks:

More localization fixes.
Fixed the HUD moving when riding an animal in VR.
Fixed a few texture issues.
Some tweaks to Gear VR edition performance & experience.
Increased draw distance for Win 10 edition.

Bug Fixes:

Fixed comfort issues caused by rain & snow in your face in VR.
Lead lines no longer disconnect from the hand when jumping in Immersive Mode in Gear VR.
Leads now display the correct texture & don’t cause crashes in Gear VR.
Fixed a crash on the inventory screen.
Horse container screen now keeps labels visible.
Bone meal and spawn eggs now consumed in Survival mode.
B button to quit from main menu works on Win 10 edition now.
Fixed a crash when creating or entering a new world.
Fixed a crash when traveling the world with render distance set to maximum.
Worlds with UTF-8 symbols in their name are now displayed in the Play tab for Win 10.
Fixed some issues with players creating new realms.

And here are the changes from the 0.15.3 update that previously only went out for Google Play, included for your reference.

Tweaks:

Multiplayer invite screen text alignment fixed
Tweaks to moving blocks to make them work better & more consistently
Fixes to horse breeding to make it consistent with other versions
Tweaks to atlas generation
Tweaked some Realms purchase functions
Small tweak to mouse controls
Store screen layout scales better now

Bug Fixes:

Players can now scroll through the list of friends in the Add Realm window using the controller.
Inventory can now be opened when a player mounts a pig or horse/donkey/mule
Zombies spawn with correct textures in desert biomes
Nether brick fence fixed- attaches to cobblestone walls
Fixed issue with friends list being cleared on signing out
Fall damage for horses fixed
Pressing X on the intro page signs the user out
Removed phantom image of the currently equipped block when toggling a daylight sensor
Fixed item duplication on fences bug
Fixed some bugs with pistons (crashing, overwriting, taking power from wrong sources, syncing issues)
Observer block placement fixed
Glass and leaf blocks no longer going invisible when placed next to carpet, pressure plates and accumulated snow
Fully grown crops now pop out of farmland when cut-off from light
Fixed position of zombie jockeys
Fixed crash when shooting an arrow from a dispenser at a TNT minecart
Fixed assorted issues causing games to crash

Phew! So many bugs mercilessly smooshed.

Cheerio!

Marsh - @marshdavies

Minecraft on Windows 10 is one year old!

Thu, 28 Jul 2016 15:00:00 +0200

Happy OS-specific birthday to us! Today is the anniversary of Minecraft’s arrival on Windows 10. It’s been a busy year: 12,000 code check-ins, 6000 bugs squashed, 15 major updates and oodles of new features.

We’ve bred bunnies of many colours, given squid a fear of mortality and set baby zombies astride squawking avian steeds. We unleashed the power of Redstone and found new ways for players to devise elaborate devices. We introduced our cross-platform Realms service, so players could own always-online worlds just for them and their friends, and play on them with minecrafters on mobile devices. We crafted special skinpacks - like the Villains pack we are releasing today! - and texture packs, too, allowing for even greater levels of customisation.

And our work is not done: soon we’ll be introducing add-ons which let you dramatically modify the rules of the game, and, in the coming weeks, we’ll enable support for the Oculus Rift, giving players a whole new perspective on their favourite game. There’s so much more planned.

In celebration, the supercool crafters over at Blockworks have made the amazing roller coaster map featured in the video above, which you can download for yourself right here! Trippy stuff!

Just a quick reminder to those not yet playing on Windows 10: up until July 29 you can upgrade your operating system to Windows 10 for free. And just why should you care? Because anyone who already owns Minecraft PC / Mac edition gets the Windows 10 Edition beta completely free - just log in to your Mojang account and click the redeem button.

Rest assured, more cool stuff is in the pipeline for Windows 10 and Pocket Edition - we can’t wait to show you!

Cheerio!

Marsh - @marshdavies