Minecraft: Windows 10 Edition

[Happenstance]

Minecraft: Windows 10 Edition Announced

 

 

Microsoft has announced Minecraft: Windows 10 Edition, the next version of Mojang’s world-building game.

 

Windows 10 Edition will not replace the existing PC version. Instead, it will be treated as an entirely separate platform to “take advantage of the advanced technology and gaming platform provided by Windows 10.”

 

Just as the original PC version did, Windows 10 Edition will first release in beta form. You can get your hands on the game on July 29.

 

Existing PC players will receive the Windows 10 version for free. New players can buy the game for $10 USD for a limited time.

 

Windows 10 Edition works on Windows 10 PCs and tablets, and you can switch between controller, touch, or mouse and keyboard whenever you want. The user interface will instantly adjust to the new input method.

 

You can play local multiplayer, game online with your Xbox Live friends, and record and share game clips with a built in GameDVR.

 

Microsoft says players can expect regular updates to bring all the features from the current PC version to Windows 10 Edition, as well as new features.

 

Mojang has sold over 20 million copies of Minecraft on PC and Mac

 

http://uk.ign.com/articles/2015/07/04/minecraft-windows-10-edition-announced

[Sheikah]

Any news on gameplay differences?

[Emasher]

My guess is that this is a port of the Xbox One version to the PC. Windows 10 comes with DirectX 12, which has significant performance improvements over DirectX 11. The Xbox One currently uses a version of DirectX 11 which already has a number of the performance improvements of 12, so the port probably wouldn't be too difficult. I wouldn't be surprised if they also gave the game a graphical update to the point it looks something like this.

 

Now of course, since the Xbox One version is written in C++ rather than Java, while the performance should be significantly better, unofficial mod support (Forge, etc.) simply won't be possible as you can't decompile machine code like you can with Java Bytecode. I suspect this is the main reason they'll be leaving the original version in place, to not kill off the modding community, but I doubt they'll be putting any development time into the original version now (which as someone who has written and maintains a fairly large Minecraft mod, I would actually view as a good thing as it means the platform would be more stable). I also wouldn't be surprised if Microsoft were to release an official sdk for both this and the Xbox One version, and launch a paid mod store.

 

This is all of course, just speculation.

[Happenstance]

To be honest, the modding community has done so much more for Minecraft that Mojang after the initial release that I wouldnt care if they finally stopped updating.

[Emasher]

To be honest, the modding community has done so much more for Minecraft that Mojang after the initial release that I wouldnt care if they finally stopped updating.

 

And it really would be a good thing for the modding community. A large number of amazing mods have simply been abandoned because the authors didn't have the time or motivation to port the mod to a new version. 1.3 (client server merger), 1.7 (removal of block ids), and 1.8 (major changes to how blocks work under the hood) were all really bad for this. I still haven't ported my mod to 1.8 (which is the case for a lot of "tech" mods).

 

Even if Microsoft eventually releases an official SDK for the new version, while it might split the community initially, it would be good in the long run to have a stable API.