Minecraft Custom Skins Support

Minecraft news via Twitter, Notch just announced that support for custom skins is coming to Minecraft tomorrow.

If you haven’t dabbled in custom texture packs before, check out these links at minecraftforum.net:

I’ve not tried any texture pack mods myself yet, usually I’m too busy playing or administrating, but I guess I’ll have to check a few out now that it’s going to be officially supported.

Minecraft Halloween Update

Notch’s update is out. The lantern change is not in yet, and the damage system and minecarts are not going to be added until the multiplayer server goes into its beta stage.

Since the damage system isn’t in yet, I’m not going to turn on monsters. So, the server will remain as is for now.

I have updated both the server and mod code (I can’t believe Hey0’s done already), so you should no longer get the “Outdated client” message.

Happy Minecrafting!

C-Store Stipend

One thing missing from Cryptic’s hybrid-subscription model that I really liked in Turbine’s was a monthly allowance of free store points for subscribers. Apparently it was something being discussed internally but not decided on until yesterday. Poz announced on the forums that yes there’ll be a stipend for subscribers, although no word yet on how much or how frequent (although I’d assume monthly).

It wasn’t if the points could only be used in the Champions store. Currently Cryptic Points are attached to you account and can be used in both the Champions and Star Trek C-Stores. So, unless they change their sales system, it’s likely possible that subscribers to both games could use their free points from Champions to buy items in Star Trek. This is something that Turbine doesn’t allow between DDO and LotRO.

Even though there’s not much in the C-Store that I’m interested in purchasing, it’s the thought that counts.

Special thanks to Nod for the heads-up.

Minecraft Halloween Changes

Unless you’ve been living under a rock or you’re not a Minecraft fan, you know that Notch is working on a big update for October 31st. Assuming that Notch delivers on schedule there’s some decisions to make for our Minecraft server. (I really don’t consider it mine, a lot of people have put a lot of work in on it.)

If the health system is implemented and is optional, do you want it turned on?

Should we turn monsters on?

Personally, I think it makes the game more interesting to have that survival pressure, but it does make it more difficult to build and explore.

There’s also the issue of biomes. If you don’t know, biomes means that some parts of the world will have snow, some will be green, and some will be desert. Biomes will only affect newly generated map areas. This means that none of our existing world will change, only newly explored areas will use biomes when being generated.

So, what I was thinking of was moving the current map to my secondary instance (currently where Tipa’s map is running) and starting a brand new world for the Halloween instance with monsters enabled. I thought this would cause the least amount of upheaval. People can continue to explore and build as they want on the current map, and they can easily switch between the servers depending on their mood. Hopefully this will keep either map from becoming a ghost town.

Leave me your thoughts in the comments. Whatever we do, I’d like it to be a consensus decision.

Oh, one other thing: timing. Since the server runs on a mod to allow for better security and some additional commands, we may have some downtime when the patch comes out. I’m not sure if the multiplayer server syncs any code with Notch’s main servers (which the singleplayer does), I don’t think it does, but if I’m wrong then I may have to take the server offline until Hey0’s mod gets updated. If it doesn’t update automagically, I’ll leave the server as is until Hey0 releases a new version of his mod. Hopefully it won’t be a big delay, but it depends on how much time he has as well as how different the new code is.

Champions going F2P

I got a little surprise in my email from Cryptic this morning that Champions Online was going F2P in Q1 of 2011. First thing I did was check the site and found the official State of the Game announcement, confirming it was real. My first thought after that was I should shut off Twitter for the day while the drama storm blows through, obviously the forums as well.

Before I get into the changes, let me say that this announcement didn’t cause the same emotional panic that Turbine’s did. First, I don’t have the same history with the Champions lore that I do with Tolkien’s books (impossible to match given my childhood exposure to Middle-earth). Second, Cryptic’s using the same hybrid model that Turbine is using so my expectations are pretty much already set.

So what are the changes?

Gameplay

There’s going to be a review and update of the power documentation and interactions. Poz highlights some streamlining of holds in order to eliminate some weird problems that have been cropping up.

The big change is the addition of Archetypes. This was something that set off alarm bells for me, since archetypes is one of the things I didn’t like in CoH. Apparently though these archetypes don’t map directly to team roles or to power frameworks, but mimic certain types of comic book heroes. F2P is launching with eight of these with plans to add more later. No powers are being removed, existing characters won’t be impacted, and new characters can be just as flexible by using the Custom Archetype , although that is limited to gold players.

I’m not planning to use Archetypes myself, but I can see this being a benefit to new players who don’t understand about super stats, passive defenses, talents, etc.

Outside of the power/character changes, they’re revamping the 1-20 leveling experience. The content changes seem pretty smart, as far as I can tell. The tutorial could definitely use a refresh based on lessons learned from Vibora Bay and the Adventure Packs, and having the players go to Millennium City after the tutorial rather than the Desert or Canadian crises makes MC more of the hub zone is should be.

Subscriptions

Just like Turbine did, Cryptic is using a hybrid model, although theirs is a little simpler. You are either subscribed and a gold player or playing for free as a silver player. Lifetime subscribers are considered gold players.

Gold players get all zones, levels, adventure packs, costume parts, and powers. Exactly the same as subscribers do now.

Free players have access to all zones and levels (except adventure packs), but don’t get access to the Custom Archetype so they’re more limited in what combinations of powers they have access to. They are also limited in their inventory and bank space and market access.

Check out their Feature Matrix for more details.

Summary

Cryptic’s current plan is more free-to-play than Turbine’s is. You can level a hero from 1-40, you just have some limitations in inventory slots and are more restricted in your power selection. But based on what they’re currently planning, you can get to max level for free in Champions Online, which is not something that you can do in Lord of the Rings Online.

All in all, just like with Turbine’s announcement, not much changes for me. I’m not upset that I bought a lifetime membership, I can still play how I want whenever I want and don’t have to spend money on a monthly subscription. As much as I enjoy the ability to mix and match powers based on a character concept, a silver plan would never have worked for me. Had Cryptic offered lifetime gold, gold, and free silver plans at launch, I would still have bought the lifetime gold.

Postcards from Minecraft

MMO GamerChick has posted some nice screenshots of some of the construction projects going on in our little Minecraft world.

Is it egotistical to call the world Bluekaedia if I’m not the one who came up with it? I’ve been struggling to find a good name for the place for a little while and the only thing I’ve halfway liked was Twerth, since Twitter is the common link for everyone who’s on the server.

If you want to get an idea for what playing on multiplayer Minecraft is like, Hunter has a good writeup called Trail of Tears.

Minecraft Server Update

I’ve been running a small Minecraft server that myself and a bunch of (internet) friends play on for nearly a month now, but besides keeping a page up to date and some Twitter posts, I realized I hadn’t actually mentioned it on the site yet. So if you only read me via RSS, this is probably all new to you.

Minecraft servers are pretty easy to setup and run, but (as is often the case) requires a bit of work if you want to secure it. The multiplayer server is in a much rougher state than the single player game (which I often forget it’s in its alpha stage). For example, there’s no health system in place so neither players or monsters can take damage.

A bigger issue is that there’s no way to limit who can connect to the server, unless you use one of the many mods that fans have put together. I started using to Hey0’s mod last week and initially implemented it as a whitelist. This meant that only people I’d added to the list could access the server. It’s pretty restricting though and keeps people who aren’t interested in building from just visiting. So, I switched the server configuration to use a user list instead. Now anyone who wants to (and has a valid Minecraft username) can pop in and have a look around. Just launch Minecraft, click on Multiplater, and enter minecraft.bluekae.com where it asks for IP address.

Of course if you’d like to join our little community, you’re welcome to do so, I just need your username so I can add you to the user list. Leave a comment here or on the server page, send me an email, or send it to me on Twitter.