14 DAY TRIAL // When Mojang launched the highly anticipated Minecraft – Pocket Edition for iPhone and Android, many rejoiced but many were also disappointed to learn that the seven-dollar game also missed a bunch of key features, like crafting or mining.
To get us started, here’s one of the latest reviews from a random-picked customer (Tyler Hawkins) on iTunes:
“Wow this pretty barebones. No resources to manage, no mobs, no animals, no passage of time, no achievements, no crafting(!?), no health or damage, very poor controls. Please tell me this is just a work in progress!”
Yes Tyler, it does appear that Mojang developers are on the case.
According to a blog entry by lead developer Daniel Kaplan, “The plan now is to start digging into making Minecraft – Pocket Edition with Survival features.”
The lead urges fans to note that this doesn’t mean they’ll be replicating all the desktop features. In Kaplan’s own words, “This is not possible and does not match the touch platform.”
So, without further ado, here’s what Kaplan & team are working on to keep guys like Tyler satisfied with their purchase of Minecraft - Pocket Edition:
This is what the plan looks like right now and being worked on:
* A new file system – to make sure we can support items and mobs in the world * Item system – to be able to pick up items * Crafting – we know you want this :) This will probably need some iterations since the interface will be customized for the touch devices * Inventory system * Mobs – animals and enemies! * Optimizing rendering code – we are experimenting with caves but need to make it work better before we are able to release it * Clean up of code and overall optimization
Unfortunately, Kaplan can’t provide a schedule for the next Minecraft release for iPhone and Android. Sounds exciting, though. $6.99 suddenly doesn’t seem so steep anymore.
Have you downloaded Minecraft - Pocket Edition? How badly do you want this update?