14 DAY TRIAL // Popular indie title Minecraft has just reached version 1.5, with its developer, Mojang, introducing a lot of new features into the beta stage of the adventure and building game.
Minecraft is by far one of the biggest independent titles out there, managing to rake in over $33 million despite still being in beta stage.
Mojang, its developer, has confirmed that Minecraft will be released as a full game to the public on November 11, but, until then, it will still be adding new features to the ongoing beta stage.
The first major update has just been released, with the leader of the studio, Notch, announcing that things like Weather effects, achievements, statistics or detector and booster rails have been introduced, while performance improvements were made to the game's code.
"There's periodic downfall (snow in snowy areas, rain in others, nothing in deserts) that make the sky darker, hides the sun, moon and stars, and makes everything wet. Ice grows back in cold regions, and snowfall covers the ground when it's snowing. During rain/snow, there can be occasional thunderstorms with lightning."
Notch also revealed that there are just a few achievements as of yet, but, over time, more will arrive that will be stored online and linked to the profile of gamers.
Minecraft has become a runaway hit, starting life just as a combination between adventure and building games, allowing players to let their imagination run free in a world with lots of natural resources.
The game immediately captured the hearts and minds of a huge amount of PC gamers, who started fabricating all sorts of complicated structures inside its game world, using just the tools they had at their disposal.
Expect Minecraft to receive even more new features over time, with the release of the full game in November set to bring the most new things to the popular independent game.