Bethanyfrye and I are in Minecraft, and we play the Uncharted Adventure Map! Watch as we go on an Epic Treasure Hunt through the land of Minecraftia in search of all the Gold we can find! This Adventure map Minecraft Items was remixed by Pathetic Eyelid. Check out other cool remixes by Pathetic Eyelid and Tynker's community.
As audiences are growing up ever more digitally-oriented, it’s hardly surprising that museums and galleries are looking to a gaming platform to revitalise their collections. Since its inception as an in-progress video game in 2009, Minecraft has become a global phenomenon, selling over 54 million copies worldwide and generating $326m in revenue last year alone.
The Minecraft Story Created by self-styled “nerdy computer programmer” Markus ‘Notch’ Persson, the multi-award-winning game went on to be developed and published by the Swedish company, Mojang. Often described as “Lego on steroids”, the game allows players to construct worlds within a virtually infinite 3D environment using textured building blocks.
The blocks represent a variety of materials including stone, wood, metal ores, water even “redstone” which allows players to create circuits. There are multiple gameplay modes available including Survival Mode where players have to source natural materials to build with and Creative Mode where players have unlimited access to all available materials and can let their imaginations run riot. Although the blocks themselves are very simple, they allow players to construct incredibly complex environments. Rollercoasters are a popular construction choice. In fact, Minecraft is as much a tool as a game. It has no specific goal and allows players to decide how they want to play and what they want to create. Cody Sumter, part of the Human Dynamics group at the MIT Media Lab, commented, “Notch hasn’t just built a game.
He’s tricked 40 million people into learning to use a CAD program.” The results of players’ creativity are astounding. A recent episode of (BBC) speculated that, just as we can perhaps see the influence of childhood toys on the work of architects past and present – Richard Rogers’ Meccano-esque Lloyds building, James Stirling’s Lego-like No.1 Poultry – so tomorrow’s designers will undoubtedly be inspired by Minecraft. The potential for collaborative creativity in Minecraft is already being harnessed in urban design projects. The Swedish Centre for Architecture and Design has created, an interactive tool for reimagining the city of Stockholm using Minecraft.
The programme allows users to rebuild the city’s 100, 000 lots using information generated from actual land use data. Even the United Nations is working with Mojang, using Minecraft to help communities in developing countries collaborate on the design of their towns and cities through theinitiative. The programme was originally intended to allow reluctant 14-24 year olds to have their say in local planning decisions but the accessible nature of the game has had other unforeseen benefits. “In Haiti, we had a group of fishermen who couldn’t read, couldn’t write and had never used a computer, design a plan for Place de la Paix, ” said Pontus Westerberg, Digital Project Manager for UN Habitat in an.
With Microsoft’s recent purchase of the game for $2.5 billion, expect to see many more applications in the coming months. Tate Worlds So, how do museums and galleries make best use of the possibilities that Minecraft has to offer? As part of its, the British Museum is enlisting the help of the game’s loyal fan base to build a replica of itself (see image above).
The project is designed to help the museum engage with a wider audience and the plan is to eventually recreate its entire collection within the game. The V&A in London has staged Minecraft events as part of their Friday Lates sessions where Minecraft-style block-built artwork has been displayed along with other installations created in association with Mojang. Such events attract younger fans in the short term.
But, how to keep them engaged? This is where really stands out as an example of how to integrate the game into a gallery’s offering in a relevant, immersive way. Rather than simply recreating their collection digitally, has launched a series of Minecraft “maps” inspired by artworks in their collection which allow users to explore them in 3D. “ Jane Burton, former Creative Director of Tate Media, had been thinking about Minecraft for a while; her children are huge fans, ” explains Tony Guillan (right), Multimedia Producer, Tate Media. “It was clear from the massive popularity of the game, and the amount of time young people spend playing it, that it has huge potential for engaging young people with the arts – particularly in the light of the many creative uses of the game users around the world have made independently.” The Tate already understood the need to broaden their appeal when they launched their in 2013.
The competition was aimed at finding innovative ways to use the power of digital technology to engage audiences with art in new and interesting ways. Guillan says, “ Adam Clarke was shortlisted in that first competition for a brilliant entry that proposed creating virtual worlds in Minecraft, inspired by Tate artworks. Although it didn’t win the overall prize, we were impressed with Adam’s ideas and previous experience using Minecraft for education, and decided to do a smaller version of his project in collaboration with him and his team of Minecrafters.”.
Personally Vechs maps are the best place to start with for CTM specifically. He created and defined the genre. You can find downloads for all his maps here: I'd do a quick Google search on what version is required for each, or you can opt for some of his newer maps like Inferno Mines. The game has updated so much, you might get frustrated with some of the older maps anyways. (older healing mechanics, missing enchants, etc).
I'd also recommend Amlup's Uncharted Territory series. Amlup quickly became one of Vech's friends and somewhat of an understudy due to the similar map style. He introduced some cool and unique features to the genre though: Finally, I'll go ahead and make a shameless plug. I built a offshot genre of adventures maps inspired by Vechs and Amlup called 'Build the Machine'. You goal is to track down redstone pieces in place of colored wool. Each piece is required to unlock the next dungeon: Good luck and have fun!
The Vech's maps are brilliant, however, they are very difficult if, like me, you like to rush in, make sure to take your time, be wary of traps and make sure to not carry anything valuable with you if you can help it as often you end up dying, losing your equipment and giving up (my personal experience as I rush things and I'm not that good, haha). I would say Amlup's are easier and, because of this, I have preferred his maps. One last thing, feel free to choose whichever map of theirs you feel like, but do not judge their series by just one map. Generally their newer maps are better but give several a go:).