Pixelated Aesthete

Setting Up A Minecraft Server on a Mac (Mac OS X)

2011-02-20T06:26:00.000-08:00

I've never done a 'how-to' but I noticed that there currently isn't a lot of information on creating a Minecraft server if your machine runs Mac OS X.

Here's what you need to know.

Firstly, if you are using a router you need to make sure you use port forwarding to ensure that port 25565 is open; this is the default port Minecraft uses. This is very important. If you don't take this step you are going to have a very lonely time on your server as it will just be you standing around looking at cross-eyed animals.

Download the minecraft_server.jar from here
Create a new folder and pop the aforementioned file in it
Open Textedit, change the format to plain text
Type the following:

#!/bin/bash
cd "`dirname "$0"`"
java -Xmx1G -Xms1G -jar minecraft_server.jar

Save as 'start.command' and put it in the same folder as the .jar
Open Terminal and type or paste 'chmod a+x' into it (without the inverted comas), followed by a space.
drag and drop the 'start.command' file onto the terminal and hit enter
Double click the 'start.command' file to generate a new world

This will generate several files including a properties file. By editing the details of this file you can specify mobs, pvp, etc. Don't change the world name unless you are sure you know what you are doing as this tells the server what your world is called and if its unable to find a world folder with that exact name it will make a new one.

I learned this the hard way, so you don't have to...

Minecraft man approves this message

What's the website for Amazon.ca?

2011-02-18T09:57:00.000-08:00

So, apparently you can make a good movie out of a mediocre graphic novel. The votes are in and, despite not wanting to like it, Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World is, dare I say it, pretty good.

Having been unimpressed with the graphic novel, finding it overly corny and guilty of trying too hard to be cool and appeal to the 'hipster' generation, I was surprised, and a little taken aback, to find I actually enjoyed the film. Despite not being the biggest fan of 'acting powerhouse' Michael Cera, I ended up finding the movie charming, clever and full of references that only someone of my advanced years (over 20) would get.

That being said, I'm not surprised that the film had a lackluster performance at the box office. For a mainstream, big studio movie, its only crime is in making the mistake of catering to a niche market; an audience that will knowingly chuckle to themselves when they find out the name of Scot's band because they happen to be geeky enough to know what a "Bob-omb" is. When your film is aimed predominantly at the 20-35 male, video game playing, demographic it would be unrealistic to expect major box office returns. Regardless, that's part of its charm. I have no doubt that it will recoup its budget easily through DVD sales. I have a feeling that its going to be a cult classic.

And the film is just that; made for the young man who hasnt quite grown up, and hasn't yet put down the controller, still playing Super Nintendo and dwelling on how they once knew a Ramona Flowers.

Because, let's face it, we have all dated a Ramona Flowers

In the spirit of Leonard Maltin I give this film **** / *****

The Yogscast- Simon & Lewis' Adventures in Mincraftia

2011-02-17T16:10:00.000-08:00

What started off as a series of "how to" videos depicting how one should begin a new adventure in the open ended world of Minecraft quickly garnered a cult following on Youtube and netted its creators over 100,000 Subscribers in a matter of weeks.

In a relatively short time they have rose to Youtube prominence largely due to the runaway popularity of a series of videos that see them team up with 'pseudo-NPC's' such as Old_Peculier in order to do battle with evil Israphel while also attempting to rescue the kidnapped damsel Daisy_Duke.

Our unlikely heroes : a ginger dwarf called Honeydew (Simon) and William Riker, commander of the USS Enterprise (Lewis). Well... that's the skins they have become know for sporting.

If your brain hasn't been thoroughly confused enough already by the imagery of a Nordic barbarian adventuring alongside Jean-luc picard's right hand man, then go check it out.

It just happens to be worth it alone for the 'diggy diggy hole' song...

You can follow their adventures here


Honeydew of the Yogscast, in person!

Minecraft Review

2010-10-28T09:32:00.000-07:00

Recently, I have been rather taken with a little indie PC game called Minecraft. The game, created solely by a Swedish man named Markus "Notch" Persson and programmed on the Java platform, has netted its creator close to $4 million US dollars as of October 2010.

In an age of graphical prowess and pushing systems to their technical limits, perhaps some people with turn their noses up at this gem of a game. I won't lie but graphically things are pretty crude by today's standards. The premise is simple but surprising addictive. The vast sprawling world within the game is made out of blocks and you must 'mine' these blocks in order to collect the materials to craft items and construct buildings and creations. It's scarily open-ended and for those of you who enjoy clearly defined goals and objectives within computers games, think the Sims, you won't find any such linearity of gameplay here.

In survival mode there are big blocky zombies and spiders that want to murder and eat you and so the first day in Minecraft is charged with a sort of panicky excitement as you carve your way into the side of a mountain to create a shelter before nightfall arrives and the aforementioned creatures begin walking the landscape looking for you. Terrifying stuff.

Once you have constructed your den much of the threat of these enemies fades and you are pretty much free to do what you want. Mine down into the center of the world looking for resources like iron, gold and coal in order to create and craft other items to adorn your den or you can continue to explore the game world which constantly generates as you explore. For all intensive purposes the world is infinite. Although fans of the game suggest that the maximum world size would be somewhere around 8 times the surface of the Earth before the game hits technical difficulties. Impressed yet?

In short, if you like fucking about with lego and you have the mentality of a child you will love minecraft alot. It's essentially a time sink, albeit a very very enjoyable one. The game retails at 10 Euros and can only be purchased through paypal here. Play it build it, love it.