Terasology - Minecraft clone (Windows, Linux, OSX)

[Chaotic42]

I started playing around with Terasology ([Homepage][Download (ZIP)]), a Minecraft clone. It's pretty interesting. It looks a lot better than Minecraft and it's open source.

It's Java based like Minecraft (anyone know why that's so popular?) and it definitely uses a lot of resources. It seems to be pegging around 8GB of memory right now, so I'd suggest running it with the following flags:

java -Xmx25000M -Xms20000M -XX:+UseThreadPriorities -jar "d:\Terasology\Terasology.jar"

Screenshot:

Anyway, if you like Minecraft type games, check it out. Its drawing algorithm needs work, but it's still fairly new.

 

[SunnyD]

It's Java based like Minecraft (anyone know why that's so popular?)

Because Java is ridiculously easy to decompile into almost exact original source code and basically 'steal' someone else's work.

Most Minecraft clones are probably 90% original Minecraft code. It's easy to put out a clone with minimal effort.

 

[Red Storm]

That nice looking water looks odd in a Minecraft world.

 

[Stringjam]

That nice looking water looks odd in a Minecraft world.

Kind of what I thought until I played it a bit.....it actually fits well with the overall theme (reflections, dynamic lighting and shadows, fog, nice Skybox...etc.)

I never was really into Minecraft so I'm not one to review this sort of game.

The music is fairly nice as well. I feel peaceful.

Pretty stiff to run on higher settings.....my i7 930 / GTX 670 rig only managed 35 fps here (as you can see).

 

[Red Storm]

Kind of what I thought until I played it a bit.....it actually fits well with the overall theme (reflections, dynamic lighting and shadows, fog, nice Skybox...etc.)

Yeah after playing it I think it's nice. However, this game is just way too dark. Or at least, way too many shadows that are utterly dark within. Also the smoke effect when destroying blocks got old REAL fast. I do like that the torch lights up by just switching to it, so you don't have to actually place it to see the light.

Not a bad effort, but Minecraft is the game we play at home because of the actual game play and how in depth it goes.

 

[Stringjam]

Yeah after playing it I think it's nice. However, this game is just way too dark. Or at least, way too many shadows that are utterly dark within. Also the smoke effect when destroying blocks got old REAL fast. I do like that the torch lights up by just switching to it, so you don't have to actually place it to see the light.

Not a bad effort, but Minecraft is the game we play at home because of the actual game play and how in depth it goes.

Yeah, you can certainly tell it's an alpha. There's a lot to do and polish along the way.

 

[clamum]

Kind of what I thought until I played it a bit.....it actually fits well with the overall theme (reflections, dynamic lighting and shadows, fog, nice Skybox...etc.)

I never was really into Minecraft so I'm not one to review this sort of game.

The music is fairly nice as well. I feel peaceful.

Pretty stiff to run on higher settings.....my i7 930 / GTX 670 rig only managed 35 fps here (as you can see).

I'd consider checking it out, but that framerate for that resolution using that rig? Naw.

 

[Mopetar]

Because Java is ridiculously easy to decompile into almost exact original source code and basically 'steal' someone else's work.

Most Minecraft clones are probably 90% original Minecraft code. It's easy to put out a clone with minimal effort.

Also because it's pretty easy to get Java code to run on damn near anything and it's been a popular teaching language that a lot or programmers have cut their teeth on.

 

[Chaotic42]

I'd consider checking it out, but that framerate for that resolution using that rig? Naw.

Well, it's a pre-alpha. Hopefully they get it figured out. If not, the code's out there, so it could be rewritten by someone else.

 

[Wyndru]

Is the gameplay good? Are there objectives, or is this just a sandbox block builder?

It's nice that it's open source, but if it's just a prettier version of Minecraft I don't see too many people who already own minecraft showing interest in it. Especially since you can just download 256bit texture packs and water mods to make it look like this (minus that glare which I think is way too overused in games these days anyhow).

I noticed that cube world is going a different direction as far as gameplay, and it's being received really well by minecraft players. But if it's too close of a clone then there really isn't much of a point.

 

[mizzou]

why has minecraft not improved itself significantly in face of these waves of clones, some decent ones?'

Notch seems to have completely abandoned it

 

[Wyndru]

why has minecraft not improved itself significantly in face of these waves of clones, some decent ones?'

Notch seems to have completely abandoned it

I assume you mean graphics-wise, but as far as gameplay is concerned there are still major updates going on, and their development team is quite large now. Notch doesn't need to be involved anymore.

1.6 updated the launcher for the first time since beta (now you can run different versions without having to move jar files around). They added a lot of interactive mobs recently (horses, donkeys, etc...). Also the Mob AI has been significantly changed which made the game a lot harder...you basically can't go outside at night any more since zombies will track you from really far away, and call other zombies to help. Also, baby zombies are hard to see coming when they sprint at you.

And on the technical side, hoppers, comparators, etc...I've been having a blast, minecraft has so much depth it amazes me.