Minecraft has provided players with a massive sandbox to build their dreams or tear down every block in the game as they wish. While realism has never been Minecraft's strongest point, that hasn't stopped players from developing ways to show what it could be like if it were a little less blocky and a little more real.
While some players rely upon intensive Minecraft mods that add raytracing, improved textures, and more, this particular player went to work in creating realistic water outside of the game itself. Through a combination of in-game footage and Blender effects, they show what it would be like to clear a block and experience a sudden flood.
Minecraft fan blockifyYT shared their creation on the Minecraft subreddit. In the video, which was created by combining Minecraft footage with a 3D render produced in Blender, their player character makes their way through an underground passage, eventually entering a larger opening and clearing some blocks above them. After a block is destroyed, water suddenly starts rushing into the room from above, promptly flooding the area.
The water effect is quite impressive, as it bounces off of the floor and walls and quickly surges towards the player's POV. In fact, some viewers commented that it was almost frightening, as it comes on so suddenly and is so realistic. If nothing else, the juxtaposition between everything in the world being so blocky and the realistic fluid animation is almost surreal.
Despite innovations in gaming, realistic water physics is one of those things that's typically extremely demanding, technologically. Many commenters joked about their computers melting down or catching on fire if they attempted such a thing. While it isn't ordinarily a demanding game to play, especially given its age, Minecraft mods that overhaul its visuals, physics, and lighting can push even modern computers to their limits.
Even with this video being produced outside of the game in Blender, the system still needed a lot of time to get it done. BlockifyYT states that it took his computer over 24 hours to bake the Minecraft water simulation, followed by a few more to render out the video. By their estimate, the program was capable of handling about one frame every ten minutes.
Minecraft, much like Bethesda's Skyrim, continues to thrive all these years after its initial release due largely in part to the creativity and dedication of its talented fans. Minecraft has inspired millions to explore and create, even if their dreams require going to third-party programs to imagine what the game could look like with tweaks or upgrades.
Minecraft is available now for mobile, PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.