Minecraft Pocket Edition Udates

Minecraft Pocket Edition hit the Android Market last September, followed by a chart-topping debut as an iOS App last month. While the mobile version of everyone's favorite mining and crafting game comes up short on features compared to its PC sibling, a post on the Mojang Blog promises tons of new features are on the way.

Meanwhile, Android owners who have yet to dive in to Minecraft Pocket Edition have no excuses today. As part of a promotion celebrating 10 billion downloads of Android Apps, the game can be had for one measly dime. Start downloading.

Now, back to the updates. Minecraft Pocket Edition famously features only the Creative Mode from the base game, leaving many players longing for the promised Survival Mode. While that feature didn't make the cut at launch, Mojang's Daniel Kaplan assures fans that work on the mode is continuing.

The plan now is to start digging into making Minecraft — Pocket Edition with Survival features!! Please note that we will NOT replicate Minecraft and try to bring all the features that are already out. This is not possible and does not match the touch platform. I’m trying to be as detailed as possible to show you why some stuff may take some time.

This is what the plan looks like right now and being worked on:

  • A new file system — to make sure we can support items and mobs in the world
  • Item system — to be able to pick up items
  • Crafting — we know you want this :) This will probably need some iterations since the interface will be customized for the touch devices
  • Inventory system
  • Mobs — animals and enemies!
  • Optimizing rendering code — we are experimenting with caves but need to make it work better before we are able to release it
  • Clean up of code and overall optimization

 

Kaplan goes on to note that no dates have been set for any of these updates.

While it may be disappointing for some players that Minecraft Pocket Edition will never be as full-featured as the PC game, that is probably as it should be. Not every experience scales neatly down into portable game. That said, the updates on the way for Pocket Edition (Crafting! Mobs!) should handily convince hold-outs that it's time to give the game a whirl. And at just ten cents for the Android version (get it here), there has never been a better time to get started. Now, about those Minecraft LEGOs....

Ranters, what do you think of Minecraft Pocket Edition? What other updates would you like Mojang to make to the game?

Minecraft Pocket Edition is available now for iOS and Android devices.

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Source: Mojang Blog, Android Market