Notch Unveils His New Game

[zehydra]

Looking cautiously forward to this game. Will wait to see actual details of implementation before getting too optimistic.

 

[draythefingerless]

This is from the official website: In 1988, a brand new deep sleep cell was released, compatible with all popular 16 bit computers. Unfortunately, it used big endian, whereas the DCPU-16 specifications called for little endian. This led to a severe bug in the included drivers, causing a requested sleep of 0x0000 0000 0000 0001 years to last for 0x0001 0000 0000 0000 years.

0x10^c is the same as 0x0001 0000 0000 0000 in big endian notation. In hexadecimal c = 12. It has nothing to do with the speed of light in this context. It is not about lots of "0"s. 0x is the prefix for a hexadecimal number.

Hawk533 is completely correct.
The reason one would assume it's hexadecimal is because it says '0x' and not 'x'. Lower level programming languages will always consider numbers with 0x in front of them as hexadecimal, higher levels probably too. It's written as 0x10^C instead of 16^12 because they want to link it to the emulated CPU. The dcpu-16 spec doc implies you will be able to program that CPU with a very low level programming language, very similar to Assembly, in which case you will want to use hexadecimal because decimal is cumbersome in a binary system and binary is too long to make way of it.
16 bit example (unsigned):
Binary: 0b100000011110000
Decimal: ¨33008
Hexadecimal: 0x80F0
And you will always avoid mixing hexadecimal en decimal for the same reason you do not constantly switch between writing in English and French.

Less space game, more low level spaceship programming. Or EVE for engineers.

We both could be right, if it's a double meaning. Both hexadecimal and Large-number-zero. I just find it interesting how similar it is to magnitude format in maths.

Titles are full of puns like these, like "Half Life", ostensibly a reference to the decay pattern of radioisotopes, but also a pun on the mortal situation of an invasion from aliens from another dimension. James Bond titles are full of puns and double meanings.

C is very clearly in superscript, but in cosmological terms the letter "c" has much more significance as the speed of light than as hexadecimal c just meaning the number 12. I get the significance of hex-10 being 16 but I don't get the significance of 12 / hex-C beyond the correlation that 0x10^C does actually equal:

281'474'976'710'656

In line with how long they apparently overslept to, Plus 1'988.

" The dcpu-16 spec doc implies you will be able to program that CPU with a very low level programming language, very similar to Assembly"

(been waiting so long to use that)

PS: how do you PRONOUNCE 0x10? It's obviously not "ten", because it isn't. Well, I suppose you'd still call 0-9 the same names... and A-F the same, but it just seems wrong to call it "ten" when it is actually the value of "dec-16".

So what do we call this game? Ten to 12? Ten to C? 16 to 12?

he more than likely just wanted to put the representative of speed of light in his assembly puzzle title. i dont think you should calculate it mathematically beyond that. its prolly just there cause, HEY, speed of light is in space travel! and leave it at that. the assembly calculation is where its at, the C is just an arbitrary constant he chose.

BTW NOTCH, WHY THE FUCK IS IT 16 BIT? WE HAVE 32 NAU, AND ITS MUCH EASIER. WHY YOU HAVE TO BE SUCH A NERDY PROGRAMMER? I HATE 16 BIT ASSEMBLY!(ihateassemblyingeneralbutwhatever)

 

[renegade7]

If I find out these guys ripped off Blockade Runner I'm gonna be PISSED.

 

[ThunderCavalier]

I'm trying my hardest not to, but when I read the premise, all I was thinking of was:

Minecraft... IN SPACE!

 

[Gibboniser]

BTW NOTCH, WHY THE FUCK IS IT 16 BIT? WE HAVE 32 NAU, AND ITS MUCH EASIER. WHY YOU HAVE TO BE SUCH A NERDY PROGRAMMER? I HATE 16 BIT ASSEMBLY!(ihateassemblyingeneralbutwhatever)

Because the game is set using 1988 technology, and I wonder how long it is, until someone builds 0x10^c in 0x10^c. Hell we've already had minecraft in minecraft.

 

[Tanakh]

Who wants to bet that Minecraft was a fluke and that Notch's next game won't be nearly as good or as popular?

I'll reserve judgment, but I'm highly sceptical.

I would have bet on that before reading this. But this game sounds awesome, i really hope he can pull it off.

Chances are he won't though. It sounds like he went over his head and will spend years on it only to finish with an unplayable Duke Nukem; still i can dream and for what is worth is better to fail shotting at the stars than to do a generic forgettable second game like so many before him.

 

[Justanewguy]

Ah, he did add the most sacred engineering tool ever invented, duct tape! If some of you knew the amount of duct tape that is in some American nuclear plants, you'd faint.

Mostly from over exposure to radiation, but that's beside the point.

Actually, quite excited about this game. Sounds like fun.

 

[Treblaine]

he more than likely just wanted to put the representative of speed of light in his assembly puzzle title. i dont think you should calculate it mathematically beyond that. its prolly just there cause, HEY, speed of light is in space travel! and leave it at that. the assembly calculation is where its at, the C is just an arbitrary constant he chose.

BTW NOTCH, WHY THE FUCK IS IT 16 BIT? WE HAVE 32 NAU, AND ITS MUCH EASIER. WHY YOU HAVE TO BE SUCH A NERDY PROGRAMMER? I HATE 16 BIT ASSEMBLY!(ihateassemblyingeneralbutwhatever)

Because it's set in 1988. 32-Bit computing was somewhat of a rarity back then and spacecraft would be an expansion of 1988 technology so 16-bit would be a commonly available computer.

Maybe it's a matter of limitation. That's what minecraft is all about, limitation of geometry to increase application. What is the full extent of what can be done with a 16-bit computer especially when it is used to control a virtual spaceship that I'd presume follows all the laws of physics. This sounds like a truly worthy successor to Minecraft.

 

[Treblaine]

BTW NOTCH, WHY THE FUCK IS IT 16 BIT? WE HAVE 32 NAU, AND ITS MUCH EASIER. WHY YOU HAVE TO BE SUCH A NERDY PROGRAMMER? I HATE 16 BIT ASSEMBLY!(ihateassemblyingeneralbutwhatever)

Because the game is set using 1988 technology, and I wonder how long it is, until someone builds 0x10^c in 0x10^c. Hell we've already had minecraft in minecraft.

Yo Dawg, I heard you like minecraft...

 

[Phlakes]

Leave it to Notch to go all computerception. Sounds interesting but not really my style, I feel like there'll be a little too much math and science involved.

 

[DracoSuave]

0x10c

The mathematician in me is intrigued just by the title alone. Though it still reduces down to just plain '0' it is still really really big zero!

It's the hexidecimal number that translates to 268 in decimal.

 

[Veylon]

Holy crap! This is the most ludicrously awesome concept I've seen pushed in...forever! Back when my love of numbers was confined to graph paper and calculators, I dreamed of this game someday existing!

I mean, wow. This is something out of the DOS age of procedural generation and systems simulation. I just hope Notch doesn't screw it up.

 

[Daaaah Whoosh]

"The computer in the game is a fully functioning emulated 16 bit CPU that can be used to control your entire ship, or just to play games on while waiting for a large mining operation to finish," Notch explained. "Full specifications of the CPU will be released shortly, so the more programatically advanced of you can get a head start."

When I read this, all I could think of was "Tea, earl grey, hot."

 

[Braedan]

So going from the cheap and extremely casual and yet fun Minecraft to a complex and from the sounds of it hardcore space MMO that you have to pay a subscription for is the next logical step from Notch's point of view?

Am I missing something here?

I'm guessing he's just making the games he wants to make. I mean, I doubt this type of game makes Minecraft players moist, so I doubt he's aiming for the same market.

 

[infohippie]

So going from the cheap and extremely casual and yet fun Minecraft to a complex and from the sounds of it hardcore space MMO that you have to pay a subscription for is the next logical step from Notch's point of view?

Am I missing something here?

I'm guessing he's just making the games he wants to make. I mean, I doubt this type of game makes Minecraft players moist, so I doubt he's aiming for the same market.

Oh, I don't know about that. I'm an avid Minecraft player and the news of this game made me very happy in my pants. I'm really looking forward to it!

 

[Braedan]

So going from the cheap and extremely casual and yet fun Minecraft to a complex and from the sounds of it hardcore space MMO that you have to pay a subscription for is the next logical step from Notch's point of view?

Am I missing something here?

I'm guessing he's just making the games he wants to make. I mean, I doubt this type of game makes Minecraft players moist, so I doubt he's aiming for the same market.

Oh, I don't know about that. I'm an avid Minecraft player and the news of this game made me very happy in my pants. I'm really looking forward to it!

Well I'm sure there's going to be crossover between some people who like Minecraft, and people who like coding spaceships.... but it doesn't look like he's specifically targeting Minecraft's audience.

 

[Triality]

Well alright. Notch has put his resources behind an ambitious space game. I keep hoping one of these days that some dev will emulate Yahtzee's vision for Fun Space Game: The Game. It'd be real neat to have someone get close.

Next I'm hoping he'll aim for 30-hour single-player sand box game with gobs of customization that just coincidentally gets named "People Have Yet to Realize My Genius." Just saying.

 

[jovack22]

Minecraft is great because it is so simple, with so many possibilities: playing online, with all the doodads, or just sitting back and relaxing in creative mode. Anyone and everyone can pick it up and just go.

This game sounds like the complete opposite. Seriously, I have a feeling they'll go way too far, be way to ambitious, and it will end up lacklustre in all respects (Spore anyone??)
Just look at the name.... terrible decision.

I mean.. obviously we it can't be judged until it's done.

They say they're going to include a lot of "hard science" ... how about this.
Assuming we were all to just fall asleep for some reason and not wake up... perhaps they didn't realize the important fact that our sun will begin its cooling stage in 5 billion years (death of the star) and consume the greater part of our solar system?? Whatever...

 

[Freechoice]

Catchy title eh?

I'm particularly excited about the Duct Tape features.

In all seriousness this seems like EVE. As one of eight people who like EVE I hope Notch the best of luck.

Fix'd that for ya.

Also, wouldn't one-quarter of a quintillion years in the future be far past when the Earth was consumed by the sun? Just saiyan.

Edit: Yeah, someone already talked about that.