TechNews | Tuesday, February 4, 2014

 

Experiencing Minecraft bumps, bugs on campus server

Kyle Stanevich
STAFF WRITER ‘

A few years ago, Minecraft was a
very popular game, and even to today it is still
enjoyed by many. One project that I recently
undertook was starting up a Minecraft server
on Illinois Tech campus. It has‘ been quite the
ride, spending many nights fixing errors and
implementing interesting features.

Minecraft grants anyone the ability
to build amazing fortresses, fight monsters,
find treasure, and explore indefinitely. Almost
everyone can find a way to enjoy the game. I
started playing it back in the alpha stage, and
even then—when it was much simpler than
now—I still had tons of fun. It has come quite
far since then, implementing many new and
cool features. Along with that, enthusiasts have
molded the game to add even more features
including the moon, mars, more enemies,

 

Bane
ofMy
Existence

Austin Gonzalez 8: Kyle Stanevich
OPINION EDITOR & STAFF WRITER

special weapons, and so much more. It has also
inspired many YouTube channels, merchandise,
fan art, and memes.

I recently pieced together a spare
desktop for myself and decided to run a
Minecraft server on it. With my decent
knowledge of computers, I installed Ubuntu
and the server files. However, while surfing the
Internet many mods caught my eye. The Ruins
mod will generate buildings, usually all torn
apart and covered with monster spawners. The
buildings generated are floating castles, spiraling
towers, pirate ships, pyramids, and jungle
fortresses. Another one I installed was the
Galacticraft mod, allowing players to travel to
the moon and mars. This brings many items to
the game, requiring large amounts of materials
to build even just one rocket. Once on the
moon or mars, players have to generate oxygen
to survive and fight even harder monsters,
including a huge boss in a dungeon hidden far

below the surface. Even cheese can be found
while on the moon.

Both of these mods provide hours
of fun, but one mod is quite different from
the rest, quaft. This is a quantum physics
mod, providing basic analogies for quantum
physics ideas. There are three basic block types:
observer dependent, quantum, and entangled.
Observer dependent blocks can be crafted to
take on the look and physics of other standard
Minecraft blocks, depending on the direction
they are viewed from.

For example, a block can be stone if
viewed from the north and then turn into sand
if viewed from the west. The quantum block is
similar to the observer dependent block, except
will turn into a block depending upon the axis
viewed from, not just direction. For example, if
a block was crafted with dirt in the north and
south direction, sand in the west, and gravel in
the east, then when viewed from the north or

south it will always be dirt, but if viewed from
the east or west, it has a chance of becoming
either gravel or sand. The third type, a pair
of entangled blocks, can be crafted using two
of the same observer dependent or quantum
blocks. When one of the pair is viewed, it will
take on the block properties according to the
observer dependent or quantum blocks that
the entangled block was made of. At the same
time, the second block in the pair will turn into
the same block type as the one being viewed.

This mod has more functionality,
but can get very confusing. If you want to
experiment with quaft, or learn more about
how the blocks work, head on over to their
website qcraft.org. It makes for an exciting
way to learn the basics of quantum physics.
Also, you are free to join my Minecraft server
by connecting to the IP 198.37.24.30. Come
help fly to the moon, or build a crazy quantum
contraption.

 

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Austin Gonzalez 8: Kyle Stanevich
OPINION EDITOR & STAFF WRITER