INDEV: The Strange Story of Minecraft's Earliest Features

[Music] suddenly we awake we find ourselves in a world a very green world almost unnaturally so as we look around we realize that this place is composed of blocks we can left-click to place one and right-click to remove a block a simple concept but one that could be quite powerful perhaps we will make a nice little house but as we begin the search for a good place it becomes quickly apparent that we are not alone in this strange world far from it there are hundreds of beings scattered about flailing their arms wildly and moving around with no sense of direction we approach the edge of the world and accidentally step over the ledge as we fall we see that those other characters are found here as well the void below is speckled with tiny dots of the unsettling figures the world is above us now moving increasingly out of reach and the beings fall with us unseeing unknowing their arms flailing forever this world is one of the very first versions of the game that we now know to be minecraft there's no mining nor crafting and it's truly a bizarre start what will one day flourish into the most popular game ever developed but right now it's may of 2009 it's little more than an experimental project programmed by a single developer named notch in fact this version is based on a previous game notcha developed called rubydong very few screenshots exist but at least some of the code base has been ported to this new project the rd in the version name alerts us of this however a few days later a user on tig forum suggests a new name and not adapts it the title of this game is now minecraft order of the stone we know this because notch has recently started up a tumblr blog and has begun to post about his new game soon thereafter he posts a video of the very first known build of minecraft called cave game tech test [Music] notch clearly realizes that this game has potential and he begins to make rapid development progress posting a new video showing blocks and terrain generation this game is no ruby dung it's definitely its own thing now and not scraps the rd title giving it a much more neutral version number this is the beginning of a twisting and turning tale of minecraft welcome to the classic era just three days after the first video notch outlines some things he wants in minecraft this short post includes some familiar modes like creative and survival but there's also a team-based version of survival as well as something called fortress mode where each team builds a fortress independently and the two maps connect to one another however this was to happen sometime in the future for now notch gets busy creating a few private test builds which don't leave his own computer but the very next day notch releases a version of minecraft for public consumption for the first time this game has a logo however there's much to be done including adding blocks such as water as this video shows water is not some mundane trickle no water is a terrifying force filling all available space with so much as the slightest opening this unstopping mass of soulless blue liquid is unnerving in a very strange and visceral way as features are added notch briefly considers adding blood to the game but decides against it he also outlines a list of blocks he hopes to add in the future some are quite familiar and will be added shortly such as sand glass and trees others will not find themselves in the game for over 10 years such as notch's idea of large crystals hidden deep underground still further some blocks will never make it to the game such as spikes or pulleys on may 25th notch makes an experimental aesthetic change to minecraft and offsets the polygons at random angles the results are well take a look for yourself this adjustment causes the world to feel much more chaotic and insecure although the gameplay remains the same it's visually disconcerting as a result this change proves to be controversial amongst the few people playing minecraft despite notch calling this direction awesome he makes what will prove to be a very important decision and scraps the aesthetic in favor of 90 degree angles a crisis has been averted progress continues with steady additions to the game but not just now ready to begin work on the next major phase of minecraft multiplayer what follows is a series of multiplayer test builds not quickly find success as we see in the very first known video of a minecraft multiplayer session there are multiple people on this server and another video shows that the same world is being played from two perspectives we also discovered that the electronic music producer c418 is a minecraft fan as evidenced by a post on his website it's not long before he creates a mock-up video showing what minecraft could potentially sound like about 50 seconds into the video we hear something amazing yep this is it column1.ogg unfortunately it would be some time before it would be heard in game but the first appearance is nonetheless an iconic moment in gaming history much of the month of june is spent making technical changes to the multiplayer code but there are nonetheless some notable additions such as flowers and sponges this time is also home to one of the earliest known mentions of spleef a competitive multiplayer mini game minecraft has now sold 990 copies only a month after pre-orders were opened at 9.95 euros each this is notch's first exposure to some actual cash from the game as the multiplayer game mode matures notch starts to think about one of his original goals a survival mode for minecraft he outlines several things which he wants to see this includes combat against hostile mobs such as goblins trolls or wolves there will be crafting which will allow a player to create better equipment to help them survive and there will be some type of in-game perhaps a big evil mob with multiplayer finishing up notch will make a fork in the development pathway and spend an entire month working on a survival test during this development month notch announces minecraft's first dlc the dungeons and levers expansion pack there are some interesting ideas here including dungeon mode where mining and crafting are disabled as well as programmable tiles such as pressure plates levers and doors however notch admits that this pack will not be released until the distant future during this month nott shows off several videos and images of his progress since he isn't releasing any public versions this helps keep the community engaged as he works and then on september 1st the first survival test is finally released to the public the game has changed now blocks can be mined and put into an inventory breaking a tree drops planks furthermore the player now has hearts of health take too much damage that world is gone forever the only option is to generate a new one once again we find that we are no longer alone in the minecraft world there are pigs which drop a brown mushroom that can restore some health but these pigs are the least of our concerns first there are zombies and skeletons both of which move and attack very quickly some of them wear armor and skeletons can fire arrows from afar but neither of these is quite as bothersome as the third hostile mob we see it in the distance a darkened figure in an unnatural shape it notices us and moves in our direction by hopping its face is distorted with dark holes for eyes and an expression of eternal suffering we fire our arrows yet its pursuit is relentless culminating in a vicious melee attack somehow we managed to defeat the beast but it leaves us one parting gift a huge explosion permanently damaging the beautiful landscape surely this this thing is not right not natural how could notch allow such an unholy abomination into a game like minecraft this terrible story is our introduction to many of the staples of minecraft survival in some ways this version of the creeper is more terrifying than what it would eventually become but it's memorable and it's unique for the first time minecraft has a character which sets it apart from other games and the creeper will eventually become one of the most recognizable icons of all time development on the survival test continues and notch adds many more features including spiders by late october notches decided that it's time to flesh out creative mode with that we enter into a period known as late classic on october 30th notch reveals some interesting information regarding the history of the game in a tumblr post he confirms that ruby dung was indeed the original source code he also acknowledges infiniminer as a direct inspiration but there's another interesting nugget here the human model is from a previous game called zombie town which notch had spent some time coding even better there's a video of it [Music] it's a bit of a strange origin story how could such a recognizable character come from such a dark and gritty video notch has been getting some ideas in minecraft and he soon announces that minecraft supports md3 models a file format used by the id tech 3 engine to show off its purported advantages notch posts an example image from the minecraft engine and it's not comfortable to look at what is even going on ok but it's just a proof of concept notch did this to show that the engine can support 10 000 of these but then a week later notch posts a video to youtube simply called minecraft md3 test and it's not for the faint of heart this video is terrifying unnatural beings are found in the minecraft world following the player their motions are jagged their bent shapes are unsettling it's just wrong it's as deep in the uncanny valley as you can go this is perhaps the darkest moment in minecraft's development on a lighter note notch posts on tumblr asking for an artist to help out with the graphics 27 people respond and notch ultimately chooses hayden scott barron also known as doc his credits include the roller coaster tycoon series and he immediately makes an impact on the game's art direction creating a totally new logo doc also begins work on new md3 character models to add to the game hopefully these will be less disturbing we now reach another turning point in the history of minecraft the game is now officially in development or for short in dev [Music] doc's addition to the team becomes clear quite quickly on december 31st a version is released that allows the player to view their inventory by pressing i the character has been replaced with a girl wearing a frog cat this is rana and she will soon spawn naturally throughout the world it's very interesting to see these frog girls walking around and they feel somewhat out of place although nowhere nearly as bad as the first md3 tests doc has created several pieces of concept art which allow us to see how he views rana and this proves to be an interesting look into the direction which he sees minecraft going the inventory screen also includes some other new components including statistics like attack defense and speed these attributes do not currently affect gameplay and they will soon be removed the inventory also has several types of armor including hats chest plates pants and boots and four different materials there's also a quiver of arrows as well as some tools as time goes on these tools will eventually gain uses but for now this inventory is full of unimplemented features the attributes quiver and studded armor will eventually be removed entirely on january 6th notch has the capability to take an isometric screenshot by holding f7 unfortunately it's a bit glitched and doesn't quite work as intended that doesn't seem to bother the player base however as by january 13th there are over a hundred thousand registered users on minecraft.net to ease new players into the game notch changes world generation to include a simple house on startup it's made of mossy cobblestone and contains several of a new block type called a chest which allows players to store items outside of their inventory these chests contain nearly every block and item in the game one chest alerts us to a recently updated feature tools including a shovel a pickaxe and an axe these allow for more efficient mining of dirt stone and wood respectively it also includes flint and steel which allow players to set fire to the surrounding world a few days later another update rolls around this version includes a special block called a gear although it's not easily accessible and could be attached to surfaces perhaps an indication of future designs there are also more things to find in the world a new ore has been added it appears to be a bluish crystal of some type and it's called an emerald although nobody knows it right now this is another iconic moment in minecraft history as this mysterious material will eventually be renamed to diamonds an update is released the next day and suddenly these emeralds have a use there's a brand new feature called crafting simply hit b on the keyboard to bring up a 3x3 interface but the house has changed we can no longer take whatever resources we want instead we must walk up to a tree and punch it causing it to drop several planks we can then use these to create sticks which in turn can be used to craft a wooden pickaxe there are more options than just that we can make swords shovels and axes as well but what about iron we can mine the block but we cannot craft anything out of ore it needs to be smelted which can be done easily by throwing the block into a fire producing an iron ingot this allows us to create even better tools if we explore a bit we find that the work of doc is coming to fruition rana no longer spawns naturally but there are several new characters wandering throughout the world they include two versions of a guy named steve and another person named beast boy this brings our total number of npcs created by doc to four although it's nice that the world is less empty these characters give the world a slightly disjunct feeling they don't quite fit the blocky aesthetic like they're from another universe it seems as though notch is having second thoughts about doc the two steves and beast boy are removed from the game lasting just two days and one day respectively and on february 5th nonch announces on tumblr that doc will no longer be involved with minecraft notch says that he prefers the freedom to move forward on his own without needing to wait for others it is after all how he's approached development this whole time the same day notch posts a video of a new mob called a giant which is a huge zombie that roams the world giants will remain in the game's code for the next 10 years but they will never spawn naturally a few days ago notch added a title screen to minecraft it includes several menu options and some flashing text it may not look like much but this is a signature component of minecraft throughout the in-dev phase notch has been working on level generation upon starting a new level the player has several options for what the world is going to be they can choose the size to be small normal or huge the shape can be adjusted as well square is a square and long turns it into a rectangle deep however reduces the surface area in favor of a much deeper y-axis allowing 256 blocks of range as opposed to the typical 64. another interesting generation option is the map type island generates an island with the surrounding ocean inland fills out the land to the borders flat creates a totally flat world with no hills or ridges the most interesting of the group is floating which causes the world to generate islands which are suspended in the air it's a dangerous map type to be sure but it's also very pleasing to see the land out in the distance it adds just a touch of fantastical flair to the world the final generation option is in many ways the most intriguing it's called the map theme normal is what we've been exploring this whole time but there's also a version called hell gone are the grassy hills they've been replaced by bare dirt there is no water in this world only lava and the sky has become a darkened reddish hue the calming world of minecraft has been changed into a totally different feel there are more theme options including paradise which contains large beaches and eternal daylight and woods which is an overcast world of dense trees these generation options can be combined for example a large floating deep hell map generates a vertical stack of dirt islands with a lava lake down below or we could do a small paradise long island for a relaxing day on our own private area there are many possibilities all of which can change how we might choose to play the game notch continues development adding features such as furnaces and armor but on february 21st he has a potentially game-breaking idea what if the world was infinite why limit the map to a single size when the world could be generated as far as the eye can see it only takes him a few days to make his decision there will be a new fork of development called [Music] infdev it's back to square one infinite worlds require rebuilding the game almost from the ground up on february 27th notch releases the first public version of inf dev we spawn into a very different minecraft world gone are the multitude of block types there are no mobs and even thrown items don't render but this new place has a huge advantage it doesn't matter how far we walk more land keeps generating the potential is clear this is the way forward for minecraft it will allow the player to be truly free to construct as much as they want without fear of limited space or resources but there are also some strange features to this world at the origin there are obsidian axes which extend in the cardinal directions forever we can walk along these and see the new land production but such an artificial structure still doesn't feel quite natural it breaks the immersion of this new place the world however is hiding a deeper secret there's something out there that you will probably never find unless you know the directions we spawn in the world and follow the obsidian axis north after about 500 blocks we make a left turn leaving the comfort of directionality behind as we continue to walk we see something out in the distance what could it be some type of mountain and as we get closer we suddenly realize this is no mountain but a pyramid it's absolutely huge almost unthinkably so it's made entirely from bricks the base is 63 blocks on each side and it extends to the build limit this pyramid is unlike anything we've seen in minecraft so far it's not just the random landscape this was constructed by someone although the pyramid was designed by notch to test world generation features it opens the door to an incredibly powerful idea which will shape the future of minecraft perhaps the player is not the first sentient being to explore this place someone has been here before the world has a history and for the first time we see this potential maybe the minecraft world is not simply a sandbox the early versions of infdev introduce another strange quirk at some point the world generation code breaks down at 32 million blocks from spawn we reach a huge stone wall this is the very first version of the farlands although they cannot be reached manually as block collision has broken down long before this point still this is undeniably an important point in minecraft's history what truly exists at the edge of a seemingly infinite world although the axes and pyramids are eventually removed notch begins to tweak the generation setting more oddities present themselves such as giant monoliths which spawn in the middle of nowhere not just slowly adding the missing features from indev and soon new features make an appearance cave systems become more complex clouds become three-dimensional notch adds signs and doors during this time notch decides that he's going to leave his day job and focus on minecraft full-time but soon thereafter he finds himself burnt out and decides to take about a month off from development the break serves him well and he begins adding features once more and on june 18th he begins the tradition of the secret friday update the first one includes rails and mine carts these act like chests and can be filled with items june 25th brings secret friday update number two the structure generation code is finally put to use with the addition of dungeons which are rare underground rooms they contain a block that spawns monsters as well as chests holding various equipment and for the first time the concept of loot has been added there are items that can only be found in these chests such as saddles once again we find ourselves asking who left us here why do these places even exist at this point notch decides somewhat arbitrarily to redo the version numbering system and the game enters its alpha stage secret friday number three adds redstone now there's a way to build devices and circuitry another secret friday update adds the jukebox allowing the players to find discs hidden in the world the halloween update is another pivotal moment with the addition of a second dimension the nether then minecraft enters beta and the feature set becomes even richer on november 18 2011 version 1.0 was finally released which includes potions magic and a new dimension called the end conveniently that's where our story is going to end for today the alpha and beta versions while large in the number of editions are much more refined than earlier versions of minecraft there aren't as many forgotten features so that's why i'm not covering them in detail here but the very early days of development were a wild ride especially compared to modern minecraft i hope you learned something new in this video i think it's fulfilling for me to spend serious time playing the older versions i had an extremely hard time figuring out how to do it since the main minecraft launcher is missing a large chunk especially from infdev but i stumbled across a launcher called betacraft and that's what i used to record the footage this video isn't sponsored by them or anything i just wanted to let you know about it as always let me know what you think i love reading your comments and you can hop on over to the retro gaming now discord if you want to talk with the community old versions of minecraft are fascinating to me and i'm going to spend even more time playing them we'll go ahead and end with that this has been retro gaming now thanks so much for watching and i'll see you all in the next video you

Channel: RetroGamingNow

Views: 539,056

Rating: 4.9559431 out of 5

Keywords: Retro, Gaming, Now, RetroGamingNow, RGN, Let's, Play, Minecraft, Secrets, History, Mystery, Lost, Hidden, Past, Scary

Id: -JzQ0dBy-tg

Length: 23min 14sec (1394 seconds)

Published: Sat Jul 03 2021