Minecraft

Nice! I got Minecraft for the Wii U for my son a while ago.

Neat. Let me know how the new DLC plays when it drops.

I'm glad you posted this to let me know about it. I'm also glad I saw this post again a while ago, which reminded me about it. I loaded the game so I could get it for Vinny, but I didn't see this DLC listed. I went to the Nintendo eStore to find it, it wasn't there either. The game did tell me that updated data was downloaded, but that's about it. I finally figured out out to access it. If you choose to create a new world, you'll see the Mash-Up Pack in the options. I didn't play around with it, but I told Vinny about it. So, I don't have my own experience to share with you, just my initial impression of looking at the screen every now and then and hearing it while Vinny played it. The blocks do look like a mix between Mario and Minecraft, which should be expected. I think it looks kind of cool. At one point it looked like Vinny was in the Nether, which looked a lot like a place where you'd expect to see one of Bowser's castles. Although I recognized some music from Mario 64, some of it sounded kind of like a carnival, which I didn't really like. I may play around with it some time or watch Vinny play it some more. Anyway, I just thought I'd share my initial impression with you, since you asked.

Interested in dual wielding for sure. That said, not much in that Gamespot article is mentioned for content for the patch.

The full list looks to be coming next week. Oh and yes, please post your review of 1.9!

So, I spent some time playing with the new update and thought I'd share my initial reaction. It seems a lot has been added, so you can look at the link below for more info. I did watch a video, which covered many of the new changes. Right away, the most notable change is the combat system (hence the name "Combat Update"), although this entails more than I was expecting.

Dual-wielding is as I described in this post, which is actually helpful. If you're walking around with a sword in your main hand and a torch in your "off-hand" slot, then you can right-click to place a torch without having to switch between the sword and torch individually. You can put items in that off-hand slot by clicking on them in your inventory and pressing the “F” key. Of course, the main item you probably want there is the newly added shield.

I think I read in another article or perhaps heard in the video I watched that blocking with a sword is no longer an option, which pretty much makes sense. I think it's pretty cool, especially since a skeleton can shoot you from a distance while you run up to it to hit it with your sword. This is especially good early in the game when you don't have a bow yet. Shields can also apparently be decorated with banners.

"Attacking now has a 'cool-down' delay, making it more important to time your attacks." This basically means that if you spam the attack button (left mouse button), your attacks will do less damage. So, it's better to wait between each attack. I think this also gives you time to use your shield while waiting for that “cool-down” period.

I also noticed that the sword has a new swing mechanic or animation and hearts appear on enemies when they take damage. I'm assuming this shows how much damage they've taken. Another thing I noticed is that some of the sounds are different. I'm not sure if squids had a sound before, but they definitely do now.

They have also made additions to the End. Apparently, there are new islands you can visit, but I think you get there after defeating the Ender Dragon. They've changed that battle a bit, too, as it now attacks differently and can be re-summoned. There is apparently something else in this new area that lets you fly, which seems pretty cool.

https://mojang.com/2016/02/minecraft-19-combat-update/

I think a separate post outlining what is in the update might be good so others can see it.

Thanks for the update Greg!

Pretty good idea, one thing I like in Terraria is how many animals there are in the game as well as the large variety of creeps.

It's beautiful and scary at the same time. There are so many birds, it's lovely hearing them. I recognize some of them. Werewolves are quite scary and not easily defeated in werewolf form. Luckily, they turn back into humans in the day time, which makes for an easy kill. Also, many of the creatures introduced in the mod have their own drops which can be crafted into new recipes. For instance, scorpions drop chitin which can be crafted into armor that gives you regeneration.

I also enjoyed the new critters in Terraria. I enjoyed seeing and hearing them, which makes the game(s) a bit more "realistic."

I just finished season 5 of Man Vs. Minecraft (by Paul Soares Jr. on YouTube). It was really cool. He used a few mods along the way, which I want to check into. I've already mentioned the MoCreatures mod, but he also used the Twilight Forest and Aether mods. I will check those out soon. I already have Twilight Forest installed.

I have been preparing my character for the discovery of a water monument. I created some water breathing and night vision potions, as the wiki suggests. I used red stone to increase the duration of both potions and then I went out in search of a water monument. I did finally find one, they are located in deep ocean biomes and are under water. You may see them as you are riding around the ocean on a boat. I went down into the monument I found and came across some of the new guardian mobs. Unfortunately, I did not survive. What's worse is that I did not write down the coordinates to the monument's location, so I'm not sure where it is, but I'm looking again. I agree with the wiki's suggestion of bringing good gear. I don't think my gear, made of iron, was sufficient.

Interested to hear in what it takes to survive those mobs. Also, if you could snap a image of the water monument I’d be interested in checking it out.

The wiki doesn't seem to suggest what materials to use for recommended gear, but it does recommend "enchanted armor," water breathing potions, and invisibility potions. This is actually the first time I've ever created potions in the game.

Also, snapping an image is a great idea! At first I thought, "oh just check the wiki," but the wiki doesn't show what it looks like from your perspective in a boat. I'll see what I can do. =)

Found it again (I believe it's the same one I found before). Check out some of the screenshots I took (http://gregopeck.imgur.com/). I created an album for them. Keep in mind, you can only see the very top of the monument in these pictures. I also found something posted in the Minecraft forums (http://www.minecraftforum.net/forums/minecraft-discussion/recent-updates-and-snapshots/2109912-giant-ocean-monument-info-thread). One of the things I found out from this post is that there is a new enchantment, "Dept Strider," for boots, which helps swim through the monument.

Nice. Is that a kind of one-eyed fish?

Some what, it's one of the new mobs, guardians. I believe it can drop fish when defeated, but I haven't killed any yet. I'm currently looking for more diamonds so I can craft a full set of diamond gear before I return to the monument.

Still looking for diamonds....check out this awesome video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxH0r2Z8ce4

I liked the part where the Creeper started singing.

The guardians in the ocean monument are tough and can seriously take a beating. After collecting enough diamonds, I created diamond gear (armor and sword) and enchanted each piece. I used the new Depth Strider enchantment on my boots, which helped me get around in the underwater ocean monument. I also brought along water breathing potions, which had an extended duration thanks to using some red stone. I was able to defeat two out of the three elder guardians, I was not fortunate enough to find the third. I made multiple trips to the monument as I was killed quite a few times. Sadly, I was hurt enough that some of my armor broke and now I need to find more diamonds. Luckily, I found some melons in a jungle, so now I can make regeneration potions. While the wiki recommends night vision potions, I found this suggestion unnecessary as my brightness setting is set to "Bright." If anyone is interested, I can give you the number for the seed of my world and also the coordinates of where the monument is located. Previously, with a Google search, I found out that there is an app that can tell you where these monuments are found, but I didn't use it.

Opps, slight correction, I need Ghast tears to make regeneration potions, melon seeds help make healing potions, not the same thing.

I beat the final Elder Guardian, but forgot to get my loot! I didn't know that there were 8 blocks of gold hidden in one of the rooms. Check out this video about Ocean Monuments: http://youtu.be/sCmV4v1bvqI.

Last night I found a great video that shows off all of the new changes in 1.8, check it out: http://youtu.be/R8WX3_WGzto

Yesterday, I decided to test out the new world creation customized presets. Some of them seemed very similar, some were interesting, and some looked liked death traps. In "Water World", I barely found any land at all, certainly no caves, just a group of very small islands. I also spawned deep under water, luckily I was in Creative mode. In "Good Luck," I found that oceans were no longer filled with water, but lava instead. Finally, I found one that I quite liked called "Drought." This one removed almost all of the water that's usually located in the oceans. I thought this was interesting because I could now see the sea bed, which led to a few discoveries. Not only did I find a series of abandoned mine shafts, or two, but I also found an Ocean Monument. This made the monument very easy to find. I've uploaded a new screenshot (http://imgur.com/xDvRuOd), so take a look!

Yesterday, I decided to test out the new world creation customized presets. Some of them seemed very similar, some were interesting, and some looked liked death traps. In "Water World", I barely found any land at all, certainly no caves, just a group of very small islands. I also spawned deep under water, luckily I was in Creative mode. In "Good Luck," I found that oceans were no longer filled with water, but lava instead. Finally, I found one that I quite liked called "Drought." This one removed almost all of the water that's usually located in the oceans. I thought this was interesting because I could now see the sea bed, which led to a few discoveries. Not only did I find a series of abandoned mine shafts, or two, but I also found an Ocean Monument. This made the monument very easy to find. I've uploaded a new screenshot (http://imgur.com/xDvRuOd), so take a look!

That's a interesting picture. Looks like the water is in a bowl.

Yeah, I didn't think it would spawn in the Drought preset because I assumed ocean sizes were very small, almost non-existent. However, it seems that ocean biomes exist, they just don't contain as much water. I did find out that the ocean monuments spawn with their own water around them, which is apparent in the screen shot I shared. =)

Notch wrote his thoughts on leaving Mojang. http://pastebin.com/n1qTeikM

I totally understand his reasons, if the news isn't a bit sad.

An interesting information nugget. Disney bought LucasFilm+everything for 4 billion.

This news makes me kind of sad. I remember watching the Minecraft documentary and seeing how overwhelmed and humbled Notch was upon the explosion of the game. It got way bigger than he ever dreamed. I some how feel that I can understand his point of view. He is just a programmer having fun, not a CEO or someone who wants to lead a large company. I don't hate Microsoft and I feel that this news only reflects the huge success that Minecraft has been. Still, I wonder about the game's future. I hope it continues to evolve as it has been.

They've said that they won't mess with the platforms that it's on, so we don't have to worry about them taking away the Linux and Mac versions, so that's good news. I can't imagine Microsoft would make the major mistake of messing up Minecraft. What I hope is that they'll take what they have and continue down the same path.

Now, Minecraft 2, if such a thing comes to exist, I do wonder about. But I hope they'll realize how amazing an open-to-all game like Minecraft was and continue down the same path. They have to know they'd have egg on their faces for years if they try to interfere with what's been working for years.

I agree with you, I can't quite imagine them messing it up either. It would be interesting to know what Microsoft has in store for Minecraft. I'd like to see development continue. I think there are still very many things that could be added to the game. For instance, there no birds. I swear in one of the videos Vinny was watching there were birds in the game. Maybe it was just a mod. I think bugs would be a cool addition, too, and if they could be used as bait like in Terraria. Currently fishing doesn't require any kind of bait. There are lots of other animals I thought it would be cool to see in the game.

I agree with you Travis, but I would find it hard to believe Microsoft wouldn't do something special for XBox One or make it an exclusive for some time. That said, it's all speculation and I do hope for the best with Minecraft.

If they did that, exclusives for XBox One, etc, that would just piss off too many people, and I think they know that. I hope it works like Skype-- they bought Skype, and with the exception of being able to log in with your Microsoft account, nothing has really changed.

I wonder who else was in the market to buy Mojang? Microsoft has the money, but I question whether or not they have the passion for such an investment, beyond their own corporate needs (i.e. making more money). They likely won't mess with the current iteration of Minecraft, but future releases are now inevitable, and it's what they could do that bothers me. Microsoft is better at making deals than making things. If they are smart, they'll leave it alone and just throw money at the people that stay on at Mojang, and let them do what they do best. It seems, though, that any time this much money is involved in a deal, the buyers input also becomes part of the deal. I wonder what Microsoft's input will be.

Thinking Minecraft 2 might be some kind of MMO or online game where you get/rent worlds or something. That said, in such a case I could see a fair amount of exclusivity.

Will they change current Minecraft? That seems less likely. That said, Notch originally said he wanted to release Minecraft as Free Software, kind of think there is little chance for that happening now.

I was just talking with a friend recently about the possibility of starting a Minecraft server. I'd definitely be interested.

While we're both here, it seems Greg has moved on and started a new Terraria world. How are you feeling about our current world? Are you done?

Yeah, I'm pretty much done. I think I got everything I wanted to get except a few pumpkin/frost moon items, but I can farm those on my own (or just steal them from my other characters).

I'm in for building a little house and hanging out with people. Sounds like fun

Well yeah, I mean you always start with a little house. But that's just until you get the supplies to start your bigger projects!

So what kind of server did you have in mind? Survival? Creative? Mods or Vanilla?

Survival I'd say. And I'm open to suggestions for mods. I hear good things about Bukkit but I honestly don't know anything about them.

As it just so happens I use to run a bukkit server. However, given the recent drama over at bukkit I have no idea what kind of state the project is in right now. It may not even be a possibility, which is sad, because it made running a server and installing mods really easy.

Multiplay, the company I'm using for Terraria, claims to support Bukkit on 1.8 so it's apparently still an option. I know nothing of the drama.

If that's an option, then yay! When I ran a server I kept it pretty close to Vanilla and only installed mods I thought added to the experience without fundamentally changing the game. My favorite was CreeperHeal (http://dev.bukkit.org/bukkit-plugins/creeperheal-nitnelave/). Creepers (and TNT and fire) still damage their surroundings, but that damage slowly repairs itself over time. It kept creepers dangerous without fucking up your buildings and leaving craters all over the map. :D

to creeper heal.

Cool. I ran a Minecraft server months ago so me and my son could play along with his friends. Vinny told me a new version of the game was out recently and I believe they added a bunch of new stuff like new mobs and stone types.

Sorry I haven't been on the Terraria server much lately. I've been playing in my own world. I was thinking about looting the other CG worlds that I have for Vampire Knives for me and you, Travis, since I gave them to Tim. It'd be cool to play the moon events again and beat Duke Fishron.

I also used http://dev.bukkit.org/bukkit-plugins/otherdrops/ to alter some block drops and add in some fun little stuff. On my server I decided it was dumb to have everyone running around with stone tools, so I added a rule where if you were using iron or better tools you had a small chance to get iron while mining stone. That way everyone could keep using iron tools without fear of using up all their iron. I also added a few fun things, like the (very) small chance you could find buried treasure (a random number of gold bars) while digging in dirt. :P The only other thing I changed was making blocks that usually just break (like glass or stairs) reclaimable.

I think the Creeper Heal mod sounds cool. I have only run vanilla Minecraft so far. So, I wonder if I would have to install mods if they were installed on the server. Also, I am absolutely sure that Vinny would be thrilled if he could join us. I think it would be really cool. Also, I think my only suggestions are to turn on single player commands and to turn off PVP. If it were my world, I would also make use of the command keepInventory and turn that on so that when someone dies they don't lose their stuff. Losing your inventory really sucks!

The mods are installed server-side, so you don't have to install anything.

Oh man, KeepInventory is a must. I love Terraria's way of handling it so you drop half the cash you're carrying but that model doesn't really exist in Minecraft.

Is there any kind of item like the Magic Mirror that lets you teleport back to your spawn point? I keep losing my house.

http://www.multiplaygameservers.com/game-servers/mc-minecraft/

Tim, check that out-- that's what multiplay supports. I love them dearly based on the Terraria experience, and would recommend them for our Minecraft server.

An aside about Minecraft, not related to servers: Interestingly, I'm finding that my lower-spec Mac plays this way better than my Windows PC. Haven't tried Ubuntu on the same PC yet.

It says it supports "Bukkit and plugins" so I would assume that means we're free to use any of the plugins (mods) we want.

Since I quit, there are at on of new commands and server settings that weren't around. I didn't know there was the option to keep inventory on death now. Unless they've added a new item, I don't think there's a magic mirror equivalent. Although I guess with keep inventory turned on, death is a pretty quick way to warp back to your spawn point. :P There are sever commands for admins you can use to teleport if i remember correctly, and of course there are mods that will enable that sort of thing.

Sweet, Travis, I'm so glad you agree, I was afraid you wouldn't. It makes the game easier, sure, but in a way that makes it more enjoyable and much less frustrating. I always hated losing my inventory and would often back up and revert to back up upon death. Luckily, that command makes all that unnecessary.

Thanks for the answer, Tim, that makes sense.

Oh, Travis, I also wish there were a Magic Mirror, but Minecraft doesn't seem to have that, except sleeping in a bed, which is like Terraria. No Magic Mirror, but if you find the coordinates of where you want to go, you can use the "tp" (teleport) command. I believe finding coordinates is done with the F11 (Debug) key.

I'm glad you thought of this as I was thinking of it months ago when I ran the server with my son. I think it would be fun. I also didn't find much difficulty in setting up and configuring the server. The game's wiki has some good instructions.

Luckily, I've learned a lot about the game since I first played it less than a year ago. Whenever I play now, I create a new world (as usual) and enable some of the extra options that are available such as single player commands and a treasure chest. Those commands help me survive by letting me change the game rule to "keepInventory" and teleport. The treasure chest is usually nearby and seems to contain random items for beginning survival such as tools and food.

Oh and while there is a mod called "single player commands," one of the options upon world creation is the usage of commands, so you can use them in single player mode w/out the mod. I'm not sure when "keepInventory" was put into the game, but I know it's been there for about as long as I've played it. I think my son helped educate me on these commands, well that and looking things up on the wiki.

Ok, the "keepInventory" command is available upon enabling "cheats" (commands) at world creation. The Debug key is F3, not F11. I've checked out some recent 1.8 videos by one of my favorite YouTubers. The new version adds a lot of new things, so it's a great time to get back into the game. I suggest looking at the release notes for what's new.

How's your progress on getting a Minecraft server going? I looked up CreeperHeal and wanted to use it, but it seems it's for Bukkit servers, not the regular one you get from the website. I was going to try a Bukkit server, but the link for the recommended download is unavailable due to "legal reasons." So, I hit a snag and wasn't sure what to download. I did, however, download the latest version of the server software from Mojang. I created a server with the latest software, deleted the old world, and created a new one. I started playing on it with Vinny, but eventually decided that I wanted to play on my own in a new single player world. I'm looking forward to a CG server because I think playing with you guys would be a lot more fun.

A couple of notes about the vanilla Minecraft server, it will tell you that in order to run, you must edit a configuration file to agree to the EULA. Also, turning off PVP requires a simple edit of the server's configuration file. I think it's pretty simple to set up and configure, the guide on the wiki was quite helpful the first time I got one set up.

I *could* host a Minecraft server that you guys could join, but I'm not sure how my bandwidth would be affected, especially since my small home network connects to a few computers and a couple of tablets. Also, if I did, the server might not be always available as I may have to reboot my PC sometime (although this new PC of mine only seems to need to reboot for Windows Updates).

You can do Bukkit on multiplay.

I haven't done anything with it yet

Still wana play minecraft ?

I can't imagine actually watching the whole thing, but you have to be impressed by the dedication.

Yeah, totally. I will most likely watch it in the background as I am programming.

Those are great. I also love the crazy Westeros ones also http://westeroscraft.com/ That's the Game of Thrones world.

WOW thats pretty impressive.

This is pretty impressive, but that Game of Thrones business is completely insane! I will never play Minecraft again, having the knowledge now that I'm doing it all wrong.

Yeah. I sort of treat Minecraft like my own personal survival island game. So very lonely.

Cool, I was thinking of this recently. I thought it'd be cool if, when creating a new world, you could choose which biomes are there. This was after thinking that not all biomes appear in a new world, but after some Googling, it seems that every biome is included in every new world.

I found more info: http://minecraft.gamepedia.com/1.8

Every biome is included in every world, but then there are also more virtual square miles in a Minecraft world than there are square miles on Earth. A guy has been walking in a straight line every day for three years and still hasn't even come close to reaching the end. I think I read he has about 70 years left to get there.

Wow, yeah, I was reading about that recently as I was investigating the number of biomes in a world. BTW, I mentioned you in a comment on Jon's Starbound post, check it out. =) Also, I was really surprised to see you post some Minecraft news since you said you weren't really that into it.

After playing with the server (along with my son and one of his friends), I decided to play some Single player Minecraft. It's funny because when I create a new world, I often delete it and create a new one not long after exploring the first one. I guess it just depends on where I spawn and what's around me at the time. Yesterday, I saw an icy kind of biome that I never saw before, but that world was promptly deleted. I think I'll keep the last one I created though.

Also, today I noticed, on the main menu, that Minecraft Realms is now available. Since I had no idea what that was, I looked it up. Apparently, it's a way to connect to other worlds (or servers) and costs about $18/month. I'm not going to be doing that.

Lately, I've taken up my son's habit of watching someone play Minecraft on YouTube. Before I started playing (around last Thanksgiving), I watched Paul Soares Jr.'s Minecraft Survive & Thrive series, which consisted of about 80 videos. It was awesome. I really like Paul, he's cool, he's funny, and he mentions geeky things sometimes. Also, he doesn't scream in his videos (unlike SkyTheKidRS). I've been watching his Paul Plays Minecraft series and I may even start watching his Minecraft multiplayer videos. He also has some for Terraria.

Found an article about it! http://www.idigitaltimes.com/articles/22763/20140424/minecraft-1-8-update-snapshot-14w17a-arrives.htm

Minecraft realms is a really great idea.

Maybe, I'm not sure I agree though. Maybe I just don't know enough about it. What I read said that it makes it easier to connect to other worlds, but I haven't realized the difficulty in doing so.

On second thought, after setting up a server, I guess it is a good idea if it makes it easier to create a world that others can join without having to go through setting up a server.

Yeah, that's the idea as I understand it. Playing locally is easy, but if you want to play across the US or the Globe, it is harder.

Yeah, Realms is amazing. I have no need for it but it comes with so many server options and parental controls. It's a little expensive, but awesome.

This has definitely been a learning experience, I mean that in a good way. Since this original posting, my son and I have been playing Minecraft on the server. I've learned some configurations and also feel like I'm getting some basics on Java, at least Java usage, as I have been working with .jar files (for the game and server). I've also been playing with the commands (in game and on the server) as well. The commands in the game are also knows as cheats, so I've done some cheating, which has made the game much easier.

Along with healing, I've been using saturation (restore hunger bars) and enchanting. I've created fully enchanted gear for both me and Vinny. This has helped us both survive. I've also changed game settings such as making it so that we don't lose our inventory upon dying. I also turned PVP off. So, the game is less challenging, but less frustrating in most regards. Still, after a few hours of exploring the server world, I get a little bored as I often find myself running in circles or spending countless hours exploring and looking for particular things (like wolves to tame or cows to pen).

Both of us have our own Minecraft identities. Sure, I've payed for the game twice, but in total I spent less than $60, which is what games typically go for these days and aren't as fun. By getting this accomplished, I found an old email address by trying to access a different one, so I have two extra email addresses to use. I plan to take advantage of this soon by creating a Steam account for Vinny using one of those email addresses. This will allow us to play Steam games together (*cough* Terraria).

So far, I've still neglected Mods, that will be another learning experience.

I think vanilla Minecraft is a good way to play the game. If as you play you want to try something else, mods are great. I had some fun playing with Travis and his wife a few years ago. Ultimately when I got Terraria my Minecraft play died out entirely.

I like Minecraft, but with Terraria at least the progression feels more... I don't know, like it means more I guess.

=) Well I briefly looked into mods, which my son keeps asking for, and it looked a little more complicated than I wanted to get into at the time. One mod I've thought of, that would be cool, would be to remove Creepers. Although lately with my overly enchanted gear, they're not as much of a problem anymore.

That's great that you got to play with Travis and Katie. I understand what you say about Terraria and Minecraft, yet for some reason I keep coming back to Minecraft. Don't get me wrong, I love Terraria, but since I've already done almost everything, I'm not sure what else to do. The last thing I was trying to accomplish was finishing the Pumpkin Moon event, which I think I need to use a better strategy for (in other words I need to use potions for the PumpKing battle)..

Yeah, I had to get better gear and such to take PumpKing and even now it's much simpler with Travis or WhiteboySlim around.

Hahahahahaha!!!

I appreciated Moe the creeper exploding at the end because it shows at least a surface knowledge of Minecraft. I thought everything was just going to be blocky, and that looks cool, but at least someone's actually picked up the game and played it once or twice at least :)

I agree Adym, without a Creeper (at least), it just couldn't really fully spell Minecraft (and what I hate about it, but still love the game).

That's a tough one, as there are so many games that would probably look really good on your setup. Some of my favorite shiny things are:

Skyrim
Fable 3
Dishonored
Planetside 2
Civilization 5
Warhammer 40K: Space Marine
Trine (1 or 2)
Dirt 3
Far Cry 3
Mass Effect 2
Tomb Raider (the new one)...

I don't know. There are so many others. If I had to pick one, based solely on pushing graphical performance, I'd probably go with Skyrim, and add the High Res texture pack, with maybe one of the water packs, like Pure Water. If that doesn't give a 'Holy Shit!' moment, I don't know what would.

There are always demos. You don't have to stay strictly free-to-play.

The Arkham games are awesome, and quite pretty. http://store.steampowered.com/app/200260
Bioshock is aging a bit but still one of the best FPS games I've played, and also quite pretty: http://store.steampowered.com/app/7670/?snr=1_7_7_151_150_1

Thanks, Scrypt! I have Skyrim on the PS3 and love it. I'm sure it'd be amazing on here! I've played a Warhammer game, but it's been a while. I've heard of some of most of those games you listed one way or another, but don't have much personal familiarity with.

Yeah, Travis, Jon just mentioned FTP games, although I'm not limiting myself to anything in particular, really. I'm not really sure I want to get into an MMORPG again, but maybe. I did enjoy Ragnarok Online years ago. I have FFXI for the PC and all or most of the expansions, but I don't think I'll play it again. I'm not surprised to see Bioshock and Mass Effect 2 listed as those seem to be popular games.

And yeah, Skyrim. You can pull some amazing stuff out of that box with Skyrim. Crazy ENB stuff and depth of field can make it look photorealistic, like this: http://img265.imageshack.us/img265/3230/130642458523.jpg

Whoa!

yeah, that's what I'm talking about. So gorgeous!

As I expected, I noticed no difference in FTL. Terraria, however, was better as expected. Before, when I turned on the optimal/high settings on the game, I noticed a little lag. It wasn't too bad. Now there's no lag at all. Some how, I swear the game just looked more beautiful. One of the things I noticed was how lit up things were around me when I held a torch.

As I mentioned above, I started to play Star Trek Online on the old PC. I got partially through the tutorial, to the planet where you had to fight off some Borg. On the old computer, this was quite messy and it made me realize that my old computer wasn't really giving the kind of performance I wanted to see in STO. With the new computer, I jumped back in where I left off in the tutorial and finished it. The game looked great!

I think I've tested all the games I wanted to test on here, or at least the ones I own. I'm sure Skyrim would look sweet on here, but I'm not sure if I want to get it for the PC, since I already have it on the PS3 and spent over 300 hours on it. Still, I'm kind of not sure what to play. Star Trek Online is ok, kind of complex, especially since I'm new at it. I really want to play Minecraft some more.

As I'm playing Minecraft, I'm thinking of some things that are in Terraria that I wish were in Minecraft. I really wish Minecraft had its own version of Terraria's Magic Mirror. It would be so cool to be able to teleport to my last spawn point (my bed in my house). This would be extremely helpful, especially for all those times I get stuck in a cave and can't find my way out. It would also be cool if Minecraft had a grappling hook and wings (so I can fly in Survival Mode). Bosses in Minecraft would be cool, too.

I agree with you Greg. Wonder if they have a mod for that?