Minecraft Can Now be Used to Model and Print Objects via 3D Printer | Hacker News Reader

Minecraft Can Now be Used to Model and Print Objects via 3D Printer

minecraftprint.com

113 pointsCamth35 comments

Should I actually try this Minecraft thing?

I don't know anything about it, only that it sounds like something that absorbs an unlimited amount of your free time and allows you to implement CPUs, programmable logic, and now 3D printer models.

It's actually a pretty good game for engineers. Also, it rewards you for having basic knowledge of digital design. Here's a hidden door I made using pistons which were just added to the game.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z98iFceC0zY

Also there's an editor called mcedit that you can extend with python. For example I wrote a little script to trace caves and fill them with dirt.

I couldn't give the game a stronger recommendation.

It is addicting, and whatever you generally spend your free time doing will be absorbed. Your interests might feign after a bit, but it won't be until you've spent a good amount of time building something.

I look at Minecraft as a good entry point for video game development. The modding community is huge, and getting larger now that Mojang is officially creating an API for modding. Also, because it is so transparent; the original map was nested folders (which is where converting to a 3D printer is so 'easy'). Logic-wise, its not built to make processors, the logic is slow. The aforementioned book would be a better suitable candidate for it.

I think the main appeal is that it's basically a new take on classic Lego bricks. I turn off the monsters and just explore, and build... and I've easily gotten my money's worth from that alone.

But then again... I really liked Lego bricks as a child. If you weren't into that then it might not be the game for you.

If you want to "[...]implement CPUs, programmable logic[...]" I would rather go with "The Elements of Computing Systems" [0].

On the other hand, if you are into gaming and want to experience a sandbox building game with a huge, albeit rather premature, community and lot of modding going on, give it a try, it is about 15 €. [1]

[0] http://www1.idc.ac.il/tecs/

[1] http://www.minecraft.net/

It's pretty awesome, especially with other people. You can build a shocking number of things, and fun at it too.

This game is pretty cool. Thanks for the recommendations!

R.I.P. marshray's free time.

I know. I stayed up way too late last night! :-)

Fun, but not very productive.

It allows a lot of creativity though.

Are any games productive?

Some hone skills that are broader than just that particular niche game.

e.g., chess and go hone the mind.

Minecraft could be used to hone some level of engineering thinking.

Sports hones the body and often relaxes the mind.

Guild leadership in MMOs hones the ability to lead human beings (that has no relation to the game itself though).

I like Minecraft, but I'd rather hack Lisp than play video games most of the time.

It depends on the game, but simulation games can be good for learning/honing the meta-skill of systems thinking, imo (in the sense of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_thinking).

I personally avoid Minecraft because I feel some games are somewhat productive, and that Minecraft is not one of them.

I get the impression a very large part of Minecraft is mindless worker-ant operations. Compared to, say, Portal, I feel my time is better spent with the latter- even though neither produce a tangible product or any apparent immediate benefit. (Not to mention the fact that Portal has an ending, instead of going forever)

Didn't you click the link? Minecraft can produce a tangible product now!

I spent an hour or two trying to find this again. Thanks!

There are always inventory editors if you don't want to mine for materials and just build stuff.

FoldIt's productive for someone: http://fold.it/

Then there's the currency trade in most MMOs. That can be quite productive, from what I hear.

Protein Folding - http://fold.it/portal/

It depends on you. Personally I play with it sometimes, but for me there is no danger of addiction.

It's a fun and creative game, even relaxing. However, sometime in the future there will be an adventure mode with NPC and a better fighting system, so it might become TOO fun for someone.

In the end, however, it depends on your personality.

The inverse can be seen with Kinect: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2mCDkqXki0

You can have your own cat walking through your minecraft world.

And you can go full-circle by scanning yourself into Minecraft and then making a you-figurine.

wow!! that's amazing! thank you for sharing that video, I had no idea you could do that.

Ohmygoodness. Attack of the giant kitten.

This is cool, although I'd rather have a nice voxel editor that I can use to print stuff to a Makerbot. Would I be best served just using a Minecraft map editor, even though I don't play Minecraft?

You should try out: http://3dtin.com for a MineCraft experience, or you can use http://tinkercad.com for a more CAD-like design. Both pretty cool and export STLs needed for manufacturing in 3D.

Thanks!

I know they can build an ALU inside minecraft, can they build a 3D printer inside minecraft yet?

Yes - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0i8gUK1cVw

That is bananas. Especially the 8x8 version he links to.

We're getting uncomfortably close to the 'meta' threshold of those ideas...

The singularity will come when they can build Minecraft inside Minecraft

   stack level too deep (SystemStackError)

Is the script available? I can't seem to find it on there.

It will be made available soonish. We want to clean it up/make it a tad more user friendly first. And that will probably be after the last shuttle launch this weekend.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com