For those of us that don't have a Rift or have one and don't like Pocket Edition of Minecraft, there is a mod that makes VR Minecraft happen. Vivecraft is available for Minecraft 1.7 and 1.10 for Java/PC Edition.
I need to preface this review with some background. Up until I purchased Minecraft on my Gear VR, I didn't get it. Once I saw the world (... of Minecraft - South Park joke) in an immersive environment, then the game started to make sense. I now play on Windows 10 and mobile, Android, Gear VR, and the PC edition now that I got Vivecraft.
I'm going to assume that the readers of this have at least played or tried to watch Minecraft, so I will not get into core mechanics of Minecraft. This review will concentrate on the VR experience and the immersion.
The first thing that got me was that the loading screen is a room full of dirt blocks, with the loading screen in a 2D pane. It is a simple touch, but it begins to give the player the idea of what to expect. After creating a brand new Survival world, I promptly drowned as I spawned in the ocean and couldn't figure out the movements. Instead of respawning, I killed that world and made a new one.
When I spawned in, I got verbal. I started describing what everything looked like to my son, David. I was so excited I got more descriptive than a game of Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes. I started in a valley, surrounded by grass and pigs. The mod makes the overlay become the arms of Steve (or whatever character you use). My left hand had the item bar, my right hand held the items.
Example of how the game looks. It appears that the built-in screenshot uses the right eye.
Whenever I used anything in my right hand, it worked like a piston. I honestly was afraid I was going to wear out my arm actually making hacking movements, but the only movement that I have to make is to pull the bow. Your hand position does make a difference, as my hand being extended added about 1 meter of digging capability. The bricks are scaled to 1mx1mx1m by default, but there is a scaling option. I can't wait to play Gulliver's Travels in Minecraft.
In the thirty minutes I got into the game before this review, I died twice. Once, I got surrounded, and I mean SURROUNDED by zombies. Second time, I got hit by two creepers while I was starting to build my first mineshaft. Let's just say I haven't seen spiders yet. When I do, I might just have to change my pants. That scary.
If you are already a user of the Java version of Minecraft and have a Vive or Rift, this is a no-brainer. Free mod, server list on Reddit (
https://www.reddit.com/r/Vive/wiki/v...ecraft_servers), and full Forge support. I cannot wait to delve into this further this weekend.
