The story of the infinite world that… actually matters

A video essay about finding meaning in randomness. How Minecraft seemingly overcomes the pitfalls and limitations of generated spaces. An investigation into the challenges of making a game world believable, purposeful, and meaningful to a player. Side-tracks into the many games that tried, the many games that failed, and the few that succeeded.

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SEGMENTS

00:00:00 Introduction
00:01:57 Creating a Universe
00:05:08 Process & Procedures
00:06:47 Sweeping Squares
00:08:24 Scavenging Hexes
00:11:01 Dark Tiles Ahead
00:13:25 Eighteen Quintillion Planets
00:20:15 Artist in a Box
00:24:35 New World
00:27:54 Meaningful World
00:31:38 Outro
00:34:13 Credits


GAMES

BBC Micro Games (198X, Various Developers)
Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead (2013, Kevin Granade, CDDA Community)
Death Stranding (2019, Kojima Productions)
Dwarf Fortress (2006, Tarn Adams, Zach Adams, Bay 12 Games)
Elite (1984, David Braben, Ian Bell, Acornsoft)
Horizon Zero Dawn (2017, Guerrilla Games)
Minecraft (2011, Mojang Studios)
Minesweeper (1989, Microsoft)
NEO Scavenger (2014, Blue Bottle Games)
No Man’s Sky (2016, Hello Games)
Project Zomboid (2013, The Indie Stone)
Spore (2008, Maxis)
Star Citizen (TBD, Cloud Imperium Games)
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (2011, Bethesda Softworks)
The Long Dark (2014, Hinterland Studio)


SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL

BBC Micro Acorn Electron Advert (1984) (Acorn Computers)
BBC Micro Games Collection #1 (On a Retro Tip)
BBC Micro Games Collection #2 (Retro Sanctuary)
Behind the Scenes of Spore (Maxis, Electronic Arts)
Elite Promotional Video (1984) (Acornsoft)
Introduction to Computing (1982) (BBC)
NEO Scavenger 2022 Revisit Gameplay (The Scarlet Seeker)
NEO Scavenger Gameplay (Metal Canyon)
No Man’s Sky Ending (Center of the Galaxy) (Shirrako)
No Man’s Sky Various Trailers (Hello Games)
Saturday Superstore (1984) (BBC)
Spore Concept Art (Christian Scheurer)
Star Citizen Various Trailers (Cloud Imperium Games)
The Art of No Man’s Sky, Hello Games (PlayStation Europe)
The Beauty of Death Stranding (Flurdeh)
The Beauty of Horizon Zero Dawn (Flurdeh)
The Beauty of Project Russia (Bakstein)
The Beauty of Project Zomboid (Bakstein)
The Beauty of Skyrim (Flurdeh)
The Beauty of Winter in Project Zomboid (Bakstein)
The Long Dark Various Trailers (Hinterland Studio)
Let’s Play Minecraft (2010) (EthosLab)
Let’s Play Minecraft (2010) (Gronkh)
Minecraft (Shadow of Israphel) (2010) (The Yogscast)
X’s Adventures in Minecraft (2010) (DavidAngel64)

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#minecraft #videoessay #documentary