DV_Raiton
Java-mancer
- Joined
- Jul 11, 2014
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Hello tributes,
Internally, there has been a lot going on lately within the MCGamer Network. Many changes have been planned, ranging from important server updates to significant policy changes.
As such, we wanted to bring some general updates to you today, while addressing some recent concerns that we have seen within the community— notably about recent updates, other long-planned updates and our adoption of Minecraft 1.8.
Hub System Redesign
Earlier today, you may have noticed a slight update to the MCGamer hub system. When we looked into the logistics of the current hub system, we decided that a slight change was necessary to promote a better user experience and a more user-friendly environment.
Today marks the departure of the Arcade Hub, which previously contained most of the games that were added with the merging of the former AntVenom Network. These games are now included directly in the main MCGamer Landing Hub, with portals and warps on the compass menu included. For those of you who were particularly fond of the Arcade Hub map, worry not, as we plan to use the map again in the future.
We have already noticed that many players are seeing these games— previously hidden away in the Arcade Hub— for the first time; this change was the first of many changes that we have in the works to help promote a better user experience, all part of bringing the MCGamer Network up to the high standard that we hold it to.
Adoption of Minecraft 1.8
Earlier this month, we announced that Thursday 29 January 2015 will mark our end of support for Minecraft 1.7 clients. On and after this date, we will be making the necessary infrastructure changes to officially adopt the Minecraft 1.8 server. While this does not necessarily mean that these changes will immediately be in effect on the 29th, we strongly encourage players to begin using, or prepare to begin using, Minecraft 1.8 for their general play. Plenty of players have, in fact, based on client version data that we have been collecting recently, a majority of players are already using 1.8.
With this update, however— many players have expressed concerns, and we would like to take the time to address these concerns now.
Concerns About Performance on Minecraft 1.8
We have seen many players express concerns about the performance of 1.8 on their machines. Minecraft 1.8 came with many optimizations to the client, but some players experienced a lot of issues on the early 1.8 versions.
Concerns About Game Mechanics on Minecraft 1.8
We have also seen many players have had concerns with changes to player versus player combat in 1.8. Many of these server-side issues, such as issues with knockback or “comboing,” are primarily the effect of a 1.7 server that has been modified to be compatible with a 1.8 client; these issues will see significant improvement when we are using an actual 1.8 server.
From a technical standpoint, we do have the ability to lessen the impact of many of these server-side changes through our own server modifications, and we will be looking into it further to decide what we will ultimately be doing for the matter.
The Months Ahead
The adoption of 1.8 is just one step in the many we have planned towards our goals of improving the MCGamer Network. Minecraft 1.8 and its new features will be vital tools for upcoming additions and improvements, as once we officially on 1.8, we can begin to use these features with the guarantee that all players can benefit from them. Just a brief list of some cool new 1.8 features that we plan to take advantage of:
In the past few months since the release of MCGamer V2, we have had our sights set on utilizing and improving our new, powerful network infrastructure— tackling issues in the backend pertaining to stability, logistics and ease of use. Some of these have taken priority to frontend updates that we would have liked to have to you sooner, but they are indeed necessary to ensure the stability of the MCGamer Network.
In the coming months, we will be shifting our focus to the more public-facing aspects of the MCGamer Network— bringing exciting network-wide additions to existing game types, exclusive holiday events and further improvements and polishing of the user experience. The new forums website and leaderboard are actively being worked on, despite the delays we've had to deal with lately. Perhaps there's even a new cooperative game type in the works.
Internally, there has been a lot going on lately within the MCGamer Network. Many changes have been planned, ranging from important server updates to significant policy changes.
As such, we wanted to bring some general updates to you today, while addressing some recent concerns that we have seen within the community— notably about recent updates, other long-planned updates and our adoption of Minecraft 1.8.
Hub System Redesign
Earlier today, you may have noticed a slight update to the MCGamer hub system. When we looked into the logistics of the current hub system, we decided that a slight change was necessary to promote a better user experience and a more user-friendly environment.
Today marks the departure of the Arcade Hub, which previously contained most of the games that were added with the merging of the former AntVenom Network. These games are now included directly in the main MCGamer Landing Hub, with portals and warps on the compass menu included. For those of you who were particularly fond of the Arcade Hub map, worry not, as we plan to use the map again in the future.
We have already noticed that many players are seeing these games— previously hidden away in the Arcade Hub— for the first time; this change was the first of many changes that we have in the works to help promote a better user experience, all part of bringing the MCGamer Network up to the high standard that we hold it to.
Adoption of Minecraft 1.8
Earlier this month, we announced that Thursday 29 January 2015 will mark our end of support for Minecraft 1.7 clients. On and after this date, we will be making the necessary infrastructure changes to officially adopt the Minecraft 1.8 server. While this does not necessarily mean that these changes will immediately be in effect on the 29th, we strongly encourage players to begin using, or prepare to begin using, Minecraft 1.8 for their general play. Plenty of players have, in fact, based on client version data that we have been collecting recently, a majority of players are already using 1.8.
With this update, however— many players have expressed concerns, and we would like to take the time to address these concerns now.
Concerns About Performance on Minecraft 1.8
We have seen many players express concerns about the performance of 1.8 on their machines. Minecraft 1.8 came with many optimizations to the client, but some players experienced a lot of issues on the early 1.8 versions.
- Many of these issues were resolved in patches that Mojang has made, and as such we encourage you to try using Minecraft 1.8.1.
- You can also install the OptiFine mod. It supports 1.8.1 and is commonly known to help improve the performance of the game on lower-end machines.
- Tweaking your video settings may also help significantly— if you can, try:
- Lowering your render distance,
- Using fast graphics instead of fancy,
- Turning “Use VBOs” on, if your machine supports it
These settings are present in the vanilla client, however if you are also using OptiFine, you will have even more control over these settings. Machines that do not support the “Use VBOs” feature will likely not notice a difference.
Concerns About Game Mechanics on Minecraft 1.8
We have also seen many players have had concerns with changes to player versus player combat in 1.8. Many of these server-side issues, such as issues with knockback or “comboing,” are primarily the effect of a 1.7 server that has been modified to be compatible with a 1.8 client; these issues will see significant improvement when we are using an actual 1.8 server.
From a technical standpoint, we do have the ability to lessen the impact of many of these server-side changes through our own server modifications, and we will be looking into it further to decide what we will ultimately be doing for the matter.
The Months Ahead
The adoption of 1.8 is just one step in the many we have planned towards our goals of improving the MCGamer Network. Minecraft 1.8 and its new features will be vital tools for upcoming additions and improvements, as once we officially on 1.8, we can begin to use these features with the guarantee that all players can benefit from them. Just a brief list of some cool new 1.8 features that we plan to take advantage of:
- The spectator game mode
- Titles and other new user interface elements
- Miscellaneous new features like armor stands and other new entities, banners and colored beacons
In the past few months since the release of MCGamer V2, we have had our sights set on utilizing and improving our new, powerful network infrastructure— tackling issues in the backend pertaining to stability, logistics and ease of use. Some of these have taken priority to frontend updates that we would have liked to have to you sooner, but they are indeed necessary to ensure the stability of the MCGamer Network.
In the coming months, we will be shifting our focus to the more public-facing aspects of the MCGamer Network— bringing exciting network-wide additions to existing game types, exclusive holiday events and further improvements and polishing of the user experience. The new forums website and leaderboard are actively being worked on, despite the delays we've had to deal with lately. Perhaps there's even a new cooperative game type in the works.
I never knew about the VBO's thing and I'll be using it from now on. Thanks!
