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DeclanChidlow committed Apr 2, 2024
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2 changes: 1 addition & 1 deletion blog/feed/documents/Halo_My_Thoughts.md
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Graphics have received a significant upgrade here, both the original graphics and the anniversary variant. I recommend trying both and settling on what you prefer. Personally, I played with anniversary graphics. The cutscenes with anniversary graphics are **really** marvellous. They look more real than reality itself.

<figure class="right">
<img src="https://halo.wiki.gallery/images/2/2c/H2A_-_Regret.png" alt="The High Prophet of Regret, a character with wrinkled and textured brownish skin, large black eyes, and a small mouth. He is wearing an elaborate gold and black helmet with curved horns on the sides. There is a shimmering, blueish light in the background which reflects off the helmet, adding to the futuristic aesthetic." />
<img src="https://minecraft.wiki/images/thumb/Pocket_Edition_v0.2.1_alpha2_%28Demo%29.png/600px-Pocket_Edition_v0.2.1_alpha2_%28Demo%29.png" alt="The High Prophet of Regret, a character with wrinkled and textured brownish skin, large black eyes, and a small mouth. He is wearing an elaborate gold and black helmet with curved horns on the sides. There is a shimmering, blueish light in the background which reflects off the helmet, adding to the futuristic aesthetic." />
<figcaption>The High Prophet of Regret sitting on his throne in Halo 2: Anniversary graphics.</figcaption>
</figure>

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90 changes: 90 additions & 0 deletions blog/feed/documents/Minecraft_And_Me.md
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<head>
<title>Minecraft and Me | Vale.Rocks</title>
<meta property="og:title" content="Minecraft and Me"/>
<meta name="description" content="A look Minecraft on my 18th birthday." />
<meta property="og:description" content="A look Minecraft on my 18th birthday." />
<meta property="article:published_time" content="2024-04-02" />
<meta property="article:modified_time" content="2024-04-02" />
<meta property="article:section" content="Review" />
</head>

<article>
<header>
Review
<h1>
Minecraft and Me
</h1>
<ul>
<li><time datetime="2024-04-02">02 Apr, 2024</time></li>
<li>1189 words</li>
<li>4 minute read</li>
</ul>
</header>

I'm sitting here writing this on a rainy Monday night. This article is going live on April 2nd, the day of my 18th birthday. Tomorrow, I'm legally an adult. I can vote. I can drink. I can smoke. I can go to a strip club. I can blow my money at the pokies.

I could dwell on the encroaching responsibilities of adulthood or reminisce about the 'end' of my childhood. I could even lament the gum stuck to my shoe that I keep forgetting to scrape off. But I want to write about a game that sits with me. Minecraft.

Like many of my generation, I grew up with Minecraft. My journey with Minecraft began many years ago through YouTube, watching people like StampyLongHead and iBallisticSquid. Now, looking back, I realise that Minecraft has, and still does, remain a constant in my life; however it may change. It's a reminder of the many carefree days I spent playing Minecraft.

It's hard to pinpoint exactly when I discovered the game, but it would have been during 2012. I can still recall losing myself for hours in Let's Plays and Hunger Games, immersing myself in the endless possibilities and creativity the game offered.

## Pocket Edition

I started playing with Minecraft Pocket Edition Lite. A cut down version of the game designed as a demo. I played it for hours. It was limited and lacked much of anything. It had a limited block palette and an even more limited world. It wasn't much, but it was Minecraft, and to me at the time, that was a lot.

<figure class="right">
<img src="https://minecraft.wiki/images/thumb/Pocket_Edition_v0.2.1_alpha2_%28Demo%29.png/600px-Pocket_Edition_v0.2.1_alpha2_%28Demo%29.png" alt="Simple menu featuring 3 options." />
<figcaption>Main menu of Minecraft PE Lite.</figcaption>
</figure>

In 2013, I bought Pocket Edition for my iPad. I still remember being out the front of my house when my mother, whom I had been nagging to let me buy it, finally said yes.

The game was limited, but it was Minecraft. I built garish houses of diamonds and gold. I laid out intricate patterns of TNT just to watch them explode. I tested just how much of a superflat world I could fill with lava.

I remember the big update when potions released, and splashing them everywhere just to see the particle effects. I remember horses being added and having to consult YouTube to find out how to ride them. I recall end portal frames appearing in the creative menu, and not knowing how to use them.

Pocket Edition grew around me, and was the version I played the most. However, I could never shake the feeling that it was inferior. Playing it made me feel like a second class citizen. Everyone else played the bigger, better versions, and for the longest time, I only got to experience them through trips to friends' houses and YouTube.

This sense of longing intensified until I stumbled upon a revelation—I didn't discover Minecraft through the Pocket Edition, nor the Java Edition. Instead, my journey began with the version featured in the YouTube videos I avidly watched: the Legacy Console Editions, starting with the Xbox 360 Edition.

## Legacy Console Editions

In 2012, 4J Studios released Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition. 4J didn't just port the game. They went further. They improved it. They could have done a 1 to 1 port, but they went above and beyond.

<figure class="right">
<img src="https://minecraft.wiki/images/Retail_SplashScreen.png" alt="Splash screen featuring a sandstone castle built in Minecraft with several players standing on it." />
<figcaption>Splash screen of Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition's disk version.</figcaption>
</figure>

The game was also optimised to an impressive degree. Looking back, it's easy to forget just how limited the seventh generation of consoles were. The Xbox 360 had a meager 512 MB of RAM. Yes, there were limitations. You couldn't have as many mobs, and the worlds weren't infinite. But most of what made Minecraft Minecraft was there, and the limitations were more than made up for by the numerous tweaks 4J introduced.

The first thing that appears in my mind when I think of the Legacy Console Editions of Minecraft (or Minecraft as a whole for that matter) is the tutorial world. The tutorial world served as a way to introduce the player to the mechanics of the game. Something no other version does. It was beautifully crafted and let the player explore and learn at their own pace. Even now, it stands out as a testament to 4J's dedication.

The tutorial world Minecraft expanded alongside the game itself, evolving gradually over the years to become more extensive and immersive. Redesigned multiple times, it even included nods to the community, such as snippets of Stampy's Lovely World.

There were also many smaller alterations, such as minecarts moving at twice their Java Edition speed, which led to them being much more useful, and an exclusive song titled 'Dog' playing after the completion of the 'Cat' music disk.

They also completely redesigned the user interface for controller. I find myself blindly fumbling through the UI of the modern Bedrock Edition, but can smoothly glide through Legacy Console's UI with ease. The crafting UI specifically is one of the best controller oriented user experiences I've ever had.

Legacy Console also featured an excellent set of customisation options for superflat worlds. You could choose the blocks layer by layer and specify exactly what structures should generate. The customisation was so excellent that it spawned countless challenges. Even now, years later, no other edition has superflat customisation to this level.

Another thing that speaks to 4J's commitment is their implementation of the minigame modes. Exclusive to the Legacy Console Editions are Battle, Tumble, and Glide. Battle is Hunger Games, Tumble is spleef, and Glide is an Elytra race. Each of these mods were well fleshed out and polished with a custom UI. The lobby for the mini games was also intricate and played host to a range of Easter eggs.

I've got excellent memories of going round to my friend's house and fighting him head to head in rounds of Battle on his PS3. Yet over time, I did this less and less. Minecraft fell out of favour with my friends. I stopped watching many of my favourite Minecraft creators. I drifted apart from the game. Time moved on. I moved on. I grew up.

## Growing Up

Eventually, I bought the Java Edition. I joined the big servers and played with friends, but that spark wasn't there. I attempted to play single players, but I found myself abandoning worlds after just a few days.

I loved Minecraft then, and I love it still. Whenever I find myself feeling down, I still turn to those old YouTube videos for comfort.

No matter how I might try to recapture how it felt to come home from school, watch some Stampy, and play some 360 Edition, that era has passed. I realise now that I wasn't merely playing a game and manipulating pixels on a screen; I was forging memories - memories that, all these years later, I still hold dear.

As the rain subsides outside the window, I reflect on the memories of times gone by. The past has passed, but I'm not sad it's gone. I'm happy it happened.

Thank you.

</article>

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<div class="post">

Review
### [Minecraft and Me](/blog/Minecraft_And_Me)
<time datetime="2024-04-02">02 Apr, 2024</time> | 1189 words | 4 minute read
</div>

<div class="post">

Essay
### [Cybersecurity Superstition](/blog/Cybersecurity_Superstition)
<time datetime="2024-02-28">28 Feb, 2024</time> | 1896 words | 7 minute read
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</search>
<div id="blogposts">
<div class="post">
<p>Review</p>
<h3><a href="/blog/Minecraft_And_Me">Minecraft and Me</a></h3>
<p><time datetime="2024-04-02">02 Apr, 2024</time> | 1189 words | 4 minute read</p>
</div>
<div class="post">
<p>Essay</p>
<h3><a href="/blog/Cybersecurity_Superstition">Cybersecurity Superstition</a></h3>
<p><time datetime="2024-02-28">28 Feb, 2024</time> | 1896 words | 7 minute read</p>
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2 changes: 1 addition & 1 deletion docs/blog/Halo_My_Thoughts.html
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Expand Up @@ -104,7 +104,7 @@ <h2>Halo 2</h2>
<p>Halo 2 looks at CE, throws out what didn't work, improves what did, and then cranks everything up to 11. It feels like a film you can play. The stakes are high, and the quality is higher. The seamless integration of intense action sequences and stellar storytelling creates an immersive experience that kept me firmly on the edge of my seat.</p>
<p>Graphics have received a significant upgrade here, both the original graphics and the anniversary variant. I recommend trying both and settling on what you prefer. Personally, I played with anniversary graphics. The cutscenes with anniversary graphics are <strong>really</strong> marvellous. They look more real than reality itself.</p>
<figure class="right">
<img src="https://halo.wiki.gallery/images/2/2c/H2A_-_Regret.png" alt="The High Prophet of Regret, a character with wrinkled and textured brownish skin, large black eyes, and a small mouth. He is wearing an elaborate gold and black helmet with curved horns on the sides. There is a shimmering, blueish light in the background which reflects off the helmet, adding to the futuristic aesthetic." />
<img src="https://minecraft.wiki/images/thumb/Pocket_Edition_v0.2.1_alpha2_%28Demo%29.png/600px-Pocket_Edition_v0.2.1_alpha2_%28Demo%29.png" alt="The High Prophet of Regret, a character with wrinkled and textured brownish skin, large black eyes, and a small mouth. He is wearing an elaborate gold and black helmet with curved horns on the sides. There is a shimmering, blueish light in the background which reflects off the helmet, adding to the futuristic aesthetic." />
<figcaption>The High Prophet of Regret sitting on his throne in Halo 2: Anniversary graphics.</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>While Halo 2 keeps most of its predecessor's music, it also sees a huge step up with the inclusion of some truly epic electric guitar. The guitar elevates the music to something somehow even more exhilarating than what CE accomplished.</p>
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