Minecraft’s Vibrant Visuals update finally has a release date: 17th June.
We’ve known for some time that Mojang was planning on a visual overhaul for Minecraft, and yesterday (14th June), the studio released a new video not only reminding us just what Vibrant Visuals brings to the game, improving “visual elements such as directional lighting, volumetric fog, and more”, but also how the team achieved it.
And the new feature really does elevate the world of Minecraft. As the developer explains, “every biome has their own atmosphere”, so warmer biomes will look more orange and yellowish, while cooler ones will take on a crisper blue appearance.
“This is a visual enhancement – there are no changes to Minecraft’s gameplay,” Mojang said. “For example, visual shadows will not impact light levels in a game-mechanics sense, or affect where hostile mobs spawn. Vibrant Visuals will be easy to access and approachable for many more Minecraft players, as it will be available on many platforms as a simple menu toggle.”
“This is a start on this journey of modernising the look and feel of Minecraft,” explained Vibrant Visuals Lead, Dejan Dimic. “So we look forward to hearing more feedback from the players.”
Vibrant Visuals is coming to supported devices for those running Minecraft Bedrock Edition, and if your device can run it, you can expect the new feature to be on by default once it updates. It still isn’t yet available for Java, but Mojang insists it’s “actively working” on it.
Did you catch the news that the roster of Sonic Racing CrossWorlds is expanding outside of the Sonic universe to include other Sega characters and beyond? As announced at last week’s Summer Game Fest, joining the likes of Sonic, Tails and Knuckles, will be Joker from Persona 5, Ichiban from the Like A Dragon games, Vocaloid artist Hatsune Miku, and – the reason why I’m making this seemingly nonsensical tangent – Steve from Minecraft, too.
It is, of course, a flagship year for Minecraft, thanks to the unbridled popularity of its cinema-trashing live-action movie adaptation.