User description

Humans are extremely adept in navigating three-dimensional space. This is how our world operates. But try to add an additional dimension to something as simple as even, say, Minecraft, and suddenly things take a sharp turn into the tangled. Confusing, then, is how I'd describe 4D Miner. It's a free demo on Steam (opens in a new tab), developer Mashpoe's extradimensional approach to Minecraft is quite a bit to comprehend even after completing an instructional video that describes the concept of dimensionality by through the eyes of an adorable frog. The playable tutorial introduces you to the concept of rotating through different dimensions by showing you the concept of a 2D platformer with the visual representation of how the "slice" of the world is representative of a greater 3D space. Scroll the mouse wheel, and the slice will turn and change the 2D perspective. Play the game and the same idea applies. minecraft exploring a 3D world similar to normal Minecraft. However, when you scroll the wheel, your "slice" of the greater 4D world rotates, bringing the world against itself. If it sounds confusing, it's because I'm still struggling to mentally visually how the dimensions relate to each other-at one appearing to fold the world within itself, a cube world discovering diagonals as a hidden plane rotates against, or within or on top of it, and it's all quite confusing, isn't it? When you look around from a 3D perspective, you'll need to rotate your way through the fourth dimension to continue exploring. Items might fall from rocks blocks or trees outside of your current frame of reference caves may open up into forest valleys or you could be attacked by terrifying Hyperspiders that don't fit into the current frame of reference. There are tools available to assist you in understanding the 4D space. Making 4D glasses from a mysterious ore will let you see things that are not in your limited perspective, while the compass does more than inform you of where you are, but provides a clear picture of how the 4D space is actually constructed. At the moment, 4D Miner is a very basic emulation of Minecraft's mechanics. The dimension is an added layer of complexity to something even as simple as "how do I build a house in four-dimensional space". The developer even plays with the idea of a four-dimensional multiplayer, which could be an amazing way to get confused with a friend. "On the surface, this game does appear a little like Minecraft and the inspiration is unquestionable," Mashpoe said in an explainer on YouTube. "But things like building, gathering resources and even navigating the game are entirely different. This impacts pretty much every mechanic of the game. "I intend to extend this aspect of the game in the near future, so that most of my new game mechanics focus on how players interact with the fourth dimension." Mashpoe tried to get started on 4D Miner last week but was unsuccessful. He has now taken to Patreon (opens new tab) to further develop the. In the end, it's difficult to say whether 4D Miner will be able to stand on its own merits as a game, or remain a curious tech demo that's too confusing for its own good. However, I'd like Mashpoe to continue his work in 4D space. Let me take a moment to relax the tension, this whole dimension-bending thing has given me a headache.