0x10c

Overview

0x10c was a game announced by Mojang as the follow-up to their phenomenally popular smash hit, Minecraft. The pronunciation of the title was deliberately left vague by its developers, though lead designer Markus Persson said on Twitter that he personally refers to the game as "To the C". One of the most distinctive features of the game was its shipboard computer system. Each ship in the universe featured a fully functional emulated CPU, which is based on the obsolete technology of the 1980s and was fully programmable with a real programming language. It can control the ship's systems as well as simply pass the time with games.

History

Following the release of Minecraft in November of 2011, the game's lead designer, Markus Persson, unexpectedly handed development over to Jens Bergensten, freeing his own schedule. In March the following year, Persson began development of a space-themed title set in the distant future. Citing the television show Firefly and the game Elite as direct sources of inspiration, Mojang filed a trademark for the term "0x10c", which, in mathematical formula, equals 281,474,976,712,644 - the year the game is set in. Following a April Fool's joke of naming the game "Mars Effect", (in reference to Mass Effect), 0x10c was officially announced.

The concept behind the game featured a large group of humans who went into cyrogenic hibernation in the late 1980s in order to explore space in slower-than-light starships. Unfortunately, due to a programming error, the ships didn't wake them up and the humans drifted through space for trillions of years, awakening in the year 281,474,976,712,644, where most of the stars in space would be dying out, and one of the primary overarching goals for all players to work on would be finding a way to reverse entropy and prevent the heat death of the universe.

Persson predominantly developed the game on his own, with Mojang AB's web developer, Tobias Mollstam, having assisted with the web implementation on mojang.com and made the game compatible with Mac OS X. Following the Penny Arcade Expo 2012, Mojang transitioned some of its staff power towards the development of 0x10c. In late September of 2012, Mojang hired 3D artist Jonatan Pöljö to help establish an art style, while Minecraft's sound engineer and composer, Daniel Rosenfeld, joined the project, as well.

Despite some progress with conceptualization and art style between Persson and Pöljö, development of 0x10c slowed to a stop by April of 2013, as Persson claimed to have hit a creative block. Subsequently, 0x10c was shelved until further notice, and is assumed to be cancelled.