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Looks like Mojang will be supporting the new Minecraft launcher on Linux

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Good news Minecraft [Official Site] fans! Mojang seem to have changed their minds on Linux support for the new Minecraft launcher they are working on.

Originally, I spoke to one of the Minecraft developers in July where they said they had no official plans for it.

The new launcher will not use Java, but Minecraft itself still will.

Now in a reddit post the same developer has said this:
QuoteWe currently have a build for Windows and OSX, but we'll try to have a Linux one ready for testing shortly.

And then the FAQ about platforms says:
QuoteLinux: None as of yet, but we're having our top man look into it.
The top man's name is Shoghi.


They also shared a shot of the new launcher:
image

This is good, as Minecraft is massively popular and it would be a shame to see us sidelined after supporting us for so long. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Tags: Editorial
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I am the owner of GamingOnLinux. After discovering Linux back in the days of Mandrake in 2003, I constantly came back to check on the progress of Linux until Ubuntu appeared on the scene and it helped me to really love it. You can reach me easily by emailing GamingOnLinux directly. Find me on Mastodon.
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Nor Mantis Oct 26, 2016
Ever since I played StarMade, Minecraft has lost its luster. StarMade is my go to when I get the block building itch. Have not played Minecraft a few years. Maybe its time for another look.

Have not played Minetest but know about it. I like what I see, maybe I will give that a go as well.
Crazy Penguin Oct 26, 2016
Quoting: fabry92finally no java gg

What is wrong with Java? ;P

Quoting: edogreat news, I dont play it, but there has to be 17 linux users somewhere than do it lol

There are a hell lot more then 17 xD. Also all hosted Minecraftservers, I have come accross so far running on Linux.


Last edited by Crazy Penguin on 26 October 2016 at 7:09 pm UTC
QubeUK Oct 26, 2016
This is great news, since moving to Linux i have been unable to play Minecraft due to some Java / Open GL error that I have been unable to resolve. I cant wait to try a Linux launcher and be able to play again.
MayeulC Oct 26, 2016
Quoting: QubeUKThis is great news, since moving to Linux i have been unable to play Minecraft due to some Java / Open GL error that I have been unable to resolve. I cant wait to try a Linux launcher and be able to play again.

Well, the game is still in java/OpenGL, so I would be surprised if it worked better after this update. You may however want to consider updating your drivers.

That's great news, but the fact that this is just a new launcher is a bit of a bummer. I would have liked a total C conversion.

I still like to play the game from time to time, but there are a few things that could be improved (like full screen, for instance). It's definitely a great game to play with friends.

As for Minetest, it feels like a nice sandbox, but not really a sandbox game, that's where the problem lies for me. I would love to see a Minecraft compatibility layer (also with servers, ideally).
Blauer_Hunger Oct 26, 2016
Why didn't they start a Launcher with Qt, GTK+ or plane OpenGL on Linux? "Porting" (in this case just building for macOS and Windows) would be much easier (Windows: Use MinGW or link against cygwin1.dll; macOS: Just make). Another option would be to open-source the launcher, then Launcher would have been ported almost immediately by the community ... :D
This can be interpreted as another sign from M$ that they don't really want to support Linux and instead try to run their Embrace-Extend-Extinguish-strategy.
ElectricPrism Oct 26, 2016
I know some Linux people who used to play and maybe still will?

As for me I purposely passed over since I'm not sure if their company will be committed to my platform. Therefore, I'm not sure I want to be committed to their company.

Minetest is pretty close to Minecraft and free from my limited knowledge of what it is.

Then there's VoxeLands which is a fork of Minetest so I dunno - seems like there are some options aside from the whole friends thing.
Philadelphus Oct 26, 2016
Quoting: inlinuxdudeI've never played it, but my 16 year old son has played it for several years on my Linux PC, including doing a bunch of mod'ing and other stuff, without much help from me. I'm sure he's learned a lot about computers from this experience, and I'd hate to see him lose the ability to play Minecraft on Linux (although I think he's mostly finally moved on now, but still).
Thankfully the current launcher allows you to stay on past versions—I've been playing 1.7.10 for well over a year now due to it hitting the sweet spot with regards to mods, even though the official version is up to, what, 1.11 now or something?
dvd Oct 26, 2016
Great news!
I really like these kinds of games!
For those who don't like minecraft running on java, check outvoxelands (it's free software, the gameplay is good imo just a bit rough around the edges)
m2mg2 Oct 27, 2016
Quoting: QubeUKThis is great news, since moving to Linux i have been unable to play Minecraft due to some Java / Open GL error that I have been unable to resolve. I cant wait to try a Linux launcher and be able to play again.

I had issues at one point with it running on the java runtime, so I always make sure to use the jdk. OpenJDK or the Oracle one, both work. You may also want to increase you java memory allocation, which you can do through the launcher. It may be a video driver, but it could also be that you are mixing 32/64 bitness if your on 64 bit. On Nvidia make sure you have the 32 libs installed. If you have working direct rendering it really shouldn't be a problem. Unless your video card is just super ancient.
Fornax Oct 27, 2016
To the people saying no one on linux plays Minecraft: Minecraft was the biggest reason I originally started using Ubuntu 4 years ago. Then when I got invited into the Steam for Linux beta I finally deleted my windows 7 partition.

Though I don't really play games very often anymore I sometimes still enjoy a casual game of Minecraft. It's a very good game to take your mind off things.

Besides that I only really play Factorio, I'm a programmer after all :).
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