User:MentalMouse42/Overview

This is meant to be an overview of Minecraft, not from the pure newbie's or munchkin's point of view, but for someone who thinks of games in terms of structure and balance.

Basic structure
Minecraft is a hybrid game. Its original form was as a "sandbox" game, in which the player has pretty free reign to manipulate the world. However, it has since acquired an "adventure" component as well, in which the player is confronted by both the need for certain resources, and hazard from various threats. There are three major game modes, each of which offers different emphasis on these two aspects of the game. Any of these modes can be played in single-player or multi-player modes.

All three modes share the same basic world structure: A grid matrix of cells (in-game, "blocks"), which is finite vertically, but which is automatically extended horizontally as the player(s) move about. Each of these blocks can be empty ("air"), can be filled with some material, or contain an object ("item block"), which is usually connected to one or more adjacent blocks. There are also "entities", objects which may move across the grid, and (unlike blocks) are usually not limited to integral coordinates. These entities include the player, "mobs" (both hostile and friendly), occasional vehicles, and "item entities" representing blocks and items which have become detached from the matrix proper. (There are a few immobile entities which are also fixed to the grid.) The player can convert blocks into items, and collect them in the inventory for later use. The player can do various things with items: most can be placed into the world, many can be converted into different items, and some consumed directly by the player. The inventory is large, and there is no encumbrance mechanic.

Creative mode is the purest expression of the "sandbox" aspect of Minecraft: Resources are infinite, obstacles can be wiped away easily, and the player not only invulnerable, but has total freedom of action, including access to many "internal" game commands for manipulating the world. In this mode, players can create huge and complex structures, or experiment with the subtleties of game mechanics. Creative mode also doubles as the "build" mode for creating "custom" maps, which can be copied for use by other players.

Survival mode represents a balance between sandbox and adventure aspects, generally biased toward the sandbox side. The prospect of injury and death appears, and also the need for food. However, most hazards are avoidable, and food is plentiful. Death results in being respawned at a fixed or previously-chosen location, while the player's items remain at their death location (where they can be lost or destroyed). Environmental hazards also appear, notably monster attacks, falling, drowning, and burning. The level of hunger affects healing: near-complete satiation allows injury to heal over time, while starvation inflicts damage. Nearly any block or object can be destroyed, but some require special tools to collect them as items.

Several difficulty levels vary the level of hazard, and add or remove various dangers, including making exceptions to the above. To summarize the difficulty levels:
 * Peaceful: No monsters are present, and food is not necessary for healing.
 * Easy: Monsters appear, but with weak attacks.  Starvation will reduce the player to at worst half their maximum health.
 * Normal: Monsters attack at nominal strength, and some have special attacks.  Starvation and poison can reduce the player to minimum health (that is, extreme vulnerability).
 * Hard: Monster attacks are more powerful, and starvation can kill the player outright.
 * Hardcore mode: Identical to hard mode, but the player does not respawn upon death.  That is, death is a true "game over" for the player.

Adventure mode shifts the game strongly toward the "adventure" aspect of the game. Play is always, or at least begins, on a previously prepared map, rather than on the randomly generated and unlimited map of the other modes. Similarly, destruction and collection of blocks is more tightly limited. The map provides various constraints, resource limits, and objectives, and can apply special rules or responses for player action.

Of these modes, Survival at Normal difficulty represents the "canonical" Minecraft experience, and most of the following discussions of balance and game structure will refer to this mode. (While Creative mode is popular for artistic efforts, game balance and structure hardly apply to it.)