Pi Edition

Pi Edition
Author(s)	Mojang AB Aron Nieminen Daniel Frisk
Platform(s)	(ARM only) -
Written in	C++
Latest release	0.1.1
Release date	February 11, 2013
Size	~4 MB
License	Proprietary
Source code	Partial
Website	https://minecraft.net/en-us/edition/pi/

Minecraft: Pi Edition is a version of Minecraft developed for the Raspberry Pi. It is based on an old version Alpha 0.6.1 of Pocket Edition but is slightly cut down, containing a revised feature set and support for multiple programming languages. Pi Edition is intended as an educational tool for novice programmers. Although officially discontinued, it is still available to download for free, from the official downloads page, and users are encouraged to interact with the game using an API.

It was developed by Aron Nieminen and Daniel Frisk.

Pi Edition never received any subsequent updates and is no longer updated.

Development

Release

Minecraft: Pi Edition was originally announced on the Mojang website on November 24, 2012.

There was a compiled build labeled 0.1 on the Mojang repository, albeit encrypted until the game's launch in February 2013, making it inaccessible. When it was first uploaded, however, it was unprotected for a short amount of time, allowing for the download of the game before its true release. On December 20, 2012, Mojang released a post on their official site announcing the release of Pi Edition. However, it was promptly removed and no game release was made.

Minecraft: Pi Edition was publicly released on February 11, 2013, and the previous release announcement post was restored. However, the Pi Edition website still lists its post date as December 20, 2012..

Addition to Raspbian

On September 15, 2014, the Raspberry Pi Foundation announced that Minecraft: Pi Edition would be installed by default with their new versions of the Raspbian operating system.

Discontinuation

Pi Edition never received any subsequent updates, and its developers gave no further insights as to whether they were still developing the version. When brought up to Tommaso Checchi on Reddit on January 25, 2016, he stated the following:

“	The original team has stopped supporting it and starting with 0.9 MCPE became a lot more ambitious technically, which also means that it became a lot harder to strip down to run on a Raspberry Pi. Actually, we finished removing all Pi related code to reduce complexity in 2015. Maybe someday we'll revisit it but I wouldn't hold my breath. On the other hand, Win10 runs on the Pi so you can run the Win10 version there! ... I guess it's something.	„
	— Tommaso Checci on the discontinuation of Pi Edition

Gameplay

Pi Edition was very similar to Pocket Edition in many ways. Like older versions of Pocket Edition, only 256×256×128-block Old worlds could be generated. The player's skin is always the default "Steve" skin. The title and the world selection screens were identical until Pocket Edition updated to 0.7.0.

The player has the ability to sneak, but cannot sprint. Mobs do not spawn, even though the player starts with an iron sword in the hotbar. A bow is also available, but when used, the player will hold the bow back indefinitely until the player selects another item or logs off.

Pi Edition includes all blocks from Pocket Edition Alpha 0.6.1. The only gamemode is Creative and there is no crafting or smelting.

Blocks

• Cobblestone, stairs, and slab
• Stone bricks
• Moss stone
• Wood planks, stairs, and slab
• Bricks, stairs, and slab
• Stone and slab
• Dirt
• Grass block
• Clay
• Sandstone
• Sand
• Gravel
  • Uses the old texture
• Oak, birch, and spruce wood
• Coal, iron, gold, diamond, lapis lazuli, and redstone ores
• Block of Lapis Lazuli
• Block of Gold
• Block of Iron
• Block of Diamond
• Obsidian
• Snow layers
• Glass
• Glowstone
• Nether reactor core
  • Will not activate without API/Mods
• All 16 colors of wool
• Ladder
• Torch
• Glass pane
• Wooden door
• Wooden trapdoor
• Fence
• Fence gate
• Bed
• Bookshelf
• Painting
• Crafting table
  • Cannot be used as there is no crafting
• Chest
  • Uses the old texture
  • Cannot be opened
• Furnace
  • Cannot be used as there is no smelting
• TNT
  • Cannot be lit unless modded version only available with API is hit 4 to 5 times
• Water
  • Cannot be obtained without modding
• Sign
  • Cannot be written on
• Lava
  • Cannot be obtained without modding

Tools

• Iron hoe
• Iron sword
• Bow
  • Does not fire arrows

Plants

• Dandelion
• Cyan flower
• Brown and red mushrooms
• Cactus
• Melon
• Sugar cane
• Oak, birch, and spruce saplings
  • Only grow with bone meal
• Leaves
• Seeds
  • Only grows with bone meal
• Melon seeds
  • Only grows stem, and only grows with bone meal
• Bone meal
  • If used on a grass block, only grows flowers as there is no tall grass

Technical blocks

• Update game block
• Camera
• info_reserved6

Gallery

• 

  First screenshot of Pi Edition from Mojang's blog.

• 

  An image from the removed blog post, appearing to show a Minecraft version of the game Snake.

Trivia

• Despite Pi Edition technically being a modified version of 0.6.1, Pi Edition had sneaking two years before it was added to Pocket Edition in 0.12.1.
• The player's name is always "StevePi".