Minecraft Running At 720p Docked Isn't Due To A Lack Of Switch Power, Says Microsoft

It's not really an issue for me, but it would be welcome.

"Microsoft notes that Minecraft's 720p docked/undocked resolution isn't a question of system power, it's down to laziness and rushing a game to market before it's properly finished."

Is how that sentence should have finished. But that would require honesty.

I don't care about that stuff anyway.games is what matters.

@SLIGEACH_EIRE Microsoft is a first party console developers. They could have easily made Minecraft Xbox and Windows exclusive when they acquired Mojang, be happy that the franchise is still multi-platform despite being a Microsoft Studios intellectual property.

Something as minor as this really isn't a big deal, be happy that this is a Switch game to begin with (considering the system's barren software lineup as of typing this).

Hopefully it gets patched in time for its physical release

Gotta give some props to Microsoft not blaming it on their competitor's console, which would have been fairly easy and perhaps even advantageous for them to do.

Blocky graphics are blocky graphics in any resolution.

Why does anyone care? We're talking about the graphics of a game consisting entirely out of huge cubes with blocky textures on them. If you can live with such graphics, why would the lack of a slightly higher resolution be a dealbreaker?

@Frosty_09 True.

A "problem" that isn't really a problem imo, when we're dealing with minecraft here. It's blocky no matter the res.

I'm not really having an issue with the resolution not changing. What I do have an issue with is the noticable slowdown when having trees in view.

I think the problem is framerate for example botw. So i think mojang curently wanted to avoid that.

the game still looks great docked and undocked regardless

@Frosty_09 There is no denying that. That Wii U had so much potential but no-one believed in it

i guess the same applies to blaster master zero. but shovel knight can switch just fine?!

@Frosty_09 That's because there has to be parity between the different console versions, not because they are too lazy to implement it. The moment one of the console versions is too different from the others, it will be harder to update the versions simultaneously.

@SLIGEACH_EIRE Or they had x amount of resources and time and during development they found issues which changed the requirement's priority from essential (if it ever was) to nice to have. Not laziness, just standard project management. Having a working game at 720 is better than a glitched docked game at 1080. Delaying a project of any kind is costly and can impact other projects so they have to objectively see what is actually essential to make the product available.

Sounds like they're just making an excuse for their laziness to me... it would have been easier/cheaper for them to just port it over at 720p... just because it's possible to get it to 1080p doesn't mean they have any intention of doing so.

@AlphaJaguar why would they do that, not even halo is an exclusive

I got an ad for 'free minecraft' on the side of this article lol XD On topic though I don't plan on getting the Switch version but I'm sure people who have gotten it on the Switch will be pleased to hear this

Eh... it's so blocky.
But i'm interested with Portal Knights for very Nice environment (Palm trees, Banana trees, Cactus, Pine Tree, Water, Grass, etc)

@danielman9 98% of Xbox One's library is also on Windows 10: another Microsoft owned platform.

I'm just waiting for the day Minecraft dies and fades from memory.

Not as noticeable as some games, but still would be better if it was higher resolution.

god knows how many hours ive already played on switch. (helped by fact been playing while trying get my 2 little ones to sleep & they have been a nightmare all weekend). But looks great docked on big tv. But it is great just playing it then coming downstairs & just putting it in the dock & its on the big screen. It is such a great feature to have

Please Microsoft, spend your time and money giving us more pixels, that's the most important thing!

@Frosty_09 You misspelled "garbage"

At the end of the day it's Minecraft so it's isn't going to be that big of a difference, I expect a patch will come shortly.

It was the right decision to ship without this upgrade while docked, that can be patched in later. Nevertheless, it highlights that the concept of a "portable home console" is not such an easy thing for third parties in particular to work with. If a big company like Microsoft is stumped enough that this feature wouldn't be a given, being as easily implemented in the devkits as porting is for Unreal Engine 4, imagine the difficulty that smaller companies have.

This is a early window into the technical weaknesses of the NS. The proof of concept sounds great, bit then there's certain aspects like this that can be daunting to approach without Nintendo's help. So this is yet another console where the first party has a huge advantage in knowing how to efficiently utilize the technology, while most others flounder without assistance.

@SLIGEACH_EIRE Game engines based on big open worlds that need to swap a lot of visual objects in and out of memory tend to have problems switching resolution on the fly. That's also why Nintendo themselves didn't do 1080p docked for Zelda, but did do it for Mario Kart 8.

I'm not saying that it isn't possible for Mojang/Microsoft to do, but calling it lazy may be one step too far from a programmer's perspective. I agree on the lack of GamePad inventory management for Wii U though. Either they were lazy or really wanted to uniform the different Minecraft versions with passion.

@Wouwter Props for not telling a blatant lie? Who exactly would have believed that excuse?

For most people it isn't a big deal but for someone who plays on a 4K television the difference between 720p and 1080p was very apparent.I couldn't believe the vast difference in quality on Mario Kart 8 from wiiu to switch.

Aside from Sligeach_Eire's usual biting sarcasm, the suspicion is there.

I'd be more understanding of this if it wasn't about a voxel-based IP owned by Microsoft. That said, shifting from one resolution to another does require some fine-tuning and hopefully Mojang will be given enough time to not focus on the Xbox One edition.

@Wouwter MS is huge (like Sony)-- and the head of Xbox, Phil Spencer, is an avid gamer himself who's repeatedly praised the Switch.

Of course, the MS hatemongers gotta keep beating their drums.

If the device is capable of native 1080p with a stable framerate when docked then thats what devs should push for.

I mean who honestly would be concerned with a 'loading/resolution conversion' screen , not me , and that would buy them the time with regards to the device potentially bottlenecking the game engine.

The lower render distance undocked is intentional though. How comes you never mentioned the FPS issues when undocked?

I think its good that Microsoft and Mojang gor the game out so quickly. The game benefits from running well at 60fps with a good draw distance. Blocks @ 1080p is hardly a necessity.

@Wouwter they really did good with the statement. It even entice me to buy Minecraft for the first time ever.

I couldn't help but feel surprised reading about Microsoft talking about porting a game to a Nintendo console. I know they've left it multiplatform but still sounds almost non-believable.

So when will the Switch get a Halo game?

@PlywoodStick What technical weakness? The game works fine both docked and handheld, provided they set it to render 720p out of the box. Resolution switching while running is weakness in the game's existing engine than anything special porting to Switch. If the game can't handle changing it's resolution while running without a reset, it's a victim of old school engine design. Considering it's a Java-based game from forever ago, why would that be surprising?

And that the publisher, which is Nintendo's direct hardware competitor is dragging their feet on feature parity shouldn't exactly be a surprise

I've been playing the game all day with my girlfriend, and I think I might know the reason why? I'm likely wrong, but it might be because you can play locally, one docked, the other undocked. It's truly amazing to be able to play the game together and have our own screens instead of split screen on Xbox. But, my point is - perhaps they need parity so that this multiplayer mode is equal?

I hope they're working on this though because there are a few glitches I've noticed, such as falling into the floor, blocks weirdly float towards you and there's some slowdown in chests and when it rains. 1080p would be nice too.

@NEStalgia Hm, I poorly worded that. Power isn't the issue- obviously the NS can handle Minecraft of all things at 1080p smoothly, with a fine recent example of a more demanding title being Mario Kario 8 Deluxe. I meant to say that a unique technical feature of the NS (smoothly docking/undocking) is harder to pull off than it looks, if Microsoft is having trouble with it. Granted, it was originally Notch/Mojang's game, not theirs, they just bought Mojang and so acquired the publishing rights.

Is the Minecraft engine for the modern versions really the same one from back when it was originally created as a freeware game? There is a separate freeware classic version which is still available, but is no longer updated, and is much more limited in every way to the modern version. Also, it's been a while since the PC version of Minecraft ditched extraneous versions of Java, and just bundle a specific version with each copy:

https://www.howtogeek.com/210907/minecraft-doesnt-need-java-installed-anymore-its-time-to-remove-it/

Yes, I can see why Microsoft would want the best version to remain a Windows version... But then again, mods assure that anyways.

@PlywoodStick no i knew what you meant. But still the feature of dock/undock works with zero effort if you're not changing resolutions. The issue here isn't really the dock feature, it's the game engine not handling resolution changes on the fly. Quake1 had that problem. Unreal never did. Just an engine flaw/limitation not a lot of modern games suffer from. How many pc games make you restart to change res these days?

They built the mobile version ground up non java, but not console/pc afaik.

Then again win10 has some nt4 under the hood still. Its MS.

Well at least they were more willing to get a working game out the door rather than shipping something broken and then blaming Nintendo. I suspect time with dev kits will help them figure out how to resolve this issue.

So weird that Microsoft is commenting on a game they actually sanctioned for a Nintendo system!! Very strange indeed!!

@Frosty_09 Of course not, it would be cool if they added features that make use of the gamepad. I really would have liked it if there was touchscreen inventory management and motion controlled aiming, as that would make the experience infinitely better. It's just, with there being multiple platforms that get updated regularly and simultaneously, it would be harder for them to implement these features.
But you're definitely right that the game would be a lot more enjoyable. Even Cube Life used the touch screen, and it was a lot faster and easier to use than the pointer.

@AlphaJaguar So what. They still get money if people buy the game, regardless what console it's on.