Pig in a tree is the funniest gaming pic of the day

Visiting the Survival Multiplayer of PLanet of Cubes, you can see some things.

As I was running through the woods today looking for the next stop to wait out the zombies,  I looked up and saw this pig in a tree.

Not that I was actually looking for a pig in a tree but it was a funny sight. He was just sitting there taking in the day. Animals in games like these are funny AIs because they’re just wandering around the board.  Are you an animal lover? If you say the furrier the better, the scalier the cooler, the more animals the merrier, then this is the category of game for you.

Something else I didn’t think about is that if you wanted to farm these animals it would only take a few blocks to lock them in and boom! You’ve got a pet! Just something to think about when you see a pig in a tree or any other area in Planet of Cubes.

 

Mobile gaming has yet to peak: It's time to get on board

 

Planet of Cubes is just the beginning of what mobile gaming is expected to bring to new users. 

While other sandbox game titles like Minecraft will always dominate, there is so much space for everyone in the industry. The mobile gaming industry is raking in around $30 billion per year. There’s higher expectation that it will soon surpass consoles and PCs.  Meanwhile it already makes up 42 percent of the gaming industry revenue around the world, according to numerous reports. 

Globally, the gaming market will hit $100 billion this year, mostly driven by the evolution of mobile gaming, and upcoming consoles. Anyone who still doesn’t consider mobile gaming “true gaming” is behind in the times and has no care in looking at the worldwide stage. People want to carry their gaming experiences with them, connect with friends, etc. Static, yet expensive consoles aren’t made for that. While they do make cases for mobility, it’s all risk. In addition, it’s totally unnecessary and avoidable. Add Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality to the conversation and that’s a Friday night special at the house – far from mobile gaming. That’s just fine too. 

And it’s only growing. According to the Motley Fool, last year,  mobile gaming worldwide made as much revenue as the global box office. Most story lines in the gaming world are unique, if not better than what’s in movie theaters, thus being the reason why this competition isn’t a competition at all: It’s evolution of storytelling. Companies like Zynga are aware of this, and are working to keep up. According to reports, Zynga is planning a 15 percent turnaround in their mobile gaming, which moved them from overweight to neutral by analyst Piper Jaffray.

In other words, if you're thinking about getting into the mobile gaming industry, this year may be the year to reserve your seat.

Multiplayer Update available!

According to information provided by the good folks at Planet of Cubes, the multiplayer update is now available in the Mac store! 

Now you can create your own friends and chat with them privately! Added instantaneous teleport to any friend! Even better, now you can see a list of players from around the world that are around you. 
Other updates included:  Added 3D person camera, TNT explosions, bow / arrow potions, and beer! Using enhanced Arc Arms: Bow, Arrows, and Snow Balls (Longer Arch Endurance), added the chance to launch the eggs! Battle Mode Added Reuse! Added new skin for some monsters! Improve motion animation elements! Improvement in Sneak mode. Added Sneak animation mode reader! Fancy option added graphics for powerful devices! The creator added selection feature element. Upgrade Spawn Logic Area, Modify Marker Messages and Status Area Spawn! Containing smooth graphics, realistic shadows, and added enhancements! Improve world performance and fixed errors!

Portal Jumping in the New Year

 

When you're portal jumping, anything is possible.

Portal jumping in Planet of Cubes Survival Multiplayer can be fun, but also terrifying. 

You know, it's already pretty rare that I go too far off the base map because you guess it - I have NO PROTECTION (haha). So today in light of the New Year I thought why not? Let's take a portal jump. The photo above shows one of those jumps I took through the portal. Looks great doesn't it? Very nice scenery - 

Travel further down the rabbit hole and you've got this: Spiders and Skeletons shooting at you. I was done.  Not gonna lie to ya - that caught me off guard. So I did what any Planet of Cubes player would do in a situation that you're not prepped for - craft fast, find a hole, and barricade yourself! In the photo on the left you can see that I only had a wooden hoe and a dream to hold on to. Needless to say I was killed by a spider and and soon I will have my revenge. 

I think the biggest issue I'm having right now is the fact I'm not defending myself very well. Longest time out in the Surivor mode? Two days. Usually I forget what time it is and get caught up in the Zombie Apocalypse at night. Have you SEEN HOW MANY COME OUT? CRAZY! 

ALSO READ: My Bunny, My Roomate

Naked and Afraid: Don't enter the Survival area without gear!

Planet of Cubes players have probably figured out that you shouldn't enter the wiles of the Survival area without arming yourself.  And then there's me - a guy that's always trying stuff out and wondering what it's not working out for me. haha.

In my defense I had a fairly decent plan. I was going to head out to the Survival area, mine a little bit, and get back into the safe zone before the sun went down. However wasn't the case because I fell into a dark hole. By time I got back up to the top, the Sun had set. It was dark.

Here come the spiders!

Before I knew it, I was racing around trying to simply hide and stay alive. I had no weapon other than a wooden ax. No armor, nothing. Just out there in the woods feeling like a helpless deer.

And that's when I saw her.  Her blonde hair from a distance made me think, "Hey, maybe she'll help me." No. That was wrong, very wrong. She watched me. Just just kept turning in my direction, observing every move. As I eluded the spider she approached me, and began to attack! I did wonder however why she was out there in the first place. It was a very creepy feeling - knowing that some Planet of Cubes players are only out there to kill ignorant "Naked and Afraid" guys like myself who know better.

I learned some things after being stabbed in the back - literally: Watch the bulky areas, GET GEAR, and don't think alliances are that simple. A hunter is a hunter.  Planet of Cubes Multiplayer Survival will be an growing and learning experience.

May the odds forever be in your favor!

24 hour Travelbug!

It's back! Log into Planet of Cubes and find this week's travel bug! The block will  e go.d with a scarab on it.

Hint: Flowers on fire near water

-61:-68

An easy one!

A Maze in Comfort City

Since renting chunks became a thing, people are becoming more confident  in their creations on Planet of Cubes. This brush maze is awesome.

Winter Build: Planet of Cubes contest underway!

I know I haven't been on since the new year started soooooo....

Happy New Year! Like, almost a month later - The joys of work and being busy. However, I did get a tweet from the good folks over at Planet of Cubes about a contest they're doing. So if you 're not part of the Planet of Cubes community, here are the details:

Planet of Cubes Contest: Winter Theme Build

 1. Build anything and everything according WINTER theme in Planet of Cubes. For example: Snowman, Christmas Tree, Snow City, Snow Palace, Winter Pixel Art, Skies and vice versa!
2. Made screenshot of your Creation.
3. Attach your screenshots to the comments on the website or send to poc.support@solverlabs.com

Prize:
1st place: 1500 coins
2nd place: 1000 coins
3rd place: 500 coins

For those who are looking to update your skins and things of that nature this is PERFECT for you! And you know when I get the chance I'll premiere my creation here. Should be fun!

A Planet of Cubes contest is just what the community needed to get the new year off right, so this is going to be very cool to see what has been built. I'll be online most of these week in the evenings around 10 p.m EST - Look for Virgounitis!

Contest Details: 
1. Build anything and everything according WINTER theme in Planet of Cubes. For example: Snowman, Christmas Tree, Snow City, Snow Palace, Winter Pixel Art, Skies and vice versa!
2. Made screenshot of your Creation.
3. Attach your screenshots to comments here or send to poc.support@solverlabs.com
Prize:
1st place: 1500 coins
2nd place: 1000 coins
3rd place: 500 coins
- See more at: http://poc.solverlabs.com/content/contest-winter-creativity-take-part-and-win-coins#sthash.nlQQu3VW.dpuf

Contest Details: 
1. Build anything and everything according WINTER theme in Planet of Cubes. For example: Snowman, Christmas Tree, Snow City, Snow Palace, Winter Pixel Art, Skies and vice versa!
2. Made screenshot of your Creation.
3. Attach your screenshots to comments here or send to poc.support@solverlabs.com
Prize:
1st place: 1500 coins
2nd place: 1000 coins
3rd place: 500 coins
- See more at: http://poc.solverlabs.com/content/contest-winter-creativity-take-part-and-win-coins#sthash.nlQQu3VW.dpuf

Planet of Cubes update elminates Griefing

If you're one of the many Planet of Cubes players out there frustrated about the Griefing problem, stand by for the following announcement. Planet of Cubes staff has finally put in place a way to eliminate Griefers from taking over your creation. The next update will have what they call a "renting chunks" update, which means whatever you create, wherever you create it, will be protected.

And the update is apparently happening this month! 

The problem with Griefing has been going on since the game's creation - while many people enjoyed playing the game, and currently enjoy playing the game, many were turned off. It's one thing to create something cool, but it's another when someone is standing by to destroy it.

According to the website, "... So no one except you (the owner of the Rented Chunk) will destroy your creations in the next game version! Imagine all your houses, flats, creations will be saved and not grieved anymore! November, 2015!  When you click on the Rent Chunk button, you will see the screen with all Chunks that are visible in your View Distance range, the status of these Chunks, compass and your position in the Planet!"

Planet of Cubes staff will have the Chunks marked by the following statuses: 

• Grey Color - Available - Chunks that you can Rent
• Green Color - Selected - The chunks that you've just selected
• Yellow Color - Your Chunk - The chunks that you've just Rented
• Orange Color - Occupied - These Chunks were Rented by another players
• Red Color - Spawn Chunk - This is Spawn area where no one can built!

So if you're a former Planet of Cubes player, or one just starting, there's no time like the present to figure out what and where you build for the Holiday season!

[ALSO READ: Griefing: 3 Ways to win without raging]

Guys in response for many requests and messages, your comments, and feedbacks to the game - we are going to add new feature - Renting Chunks to the next update! So no one except you (the owner of the Rented Chunk) will destroy your creations in the next game version! Imagine all your houses, flats, creations will be saved and not grieved anymore!
Now we would love to tell you how it'll work and share some screenshots from the development version of the game! We hope to hear feedback from you, please tell us your thoughts: do you like it or not? Maybe we should optimize it more!? Tell us! So we will have a time to add changes till the game release, that is going to come on November, 2015!
So let's start!
When you click on the Rent Chunk button, you will see the screen with all Chunks that are visible in your View Distance range, the status of these Chunks, compass and your position in the Planet!
All Chunks have status, marked by colors that's mean:
Grey Color - Available - Chunks that you can Rent
Green Color - Selected - The chunks that you've just selected
Yellow Color - Your Chunk - The chunks that you've just Rented
Orange Color - Occuped - These Chunks were Rented by another players
Red Color - Spawn Chunk - This is Spawn area where no one can built!
- See more at: http://poc.solverlabs.com/content/hot-announce-huge-excited-changes-gameplay-chunks-renting-coming#sthash.VptcqlGb.dpuf

Halloween creations?

If you haven't logged on to Planet of Cubes as of late, you're missing out! There are new skins and not to mention possibly a few Halloween scenes! I haven't come across any just yet but I plan to check on this today. I'm sure there are some Halloween statues somewhere! And if you have done some be sure to leave me a message and I'll check it out!

A Planet of Cubes Police Station found

 

I'm not going to lie, I did think it was cool that I walked past a manned police station in Planet of Cubes the other night while in Avatar Land. LOL, every girl online that night had to have been talking to them. It was funny. They were doing patrols and stuff, speaking to people like real cops.

I think it would be really cool when the day comes you see people working at the grocery stores and in the company buildings - that would be different. 

 

Beyond Comfort City

Miles outside Comfort City you'll find this person bathing in the Sunset, and a few other people building. Life beyond the cities in Planet of Cubes is nice for scenery.

Next Planet of Cubes update might save your creation

According to a post from Planet of Cubes, an update is currently in the works to rent chunks. What does that mean?

It means the ability to destroy someone else's creations in the game could be over. While everyone is enjoying the skins updates which also came to Android recently, that update in particular is the one everyone's waiting on, and I think it'll be the determining factor in how popular that game will get when that happens. I've traveled around the Planet of Cubes and I've seen some really nice creations covered in lava blocks and missing blocks too. It's unfair, and something needs to be done about it sooner or later. Otherwise, people are just going to stop playing.

That's all I know for now!

Planet of Cubes: 2 updates we're still waiting for

Planet of Cubes players have been waiting patiently for the latest upgrades: 1.6 is here, but it's still falling short on what the users are really want to see.

Customization of skins still in demand 

One of the top requests made by the thousands of POC players is the ability to customize their skins.

Two of the newest skin packs

The latest update features an impressive assortment of skins to choose from, but still the ability to create your own is what the players want. The reason is simple - players want to be able to make their brand unique, their Guilds and Clans unique to the point they cannot be copied. Not to say the new Planet of Cubes Skins are bad, they're good! Customization would be great -

Players destroying other players' creations 

This has to be the top complaint in the Android Marketplace. Feedback begins with how someone has built a fantastic structure only to see someone come in and destroy it just because they can. The POC Admin really need to look at what's going on when it comes to that issue or users will give up on the game. In fact, many users have already stated they will not play the game until this problem is resolved. And you cannot blame them because who wants to waste days of work only to see it destroyed?

[ALSO READ: Planet of Cubes - The latest news and rumors]

 Look, I enjoy the game - It's a great break from my normal work day and it gives me a chance to do something different.  We know survival multiplayer is coming, and we know they're working on how to stop players from destroying other players' creations. In the meantime, live in the moment!

Design Ideas: Castle Blueprint

Castle Outline

Note: Once a week I will share a different design on my site - have fun building! What you're looking at is the outline for what could be a nice castle. As the game grows, having design ideas for your Planet of Cubes creations will be important - that way you're not stuck creating the basic square houses like everyone else.

ALSO READ:  Design Ideas: Comfort City Fountain

Not that there's anything wrong with that - I've seen some incredible block houses, but it's nice to have your own castle, you know what I'm saying? Of course you do. The design above gives a basic outline for a beautiful four-tower castle. The only drawback is the space inside. I would reccomend expanding the width to maybe 8-10 blocks to increase that space and from there you should be good to go!

Wacky Inflatable Guy

Geocaching: Find This Week's Travel Bug!

You're looking for the Scarab block, seen above.

For those who've been reading the blog for a while now, you know how this goes: Login to Planet of Cubes and search for the Travel Bug. When you find it, reply to this post on what you saw and that will confirm whether or not you found this week's travel bug.

Hints:

This week it's under something.
Starting Point Coordinates are:  46: -87


Phrase to think on: "Love was built here"

What is Geocaching?

Geocaching, also referred to as GPS stash hunting, is a recreational activity in which someone "buries" something for others to try to find using a Global Positioning System ( GPS ) receiver. The pursuit can be thought of as a GPS-enabled treasure hunt. Usually, a geocache consists of a small, waterproof container that holds a logbook and inexpensive trinkets. Participants are called geocachers.

For POC Players, I simply post the coordinates and you find the Bug! Very easy! No GPS tools needed LOL!

Have fun!

What do I do when I find the Travel Bug?

Reply to this post!  I'll ask you a few questions to make sure you saw correct!

Warriors of Ancient City

Found some cool warriors in Ancient City tonight. Go check them out!

As you can see below, the city has some buzz - I think the people here were part of a clan.

[ALSO READ ABOUT THE GUARDIAN  AT AVATAR ISLAND!]

Exploring the Caves of Machu Picchu

Venturing the Caves of Machu Picchu begins in brief darkness. And for a moment you think there's nothing until you see the rocks. Most caves can be seen in the daytime and with enough light around at night. 

Turning around you can see from beyond the waterfall.

If you're the introvert, this cave is for you! 

The further you get, you enter another world filled with a quiet beauty.

Had to dig this hole to get out. Most of the time there are no exits in underwater caves.