A user of Minecraft wonders how many game files can be removed before the game is rendered unplayable, and the results are interesting.
The user deleted as many files as they could to see what the limit was in an attempt to determine whether Minecraft could exist on a fine line between playable and broken. Even though the sandbox game from Mojang was released in 2011, with the alpha version appearing a few years earlier, sales were still very strong in 2022. This ongoing success is largely attributed to the countless ways fans can amuse themselves.
The best boredom buster, in the opinion of many, is Minecraft. A lot of time has passed for players to become more than familiar with the mechanics from those first few nights just trying to survive to booting up in creative mode in order to build elaborate structures. In addition to letting players let their imaginations run wild, Minecraft is renowned for its unique visual style. There is something visually arresting about the game with its blocky aesthetic and vibrant textures, but one person decided to see if they could get rid of all those eye-catching hues.
YouTuber Mysticat wondered if it was possible to remove just enough files from the PC version of Minecraft to make it completely unusable, but without actually crashing everything, in a test that many would not dare attempt. In essence, they tried to remove as little as possible from the game, leaving it at its most basic. This was a challenging task considering the enormous volume of files that make up Minecraft’s assets and source code. With the game alone containing 6,814 source code, or “class,” files, it required a lot of trial and error. To prevent the launcher from automatically redownloading missing assets, the first step was to turn off any internet connections.
Mysticat was able to transform the open world into a jumble of black and purple placeholders by removing Minecraft’s distinctive textures. The fonts and text files were also deleted, making it impossible to read what was onscreen. Two other “Colormap” files were crucial for producing the game’s grass graphics. Mysticat wiped the textures in Photoshop, making the world appear more gray, despite the fact that they couldn’t be deleted. However, without the file that allowed the player to spawn into a world, the YouTuber was stuck at the menu after they finally managed to get Minecraft to load to the menu without textures, sounds, or any words onscreen.
Given that Mysticat recently modified Minecraft to make it a 2D side-scroller, it is clear that the modder is eager to take on challenging projects. It’s interesting to see which files in particular keep the game together, even though it’s not advised to delete a lot of them.
Minecraft is available on Mobile, PC, PS3, PS4, Switch, Xbox 360, and Xbox One.
Source: Andrew Heaton
