Minecraft has become a game that satisfies the adventurer, role player, and engineer in all of us. That is why to date there are over 40 million people who play the game on PC, Mac, consoles and mobile devices. Many people are attracted by the immense size of Minecraft, which uses a regenerating code for a seemingly infinite and unique world. On March 28, 2011, a gamer by the alias of Kurt J. Mac loaded a new game of Minecraft with one goal in mind: To walk to the end of the world.

It has been three years since he started his journey, and he has journeyed about 435 miles (700 km) in game in about 180 hours. This is approximately the same distance from Boston to Washington D.C. Although his journey has been making good progress, he is still around 7,456 miles (12,000 km) away from the edge of the world. At his current pace it will take him about another 22 years to get there.

Minecraft’s universe is procedurally generated, meaning that every hill, mountain, cave, river, and mob is placed by an algorithm that makes it unique every time a new game is loaded. Markus Persson, the game’s creator, programmed these worlds to be infinitely large. At extreme distances from the player’s spawn point, however, a glitch in the mathematics will cause the landscape to fracture into odd shapes and patterns.

“Pretty early on, when implementing the ‘infinite’ worlds, I knew the game would start to bug out at long distances. But I did the math on how likely it was people would ever reach it, and I decided it was far away enough that the bugs didn’t matter.” — Markus Persson

Persson wrote a blog post about these areas that he calls the “Far Lands,” giving Mac the idea to start his journey and document it all on his YouYube page, “Far Lands or Bust!”

Mac turned his Minecraft adventure into a commentary as he filmed each episode, each one lasting about 30 – 35 minutes.

“The series transformed into a sort of podcast, where the topics I talk about might have little to do with the journey itself. Of course, it is always exciting when Minecraft re-grabs my attention with a perilous cliff, a zombie attack, or a memorable landscape, and I remember the journey I’m on.” — Kurt J. Mac

Kurt’s channel has over 300,000 subscribers, and the revenue he accrues from the game allowed him to quit his job as a Web Designer and explore Minecraft full time. Mac doesn’t just keep everything for himself, however. In June of 2011, he partnered with the charity Child’s Play, which provides hospitalized children with toys and games worldwide.

“It has allowed the series to become more than just about reaching the Far Lands in a video game, but actually making a difference in the real world.” — Kurt J. Mac

Mac motivates people to donate money by not revealing how far he has traveled in game until certain goals have been met. To date, Mac’s journey to the end of Minecraft has raised over $250,000 for the charity.

Mac knows how long it could take him to reach the Far Lands, but he doesn’t let that get him down.

“This has always been about the journey and not the destination.” — Kurt J. Mac

Like the dead terrain surrounding Mordor, Mac is already seeing signs that he’s approaching the Far Lands.

“I’ve started to experience some of the effects of traveling so far from spawn. Items and entities are somewhat disjointed from the terrain around them, causing a jitter as I walk.” — Kurt J. Mac

Some people feel he will experience glitches that will make the game unplayable long before he ever reaches the Far Lands. To that, Mac simply said, “We will see when we get there.”

Mac’s journeys can be viewed at his YouTube channel here. Have you ever attempted something like this in a game before? Do you think he’ll reach the end? Let us know what you think in the comments!

Source: The New Yorker

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