The Entire Earth Has Been Constructed To Scale In 'Minecraft'

Many of us have dreamed of travelling the world at some point in our lives - to just pack up our belongings and visit various places across the globe. And while that might seem like a pipe dream for most of us, especially now with the current coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, it's something that might actually be a possibility at some point in the future, albeit virtually, via Minecraft.

Youtuber PippenFTS (via Eurogamer) has claimed to have created a 1:1 scale version of the Earth in Minecraft. This has apparently been impossible until now due to the height limitations in place inside of the game. But by using the mod Cubic Chunks, this restriction has been removed. According to PippenFTS Cubic Chunks "changes the shape of Minecraft chunks to 16x16x16 cube, giving you infinite build depth in both vertical directions".

A second mod (Terra 1-1) was then used to pull geographical data from Google Maps and recreate that information with Minecraft blocks. But, as Eurogamer points out, this method is by no means flawless. Many landmarks have been inaccurately interpreted, such as mountains without snowy peaks and glaciers made up of snow rather than ice. The Egyptian pyramids have fallen foul of this too, appearing as just "mounds of clay".

Because of this, PippenFTS has launched a Discord server and has asked for players to help him rebuild the world. Essentially, the two mods have done a lot of the hard work in terms of terrain but much more effort will be needed to recreate buildings and man-made landmarks across the entire planet.

And if you think it's far too big a task for any number of people to undertake, you may well be proved wrong. The project seems to be taking off in a huge way as PippenFTS says in the video's comment section. "I was not expecting a response like this. I am at a loss for words guys. The discord response is INSANE. This project is rocketing into motion and it looks like we're going to be able to accomplish it."

There's no denying that the project has started at a good time where many people may find they have a lot more free time on their hands. And as a few commenters pointed out, if you can't go outside in the real world, then let's build one where you can.

Featured Image Credit: NASA/Microsoft

Topics: Minecraft