An Interview With Jackson Radford

Farming District

Designed by Jackson Radford

Enoch
64 Bit
Jackson Radford

     In 2009, Markus Persson developed a game that would sweep the internet- Minecraft. To date more than 29,000,000 people have registered to play and nearly 6,000,000 have purchased the game. According to Mojang, "Minecraft is an open world adventure/building game that you can play by yourself or in multiplayer. Whatever you put your mind to, you can design and create in this game. It is being used in social building projects as well as in many schools around the world. Children as young as 3 are able to play Minecraft. Many families are very happy to have a creative and fun game to play together."

     Several of our students at Trinity are Minecraft fans. Jackson Radford is one of them. A gifted designer and writer, Jackson develops skins and features that make playing the game both interactive and personal. He gave me a walk-through and answered a few questions.

     
     So, how did you first become interested in Minecraft?

          
          My brother was playing it. The game was very casual and I liked it.

    
     How long have you been playing?

         
           A little over a year.

     
     Where do you begin?

          
          First you Google Minecraft Skin Editor and choose one suited to you. There are several to choose from. The editor will show you a preview of your design.

     
     Do you design as you play?

          You design, download to your computer and upload to the website. Then you play.

     Why Minecraft, as opposed to some of the more realistic games?

          The graphics are low which means the playing field is as large as your computer's capacity, almost twice the size of more realistic games. My map is 1.8 times the surface of the Earth.

     Can other players use your designs?

          Yes, my maps. I can upload them to the website or email them to another player. This Summer I plan to make a mod (modification). First, you program in Java, compress to a zip file, and upload to Mediafire or AdF.Ly. Next the mod is posted on Minecraft's forum where other players can install it to their game.

     Where did you learn to write code?

          I started with a game called roblox.com. You can create your own world by using a programming language called Lua. Then I taught myself C++. I began using Java because I wanted to create phone apps.

     What are skins and how many have you created?

          Skins are the physical appearance of a character. I've designed 15.


     Are you considering a career in game design?


          Yes.


      You have a great future ahead of you, Jackson. Blessings!




Here's a video of Jackson working on a skin and walking around in the game-