British Geological Survey Recreate British Isles With Minecraft

The British Geological Survey are responsible for documenting and analysing the geology of mainland Britain. So it was only a matter of time before they got their hands on Minecraft.

The results of their efforts are mightely impressive. With the whole of the UK being represented in Minecraft form, the surface layer is taken from Ordnance Survey’s MasterMap Minecraft effort last year, with the geology beneath added by the guys at BGS.

Professor John Ludden, Executive Director of the BGS, said ; “This work is an outstanding opportunity to get people using Minecraft, especially youngsters, to understand the geology beneath their feet and what it can be used for”.

The Minecraft map is created using data from the BGS’s soil parent material map, by using the parent material data BGS were able to get a general understanding of the geology of Great Britain and create the Minecraft map.

In order to represent the geology found across Great Britain, BGS Geologists had to select a suitable Minecraft block for the parent material types. To do this they tried to find the best match in terms of hardness, texture and appearance. For example, for sand they chose a sand block (that one was easy) but for something a little more complicated like peat they chose a soul sand block, chosen for its sinking characteristics which are very similar to a peat bog.

You can download the BGS Minecraft map, and find out more from the BGS website, HERE.