This Cyberpunk-Inspired Minecraft Build Is So Detailed It's 'Breaking PCs'
While we're used to seeing blocky recreations of The Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones, and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time in Minecraft, it's easy to forget you can build literally anything in Mojang's sandbox. With 2020 being a huge year for gaming, we've seen blockbuster titles like The Last of Us Part II, Ghost of Tsushima, Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, and Spider-Man: Miles Morales climb the charts. Some of these games have been hyped for years, but when it comes to CD Projekt Red's Cyberpunk 2077, patience has been a virtue. Now, someone has rebuilt Cyberpunk 2077's Night City in Minecraft.
The launch of Cyberpunk 2077 has been plagued by problems with glitches and critiques of lacklustre graphics, but when it comes to rebuilding each of the six distinct districts, graphics don't really matter in the cubic Minecraft. Notorious Minecraft builders Elysium Fire hinted at their own Night City over a year ago - long before the game hit shelves. Much like the agonising wait for Cyberpunk 2077, we've been excitedly looking forward to this massive Minecraft marvel.
Cyberpunk Minecraft build: What does it look like?
The Elysium Fire Cyberpunk build is a truly colossal feat of engineering, and just like the game it's modelled on, it's having a few teething troubles. It turns out the Minecraft map is so big, it's actually breaking some people's PCs. Discussing this Everest of a task with PC Gamer, Elysium Fire founder, Jeremy Sanchez, explained it took a team of 15 people 18 months to craft the map. Added to this, creating the impressive showcase video and post-production work tacked on another six months, meaning the whole thing clocked in as a two-year project.
Interestingly, Elysium Fire's version of Night City isn't an exact replica of CD Projekt Red's version. Instead of referencing images from Cyberpunk 2077, developers took influence from a number of sources. Sanchez said, "We improvised some designs and we were inspired by artwork found on the internet. But, for the most part, the constructions came straight from our imagination and we were inspired by the perspectives and the play of light offered by the shaders".
Even if it's not an exact Cyberpunk replica, you could easily see this one slotting into Night City's backdrop.
Cyberpunk Minecraft build: Will it break your PC?
When pressed on problems with the Cyberpunk Minecraft build breaking PCs, Sanchez admitted that while this is the case, the right settings can ensure it'll run smoothly. He reiterated that decreasing render distance and removing shaders should help. Sanchez said, "My old configuration ran the build correctly. It was an i5 generation with an Nvidia GTX MSI 970".
If your PC can handle the punch, you're encouraged to enjoy the build as intended. Sanchez also highlighted how it was picked up by Nvidia's Minecraft RTX patch. This means the Night City recreation can be enjoyed with added ray-tracing to really pop. Be warned, it'll definitely push your PC to the max if you keep RTX switched on.
Either way, the Cyberpunk Minecraft build is a real beauty. Alongside a monorail, wind farm, and shimmering billboards, there's a giant holographic phoenix to welcome you to this technological landscape. Will you risk blowing up your PC to play Cyberpunk 2077 in Minecraft? At least you'd be going out with a bang.
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Images via CD Projekt Red | Elysium Fire
