We reported some exciting Minecraft news in our latest OctoGeek, but that’s not the only big thing happening lately for the popular video game.

Players of the game can now explore the Minecraft NI map developed using Land & Property Service’s Ordnance survey NI (OSNI) digital mapping data and even build upon it, expanding the world even further to include Titanic Belfast, Giant’s Causeway and many other local attractions.

The Minecraft NI map consists of over five billion blocks and equates to an area of almost 14,000km² covering all of Northern Ireland.

The OSNI mapping data is among the most detailed and comprehensive in the world and follows in the footsteps of Ordnance Survey GB which has created Minecraft maps of England, Scotland and Wales from OSGB and provided the software to help create the Minecraft NI map.

Minecraft NI Map

This development comes at poignant time as an educational version of Minecraft has been made available to all post-primary schools in Northern Ireland thanks to a ground-breaking project devised by CultureTECH and funding from the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure.

You can download the Minecraft NI map here.

Minecraft NI Map Giants Causeway

 

Laura Caldwell

Author: Laura Caldwell

Hi, I'm Laura. I'm 30 years old and have a degree in Journalism with Photo-Imaging at the University of Ulster. I have an undying love for Belfast and all that it has to offer, an undying love for sleeping, Tegan and Sara, trashy tv shows, foreign snack-foods and being irresponsible with money. I also quite like origami, reading, jazz, hip-hop, dubstep, anything acoustic and Food Network TV. I've written for The Big List, Culture NI, Chatterbox and The Echo, as well as writing for BBC Across the Line.