M¯aori world made for Minecraft
A Coromandel game designer has created the first official Ma¯ ori world for the critically-acclaimed video game Minecraft.
Whetu Paitai, of Piki Studios, had five weeks to construct Nga¯ Motu (The Islands), a world for Minecraft’s classroom version, Minecraft: Education Edition.
Students are able to experience and build on life in a Ma¯ ori pa¯ and learn more about Ma¯ ori language and culture.
‘‘We are part of a long line of people that have contributed to our culture, so we feel absolutely privileged to add our little kumara plant to it,’’ Paitai said.
‘‘This is the biggest project we have been involved in, and we are part of a global ripple at the moment.’’
More than 100 million people play Minecraft, a video game in which players build with a variety of different blocks in a 3D world, and Piki Studios has become an official member of its Partner Programme, meaning they can share their creations in a world-wide Minecraft Marketplace.
Paitai was supported by two professional translators, Hemi Kelly and Piripi Walker, to translate the instructions and language pack for the game.
There were even some new words for some of the in-game Minecraft items. And while Microsoft had previously released te reo Ma¯ ori editions of existing resources, such as last year’s Voyage Aquatic and Hero’s Journey, this is the first time an official world has been created in Minecraft: Education Edition, especially for Aotearoa.
In Nga¯ Motu, mobs of moa and kiwi can be found around the palisades of a traditional pa¯ , with a waka hourua floating in the harbour. Students can build their own wharenui and learn words in te reo Ma¯ ori from friendly guides modelled on Paitai’s own children and their friends, or via in-game exercises.
The game’s resource packs swap typical Minecraft swords for more appropriate patu and soon intrepid voyagers will be able to visit the taniwha living off the coast as the game grows.
‘‘It was important to make sure te ao Ma¯ ori was respected as its own being; the mana and cultural IP of each artefact upheld and maintained throughout the process,’’ Paitai said.