Minecraft

Quick question(s).

I've had java edition for ages, and apparently that now means I can also access bedrock version.
This might be handy for my kids to play with friends who have that version.

Does multiplayer with bedrock work the same as java? One player hosts and the other players join? Or do you need one of those 'realms' things that I don't understand?

Bedrock is cross platform, right? Can a Switch player join a PC player's game? Do they need a Nintendo Online subscription to do so?

I don't really get Nintendo Online tbh. My kids play Fortnite, Rocket League and Fall Guys online and that doesn't need a subscription, but many other games do. It's not all that clear.

I’ve no idea how it works on PC for multiplayer.

Why are the console versions of this game so broken? On Switch I’ll occasionally be stuck on the scrolling background with the main menu never loading in. On Series X, my save is never up to date. Even though I’m not syncing my save with any other console. And on both consoles I can’t download an old realm before it’s permanent deletion because the download never initiates.

I forget how much of an ache playing this game can be sometimes. Was hoping to have a chill evening with the other half, but 2 hours of progress have just vanished into thin air.

I almost started a new thread! Haha.

So, I’m playing locally on Series X. Just a regular World that I had planned to play split screen with the other half yesterday. I’ve only played on this file 3 or 4 times, but on every occasion some level of progress has been lost. In my first instance, my entire cabin, which took a full hour to build and decorate was gone again. In other instances, a couple of hours mining has been undone.

I do have two Series consoles, an X and an S, but the X is the primary. And I don’t play Minecraft on the S, so this shouldn’t be an issue with one console syncing with the other.

I also always quit out of the game when I’m done and shut it down. I don’t use the quick resume feature, which was the only other issue I could have imagined might break my save file or revert to an earlier state. And yet perhaps just once has it seemingly picked up from where I left off previously.

On Switch, the menus remain a pain to navigate. The store is entirely broken, but that’s ok as I have no intention of ever using it. But occasionally it just loads into a void of nothingness, requiring a reboot.

It’s even more bizarre that the Switch version is meant to be the most profitable console version out there, but at least I’ve yet to loose progress on there.

Except for my Realm, which this morning suffered the same issues as last night. The download never starts.

I wouldn’t mind so much, but the realm was made during lockdown as a way for me to keep an old work group together. Some of which were in a bad place at the time. It’s all a day or two away from being lost forever now.

I’ve emailed support, but we’ll see what happens.

I bought the Switch version because I thought it'd be easier than all the hassle we have to mess with to get local multiplayer working on PC... but split screen on switch appears to be totally busted.

The second user's controls just lag ridiculously. Like you'll press left and it'll do nothing, and then it'll start moving left about 2 seconds later.
Which makes controlling your character's direction like trying to control a drunk baboon. And makes navigating the menus almost impossible. (even if the menus weren't absolutely tiny on split screen).

Apparently it's been a known issue for a year or two. Can't believe they get away with something so shoddy for such a big game. (apparently back in the day the switch ports of Java edition were handled by another company, and were good, but now only bedrock is available and it's atrocious in places).

Seems to work ok for singleplayer at least.