Minecraft’s Update Aquatic Went the Extra Mile By Recording Actual Dolphins

The forthcoming Update Aquatic is coming to Minecraft very soon. And it looks like quite the update, based on our most recent article detailing what players can expect. But you may be surprised just how in-depth Mojang went with the development of its update.

In a new blog post, the team behind the massive blocky hit explained that it actually went to record real life dolphins in order to add some realism to Update Aquatic. "As part of preparing this ocean mob for primetime, we sent Mojang's lead sound designer Samuel Aberg to record some actual dolphins as they splashed about at Kolmarden Wildlife Park," the company explained.

"A trainer helped me communicate with them," Aberg explained. "Using hand signs, she encouraged them to make different kind of sounds. I had no idea of the extreme variety of sounds a dolphin can make: whistles, clicks, farts, claps, hisses. A lot of their communication goes way, way, way above frequencies any human ear can pick up."

Special equipment was needed to record the right way, including underwater microphones and a "click detector."

"Dolphins use these clicks to navigate underwater," Samuel explains. Dolphins have a fine-tuned ability to detect when their clicking sounds echo back at them off nearby surfaces, giving them a sense of the distance and size of the objects around them. It's an ability called echolocation. "To me it sounds sort of like a creaking door," says Aberg.

He also spoke with Dr. Mats Amundin about the communication with dolphins in general. "They have a big, advanced brain - bigger than ours - and they have a high potential for learning. They learn quickly, and they can sort out rather complicated tasks," he explained.

"I don't think that they have a language like ours. Our hypothesis is that they mainly communicate emotions and social intentions, and group cohesions. More 'here and now' than 'what are your comments on what happened yesterday at this event'."

You can read more about the process over at this link. But it just goes to show how deep the team is willing to go to make Minecraft fans feel that rush of aquatic joy.

Minecraft is available now for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, 3DS, PC, mobile, Wii U, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PlayStation Vita.