Blockmania is an open source project started by Benjamin "begla" Glatzel to research procedural terrain generation and efficient rendering techniques in Java using the LWJGL. The engine uses a block-based voxel-like approach as seen in Minecraft.  After proving itself as a solid tech demo begla was joined at first by Anton "small-jeeper" Kireev and Rasmus "Cervator" Praestholm and a full-fledged game concept was born.  Our goal is a game that pays ample tribute to Minecraft in initial look and origin, but stakes out its own niche by adopting the NPC-helper and caretaker feel from such games as Dwarf Fortress and Dungeon Keeper, while striving for added depth and sophistication in the foundation systems akin to DF.