So Much For StrongHolm

Guys, (And gals), I'm not sure if I'm going to continue building a home in a stronghold - it's getting kinda boring trying to reach the end. Also, after accidentally travelling to the End that time on my old main world, it kinda took the point out of it. (Although there is ore-release 5 now) One nail in the coffin was losing by Blaze Rod powder. I was outside trying to fight Enderman, in the sand near by my home, and, I died. Not by the Enderman, I had a creeper on me too, and it was him that got me. I lost the blaze rod powder. I went straight back out, literally back up the stairs and out into the sand, and I just could not find my stuff! I wasn't that far from my house but I absolutely could not find it. This means going to the nether, which I did to get more blaze rod powder, but the stairs I had dug up to get higher up to get to the stronghold were covered in lava - flowing all down the stairs! I don't know what the hell happened there.


In the mean time I tried to start a new 1.9 pre-release 5 world, and I came across this area not far from spawn:

A mountain with that many holes in it was begging to be asked to converted to a home. I already have ideas. That big hole in the mountain - round the back, the one that looks very door shaped, I could have a dock at the bottom - but in the middle a long sky bridge connecting to that other mountain across the water round the back, the one with the oval hole in the middle. (Picture 3). As there's no lava or waterfalls, I want it to be very different this time, there will be no sandstone outside or cobble, no sandstone corridors inside. I was thinking maybe making it ultra-modern this time? Wool or snow for white outer walls? I think it's a good sign when I spent a couple of hours clearing areas and using the dirt too shape initial rooms, and didn't even notice how much time had passed:

Already you can see dirt stairs going up the right side of the mountain, these will be changed of course.

There's a door hole at the end of this newly patched up wall, leading to:

The upstairs room also has an "off-area" where I just dug some twisty-steps down into what led to a cave. After dying once, I got some Iron ore from a cave to make a bucket and have made a temporary farm at the very top of the mountain where it's mostly flat. Just for now, to keep some health, It may be moved elsewhere eventually. In the bigger lower room that looks out of the mountain, i will add a balcony I think. Already having this many ideas, doing this amount of work so far and not noticing the time is a very good sign.

Also! near the spawn point, which I never noticed initially is a ravine! I have also found two dungeons already! The other day I found a dungeon and actually got coca beans for the first ever time! The first dungeon is a skeleton dungeon and near the surface too! I'll keep the spawner for constant bones.

Literally, here is the hole:

If I turn 360, you can see the my mountain from the opposite direction:

And just inside the opening of the cave is the dungeon:

The other dungeon is inside the mountain itself where I dug down to the cave, that one is only a zombie dungeon, don't really think it's worth keeping the spawner as they only drop rotten flesh. need to explore the whole of that cave more anyway. Was really pleased about finding two dungeons already though.

Still need to finish the apartments on my former main world world2, but need more wool, more snow. No point getting snow because now I've run out of pumpkins for the Snow Golems. Unless I just get all snow from that other chunk (Via a portal in the Nether) - but that's a long process. For the arial shots of this new world I used the new F6 key assignment to float in the air. so whilst in world two I used it and found an old portal a long way from the others I'd forgotten about. It comes out in a new chunk! There's vines on trees so that's good. You can lower yourself in mid-air with F6, but you have to be very quick because you will for. Just wish there was a way to go up, as I need more Glowstone. Especially as I started removing the lamps in the front room because the fences connect to blocks now. They also looked weird when moved one block forward in the front room.

I don't know if I'll eve continue that dock-esq home called "Waterworld", but I really should finish that other big home on this world:

So that's all the news, let me know what you think, it'd be nice to hear some input. =)

Kidnapped - by Enderman!

So StrongHolm is coming along nicely, so far I've got 3 out of the 12 Ender pearls I need to make 12 eyes of ender and travel to the End. I have however, been doing a few other things. I actually picked up my 3rd world with the house I planned in photoshop. I started making changes in 1.8, but the other day I picked it up again and started making more update changes like replacing the piston gates with proper gates and slowly I'm replacing the glass block windows with panes. I might continue to work on it and see how I can improve it, no promises though!


The last couple of night I started working solidly again on my apartment complex on world2, my former main world. I started adding kitchens to each apartment and doing the ceilings and last night I was on a mission to get ALL the glass done so the holes on the walls could be sealed up without the temporary dirt. I've also re-floored the ground floor hallway, added a postal lockers and outside, removed the initial border for what was going to be the pool and filled it in. So without further a do, here is how it currently looks:

The old former reception that looked like this:

Is now a ground floor apartment:

Other floors:

A strange thing happened to me last night however. I was about to go into a chest and I must've right-clicked with my enchanted  sword, and  um... Somehow I teleported to the End! It must be a glitch. I started to come over with fear, not because of being there, but because I had all my stuff on me. I knew the only way out was to die, and I had an enchanted diamond sword and a chest plate and leg armour that were both enchanted. I didn't want to loose all this stuff.. :-/

I took this pick right after I gave myself stuff to make a portal, because, I couldn't think of any other way out than killing myself. As it stands portals do not work in the End. So that was me screwed. I took this picture so that I could give myself back exactly what I had on me, which I wasn't happy about doing, but I don't think it's fair to lose it after being teleported by a glitch. When I got back I initially gave myself to a diamond sword thinking "Maybe it's because it was the sword was enchanted? A normal diamond sword surely wouldn't do it... would it? So I swung my sword (right click) and....

It still did it. So now I can't use a diamond sword. *Frown face* I could give myself the stuff back, which I did, but I would still lose the enchanted sword. and enchanted armor. I've not made a diamond sword since, and it is just a diamond sword because, an iron sword doesn't do it. I was a little mad at being teleported there, I wouldn't have minded if I didn't have much on me, but I was in the middle of doing work on my apartments, so naturally I had a fair bit of stuff on me.

i think I want to keep plugging away on the apartments right now and finish the ceilings (or run out of wool) and keep adding the kitchens and bathrooms to each floor. Still need to skylight the roof over the top floor apartment. (It has it's own ceiling but then their's the apartment block's log roof.) I also need to think about the surrounding back area of the apartments. I've slowly been digging up the stone and replacing it with dirt so it'll all be grassed over and look nice. Time to save this and get ready for work however..

The Quest - To The End!

Until today i was looking around for the portal to the end that I found in the first attempt at making this stronghold a home, but I couldn't find it. Today however I went into one of the many caves that lead of the stronghold, and saw lava drips from a ceiling, which meant it must of been it!  I had to dig my way in but it's there! I can't find an alternative route from the stairs down to it, but coming up through the floor isn't a problem as it's not far away from said stairs anyway. (I was hoping to find a corridor way round). Signs have been placed too.


i have officially named the world Strongholm. It may be a homage to Stonehold from the Yogscast that was inadvertently stuck in the back of my head, but it is a stronghold, so instead of Stoneholm - it's Strongholm!


Already, I have found somewhere near my staircase to dig out and make a living area. Once going down the flight of steps from the surface, into the stronghold, there is then another set of steps to go down , and this is where I will set up my home. So here, at last(!) are some screenshots:

On the surface entrance.

This is where the stairs go, from both directions:

Then down another flight of steps to this wide open space. (Dug out):

This area, will be my home. The gap between the two chests, (The 2nd picture of the stronghold) leads to a long corridor:

To this area:

L - R: Goes to a ravine, the farms, and on the right the unsigned door back to the main entrance to the stronghold.

The cobbled wall leading towards the drippy lava ceiling and, the End portal..

Farms:

A former jail now serves as a mushroom farm

Through the cobbled wall to the End portal..

So, the plan is: Make a diamond pick with the only 3 diamonds I have (done), mine obsidian, make a portal, to find a nether stronghold (Or whatever they are), to get blaze powder from blaze rods, to make an Ender eye, make 12 Ender eye(!) to fix the portal and travel to the End!

More progress to come!

First Stronghold! + Downgrading Hotel

After God knows how many tries at trying to find a 1.9 world that was "right", where the land inspired me to build I think I finally found something!


In desperation, I typed something a bit rude in the seed generator, and spawned in a forest as usual. Not to far away from spawn was a swamp which lead into a sand biome. As I headed into the sand, they they were, the two giant glass pillars marking a stronghold! My very first stronghold! Not too far away from spawn! If you're interested, I took this screenshot with F3 on:

You'll spawn in a forest, look around you for the start of a swamp and head
over to it, this will lead you to the sand biome and you can't miss it. Alternitvely,
type: gimmewhatifuckingwant as a seed! XD

Plenty of ideas about converting it into a home, repairing what's there, it has caves onto it as well, a ravine (I think) and one of those new "rooms" where you have to repair the blue things over the lava pool. I think this will eventually go to either the future sky-world or Ender-realm. I already tried once but went exploring straight off, (The first time i found it) without provisions. I died so i'm trying again, prepared this time - including a proper way down.

Right now food is a problem and I need to find my way back. I have mushrooms but only the brown ones, there are red ones, but I didn't pick them this time after getting lost before in the over-world. I need to start an immediate wheat or mushroom farm - or both! I might convert the jails into a mushroom farm and try and find somewhere for a wheat farm, but I need to get to the surface - quick.

Downgrading the Hotel

So, I think instead of a "Hotel" it's going to be an apartment blocks. I was reading someone's "I build a hotel" thread on Minecraft, and realized to be a hotel - a proper hotel it'd need things like a dining room as well, so naturally a large industrial kitchen etc. There isn't the room. The idea was If I ever converted it into a server people would have somewhere to stay, but this can still apply to apartments rather than a hotel.

Still working on the ceilings, the top floor is covered over with both a ceiling and a log roof which has being progressing fast. I have also been working on filling in the holes left by dirt supports, on the sides of the flats, glass and trying to create a uniform bay windows on the side and back. Naturally the pool will have to be something different, good job I've not dug too deeply into it. I think I'll create a private residential communal garden, and a gate for the side of the flats, which may mean a bit of a brick wall too. Fencing along the exposed edge of the mountain. One problem now though, the ground floor was to be a reception but as it won't be a hotel I need to change it. At first I thought about a communal hall with fake post lockers but not sure what to do with the rest of it. Or I could just convert it to another flat??

Latest pictures:

Excuse the mess, the back of the flats walls still have a long way to go!
Also dug out five more blocks width to the side of the flats. (Right of picture.)

The very top floor base flat, unfurnished. Nice size.

And finally a view from the roof:

Hopefully the posts on here will now be a bit more frequent now.

LOOK AT THE WHEAT! LOOK AT THE WHEAT!!

This is pretty much what I kept saying too the two cows i got to trek over two mountains back to my pens, after waving wheat in front of their faces! At last count I have at least several pigs, about 5 cows and numerous sheep. Just need some chickens now.


I have slowly been progressing with the hotel, but the delay has been because of the stairs to each flat. With stairs on each level it would make each window different, because - a big bay window where toy can see stairs going up is kinds ugly. I thought of using a minecart lift, but it's impractical for getting off at each floor. I maybe considered a spiral staircase, and built it fine on my 1.9 creative "testing" world. When it came to the space in the building however, it was impractical. For now I have a standard ladder up to each floor, and a waterfall for a quick descent. Once deciding this, i set about changing the layout of the walls for each apartment. (Originally composing of walls to hide the stairs up. I have been busy doing these walls, sand on one flow, snow the next, back to sand again for the next and so on. Adding windows where I can, it's slowly getting quite symmetrical now. Have also added a porch roof over the entrance, and the snow golems have been working extra hard!


Here are some progress pictures:

The row on the top floor with the two points is the start of the roof!

I've also started adding the ceilings to hide the wooden floors, so the snow golem's work is not over yet!

Also:

Where water meets swamp water! Found when travelling in a 1.9 world (Still trying to find land that inspires me to build.) Just thought it was interesting enough to screen-shot.