Progress & De-Progress (1.6 Thoughts also)

So I've have only been semi busy with Minecraft less-so after the initial release of 1.6 and all it's bugs, but at least alot of things are more stable now with V1.6.5.


On World1, the main world I've been blogging about lately, I've done something with the initial level#1 of the open mine/future underground city. (This is before 1.6). I was getting second thoughts about this whole underground city thing. I could picture possible lower levels, but I just couldn't imagine this first level. For a while I took some cobblestone with me and just began building - without a plan. Bad idea. Not only did the style look bad, but aesthetically as well it looked bad. I ended up tearing those walls down making certain closed of areas more open. For a while where the fencing in the picture below is, I had a cobblestone creeper face, complete with lava coming out the eyes. I thought I took a screenshot of it, but was mistaken and had sadly removed said creeper face a few days later and then, realized. This is what we have instead.

I'm still not sure about this whole underground city thing though. I have also ended up bulding a wooden hut thing for the farm, much in the style of the World2 kennel. The crops were getting too trampled on.

1.6

When news of 1.6 came out, I wasn't initially concerned with maps. I could only see them really being useful in Multiplayer - and my thoughts haven't changed on that. Some have compared it to Cartograph, but it's very pixely and hard to make out stuff on the maps like buildings or clay deposits on the shores. I did spend well over an hour on World2 trying to fill a whole map however, which was some fun travelling. I'm sure Portals for Multiplayer will be useful as well, and the long grass is okay - adds more realism I think. For me however - it was all about the hatches, there are a few places on almost every world of mine where I've said I needed some sort of trapdoor, so I have utilized them thoroughly:

World1 - The only trap door was a small area I dig out underneath my basement in my home. (See post: "I *Heart* my New Home!"), so I could start a mushroom farm. (Another very good thing.)

World 2 - This is where the main usage has gone. Although unplanned, I first used and tried trap doors here in an outside entrance to one of the mines that lies just inside the border of my perimeter fence. I used a double hatches here. I also put one at the top of the ladder of the rear lounge that leads to the top of the mountain - which desperately needed one! Not only that, but I found another use! I made a nice little coffee table for the front room! It comprises of two wooden blocks placed next to each other, with hatches on each side that are in the "Up position" with pressure places for top decoration:

World 3 - Here I placed much needed hatches from the ladder leading out of the bedroom to the attic and at the top of the ladder from the attic to the roof. Oh and one over the ladder descent from the storage room to the basement storage room. (Mossy cobble room). Yes I've not entirely forgot this world. I also found another use for the hatches! Fake shelves! I was in the bathroom testing them as shutters for windows (Something I read on the Minecraft forum), and by accident because of the way they open closed , realized you could have fake shelves!:

Okay you can't put anything on them, but they look cool right? Am I right or am I right?!

Accidents will happen....

When 1.6 came out the first world I went on was World2 naturally. I can never leave that world untouched. One thing that changed straight away was the entrance to my home.. Notch nerfed fire.. My wooden stair roof over my bay widows & door caught fire from the lava fall. :( As did the security fencing to stop the doggies wandering in the lava. Not sooner had that happened then a ninja creeper fell on me in broad daylight and exploded where I stood in front of the house. Only slight damage was done, to the path, but the doggie grave was obliterated! :(

So this was before:

And after the accident:

I remembered what I put on the R.I.P. doggie sign, but will have to look at older pictures to get it exactly right. As you can see, for now I've but another layer of brick over the glass and made a temporary secure brick wall in front of the lava, replacing the charred remains of the fencing. I miss my slanty roofs! It just looks so - flat, now. I'm not sure about that low brick wall either.

Let's see if you are reading these posts, any ideas for new roofs? I tried half-step roofs but it just looked shit. An overhang of brick might look crap as well. Should I keep that new low brick wall?

Main question. Should I continue the underground world on world1BETA? - as I'm getting second thoughts. Or start a new world in honour of 1.6.X? If so what should I build? No pixel art or mega structures please.

I *HEART* My new Home!

Yesterday as I posted, I was thinking how already I have too much stuff for my double chest because of the mining. Already I was thinking - "I need a storage basement!", so that's what i did very late last night. As well as adding a bit more to my home, I began digging down from the bedroom downstairs, to create a basic cobblestone storage area with lots of chests.

I also really need to take a stack of wheat with me when I go cave exploring, which means I need a small farm of some sorts, so I began that as well this morning and completed as well as a small pond to the rear of my house for a reed/sugar cane farm. The Farm being to the left of the house (approaching, right from within). I wondered how I could dig a hole so it looked like a natural hole for a pond, but in the end just used dynamite. I only dug i block down and placed one TNT I had made and made quite a creeper sized hole. Quite deep.

I doubt you'll see the back of the house, as shown here, much.

This is by the side exit/entrance.

It looks like the mine definitely will be an underground town rather than a home as I love this new home too much now. The original was "meh, it's a wooden hut", but I really do like this one. I guess it's because the old one was around Alpha time when my skill where noobish, so the house was pretty basic, but because I know more this time, I've fallen for my little home!

I have found one major difference to the Beta version of this old original Alpha world however. There is no plains & mountains to the back of my house.

It's just ocean. Which means no cobble sky-bridge this time, and no fort2 version 2. Pity. I guess it means I can start crafting the underground city now though as I can't do much more to the home. (Not without going OTT with bathrooms and other stuff, but I don't want to be doing that otherwise it'll end up turning into a mountain base, and I have one of those already. (Which I kinda miss, but this is keeping me too busy to really miss at the moment, as will it when the underground city begins.)

A New Home...

Following the wooden sky-bridge, I've been working on my permanent wooden home for the last few days. Already it's starting to look very nice. Firstly, let's take a look back to the original version:

Today's one, after a little terraforming to build out the top of the area of the second mountain, - is roughly the same shape. It is about half the length due to the way the world has reconfigured slightly, and doesn't go inward at an angle anymore, as seen to the right of picture 4 above. (fourth from top). But here's what I have so far:

Screen for screen match where possible:

This bed will be moved downstairs later, yes there's a downstairs this time!

We have a nice roof this time, instead of that awful dirt roof with sky-lights. It required a LOT of logs and cutting down trees. Other changes see - a better floor, a rug, a better stove/furnace wall (Integrated into a new little "work area"), a porch out the front (I really liked this idea!), and a downstairs. Unlike last time I will fill the room up with stuff, make it look nice. It kind of makes me permanently want to live here now, which means - what of the future underground home? Perhaps more of an underground town? Another significant change.

I shall keep working on this home before I move on again.

Cave Splunking

Today I thoroughly explored the cave, and lit up as much as I could, Even the way down when it becomes a future underground home is going to be different. I massed alot of of coal (Which is always good), and alot of Iron, even some gold. Found just the one diamond so far. I died quite a few times but the more lit up the mine became, the more easier it was to rush back and get my stuff. I don't think I lost anything.


I've been having the odd sleep in the fort, but have had to close up the window slot each night before doing so. I'm not going to be making the walls double thick, I'll keep a permanent bed in the proper wooden house when it comes after the first sky-bridge, which I have begun. I doubt I'll sleep once I get the permanent home, I never  use beds much, I'll probably just go cave exploring during the night instead.


Before:

After:

As you can see by the last two pictures the new bridge, isn't that much different this time. The columns for lighting are integrated better this time, rather than an after-thought like originally, and it snakes round a bit more. It is also completely flat this time, no stairs in the mifddle and going across up, across, down, across. I may glam it up after my wooden house on the next mountain but I really want to get on with this permanent wood home. It'll be more of a wooden lodge this time as apposed to a large empty wooden hut as before.

Inventory:
HEALTH: 4 Hearts




FOOD
3 RAW pork chops




WEAPONS
1 Iron Sword
1 Stone Sword
4 Arrows




TOOLS
1 Iron Pickaxe
1 Wooden Pickaxe
I Iron Axe
1 Iron Spade


1 Workbench
1 Furnace
1 Clock
1 Stack Torches + 24 single torches.




STUFF
2 Stacks of Coal
1 Stack Iron + 4 Ingots
14 Gold
1 Diamond
0lose Cobblestone (All used up)
0 Smoothstone
49 Wood
0 Logs
0 Sand
8 Dirt
0 Gravel (All used up)
49 Lapis




MISC
3 Sticks
13 Flint
14 Feathers
6 Gunpowder
1 Piece Of String
8 Bones
1 Yellow Flower
6 white wool

Regeneration

So here's the plan. With the seed of my original World1, my first ever world back from Pre-Alpha, I plan on redoing World1. When I started the world, just as we were about to go into Alpha, I was very new to the game, and thus the buildings were very n00bish. It's been almost 10 months since then and I have learned alot, from playing the game (How to), crafting, building styles etc. I know alot more now than I did then. So I thought, what if I re-d-d this world with what I know as a beta world. How would I do things differently?


To learn about this world in it's pre-Alpha/Alpha days, start reading from: Here



Getting Started.
First things first, is gathering materials. As this time it's being done in Beta, there are Birch trees around in the immediate area, whereas before I would have had to go to a new chunk. Of course we have the new things this time - different trees/saplings, lapis, doggies etc. Like before I would make a small fort on top of the first mountain, but would need cobblestone. Venturing down to the open mine you see above, which would in the future become the underground home, I get my supplies and try and find some coal. I just find 8 Iron instead. Always handy however.


I built the fort pretty much as the sun slowly set, doing things a bit different this time with slightly "In" walls instead of a cube, and also window slits. First off, I gathered dirt and expanded the area at the top of the mountain, I'm not sure if I did this originally, I'm guessing not. I noticed also,  there's no dip by one side of the mine this time where I originally built a "Third wall" around the open area to close it up. I could make the dip, but why repeat history when there's an existing wall there that was never there. This time also, the wooden stairs going down the side of the mountain, now go straight forward. They are also made of smooth stone this time with natural dirt sides:




Original:

Today:

I also have a sand floor instead of the original gravel. I thought what would an old fort have and it's probably dirt, but that would just turn to grass, or animals would spawn inside, So I settled on sand instead. After changing thw walls (I did them the wrong way round and had the front and back of the fort at the sides!), I spent my first night in a dark, dark fort...

One More Done/Giving up the Beta?

I finally finished the changing room days and days ago on World2. I still have to put the paper in the toilet paper dispensers of said toilets in both changing rooms - but it's a small detail. I did all I said though in the girls - sandstoned the rest of the floor, added benches, added shower heads (levers) and the skylights. They are done, so that's another of the list. Just leaves me the Nether bridge and the expansion of the library, but I may take a break.


I found myself sidetracked by World1 - with the sky-bridges and underground home.


I only went on to have a little nostalgic look again when I got the idea to transform the ground of level #1 of my underground home. Currently, it was all smooth stone. The last time we saw it on this blog it looked something like this:

There was an over-hang over the single door with sandstone columns and the front of the overhang being wool, later on. Not sure if I posted it. So yeah, after having this painterly pack for a while, things have changed, and the other night I changed that stone to grass:

Also gravel-ed out the flooring below and turned the column and rest of the wall into cobblestone, as well as 3/4 of the emergency exit - giving it two automatic doors and a proper entrance. I got carried away! Also changed the viewing area a bit, the small room inside it is now a spawn room with a proper bed. No more spawning on the beach a good 5 minutes away via a dirt tunnel!

I used the Minecraft Level Tools to get the seed for my World2 - the mountain base/home and tried to find it again. Found the rough sort of area but after two accidental deletions, it's just not the same original place as it once was due to regeneration. I have never tried it with this World1 though, which gave me the idea to try...

Those pictures above are from World1, the world with the sky-bridges between mountains and a home on each mountain, plus the underground home above. As it was my first ever world back in V1.1_02, pre Alpha, it remains very N00by-ish. Which is why there's the underground home - to retain the world as it was and my then n00b skills - or lack of them in September 2010. So currently it's like this:

Using those Minecraft level tools, I got the seed and found the co-ordinates pretty easily to the untouched original world!:

Due to it being a pre-Alpha world, there are a few subtle changes, like instead of trees to the right of the mine/future underground home entrance - there's now sand and birch trees on the second mountain. A few slight changes, but all very minor! I have an idea for this, but will post it tomorrow.

Oh as for the Beta world bit, I'm gonna jack it in, it just doesn't hold the fascination like the old Alpha world2 mountain home/base. I know I said about doing the docks and Captain's quarters, but never say never. I might come back to it one day.

Passing Time/Getting Things Done

That's mainly what I've been doing lately, not feeling very inspirational. I finally finished putting the last blocks of Netherrack up in the Portal room, just another stream of lava to re-add and it's done. At the swimming pool I've fixed the pool so there's no current. Finished the male changing rooms and have almost finished the female changing rooms. In the later I've just the rest of the floor to sandstone, add levers (Shower heads) and add skylights. I will eventually change the ceilings. SO that's a good few things almost off the list of things to do. The tennis courts need finishing put the animal mobs aren't really appearing, holding things up. I think it's where I took some of the torches down outside. I re-instated them but after going for a walk, the animals re-appeared for a while, but have disappeared again. No cheep = no wool = no lines for tennis courts.


Thanks to a handy hint on the Minecraft forums I learned how to fix a big hole full of water. The main thing is two new rooms, well 1 & 1/2. I was upstairs in the corridor between the bedroom and rear lounge when I heard mobs. I turned on F3, just to see where they were and dug into the corridor walls. After killing them, them most killing each other bar 1 skeleton, I found a perfectly square little room. I must've dug it out at some point with plans to use it but changed my mind and filled over the door hole. As it backed onto the bedroom I dug up to the light shaft on the back wall of the bedroom. At first this was going to be a new room, but it has been changed into a bedroom extension!


 (I also ,moved the entrance door from the front of the mountain to round the side, which meant readjusting the outside stairs but it was worth it.)

I'm not sure how I'm going to decorate it yet, but as you can see I've matched the walls and floor and added doors opening from within to the main bedroom, keeping them permanently open like a pair of fake French doors. I have a proper bed in there as well to respawn in as well as the fake bed in the main bedroom, which put an end to the other spawn room by the portal, but that wasn't the best location anyway. Whilst digging the walls out to replace with cobblestone I found a hole shape behind one wall so created a short corridor (literally a few steps long) and a neighbouring next room, which I did have to dig out.

The smaller water-window in the first picture utilizes the same waterfall the main, bigger, water-window in the rear viewing room down stairs uses. I decided to use this as a V.I.P room because as you can see it overlooks the tennis courts and pool. I went through many stages with this room, at first all brick then brick as a feature wall with other sand walls before settling on a wooden room with log columns (And originally i wanted log beams), an idea I had had for a room for a good few days. The only trouble was, you can't go through someone's back lounge or bedroom to go to a V.I.P. room, which meant I needed a new entrance:

I don't think the stairs stand out too much in the private garden and I do like the little bay window underneath where veranda garden is outside the rear lounge. Speaking of which, I had to raise that veranda by 1 level to hide the stone from underneath. It looks the same with grass and fences but it's a shorter step down (Now with marble half-steps replacing the fugly cobble steps) and a level higher as a result.

Here are the changing rooms, with shower area (Gravel blue floor) and toilet area in the blue partitioned area:

Like in my Beta world, the toilets are the same design with a working toilet paper dispenser (paper), although not actually have any paper yet.

My concern with getting these things done, is that I'm beginning to run out of ideas now. I do still have the Nether bridge to finish however. Today I also finally continued the expansion of the library, this will be my main project for a while. When complete, should I run of ideas, I guess I will go back to my Beta world full time and continue the docks/Captain's Quarters and that area. I also when cave splunking again and got all diamond tools and a sword, though I lost the sword, but I have at least all diamond tools again.

Am I finally running out of ideas for this world though?