Slideshow and... Return Yo Mount DOooooom!

Recently after completing the World2 gallery, I ended up making a slideshow of the world:

After doing this I watched one of my other video, "Across The Bridge", which I made for someone who requested it, and got nostalgic. Nostalgic for Mount DOooooom. As some of you

may or may not know, I accidentally deleted this world during February whilst playing with the seed generator. Stupid me didn't back up recently and I lost two weeks of work - on top of the mountain and a lot of work on Mount DOooooom. Finally, I have decided to pick the idea back up. First order of the day was to restore the stairs, partially blown up by a creeper the last time I was there taking the torches down. After restoring some torches also, I planted all the trees on the plains below - again, just like last time:

Having the flying mod on SiglePlayerCommands helps alot this time both with building and placing torches. So as we left it with the old texture pack it looked like this:

When doing the modern update, I didn't refer to the older pictures and did it off memory, the top of the tower is now different, but different in a good way. I had to rebuild the lost walkway and square fort section again but it didn't take that long:

And this is the pic I took just now:

I would like to make that flat side more 3D, but, I dunno. Need to think about how. Maybe it will just form naturally as I do it. The tower section looks a lot more detailed this time and a lot more interesting style wise I think. Maybe eventually I'll fulfill the original dream with the lava puring down the front and burning the trees. I'd love to sculpture the grounds around the trees with cobble & stone, lava lakes, maybe slow/soul sand. Try and make a epic terrifying wasteland? yes, no?

When Ideas Expand

I had the idea for a couple of days - to expand the path up to the church. An area that had remained untouched since it was finished in January this year. As it stood, from the other side of the bridge was a single block path of cobble and cobble stairs going up the embankment all the way to the church door:

I wanted to pretty it up, or at least make it look better. What I ended up doing was much more, and spent all of yesterday afternoon working on it! A good couple of hours. At first I decided to widen the cobble stairs so they were three wide (The width of the walkway of the bridge), maybe even not having cobblestone at all. (Maybe I should have had a stone path?). After doing this, and seeing that it was better, I was at the top of the stairs outside the front of the church and began looking at the pathway up to the door.. That's when I got the idea to continue the ice blue gravel path theme from the other side, but not only that, but to pretty up the grounds around the outside of the church! I even went on to make alterations inside.

The inspiration for the church grounds outside actually came from a local church in my town! Now, I am not a religious person by any means, but this light sandy coloured gravel (Or what ever it is) and marble-esq bits gave me the idea to sand the ground, using marble half-steps as paths and for decoration around plantation areas. Not only this bit I also decided to change the fencing into a traditional stone/cobble low wall. You wouldn't really get that type of fencing around a church anyway, so this made sense too. So here is the first initial Ariel shot:

As you can see, a big change already! I wanna see if I can make some half step marble benches, if that's possible - about like the real-life inspiration in my town. The big question now is - should I convert the cobblestone of the church into smooth stone?? When this building was originally conceived, it was just a medium sized cobblestone hut, no proper floor (grass floor) and only a chest and work bench inside. I built it for the sake of building it over on this side. Then I changed it to a purpose - a church, but out of what was there. So should I do it? Should I change it to smooth stone?

View from the back:

After seeking shelter inside for the night, (Because the place is a haven attraction for mobs for some reason, but maybe that's fitting.), I began getting ideas for the inside too! It started out changing the pews, something that was always going to be on the agenda, changing them from smooth-stone. They are now log pews. Originally to be wood but I thought it would blend too much with the wooden floor. Half-slab wooden seats. Due to the blend problem I also decided to change the wood floor (Unrealistic) to a stone floor. After laying it however, I then thought of a red two block carper up the main aisle. I'm just 4 wool away from completion. Also changed the horrid Netherrack floor of the altar to wood & stone accent.

More detailed shots of the grounds:

So what started as a small expansion of the path to the church, became almost a full make over! Whilst posting this blog I've still been fiddling with it! Added: torches on outside of roof and up inside of roof and around main spire, and the bench idea didn't work. Also added a mock candle shrine near the front left side of the altar.

So should I convert the cobblestone of the church into smooth stone??

Gallery & Library Update

This will be a short post, but I was determined to post something, if only to post. I was looking at May's entries and 8 posts out of 31 days is bad, so I'm on a quest! A quest to post more entries into this blog this month!


First things first, I'm updating the gallery for this world at the Message Board. I've already taking the screenshots, places outside that have the new lightstone lampposts, rooms inside that need new pictures (Front room, bedroom, not the art gallery) etc. As well as adding a few new screenshots now I have the fly mod from SInglePlayerCommands. So I've taken the screenshots, I just have to upload them to Photobucket so I can updated the gallery. I might do that today as I have the time. (I'm on a week of work and have been all week, but I went to Brighton for the day yesterday.)


And it wouldn't be a post if I didn't have at least one screenshot, so here is an update on the library as I have actually stopped been lazy and continued the upgrade from a mini library to a small/medium one.

Along the walls are almost done! Place-marks have have been put down for the middle shelves too. I don't know if I'll need those torches on the floor, but it was a temporary measure as skeletons were spawning in my library! *Frown-face*

That's about all I have for today I'm gonna try and get the gallery uploaded & updated today.

peeeeeaaaaccccceeee!

That's A Very Nice Storage Room You Have There...

A tale of new paths, boardwalk & graveyard connected walk, new caves, a new room and a Creeper invasion...


Went exploring using the "fly" mode to try and find a cave for Lapis, Diamonds, new dungeons and other things. (I still haven't set sight on any coca beans let alone cookies). Mission log: FAIL. I didn't really find any decent caves, although I did find some more clay on the way, though I've yet to dig it out. When I returned, I went to explore one of my older caves. Now, there's one area of the lava pools far, far, below my base where the lava just gushes out the sides of the walls. Up to now, I just cobbled around these dangerous parts, never to mine around them because it's too dangerous. I think it's due to different level floors - lava on a floor slightly higher up behind a wall, me - dig in wall lava gushes out. I did manage to find 4 diamonds however! Which either meant a pick and a spade or a sword and  axe if I found 1 more diamond, hopefully two more. I did not. I was digging and hit lava behind a wall, again. I couldn't retreat in time. (Standing right next to lava.)


When i returned I had lost most of my stuff but thankfully the wood (logs), the diamond sword and two remaining diamonds were just on the side! The other stuff can be replaced - the coal, iron tools, clock. I only brought the essentials with me anyway. The only think I was a bit miffed about losing was the mushrooms and wheat. Alas I have farms for both so they're recoverable as well. Will try and find more diamond around there, so I can get an diamond axe, spade and finally a pick. 


Last night I had been thinking about doing something on the sand outside my fence boundries where the cactus used to be, it looks empty since removing them. I wasn't sure what though. I stood on the sand for a while looking for inspiration when I looked at the wooden stairs/short wooden pathway up to the graveyard. As it was, it was one wooden step width, suddenly I got the idea to make it two with and do an an adjoining wooden boardwalk that connected to the other one which would also mean more half-steps at the side and torched under the glass.


This isn't a good picture, but it's the only one I have post-cacti removal;

So the path would continue from that sharp right angle of the board-walk, across to the first wooden steps that lead up to the graveyard.

After the work:

As you can see, the pictures show it better than I can explain. It snakes off and goes around and up to the stairs by the well & graveyard. I also decided to be conservative with the torches, which meant digging up the sand by the old board walk to fix the old ones. Before, they were just a long row of torches, side by side in a long line under glass, now there's a torch - three spaces then another torch. More spaced out, more mood lighting. I got the idea to do this for the new one so had to fix the old ones to match, which was fun. All work was done during the night and I had to fight of a few zombies and skeletons in the process! As well as one of these!:

I've not seen a spider jockey for a very long time! Bit of a blast from the past. I was trying to take this picture with half a heart, having caught myself on cacti when multiplying their coverage out the back beyond the well & graveyard. Yes, I did die, just to get this picture!

In other news I was taking a shortcut again, going from the front of the mountain to the rear side where the tennis courts and swimming pool can be found and got an idea. Basically this unofficial shortcut means going up the wooden stairs to the side of the front of the mountain, as if going to the bedroom round the front, but instead of going up the grassy steps for the final journey to said bedroom, cutting across over a few natural grass blocks to go round the side to the tennis/pool area. Anyway as I am always taking this short cut I thought I might as well make an official path! I took plenty of gravel and cobble to smelt and make half steps, connecting it from the outside wooden stairs (To the bedroom) around the side of the mountain connecting with the gravel path that links the rear lounge/path the outside of the public garden/alongside the tennis courts and into the stairs down to the dinning hall.


The new path from the bottom of the dirt/grass steps outside the bedroom:

Round the corner:

Adjoining the other path. (The new path being the left side one.):

Following this I went to the man made dungeon (of sorts, it was really a small cave), at the bottom of my storage room. I had lost all my arrows in the lava incident too, so decided to go zombie killing, and whatever else came along, in the dungeon. It did not go well! No sooner had I pulled the lever for the iron door and stepped through, when two creepers came towards me! I backed up as I tried to scroll to my Diamond sword. I couldn't get to it in time and they were right on top of me. I backed away further but mis-clicked and missed the lever to shut the door - they followed me through. Now I now what you're thinking - diamond sword - no problem right? Unfortunately they were right in my storage room and I couldn't risk them blowing up my chests. Tactical retreat - tactical retreat!

Dey' go boom..

Or at least one did and it took the other with him. 

I got back quick as trying to make chests with a full inventory from now what's all over the storage room floor, and the clock is ticking! I managed to save the wood chest, the general materials chest (Clay,dirt, sand/sandstone, gravel, glass, snow and clay.) and two out of the four chests of cobblestone. I lost two full double chests of cobblestone however, leaving me just the one double chest & half. (Half-full double chest.)

As you can see I have repaired it but the left side of the wall is missing the decoration and two double chests of cobble! :-/ Since posting this I've to empty restored the left side, including two empty chests. It also gave me the opportunity to move the work-bench, the general chest - slightly, and move the wood double chest way from opposite the door and around the corner. Slight re-organization. I've already fill one empty double chest half-way from cobble from mining and the new room. I got a bit dispondant at losing all that cobble I must admit. Two full double chests of legit cobblestone from mining. :-/

Oh yes! The new room!

Not sure how it came about really, I was just looking at the blank wall of sand opposite the window & front doors, and remembering when a door hole shape, used to be there back in the original Alpha days. (Back when the door hole shape led down to the original first mines which turned into the storage room it is today.) I realised I might have enough room for a small room wedged in there, so thought I'd try - even with no idea what it would be.

So where those steps and door are, was just sand like the rest of the wall.

It's kind of a small little office, with a bit of a splash of funky colour. I kept whistling the cheesy US "presidential theme" that you see in movies, mostly comedies when it skips to the US President. Don't know why, it's not exactly the Oval office! The odd rectangular shape really is determined by the surrounding areas. The right wall as you enter backs onto the corridor walkway by the front doors, I couldn't go too far that way. The left walls as you enter - I couldn't go to far across or I'd be in the dinning hall! And behind the "desk", if I had dug further back I'd be out the side of the mountain. So the shape really, really, was determined by the surrounding rooms. It was a nice little escape though, a distraction from the creeper incident.

I also dug through the dirt wall facing the first set of stairs down to the lava pools, now I have an interior entrance to the dog kennel outside. (With double doors and a trapdoor system to stop the dogs wandering further down the stairs to the lava pools. Works like a hatch drawbridge but with one side for Redstone as it's embedded in the wall.)

ReChunked: The Almost Move

In my old Alpha world, my main world, I decided to up and move to a new chunk via a portal. The reason is, I just wasn't getting any animal mobs any more. Having previously removing some of the lights of the outside of the mountain base home, I had returned some of them, but still wasn't getting not one single, sheep, cow or chicken! I know I had my dogs for company but I missed sheep (For wool) and piggies (For pork.) So on 31st May, I i went around my mountain base/home taking down alot of the torches. (Except the ones up trees, ceremonial - on graveyards, and jack o lantern lampposts.) As my home descended into minimal lighting round the exterior, I continued inside, removing torches until the rooms were each enveloped into darkness, and too one last look around. I was listing to a long playlist of music on windows media player, so during the bedroom light removal, a slower song came on, and it became quite depressing taking all of the torches down! I was planning to seeing if i went through the portal, my doggies would teleport to me once I got to the new chunk, they didn't. I also lost 12 out of the 20 on the way.

After finding a suitable mountain I began a new build, a new mountain base in a new chunk, but the mountain wasn't that epic. And more and more I just wasn't gelling with it. As it was night I decided to take one last look at my old base. I died via a creeper on the way back to the portal. Having lost the map for that world it was over 5 minutes by the time I found the new home, and I had lost what little I had. (All i took with me was a compass, a clock and 1 torch.) I realized no matter how much i try and l;eave, my old chunk, I never can, I'm too stuck on this place. I returned home and returned the lighting again - although mostly inside. I've hardly put any lighting outside this time, and the animals have returned. Either it's due to the animal mobs spawning in low light (new from 1.6 onwards) or the old chunk has reloaded, but I was very happy to once again have cows, chickens and sheep roam my land.

I then experimented with long grass via bonemeal on my old Alpha home. Before, I wasn't too concerned about long grass (having a farm up and running already) - but I thought I'd try it out the front of my mountain base/home. I have tried it for the first time (1st June) and, I don't know what i was expecting - maybe just a couple of sprigs of grass, but was very surprised to see a nice little patch with flowers. I trimmed it down to 4 sprigs of grass (Seeing as I wasn't expecting a patch of wild grass) and am now seeing if it will spread.Meanwhile I did another two little patches elsewhere and three in the private garden which really helps it look more garden-y now. Haven't been doing much else except: Built a diving board for the pool, made a clone of the world and TNT'd the mountain base home - Wasted Sunday away rebuilding the mountain on the clone world (Not as a base/home but as a mountain) and building a brick home where the pool is. (Didn't keep that save.) I have also finally managed to successfully install single player commands, so I can use the fly mode. (I will not be using it however to spawn items/materials or animals/mobs or use it in any way to enhance the world falsely.) Using the fly mode, it has enabled me to get to hard places, so I have also "roofed" the outside of the bedroom and outside the back door of the bedroom.

The new location of the "Would be" new home".

Oh yeah, since getting all these animal mobs back in my chunk, I had the wool to finish the lines of the tennis court btw,

At the moment I am growing grass up to the dirt by the side of one of my bay windows by the door. I built this layer up level to the glass from the lava to hide the floor inside - visible from the outside.

Also, before I got rid of my clone World2, I did admittedly have fun trying out some of the commands (Seeing as it didn't matter on that world), like explode, spawning animals and mobs. It was fun. I first spawned a chicken, then I thought - "What if I /spawn chicken 64?". It was hilarious. Spawning 64 skeletons was too, within a second they shot each other, where I was surrounded. I got away on half a heart and the skeletons had halved their size where they had shot each other then turned on one another and fought.

So that's about everything really.

Onwards, and upwards..