S4 E7 Man Vs River

Season 4 Man vs River

Episode 7 Finishing Touches

I wanted the house to look nice, not just be functional. One of the problems with Minecraft is that it is hard to make non-blocky and decent looking building tops. I have a roof on the house already so I can stay there at night, but I still need to work on it.



As you can see, to get a slightly steeper roof I use step blocks so that I can increase the angle of the slope with much less blocks. I get up there using dirt because using ladders just isn't so good when you're not wanting to harm the building you're working on.



I wanted to open up the house a bit on the inside. Originally I figured on having just a 3x3 window in the middle of the roof, but I decided more of a + so that I could get more light in without it looking like just having a glass roof.



Next I took some of the rare clay that was in The Bay at Fort Lookout and I made some brick blocks to go beside my oven. The patio looked more like a grill out for a modern house now, and I really liked how it looked. I had barely fenced the area to complete the look when I suddenly got attacked by a spider. I ran into the house... but realized my roof was not secure, the spider ran in and jumped directly on top of me. The only safe thing to do was to run to the basement and wait till morning to head out and slay it.



Soon as the spider was dead, I of course put the glass in the roof, it looks really nice in there now. I decided that my living room would be there. It looks a little empty, so I went to the Forums for some inspiration.



Next I decided to make some furniture. There is a post in the Minecraft forums about how to make furniture with items in game. So that's what I did. A step here, signs on the side, and I have a living room.



Still something was missing... I had gotten some wool in case I had room to have a nice rug, but with a basement, I can't do that now. So I double thick walled the wall on one side in front of my furniture, and made myself a big screen TV complete with TV stand.



The inside is now cozy, the storage is all in place, and the crafting tables are set. A little clean up of the yard, some installation of a planter's box for some flowers outside the window and I'm all done with my new home for the next couple of weeks.

S4 E5 A new Home Part 2

Season 4 "Man vs River"

Episode 5 "A New Home part 2"



I have about 4 chests like this near the old Treehouse. I'm back here to get stone for my foundation. I am not trying to be realistic, I feel a foundation really does help in Minecraft. First, it makes sure that directly under your home is void-free, so that there is no way a creeper is going to spawn under there and blow things up without you realizing what happened. Second, stone takes the wind out of explosions as compared to dirt. So the stone helps to minimize any explosions from continuing through your home.



I'm going three deep, and actually 2 wider on each side than I expect to put flooring. Sort of an overhang with dirt on top, just extra paranoia is all. Since the bottom floor is natural stone, I will have at least 3 layers of rock under my floors no matter what substance my floor ends up being made of, typically wood.



It always surprises me how much it takes to fill in earth. I know, I know, the area equation is super simple, but come on. I'm playing a videogame, I like to guesstimate.

Once again I go back to my porch ideas. I like porches, and so that will be the first thing I build. Not a very large porch, just enough room to get out and watch the sunsets and maybe defend my home on. This is what I ended up with.



Now, the structure of it is interesting. You see that ultra thin column there? Perhaps there are people playing that do not know how I accomplished that. Non-full square construction is an innovative artform in Minecraft since it is not easy and usually involves using stuff where its not intended.



As this illustrates, I am using fence posts. I use dirt to get them the height I want, then I destroy the first block of dirt under the fence, and add another fence piece there. Eventually getting a nice looking piece of woodwork.



I went ahead and started working on the face of the house. Two windows and a door in the middle I think will work just fine. I'm going for a traditional "house" look, and I'm not going to go crazy modern in the design.



I went ahead and finished the outline of the house while I was at it too. The walls are generally done. I haven't decided on what room is what, or if I'll close up some rooms. I'll see how I feel once I have the roof up.

S4 E4 A New Home part 1

The beach where the river will eventually meet the ocean is pretty far from the tower. The progress of the river is getting to where it is becoming less time efficient to work on the river so far from a stable home. I've always hated making temporary homes. If you remember to when I started the river, I lived for a long while in a tree house. I still have that tree house up, I debated on burning it down, but it is a reminder to me not to build quick, crappy shelter because I might get stuck in it for a week or more.



This is where the mouth of the River will be. The arrows show where the river will flow and eventually continue around the bin and toward the drowned quarry(that's what I'm calling that elbow that is mostly done in stone). To the left of the picture notice the trees and a sign.



The sign says Bearded Trees. I came up here a few days ago because I'm always re-evaluating my river course. The new change in the tree code means that there are some more "tropical" trees near water, sometimes the leaves grow directly to the ground. I thought they looked bearded and they seemed a neat landmark.

This is where my new home would be. I wanted to see how it would look in the landscape. This will not be an end all be all house, more of a cabin rental. I do not want to make a huge house here, so I tried out an outline.



I like it. I think I can do something nice with the area here, and it will not dominate the landscape. Now, despite what I said before... I made a temporary shelter. But I did it for a reason, and it is not going to last very long. I wanted to find out where I was to put my porch.



If you want to set it for a nice view of the sunset like this, you gotta be around at sunset. I'm feeling good about this home, I think I will enjoy it.

S4 E2 Man vs River: Make it Pretty

Looking further down my river I see that I've blown a path through a giant mountain, leaving a rather rocky face on one side. It does remind me of the sandstone cliffs on the southern side of China where they collect the swallows nests.



The one thing that is missing is foliage. Those cliffs always have vegetation growing on them, so I want that too so that it completes the look. I start cutting into the mountain for places I can plant things.



The idea here is to plant trees and let them grow on the side of the mountains here. Then after they grow, I will bury the trunks and sculpt the side above them to make it look like plants, not trees, have grown out of cracks in the side.



I want to get a good spread, after all, if its too much I can always trim the leaves before placing dirty around them, I just gotta hope that the trees do not get super mutant big like the one beside my tower.



I will have to wait a few days to see how all that grows in. Meanwhile I have the rest of the river to fight. Using a special tool in the last episode, I want to use more of it to clear the river now.



To get that much TNT, it means every morning I have to put up my valuable tools, grab a sword, some arrows and a bow, and actively hunt the bane of my existence. This also means I sometimes end up in precarious situations....



These guys don't read my blog, they don't want my autograph. They want to blow me up. Luckily I'm getting good at dispatching them... even when I'm left with only a torch to knock them down cliffs to their deaths.

So I go to the mouth of the river, which I haven't worked on in months. Here's a good before shot, notice the step like formation at the top of the screen for reference. The holes are what I dug for the explosives.



And, taking note of the steps like I said before, you can see the aftermath here.



Thanks for reading! leave a comment if you like what you read, I know there are several of you out there, probably not this far along yet, but I appreciate comments, they keep me posting more than the statistics page ever could.

Season 4 Man vs River: Episode 1

Season 4 Man vs River

Episode One : The other side

Ok, I'm out of the caves and into the light. This river has got to be done, its my one project in this Minecraft world that I have to get done.

You've seen what I did before on one side of the opening of the river. This is a before and after showing the side right after I blasted the river through, and now how it looks now with my tower.



What I haven't been showing is the other side, what I see outside my doorstep.



Not very nice looking, right? Well I'm gonna fix that. I start very simply by following the contour of the land around it to make a nice gradient.



But I get impatient and realize I've been killing a lot of creepers lately, and all my gunpowder(now called sulphur) is piling up near my tower. So I grab it and set about my scheme.



I dig into the mountain.



I expertly set my explosives near sources of fire... ok that looks bad but its not bad in minecraft.



The explosives blow large holes into the hill, making it much easier to just clear the land. I fully intended to continue re-planting dirt along the edge to make a nice hill, but then I liked the look of the exposed rocks. Remember in Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring where the 2 Argos are? The big statues they pass near the end? Right beside the statues is a quarry where the artisans obviously got their material for the statues.

So I thought it would be cool to have an old exposed quarry near my tower to be sort of "the source" of the building material for it.



Comments

I want to start adding that I would appreciate comments. I still get 30-50 views a day even when I'm less active. I would really be encouraged by people leaving comments.

S3 Minecraft Styxx ep 8 "Red Eyes"

Season 3 Styxx

Episode 8 "Red Eyes"

I was getting a little claustrophobic down in the tunnels for so long, so I decided to do some river work above ground. Like before, I start by shaping, then my randomizing, and finally naturalizing an area. Here's 3 quick picks of the continuing work.



With that out of the way, I headed back down. Remember the Lava "waterfall" thing I found last time? Instead of hopping into the water, I went the other direction, behind the Lava-fall and into the darkness beyond it.



It only stayed strait for a little while, and soon the cave shot upward. I went up and up, eventually it got more and more steep. Still, I climbed.



This was starting to remind me of the Great Falls in an earlier post, I contemplated making some ladders. Then, I spotted something as I went by. It was cobblestone. Now, cobble stone is usually not naturally occurring.



So I figured that just like the waterfalls, I had reached something I had done before. I was worried I'd open up the cobblestone and find out I was digging up my Tower's floor. I was wrong.



Instantly I was glad that I opened the way as I did, the spiders were too wide to get through. They starting hissing and howling like crazy, I could not count the eyes that dotted in front of me. I got in the door way and started killing them as fast as I could, eventually it cleared enough for me to look inward. In case you missed it, look at the picture above, and look towards the top! Red eyes of pure murder!



Mossy cobble stone tipped me off, and then I saw the spawner, this was a spider dungeon room! I ran in the room, killed a few spiders, planted a torch then ran back out. I had to brave the room 3 times before the spiders stopped coming. Torches neutralize the spawner. More mossy cobblestone to take home, I was very happy. I figured the chest would be some random materials, but actually it was this.



Saddles! I have seen people ride pigs and now I could too!

S3 Mincraft: Styxx Ep: 7 "River of Gold"

Season 3 Styxx

Episode 7 "River of Gold"

I came back down from the Cistern because the pathway continued near the steps I had created. It wasn't long before I heard the sounds of zombies and water came from below. I waited and waited for the zombies to come, but they didn't, so I edged my way and found that the water was blocking them.



Afterward I explored and found the source of the water, but it went way back and WAAAY up. I tried to find the top, but soon it became flush and strait, and I didn't want to ruin such a perfect waterfall. So it was time to head back up and make some ladders.



Upon reaching the top, I found out why steel armor is so useful. I had the false assumption that sun = safe, and as soon as I got on the surface I heard a hissssss. Over the top of the wall I could see this hopping up to get a look at me.



What was even more stupid was to think that was the only one around. I soon got a stereo chorus of dynamite to both ears... I have no idea how I survived.



I made my ladders and I went up the waterfall. I found an open cavern quite a bit above the source, and while I was there I heard a cow doing his cow thing and going "mooo". I decided to look around and near the ceiling was some dirt, I opened up the dirt and found myself looking at my tower.



Another exit, but far too inconvenient to ever actually use. I went back down the waterfall to find many skeletons down there, but also a lavafall coming down from the ceiling.



On one side was some water, so I decided to take a ride down it. It deposited me into a room with yet another waterfall, and I was feeling adventurous so I hopped in and rode that one far far down into the earth.

At the bottom I found a room, and all around the room the floors sparkled. This water must go strait through a gold vein or something. I went home a richer man.