Dungeons and Colonies Chapter 1

I arrived in the New World near a coast line full of giant cliffs and Swiss cheese caverns.  My first priority was to find a place safe enough for me to get to, but remote enough that I would be safe at night.  I found an area of cliffs which I named Dover(rhymes with over), which had a nice cave drilled into it naturally.  I spent the night there and gathered stone as I cleaned out the cave and searched for coal.  The surrounding mountains are rich in coal, possibly the most I have seen in such a small area, a perfect place for the colony.  The whole next day I devoted to creating a set of steps and even a small port of sorts under my cave.  There was the natural fresh water spring near the bottom, so I created a basin to collect some of the water before it hit the salty sea.

Next I set out to explore the area.  I found some interesting landmarks around my cave home.  There is a vast forest across from my cave, and in the middle of it I found cave descending down.  I was not prepared to explore it, but I did see a waterfall near the bottom.  The second one I found was past the forest, on another coast.  It was an almost perfect circle lagoon, the likes of which I have never seen occur in Minecraftia before.  I have no idea if it is natural or man... err creature made.  I will look to the bottom later and see what I find.  Then on the way home, I was heading back to the cave when I saw something underwater in the waters just beyond my shelter.  It looks like GLASS!  Underwater structures!  I wonder if it was an accident that it is there or if... I can not swim far enough down to tell, its too deep and I come too close to dying.

All there pictures can be clicked to see larger. 

It has been a few days now, and I have collected some food, some coal, and an amazing amount of iron for such an early start.  I have 10 days before the Colony Ship is to be here, so I mark each day with a torch.  There is a little outlet between two hills, not far from my cave, that I keep docking my little canoe at so that it does not float away.  It is the best place I can think of for a colony, so I start clearing.  After a few days time, I have it cleared pretty well, and also built the bay up a bit so there is an actual beach to land on.  I start running low on food, so I go to the herd of cows I had found a few days ago... only I see something.  It looks as big as a tree, but I can't get a clear view because of the trees around it.  I walk cautiously and just can't see what it is... then, suddenly it turned and came right at me.  As you can see in the screenshot I did not have time to clear my UI while taking a picture, the thing was coming for me and trees were NOT slowing it down.  I get home, and await the ship that is to come tomorrow.

A Re-Imagining; The Skypp Network

Hello,

I still get a couple of thousand new hits here a year it seems.  I do not really see why because aside from nostalgia, this Let's Play is pretty horrible.  It is almost too boring for me to even re-read, so for anyone that seems to get sucked into it, I'm sorry it was not better.

Anyways, I am redoing all of my blogging and setting up a unified look and a renewed dedication to typing.  This means that Skyppcraft is going to become my "Now Playing" Journal.  I still typically play Minecraft, so if you came here for Minecraft, it is still here.  I have a new series called "Dungeons and Colonies" that will follow the format of the previous "Bay" and "River" set; meaning that it will be a text and picture journal.  If you are new here, you should be able to search labels for "Dungeons and Colonies" when the posts start showing up.

My other Blogs include "Gaming with Skypp", which is an opinion and editorializing blog about video game based news.  Also I have "Skypp's Table" which is based on my table top gaming habits and maybe a bit of news.  I typically play and comment on Pathfinder, Savage Worlds, and Game Mastering in general.  If you like Skyppcraft, you may find some stuff to read on those sites.

S5 E5: Better Storage

Fort Lookout started out rather simple. One large room, and then the cave front with the glass facing. I had hoped that perhaps furniture would be added soon(heh) and did not really plan any kind of creature comforts. I had one real true need at the time, safe storage and production facilities.



The back room was just a place to put a double chest, a crafting bench, and a furnace. I guess I did not even attempt anything fancy until my furnace/stove at the treehouse. I did not need much storage yet because when the Fort had been finished waaaay back when, I still had not truly mined, and certainly had not farmed.



The area I now call the Observation Deck was really only contoured to match the cave. No function to it except to make sure I could get some torches to act as a guiding beacon.



My storage system at the Tower was a bit better. I separated the storage according to the "building" it was in. The shed had tools and landscaping, the cellar had cured meats and stuff needing to be cold, the furnace area had ores. It was Sugarland where my favorite categorization was established, so Sugarland stood for my template for the Fort Lookout refurbish.



Taking further inspiration from Sugarland, I went up to the transition area between Observation Deck and the storage room. There I created a stove based on the grill I had outside at Sugarland. I added a "chimney" block above it for the heat to go. Half blocks were recently added, so I took the half blocks of wood plank and made some cabinets beside the stove, I'm rather happy about them, I felt creative.



Still on my shelving kick, I made a work bench and some overhead shelving for the space. I am now super happy about Fort Lookout. I have bunks, and officer's quarters, some furniture, extensive storage, and now a stove and crafting area to be proud of. It went from my most primitive dwelling to the one dwelling that contains all current "comforts" in Minecraft. Beds, bookshelves, paintings, carpeting, shelves, all the nice stuff.

Next up! Episode 6. I need to secure the area around Fort Lookout!

S5 E4: Problem Areas

Well since I had been away from this area for months, there were a few things I let slip. When I noticed these things I always said "I'll fix it later". Well, I guess its time for that "later" to be now. Here's a few of my fixes...



I put these up in trouble spots on my river so that I could traverse it at night in dire situations. Just some blocks of man-made cobblestone and some torches all around. It looks kind of medieval, which I guess fits with the Tower area.



I am trying to find new uses for the single stack fences that I experimented with at Sugarland. Here is one of those uses I've seen, legit lamp posts. I kind of wish I could use a smaller block, but I guess I'll have to just wait for better materials to show up.



Once I had a nice gradual cove here. It was a nice and pretty cove that I enjoyed having here. Then a creeper caught me one morning and blew up that nice scenery. "I'll fix this later", and then I had a glitch that lost me lots of glass that I needed for something. I dug up the beach because... well its not like it was pretty anymore.



FANCY! Yeah, I'm playing around with some more carpentry, finding what works, what looks good, what is function. This is fairly functional, but I do find myself just jumping down it on return trips. Oh well, it looks nice.



I'm fallen down this thing like 3 times while not paying attention. Look at the picture, you can see the ladder up to Fort Lookout just next to it. I always thought I'd explore these areas, but eh.



I'd rather feel like less an idiot, so I've boarded this one, and several other holes in the "backyard". Now its pretty safe to travel behind the Fort.

I harvested a good bit of materials during all of this. I realized that compared to Sugarland, the Fort was rather lacking in facilities.

Next time we'll fix that.

March 26 2011 Weekend update

Hmm.

Well they are adding soon that beds will be your new spawn point after you sleep in them. That's pretty cool I guess... kinda makes my river seem silly now :P Oh well haha, I really enjoyed and was proud of my river work. The compass will still be pegged to your original spawn. I really like that, so you can still always get "home".

I still have plenty of Episodes set up and ready to go for a few weeks. I'm refining my idea of what I'm doing. I have really liked the idea of "Skypp" being a scout for the area and preparing it for "occupation". Sort of a advance astronaut preparing a planet for habitation or some such. So I may be making some more "stations" soon.

I have to say that I like my new Fort Lookout. You guys have just now seen some of the changes I've made, but I've been "living" there for 2 weeks now. Really fun and great place. I don't know how I lived in that tree or even that tower for sooooo long now haha. Even Sugarland is feeling sparse in comparison.

Well, thanks for reading, I hope you enjoy my further persuits.

-Skypp aka Rick_no7, aka Rick

S5 E3: Classing up the joint

The bunkhouse turned out to be a bit smaller than I had thought it would take to allow for 3 bunks and 3 storage containers. This leaves us with a long, yet direct, hallway through to the observation deck. I decided that the Fort is not a socialist regime, so an Officer would have to occupy the place. Putting the officer the closest to the observation deck would make sense, whoever was on guard could get to the officer very quickly.



While clearing out the room, I quickly find that there is an error in its placement. The walls are the literal walls of the mountain, and I would not be able to "finish" the room out with wood planks like the rest of the fort. I decided that with executive privilege of having your own room, also comes the executive duty of living in a drafty, cold room because it is closest to the observation deck. But that doesn't mean the officer will be a cave man. We can do some stuff to help out.



My best comfort resources are at Sugarland, that is where I decided to make my first "homely" house after all. So I went there and I collected some wool I had acquired, and then I went and picked some roses on side of a non-landmark hill.



The officer quarters now has a nice decorative rug so that the officer isn't living on stone floors. He gets his bed, and I put a bookshelf beside it. I figure he may be doing some work or writing his reports as he lay in bed.



After exploring the area on the other side of the mountain, I decided some windows would not hurt anything as they are hard to observe from anywhere, the area outside the officer's quarters is yet another "hollow" volcano like structure in a mountain. Next, I knew that tapestries hung in castles kept the warmth in, so I arranged for a large tapestry... apparently of kung fu fighting men, to be hung beside the bed.



On the other side I fashioned a sort of desk and bookshelf in a nook for the officer to use. Another, much classier, painting would reside on the wall next to the door, and executive privilege allowed for a double chest in the room instead of a single.



I was very happy with the room. The highest quality furnishings, yet a little bit of austere compromising by the officer would keep some respect of the junior officers. Then I read the sign we had made up for the room... apparently someone can't spell. Oh well, that'll have to wait till we can procure another sign.

Next we work on some problems areas of The Bay, get it into a bit better shape for an area befitting the fort.

S5 E2: Lookout Renovations

I arrived into Fort Lookout through the back door... the only real entrance I guess. I still like that there is only one real entrance. Anyway, I see that I had NO plan for function for this place. Zero.



I have looked out into this area many times, waiting for dawn before I had a watch. I decided I needed a chair here to sit. Once it was there, I realized it had this kind of Star Trek captain's chair about it. I like that. I imagine if someone was on guard duty they would need a place to sit and watch out over the entire bay for boats and such.



There was always a wall here of natural rock that I thought would make the place look more.. natural form afar. Minecraft just does not support that kind of detail because of the glass graphic, so I decided this would be the start of the new area.



I was not sure that the area here was solid. I had heard creatures before and did not know if it was from the roof or a hidden cave somewhere around Fort Lookout. Luckily it went solidly through.



Just as I planned. Turns out that the observation deck is on the level with the back storage room. This hallway leads directly to it, connecting the observation platform.



Directly from the back room I hollowed out the area next to the chest. It too was solid, something of a surprise considering this whole Fort was built inside natural hollow cavern.



I widened it a bit and then proceeded to cover it all with wood so that it looked classy and finished. I kind of like the finished look of this former cave, so I am going to keep it where I am able.



Here's some TMI for you... I am a "HGTV Home of the Year" sweepstakes junky. Whenever they have it, I enter daily like a mad man thinking I even have a chance. Well this year's home featured a ski lodge, something I "planned" to turn into a movie theater when I won(yea right). Well I like the idea of bunk rooms in my Forts now.



Fin

Now to the next room... but you'll have to wait till next post!