Share your Minecraft experiences

[fuzzypickles]

Yes, there's already a current thread, but that one's turning out to be more about gameplay mechanics and general strategies instead of your own personal stories about playing the game, which is what I want to share. So here, I'll start one.

Got the game earlier this week; to say that I'm blown away is an understatement. Yeah, the graphics may look crappy but in essence that's part of its je ne sais quoi, and undisputable proof that gameplay trumps pretty graphics every time. As they say, simplicity is everything.

First Game: Started on a nearly featureless plain, with lots of sand and dirt but with no visible mountains and virtually NO trees. Having read reviews & watching YouTube videos, I knew how critical it is to find wood & shelter immediately, so this was a Very Bad Thing. I ran several miles in aimless direction, chopping down only 2 or 3 trees (there weren't any more!) and it was nearly dark when I finally located a tiny mountainside cubby hole where I could build a dirt wall and wait out the night.

I can't describe how creepy & terrifying that night was, cowering in darkness as zombies & spiders clawed at the walls of my hastily built fort. Did I mention already how much I love this game??

Dawn approached, and the monsters were still there, so I got bold and chose to attack them with my newly crafted stone sword. Oops. Killed the spider, but the zombie mercilessly pwn3d me. Game Over -- Respawn? HELL no...

Second Game: Snow world. Instant reload (mainly to preserve my FPS, those snowflakes don't help the lag!)

Third Game: Started in a deep sand pit with tall, natural walls and a small cave no more than five steps away. Can you say lucky?? Chopped a few trees, but mainly spent the scant daylight hours piling dirt on the walls to strengthen my fortifications. Holed up in the cave at night, but I swear I did not hear a single monster that night, or the several following nights. (Based on the many Let's Plays I've watched, I'm incredibly fortunate to have my spawn point right on my doorstep -- very lucky!)

Now, I knew the next step was to dig for coal (and iron, but that's less necessary.) Without coal, you can't make torches, the game's only real light source. Well, I dug and dug but couldn't find coal ANYWHERE -- found some iron, and lots of sand of course, but NO coal. I was getting a little freaked out because my starting cave was getting large but I couldn't dig too deep, for fear of monsters spawning in the darkness. My few ventures into daylight yielded nothing promising, either. I did discover that forges give off ample light while cooking, so my first 4-5 days were spent exploring & chopping wood in daylight, while I cooked sand into glass and kept digging in my cave all night long. Found more iron (LOTS of iron!) and even the entrance to a deep, natural cavern beneath my own cave (with ominous growls from the darkness below...)

You can't imagine my relief when, on the fifth day, I *finally* struck coal. Not much, but enough to craft a few torches, so the nights were no longer spent in utter blackness. What a difference coal makes -- now I could venture out at night, placing torches to light my way, keeping monsters at bay and easily dispatching the ones that attacked anyway. In fact, it was time at last to investigate that monster cave I'd sealed up several night ago...

Well, that's the saga of how my first Minecraft experience began. How 'bout you?

[Lobsang]

I have discovered a VAST network of mines. I don't know if that's normal or not, but it took about 5 'worlds' into the game to discover it.

Plenty of coal. Some Iron. About 5 blocks of gold, some redstone but I don't have tools strong enough to mine it yet (and I'm not sure if it's good for anything useful)

I was getting quite frustrated with the mines last night. I kept dying, and of course I kept dying upon trying to retreive my stuff from dying. Until I found out you can simply turn the monsters off by setting the difficulty to 'peaceful' (I was on normal)

I want to build a glass sky scraper.

EDIT: On a different world, I am about 70 percent complete on constructing a glass 'viewing cage' of what was previously a dungeon, so the skeletons will be trapped inside a glass box, and when daylight comes I get to watch them all burn. The cage will be suspended so I can walk underneath. I've heard about spawn traps using these dungeons. I might put a door on the glass cage to see if once they've burned to death I can go in and grab the arrows they drop.

Or I may work out how to construct a spawn trap that works constantly. (The above would only work once a 'day')

[Lobsang]

I also found a saddle, which apparently will allow me to ride a pig.

Edit: When I have a sufficiently worked-on world I may youtube it.

[fuzzypickles]

Hey Lobsang, thanks for rez'ing my thread. I was dejected that it had suffered such a rapid, pathetic death.

Originally Posted by Lobsang

I have discovered a VAST network of mines. I don't know if that's normal or not, but it took about 5 'worlds' into the game to discover it.

VAST is indeed an understatement -- you know that monster cave mentioned in my OP? Turns out it lead to a giant series of tunnels, which in turn lead to another, larger series of caverns, which itself lead to the MEGA CAVE OF DOOM just like you described. It's all one room, with more than ten floors split by a giant crack in the earth. (When I got to the bottom of the earth and looked up, I could see sky...or the bottom of the ocean, most likely. The lag from that vantage point was horrible, too.) I've gone spelunking down there several times and still haven't cleared the whole damn thing. I doubt if I ever will. (And if I do...what am I gonna do with this cave? Haven't a clue, to be honest...)

Originally Posted by Lobsang

Plenty of coal. Some Iron. About 5 blocks of gold, some redstone but I don't have tools strong enough to mine it yet (and I'm not sure if it's good for anything useful)

I was getting quite frustrated with the mines last night. I kept dying, and of course I kept dying upon trying to retreive my stuff from dying. Until I found out you can simply turn the monsters off by setting the difficulty to 'peaceful' (I was on normal)

You need iron tools to mine gold, redstone & diamond. Redstone is used for creating electric circuits, which is why it's so plentiful. I mainly use it for creating red torches, to use as beacons that lead back to the exit. Like you, I've died several times & twice lost all my stuff (the environment has killed me far more often than the monsters themselves) but I refuse to switch to Peaceful, ever. It's a matter of principle, mainly.

Originally Posted by Lobsang

I want to build a glass sky scraper.

Me too! With a lava waterfall at the top, of course.

Originally Posted by Lobsang

EDIT: On a different world, I am about 70 percent complete on constructing a glass 'viewing cage' of what was previously a dungeon, so the skeletons will be trapped inside a glass box, and when daylight comes I get to watch them all burn. The cage will be suspended so I can walk underneath. I've heard about spawn traps using these dungeons. I might put a door on the glass cage to see if once they've burned to death I can go in and grab the arrows they drop.

Believe it or not, I've yet to locate a single working spawner -- I found one "dungeon" that was completely flooded, but wasn't able to get inside it. I think there's a zombie spawner in the MegaGigaCave, one of the few dark areas remaining in fact, but dealing with this cave has left me a little traumatized...heh. I'll finish the cave eventually, of course, but all the torches will probably have changed to lanterns by then. Meanwhile, I'll be working on my giant roller coaster.

[Lobsang]

Today I found a second dungeon only a short walk away from the first one. (In the same cavern).

Was that a mis-type where you said redstone was plentiful? I have found about 4 pieces in my current map. Compare that to about 12 gold, 100s of iron, thousands of coal.

I know you need iron tools for gold, but when I tried to mine some redstone with it it was taking too long, so I had a feeling it wasn't going to yield any redstone (when a tool takes too long to get rid of a block it usually means it won't mine anything from it in my experience)

I too am a little surprised how much fun this game is considering the 'blocky' graphics. I'm usually a sucker for nice graphics.

I can't wait for beta and final release. There's so much potential for this game to evolve. For example I'd like to be able to paint walls, carpet floors.

ETA: Today I learned how to plant trees. I was on an island with TWO small trees, with the nearest island of trees a LONG way away. I had to go on a long journey every time I wanted wood. But now I've planted several trees on my island. Wonder how long it takes for them to become actual trees.

[Lobsang]

I've also found about 40-60 blocks of obsidian, but it is all in two clumps at different parts of the cavern.

[Lobsang]

fuzzypickles Have you by any chance watched 'Seananners'' youtube videos of him playing minecraft? That's what got me playing this game. I'd seen it before, but was never really interested much. Then I watched a few of his ten-fifteen minute videos and wanted to play.

If I had the confidence to narrate, I'd do the same. I often commentate to myself while I play (embarrasing to admit, but come on - everyone does it right??)

[dzeiger]

Redstone is, in my experience, more plentiful than gold. Usually around lava, sometimes hard to mine without it falling in. Iron is fine for redstone, but it does take a while.

Then you can have fun with making circuits.

As for dungeons, that mega-cavern I mentioned in the other thread had two dungeons that I know of. Then when wandering back from the eventual exit I found, I ran across a third one that just opened up onto the surface on a beach.

[Lobsang]

I wonder what the chance of finding diamond is, and what kind of conditions it is likely to be found in.

[Lobsang]

One more thing. I spotted in your OP that you made yourself a little shelter of dirt to wait out the night.


Well you might already know this by now, but one neat way to get safe in a hurry, is to build a tower underneath yourself. Point directly down, then hold the jump and build keys down. (you'll need lots of building material - best to use something without much value and which is plentiful - i,e, dirt) You'll quickly rise above the range of monsters and skeleton arrows. Just stand on your plinth and admire the scenery until the sun comes up (great place to watch the sun rise too)

At first I didn't have a problem with dying because of infinite respawns, so I'd build huge towers and just fall off them.

One time I got lost while looking for trees. It was weird! - I went what seemed like a short distance away from my house, chopped some trees, then I was lost. Spent AGES going round in circles looking for my house!

So eventually I had an idea - die. If I die I'll respawn and from the respawn point I'll likely remember where I live. Problem is, All the newly chopped wood would be scattered where I'd die, so the plan got an extra sub-plan - build a maximum-height tower to serve as a landmark for where I am. die. Find home. Build another tower at home (also to serve as a landmark) die again. go off to the landmark where I first die. Get my stuff. go back home.

This is where it became apparent just how far I'd managed to stray! - when I had the two towers (get it? lol) I still couldn't see one from the other! even at maximum draw distance.

I decided to just go off walking. Eventually I found my tower, but now I couldn't see the tower I walked from. so I built a new tower at a half way point.

I ended up with four towers built. Each one only just visible from its nearest neighbour.

My home tower now has torches on every side of every block. Looks quite neat.

It'll probably feature in my youtube video when I get around to doing it.

[Lobsang]

..

[fuzzypickles]

Originally Posted by Lobsang

fuzzypickles Have you by any chance watched 'Seananners'' youtube videos of him playing minecraft? That's what got me playing this game. I'd seen it before, but was never really interested much. Then I watched a few of his ten-fifteen minute videos and wanted to play.

Not familiar with that particular name, but yes, like you I've watched quite a few Let's Play Minecraft videos and that's what got me hooked on the game. I'd also recommend the playthrus by veriax, davidr64yt, and ZetaPlays -- veriax is especially fun to watch, he's always getting himself into trouble!

Originally Posted by Lobsang

I wonder what the chance of finding diamond is, and what kind of conditions it is likely to be found in.

Here's a very good tutorial on the best way to mine for diamonds. Basically they are most common in the zone 10-16 blocks above bedrock. (Redstone is very common down there too -- you must have been unlucky not to find any yet.)

Originally Posted by Lobsang

One time I got lost while looking for trees. It was weird! - I went what seemed like a short distance away from my house, chopped some trees, then I was lost. Spent AGES going round in circles looking for my house!

Hahaha...been there, done that.

I have a terrible habit of walking the perimeter of my encampment, placing extra torches to extend my "safe zone", and then walk in the direction of what I think is home...only to suddenly realize that I'm completely lost, with no real supplies (I wasn't planning on combat) and night is fast falling. Sometimes I'll find high ground and try to fight off the mobs until morning, but that can get really dicey -- with bow & arrow I can do okay, but once I run out of arrows, things tend to go very bad VERY quickly...

So yeah, if you're caught outside at night, the only guaranteed way to survive is to dig a hole (or a tower, like you did) and wait out the night. I do hope they fix the nighttime spawn in the final release -- it was exciting at first, but now it's just become bloody annoying.

Originally Posted by Lobsang

So eventually I had an idea - die. If I die I'll respawn and from the respawn point I'll likely remember where I live. Problem is, All the newly chopped wood would be scattered where I'd die, so the plan got an extra sub-plan - build a maximum-height tower to serve as a landmark for where I am. die. Find home. Build another tower at home (also to serve as a landmark) die again. go off to the landmark where I first die. Get my stuff. go back home.

This is where it became apparent just how far I'd managed to stray! - when I had the two towers (get it? lol) I still couldn't see one from the other! even at maximum draw distance.

I decided to just go off walking. Eventually I found my tower, but now I couldn't see the tower I walked from. so I built a new tower at a half way point.

I ended up with four towers built. Each one only just visible from its nearest neighbour.

My home tower now has torches on every side of every block. Looks quite neat.

It'll probably feature in my youtube video when I get around to doing it.

Did you at least get your stuff back?

[fuzzypickles]

Oh Lobsang, a question: How long was it before you got punk'd by your first creeper?

[Lobsang]

Seananners refers to them as 'exploding penises' (He's probably not the only one)

I don't know what my first time was, but I've had them sneak up on me plenty of times. They can be bastards in caves because just when you think you're running quite fast away from them they'll dive at you and explode.

"Did you at least get your stuff back? "

Yes

I eventually found some diamond in the big cave. I found enough to make one diamond pickaxe, but I'm too scared to use it... it's made of diamond!!!

Based on your tips I'll go and look for more. I have since found LOTS of redstone. I didn't know you could get so much from one block.

Are your cave(s) big enough that you get lost in them? I've got lost in mine a few times. One time was quite frustrating, I spent ages and ages walking around only to find I'd come out at a place I'd been ages ago, still no nearer to getting out.

I think if you die in lava your stuff is gone. I died in lava once and went back, to find my stuff wasn't there.

I've made a start on my glass skyscraper. If you count the ground floor it has 5 floors so far. (The first two floors built into the side of the hill, so from the top of the hill it only has 3 floors)


One problem with recording games is that for this type of game you'll want your video to be quite long (in youtube terms about ten minutes), for a video that long you can end up with a file that is many gigabytes in size (even with fraps settings at their most conservative)

[fuzzypickles]

Originally Posted by Lobsang

Seananners refers to them as 'exploding penises' (He's probably not the only one)

I don't know what my first time was, but I've had them sneak up on me plenty of times. They can be bastards in caves because just when you think you're running quite fast away from them they'll dive at you and explode.

Creepers may be the most eeeevil video game monster ever created. Not only are they completely silent, except for just before they explode (and their sole noise sounds completely harmless, like wind in the grass, until you learn to recognize it) they almost always sneak up on you while your attention is focused elsewhere. I love 'em, though -- I use them for demolition work, or do things like "Bungee Creeping", which is jumping on their heads to see how high they'll blast me into the sky.

Originally Posted by Lobsang

"Did you at least get your stuff back? "

Yes

Good...I'm certain you've learned by now, in this game, death is meaningless. But losing all your stuff hurts.

Originally Posted by Lobsang

I eventually found some diamond in the big cave. I found enough to make one diamond pickaxe, but I'm too scared to use it... it's made of diamond!!!

I've heard others swear by diamond pickaxes, but I've never crafted one -- like you, I'd be afraid to use it. Diamond swords kick serious butt, though.

Originally Posted by Lobsang

Are your cave(s) big enough that you get lost in them? I've got lost in mine a few times. One time was quite frustrating, I spent ages and ages walking around only to find I'd come out at a place I'd been ages ago, still no nearer to getting out.

Hell, yeah!! Even the small to medium-sized caverns (which are ginormous by other game's standards) are very easy to get lost in. Just wait until you uncover one of the truly MASSIVE cave systems -- you'll shit bricks.

In fact, last night I went back to my BSCOD (Big Scary Cave of Doom) and saw that I had in fact lighted up nearly the whole thing, but I could hear monster noises through the wall. So I blew it up with some TNT, killed the nearest mobs, and kept exploring until I reached a nexus of no less than SIX dark, crumbling shafts leading to God knows where. (I nearly sat down and cried.) I turned around to go back -- and realized, I was lost. AGAIN. And I hadn't gone more than a few hundred meters! (I think an exploding creeper may have destroyed the way back...haven't checked yet.)

Luckily, the new cave system did lead to a part of the BSCOD which I'd lit up before, but the torches had been placed long before I'd created my "system" of how to use them intelligently, so I couldn't tell where I was or how to get out. Took me about an hour to find a series of torches which were placed intelligently, which led to a staircase, which lead to the exit (albeit a different one than from where I'd entered.) The good news is I didn't encounter a single monster in the lit-up area, but I'm not going back down there until I can reserve time to fix the existing torches -- not knowing where you are in that empty, lit-up labyrinth is more scary than exploring dark holes filled with mobs!

Originally Posted by Lobsang

One problem with recording games is that for this type of game you'll want your video to be quite long (in youtube terms about ten minutes), for a video that long you can end up with a file that is many gigabytes in size (even with fraps settings at their most conservative)

I'm not familiar with FRAPS or other recording software, but I do know that many YouTubers do record gaming sessions for hours at a time (and the YouTube limit is 15 minutes now) so it must be possible. Unfortunately I can't offer much technical advice, because my computer-tinkering knowledge is about 15 years out of date.

[Lobsang]

"Good...I'm certain you've learned by now, in this game, death is meaningless. But losing all your stuff hurts. "

Except that on one of my two well maintained worlds, my spawn point is quite a trek away from my home/place of action. So a death means a long tedious trek back to to where I was.

I learned a lesson from that from my other world - make sure you make your 'base' close to your spawn point.

On the subject of getting lost in mines - while I was trying to get out I resolved to set up some sort of 'this way out' system of placing unique items only along a main route, a sort of breadcrumb trail. I place cobblestone doorways ( 3x2 cobblestone structure with a gap of two squares in the middle).

I could make signs, but I don't like using wood to make static things. I prefer to conserve the wood for tools and doors.

Edit: I have wondered this before, but as time goes on I am more and more inclined to suspect it to be true - does lighting stop the spawning? In other words if you had a 100% lit cave system would nothing spawn in it?

[fuzzypickles]

Originally Posted by Lobsang

I learned a lesson from that from my other world - make sure you make your 'base' close to your spawn point.

+1 to that, good buddy. In fact, if I start a new world but don't find a good base camp location in the immediate area, I'll restart.

Speaking of death and respawning...just a few hours ago, I was doing some decorative work high in the trees above my spawn point (which is dead center in the courtyard of my primary base, how's that for convenience!) when I slipped and fell to my death -- no problem, just gather up my stuff and...wait a minute, some stuff is missing. My compass and flint & steel were gone. Turns out, I was carrying them in my "Crafting Menu" (the 4 blocks where you can build stuff w/o a crafting bench) and I've now learned that items in those slots do NOT drop when you die -- they are lost forever!

So, heads up on that. (Good thing I wasn't carrying my diamond sword today -- that's usually where I stow it!!!)

Originally Posted by Lobsang

On the subject of getting lost in mines - while I was trying to get out I resolved to set up some sort of 'this way out' system of placing unique items only along a main route, a sort of breadcrumb trail. I place cobblestone doorways ( 3x2 cobblestone structure with a gap of two squares in the middle).

I could make signs, but I don't like using wood to make static things. I prefer to conserve the wood for tools and doors.

I use redstone torches to mark a trail back to the exit. Doors are good, too -- any type of construction work is a good way to signal to yourself that you've at least been there before, and the area was reasonably safe enough for you to putz around for a bit. I like placing signs everywhere, even inside my fortress where I already know where everything is -- gives the place added realism, IMO. They're also good for conveying messages that simple torch patterns can't express (gravel pit under the floor, etc.)

Originally Posted by Lobsang

Edit: I have wondered this before, but as time goes on I am more and more inclined to suspect it to be true - does lighting stop the spawning?

Yes -- that's precisely what torches (and soon lanterns) are for. Monsters only spawn in darkness, or at night, and the deeper the darkness, the more likely they are to spawn. They can even spawn inside your base, if you don't keep the light level high enough!!

[Sam Stone]

I started a new map yesteray, and wound up on an 'island world'. I've got my own little island, which had plenty of trees. I made a sod house really quickly, eventually found some coal by digging down, and I've lit up the entire island. Then I built a gigantic monolith that I lit up like a skyscraper with torches. That way I can always spot my home island.

Next, I dug a tunnel from my island to the next one. I'm going to connect all the islands with tunnels.

But off in the distance is a huge island with a very large mountain on it, and two giant gaping caves that look like black moons from where I'm standing. It gives me a little quiver just looking at it.

But that's where I'm going.

[VanillaGorilla]

Dammit, all these stories make me want to go home and play right now. Stupid work.

As for stories of my own, all I want to add now, is that I have learned that while dieing always sucks, it can be made much worse if
1. You fall into lava, and almost make it back to safe ground. I was one square away.
2. All items are lost in the lava.
3. Items include a wealth of iron and some diamond, as well as some redstone and a few other things.
4. You fall into lava by incredibly stupidly mining the block you are standing on, even if you know there is lava like right there

[Sam Stone]

I build chests right beside my spawn point. If I'm killed, as soon as I materialize I can stock up again. I have storage chests all over the place, actually.

I tunneled over to the third island tonight, and built a glass house where my tunnel emerged, which just happened to be overlooking my first two islands. Then I dug around it so I basically have a pedestal containing my emerge tunnel, with a large glass cantilevered house on top of it. It's quite cool.

Next, the caves of doom.

[fuzzypickles]

Originally Posted by Sam Stone

But off in the distance is a huge island with a very large mountain on it, and two giant gaping caves that look like black moons from where I'm standing. It gives me a little quiver just looking at it.

This game's CMOA (Crowning Moment of Awesome) came when I stood on the beach staring into featureless fog, switched to "Far" distance view, and watched in wonder as the distant land *rose* from the mist -- it was mesmerizing. In particular, I saw a magnificent range of craggy mountains with breathtaking formations far, far away -- too far away to see on "Normal" view, and I'm too busy with stuff on my home island to visit them any time soon, but I *will* get there and explore them, someday!!

Originally Posted by VanillaGorilla

Dammit, all these stories make me want to go home and play right now. Stupid work.

As for stories of my own, all I want to add now, is that I have learned that while dieing always sucks, it can be made much worse if
1. You fall into lava, and almost make it back to safe ground. I was one square away.
2. All items are lost in the lava.
3. Items include a wealth of iron and some diamond, as well as some redstone and a few other things.
4. You fall into lava by incredibly stupidly mining the block you are standing on, even if you know there is lava like right there

You forgot:
5. Digging straight up into lava.
6. Digging straight down into lava.
7. Digging sideways into lava.
8. Digging a hole to The Void, then accidentally breaching the overhead lava pool which floods the bedrock crawl space, blocking all escape routes except that hole to The Void...
9. Blasting away some rubble with TNT, then jumping down onto the containment wall holding back one of the lava pools -- or rather, where the containment wall USED to be...
10. Digging a pilot tunnel near the surface, you can hear what sounds like bubbling lava beyond the next wall, but it can't be lava since you're so close to the surface, right? Completely forgetting about the experimental lava pool you created weeks ago...

I've actually been very lucky -- of all the times I've been drowned, crushed, killed by monsters, suffocated by gravel, or fallen into a bottomless pit, I've lost all my gear only twice (not counting the incident upthread where items in my "Crafting Menu" were lost.) Once was during my Deep Wilderness Trek where hiked in a random direction for several days, and on the 5th day I got tired of hiding from mobs and decided to take them on Jackie Chan style...bad idea!! The second was getting punk'd by a creeper in a cave I thought had been cleared out -- I probably could've recovered my stuff, but didn't bother. (Wasn't carrying anything of value, aside from a brand-new iron pickaxe.)

Originally Posted by Sam Stone

I build chests right beside my spawn point. If I'm killed, as soon as I materialize I can stock up again. I have storage chests all over the place, actually.

Took me awhile to think of the Emergency Resupply Chest idea. Speaking of chests, I need to consolidate the many chests I have scattered around my island -- I keep running out of certain resources, esp. coal, only to discover later that I'd stashed 50 coal in an out-of-the-way chest that I forgot even existed...d'oh!!!

Originally Posted by Sam Stone

Next, the caves of doom.

Have fun! But be wary, friend...those Endlessly Massive Caverns are truly beasts unto themselves. Don't forget to bring torches (including redstone torches), lots of arrows (you do NOT want to run out of arrows, ever!) and for heaven's sake, always watch your back!

[VanillaGorilla]

Originally Posted by Sam Stone

I build chests right beside my spawn point. If I'm killed, as soon as I materialize I can stock up again. I have storage chests all over the place, actually.

I tunneled over to the third island tonight, and built a glass house where my tunnel emerged, which just happened to be overlooking my first two islands. Then I dug around it so I basically have a pedestal containing my emerge tunnel, with a large glass cantilevered house on top of it. It's quite cool.

Next, the caves of doom.

I prefer to keep my chests a bit more centralized in my house (and by house, I mean castle, obviously ), personally.
My house is pretty close to my spawn point though.

I think I might have a cave of doom of my own a bit in the distance, which I'm looking forward to exploring. First I'll build some minecart tracks leading there though.

[fuzzypickles]

Originally Posted by VanillaGorilla

I prefer to keep my chests a bit more centralized in my house (and by house, I mean castle, obviously ), personally.
My house is pretty close to my spawn point though.

I do have a centralized storage area, but I'm in the habit of placing chests & workbenches in areas where I'm doing construction or excavation work. Most of them just contain slag (mainly dirt & cobblestone -- gravel is becoming quite rare, for some reason) but every so often I'll make a tour of the chests and discover stuff that just shouldn't be stored there (saplings in my lava cave?? WTF?)

My fortress was literally built around my spawn point, so each time I die, I reappear right next to [roleplay] the spaceship cockpit where I crash-landed on this desolate planet [/roleplay] the front door of my primary fortress. The surrounding land has been de-spawned in a five-mile radius in all directions, protected by ocean to the south and west, sheer cliffs and a gravel pit to the east, and about 10,000 torches (soon to be lanterns) blanketing the ridgeline to the north. I've built pit traps, moats, fences, and other fortifications which are so secure, not even livestock can reach my central courtyard -- I'll get the occasional chicken stuck inside the walls, and every so often an enterprising sheep makes it to my glass roof, but aside from that NO monster can reach me, even if they are chasing me from one of the dark zones.

I think my Big Scary Cave of Doom (BSCOD) has given me a dose of PTSD -- for certain, my character has been terrified of caverns ever since a series of near death experiences deep down in that massive cavern. He's avoided caves entirely for two whole weeks, and even refused to seek shelter in a nearby half-cleared monster cave while wandering the wilderness and night unexpectedly fell...luckily, his [roleplay] "imaginary" companion (a tennis ball named Wilson) [/roleplay] convinced him to face up to the deep-dwelling monsters, as well as facing up to his fears in general...

He's been dealing with it, though, and over the last two days has made brief forays into the BSCOD. Last night I went searching for that new monster passage I'd uncovered (as mentioned upthread) but couldn't find it -- apparently, an exploding creeper had triggered a cave-in which blocked the passage AGAIN, and I don't dare dig through the gravel because it's holding up the ocean floor...!! I spent a few hours merely establishing the landscape immediately adjacent to my "safe zone"; it turns out, all three entrances to this cave are very close to each other, despite being in relatively far-flung locations within my base. It is SO easy to get lost down there, though -- seriously, I would walk ten steps forward, turn around, and could NOT see any way back, not even the passage itself where I'd come from!

So the next several caving sessions will be dedicated to reclaiming the BSCOD piece by piece, esp. placing torches in proper locations, with redstone torches to guide myself back to the exit(s). I'll be making sure that no matter where I go in this cave, I'll be able to see a red torch *somewhere*, marking where the exit path lies. It's going to take a long, long time (and that's assuming I can get up the nerve to go down there again -- it is CREEPY!) but I know the reward will be worth it. There are major treasures down there -- gold, diamond, tons upon tons of coal and iron. Maybe even a dungeon spawner, though I've yet to locate one that wasn't completely flooded by the ocean.

[Lobsang]

If you do manage to get out of the lava, bear in mind that you stay on fire for quite a while. The one time I did escape I happened to have the difficulty on 'peaceful' so I was regenerating as fast as I was dying from being on fire.

I also like to keep my storage centralized. I am inclined to forget where I've put things so I don't have far to search my three large chests in turn.

I also have 4 furnaces in one room. Their main job so far has been making glass.

Time for a confession (nobody at my work can see this so meh!) I maintain two worlds - one at home and one at work. (At work we are allowed to play 'flash games' or browser based games, so at work I play MC in the browser. At home I play the exe file (which allows me to play it in full 1920x1200 rez) I have the draw distance and fog distance set such that I can see as far as possible.

Having towers to find your way home only works if you are near enough to see the tower (see my first post in this thread). I got so far away from home once that I ended up with four intermediately spaced towers to find my way between home and where my stuff was left.

I also have a small lava pit in my house as a place to dispose of stuff (fairly useless stuff that just takes up space in inventories and chests - like snowballs and dirt)


My home world has the massive cave system, and the rapidly growing glass skyscraper.

My work world has the small cave with two dungeons, one of which is being converted into a glass box to hold the skeletons. (I keep wanting to say skelingtons, like a child )

[Lobsang]

Anyone know of a way of avoiding this...

http://imgur.com/QnQ4J.jpg

when making stairs using multiple stair blocks?

[fuzzypickles]

Originally Posted by Lobsang

If you do manage to get out of the lava, bear in mind that you stay on fire for quite a while. The one time I did escape I happened to have the difficulty on 'peaceful' so I was regenerating as fast as I was dying from being on fire.

I think you only burn if you step in a lava spring, not if it falls on your head. The only time I got injured by lava was while working deep in the bedrock and dug up directly into a lava spring -- thankfully, I was saved by [roleplay] an angel, whose soul I had previously rescued from the Great Energy Demon [/roleplay] VERY lucky chance, since I'd previously constructed a glass containment chamber which directed most of the lava flow away from me. I did get burned when I touched it, but didn't catch on fire.

Another time, while deep in the BSCOD, I slipped and fell into lava but got immediately flushed into a pool of water -- didn't even realize what had happened for several minutes. (I swear, my character must have the lives of sixteen cats...)

BTW, does anyone else roleplay in Minecraft? I find it adds to the experience tremendously.

Originally Posted by Lobsang

Time for a confession (nobody at my work can see this so meh!) I maintain two worlds - one at home and one at work. (At work we are allowed to play 'flash games' or browser based games, so at work I play MC in the browser. At home I play the exe file (which allows me to play it in full 1920x1200 rez) I have the draw distance and fog distance set such that I can see as far as possible.

Having towers to find your way home only works if you are near enough to see the tower (see my first post in this thread). I got so far away from home once that I ended up with four intermediately spaced towers to find my way between home and where my stuff was left.

First of all, I envy your computer! I'm stuck with 1152x864 and Short Distance View (the game can run w/Far Distance on, but it gets reeeeal laggy...) However, since Far Distance does work, if I ever get lost w/o a compass again, I can climb to a high place and switch on Far View long enough to locate where I need to go.

Originally Posted by Lobsang

My work world has the small cave with two dungeons, one of which is being converted into a glass box to hold the skeletons. (I keep wanting to say skelingtons, like a child )

Since they look a lot like Jack Skellington from The Nightmare Before Christmas, it's fair to call them that, IMO.

Originally Posted by Lobsang

I also have a small lava pit in my house as a place to dispose of stuff (fairly useless stuff that just takes up space in inventories and chests - like snowballs and dirt)

Working on that -- I'm going to dig a hole *straight down* (like they tell you never to do) just to see where I wind up, hopefully I'll reach lava or even The Void. Probably will be the next thing I do when I play the game...just hope I remember to strip all my gear, except for a cheap pick & shovel.

Speaking of lava...after watching veriax's Minecraft LP, I'm definitely building a gigantic lava-fall. I know exactly where to place it, too!

(After I did the trash pit, of course...)

(And work on the underground chicken farm...)

(And build a causeway to the sand quarry island far across the bay...)

(And explore the ocean more with a boat, maybe find some clay...)

Jeez...there's always something to do in this game, isn't there??

[Lobsang]

Since you mentioned that Diamond is found near bedrock (or in the bottom 10 rows of blocks of the world) I decided to dig down. Not straight down mind, but diagonal (45 degrees). I got to some grey block that I'd never seen before. It won't go away with an iron axe, so I assume it's bedrock. However, I was under the impression that bedrock was black or nearly black.

Anyway, while there I broke through to some lava. Lost a bunch of iron axes that I'd only just made!!!. Got my 73 torches back though. They landed on the rock next to the lava.

You probably know this, but to create a disposal unit you only need one bucket of lava. Create a 1x1 hole in the middle of some cobblestones (3x3) go get some lava using a bucket. Pour the lava into the 1x1 hole.

[fuzzypickles]

Originally Posted by Lobsang

Since you mentioned that Diamond is found near bedrock (or in the bottom 10 rows of blocks of the world) I decided to dig down. Not straight down mind, but diagonal (45 degrees). I got to some grey block that I'd never seen before. It won't go away with an iron axe, so I assume it's bedrock. However, I was under the impression that bedrock was black or nearly black.

If it's mostly black with flecks of light grey (kind of a salt-and-pepper texture) then it's indeed bedrock. (Did you at least find the Void?) Sometimes you'll find obsidian, which is formed when water flows over a lava spring, but that's even blacker than bedrock.

Originally Posted by Lobsang

You probably know this, but to create a disposal unit you only need one bucket of lava. Create a 1x1 hole in the middle of some cobblestones (3x3) go get some lava using a bucket. Pour the lava into the 1x1 hole.

I'm actually hoping to drill a borehole all the way to The Void -- that way, anything I throw away will be REALLY gone -- but I doubt I'll be that lucky.

[Lobsang]

I haven't been paying attention. Are you saying there's a void of emptiness under the bedrock?


This isn't on my big cave world, it's on my other one. I basically dug down in a diagonal zig-zag until I reached this bedrock, then dug around a bit (being careful of lava) and could only hit bedrock)

[fuzzypickles]

Originally Posted by Lobsang

I haven't been paying attention. Are you saying there's a void of emptiness under the bedrock?

Yes.

[Sam Stone]

My experience tonight is that I had uncovered a very cool cavern with a lava waterfall pouring into the ground a block away from a lake with its own waterfall. I was admiring it when I got an arrow in the back, which startled me into dropping off the ledge into the lava.

I lost my leather armor, about 10 blocks of iron ore I had just harvested, some bread, four iron picks, an iron shovel and an iron axe. Gah.

Also, the two big scary caves turned out to be not so scary. One turned out to be just a depression in the rock deep enough to look black from a distance. The other was a gigantic tunnel that went all the way through the island, but was otherwise featureless. I decided to dig around the cliff face at the top of tunnel and build something. I'm not quite sure what yet. A glass cliff dwelling, maybe. Or perhaps I'll try carving some lettering into the rocks on the cliff face..

On my home island, I got the idea of building an underwater glass house. That ought to be strange. So I waded out to a point where the water transitioned from one block deep to two, then started laying down a sand foundation. I finally got it all the way out of the water, and filled it as I went. One it was level with the water, I dug everything inside it down to a decent depth. Then I'll put in the glass ceiling , one block below the foundation. Before setting the final glass block, I make a stair and climb out, then put the glass in from on top. Then pick away the dirt ceiling above the glass, breach the foundation and let the water pour in on top.

For an entrance, I'll either dig a tunnel back to land, or I'll swim down, break a sand block in the wall, and let the flooding water suck me into my house. Then I'll turn around and plug the hole. It'll be my secret underwater lair. Learning to do that well could be a real boon for a multiplayer game if you want to hide.

[fuzzypickles]

Originally Posted by Sam Stone

My experience tonight is that I had uncovered a very cool cavern with a lava waterfall pouring into the ground a block away from a lake with its own waterfall. I was admiring it when I got an arrow in the back, which startled me into dropping off the ledge into the lava.

I lost my leather armor, about 10 blocks of iron ore I had just harvested, some bread, four iron picks, an iron shovel and an iron axe. Gah.

Ouch...well, it could've been a lot worse.

In fact...I read on the Minecraft forums that your stuff doesn't always disappear when you die. If you die far away from your spawn point, the game unloads the "chunk" you were in, and all your stuff remains in stasis until you re-enter the "chunk" at which point you have five minutes to collect everything before it all disappears. So now, my character's on a mission to retrace the steps of his first trek deep, deep into the wilderness -- if I'm lucky, my diamond sword and iron armor will still be there!

Problem is, I keep getting distracted. On the way out, I decided to plant more torches in Sheep Meadows to shore up a perimeter breech I'd kept forgetting to fix...then night fell, so I took another tour of the battlements, killing mobs and planting even more torches...then I ran out of torches...then I ran out of coal...so now I'm aimlessly prospecting, hoping to find more coal so I can make torches and *finally* get back to what I was doing. Coal is so hard to find in my world; I got a very bad roll on this map, apparently.

Love your idea for an underwater glass house, I'll have to try it!

[fuzzypickles]

Tonight I had my first creeper-falling-on-my-head moment.

I was setting up my sand quarry outpost, when darkness fell. It was too dark to run back to a safe zone, so I sought refuge in a deep gravel pit which had been partially mined out. Built a dirt roof, mined a bit and discovered iron (but no coal, dagnabbit -- I've been out of coal for days!) and made myself a nice comfortable hidey-hole. Melted some sand into glass, so I decided to make myself a window. Still dark outside, but there was some light from my torches, and a cow was jumping up and down on my roof. So, to fetch its leather, I dug straight up through the dirt ceiling--OH SHIT! CREEP--BLAAAMMMM!!!

Thankfully, I survived with a sliver of health. I'm kinda pissed, though -- my new comfy hole AND my new window were all destroyed! Damn creeper...

Man, I love this game.

[Lightnin']

On one map, the Creepers decided they just flat-out hated me. Every morning, I'd find them lined up outside my door, ready to blow me up. Every morning, as a result, I had to rebuild a good portion of my house.

Then I found some cactus.

I planted some sand in front of my door, and then created a walkway to my door lined with cactus. Now the creeps can't get to my door- they kill themselves on the cactus.

Cactus is now my favorite plant.

[Lobsang]

I'm so putting cactus everywhere now that I know that!

ETA: Brick/Cobblestone tends to survive creeper explosion quite well.

I am a little too fond of glass though.

[fuzzypickles]

Where did you guys find cactus?? That's one of two things I haven't found at all yet. (The other is clay.)

[Lobsang]

As you might expect: cactus isn't very common. Neither is clay. I've found both by accident by roaming (cactus) or digging up sand near water (clay)

[fuzzypickles]

According to Cartograph (a nifty mapping program) my entire generated world contains 6498 diamond ores, 1718 obsidian blocks, 328 clay...and twelve (12) cactus. Man, that is stupid rare! Guess I'd better start searching for it.

[Lobsang]

I wonder if you can use cactus to grow more. Like trees.

If so, once you do find it you might be able to make it more plentiful.

I once mentioned I occupy an island with NO trees on it. it is now covered in trees.

[fuzzypickles]

Originally Posted by Lobsang

I wonder if you can use cactus to grow more. Like trees.

If so, once you do find it you might be able to make it more plentiful.

You can indeed farm cactus, but I'm not clear on how it's done. (Probably requires sand.)

Originally Posted by Lobsang

I once mentioned I occupy an island with NO trees on it. it is now covered in trees.

Once I started tree farming, my supply of wood was no longer an issue. (I don't even use coal in the furnace anymore, only wood.) I remember when I grew my first magnificent "old growth" tree -- couldn't bear to chop that one down, so I built a forest around it. Most of my main fortress is covered by a gigantic canopy of leaves now.

[VanillaGorilla]

Originally Posted by fuzzypickles

You can indeed farm cactus, but I'm not clear on how it's done. (Probably requires sand.)

Yes, growing cactus is very easy. Just place a piece of it on sand, and then you wait.
it grows pretty fast, but I don't think it ever gets any taller that 3 cubes.
I recently created an entire field of cactii, putting them 4 spaces apart. I'm not sure if they need much light, maybe they woun't grow in shadow.

[born too late]

Originally Posted by Lightnin'

On one map, the Creepers decided they just flat-out hated me. Every morning, I'd find them lined up outside my door, ready to blow me up. Every morning, as a result, I had to rebuild a good portion of my house.

I had this problem for a while, too. Originally, my base was carved out of a hill about halfway up from level ground, and I would simply jump up terrace levels to get there. After being sabotaged by creepers a few times, I flattened the side of the mountain until it was level vertically with my front door, built a glass "bay window" around the door and erected a ladder up through a portal at the bottom of the bay window. Now I can do a scan of the area before I venture out, and snipe anything brave enough to hang out at the bottom of my ladder.

Strangely, I haven't seen any creepers (or any other baddies for that matter) anywhere near my front door since then. Of course, my hilltop base is directly above my main base, and the drop is long, so they can't spawn and pull a death from above anymore, either.

[Lobsang]

Just found this. Had to share.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnjSWPxJxNs

Poor guy!

[Palooka]

No way that wasn't intentional.

[fuzzypickles]

Originally Posted by Lobsang

Just found this. Had to share.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnjSWPxJxNs

Poor guy!

Originally Posted by Palooka

No way that wasn't intentional.

Fake or not, it gets funnier every time I watch it.

I don't understand how people can build houses out of wood, though -- wood has so many other invaluable uses, esp. building tools & weapons, that I never have enough left over for building structures with (never mind the fire hazard!)

I love creeper videos, too. Here are some of my faves on YouTube:
Giant Creeper Statue
Amazing Creeper Ambush

[Lobsang]

Originally Posted by fuzzypickles

Fake or not, it gets funnier every time I watch it.

And it points out an interesting aspect of this game - what happens stays happened. You can't go back to a previous save. I think more games should have that. You mess up you learn the hard way not to mess up like that again.

I don't understand how people can build houses out of wood, though -- wood has so many other invaluable uses
, esp. building tools & weapons, that I never have enough left over for building structures with (never mind the fire hazard!)

Agreed. I see those wood houses in most of the youtube minecraft videos. That wood isn't doing anything! It should be being made into weapons and tools. I guess they must have more than enough already for the tools they'll need.

I love creeper videos, too. Here are some of my faves on YouTube:
Giant Creeper Statue
Amazing Creeper Ambush

[looks up at roof, or rather space where roof used to be]

"Balls."

[fuzzypickles]

Originally Posted by Lobsang

And it points out an interesting aspect of this game - what happens stays happened. You can't go back to a previous save. I think more games should have that. You mess up you learn the hard way not to mess up like that again.

Well, in most games, if you die you are permanently dead, which is what saves are for. But there is a method to back up your save games files, which I STRONGLY recommend! (PM me for details if you want to learn how, it's rather complicated and machine-specific.)

Originally Posted by Lobsang

"Balls."

[Lightnin']

I find that I primarily enjoy the first few nights of the game- I like the survival mechanisms. If I could reset my spawn point, I'd set out exploring one world, rebuilding my camp each night or two. Until we get that feature, I have to restart a new world whenever I want something new.

So last night I started a new world. Holy cow- it's the most gorgeous thing I've seen in the game yet. Soaring mountains with amazing overhangs and hundred-meter waterfalls- it's like some fantasy painting brought to life.

Well, I started setting up my home base (there's tons of coal, just lying around!) when I noticed how many huge trees there were around me. I found one on the edge of a cliff and though, "Hey, how about a treehouse instead of the usual cave?"

So I dug my way into the tree and hollowed out a living area. I built a door where I came in and a ramp (using unsupported wooden stairs) for the entrance. I was really careful to not carve away too much wood so that the canopy wouldn't die- canopy is the only thing you can't replace, so you've got to be careful with it. I ended up with a few saplings, which gave me an idea...

Extreme Horticulture!

In the morning, I found an even larger tree. I made my way up to the top of it on the outside of the tree (using a convenient nearby cliff) and planted some dirt on top of a few of the taller branches... and then planted saplings on the dirt. Once those sprout, I'll knock out the dirt block and replace it with a log, thereby "grafting" the new tree on top of the old. I'm hoping to make an absolutely gigantic tree and make a multi-story treehouse inside it.

Yeah, I'll have to be careful with fire.

[fuzzypickles]

Originally Posted by Lightnin'

Yeah, I'll have to be careful with fire.

Fire can jump surprisingly long distances, just like in real life.

Last night, I was in a dense forest and set a giant tree on fire, to act as a beacon. Even though I'd cleared a 2-square perimeter around the tree, the fire "crowned" from one tree to the next, spreading like...well, like wildfire. I managed to smash down enough leaves to create a makeshift firebreak, thereby saving half of the forest, but the other half completely burned down, with eternally burning floating logs everywhere.

It actually looks pretty damn cool.

[tr0psn4j]

I don't understand how people can build houses out of wood, though -- wood has so many other invaluable uses, esp. building tools & weapons, that I never have enough left over for building structures with (never mind the fire hazard!)

I am not only building myself a house out of wood, I am using the trunks instead of the planks. Love how it looks but the second floor is taking a bit too long to build.



On an unrelated note, I was relocating all of my iron, gold, and diamonds from my mine to my house and I saw a coal tile. I HAD to grab it but it turned out to be right next to some lava which I accidentally fell into. Almost made me quit the game!