Let's start with the central hub. Here's a newer picture of it:
You'll notice that a couple parts have changed in shape. The southwest side, which this picture aims toward, has had a couple additions:
The thing on the right is an infinite water source station. The pool in the grass floor has been closed up since I don't need it anymore. There's another water station which we will see shortly.
I also added a small chest room. The sandstone border gives it a look like it was cut out the side of the wall, which I rather like.
I think I might relocate the workbenches and furnaces. I would rather those be stone dividers.
A look inside the resources chest. This comes from examining the caves as well as plenty of strip mining, using the branch-1,000 method.
Overhead, you will notice that I've started building a bridge. The logs on either side are in different places because I'm trying to decide which looks better. What do you think? The bridge connects to the central hub's upper level, which I haven't touched yet.
As we move west, where most of the construction outside the central hub has been, you'll notice several new additions.
You can see these areas are pretty well lit, right? But where are the torches? Easy - there aren't any! Like the one I am imitating I'm seeking to not use torches. Instead I have been using jack o'lanterns. The upper picture takes advantage of how light will pass through a piston. Each one of those pistons has a jack o'lantern underneath it. The piston arm texture blends in quite nicely with the plank texture.
In the lower picture, which is the secondary hub, the center of the platform wouldn't be sufficiently lit with the piston trick so instead I have the glowing pumpkins a level higher with a pressure plate on top of them. Does the trick for me.
Walking north you encounter the beginnings of what I call the stone road. Things built along here are made with stone brick. Not very interesting yet.
There are two parts so far: the pumpkin farm and the other water station. The pumpkin farm is well lit, using lava streams along the sides.
The iron bars simply help me not fall in the water when collecting pumpkins, and also reduces the chances of drops going into the water. I tested the look with glass panes and it didn't look nearly as nice. I plan on replacing the left side with melons once I find seeds. And once I get sticky pistons this will become automated.
And the water station:
This is going to be another long-term thing if I stick to it. Unlike the ravine project this is not nearly as monotonous. I have plenty of things I want to do in it. Some things:
- Get a mob farm nearby which would be quite tall and provide a good source of mob drops. I've been playing mostly on Peaceful because, well, I'm a wuss.
- I know there is a dungeon just underneath a nearby beach. I wish to conquer that on Easy mode or harder then convert it to an XP farm.
- Lava core in the middle of the central hub. Not only would it provide torchless lighting, it's look good.
- Looking at Starshadesjack's map, I wouldn't mind setting up an above-ground structure that would be the topside expansion of my home.
- Spiral piston elevator to the surface, as well as a water drop back down. These would go nicely with the house idea.
- A refill room. This would be a small room lined with dispensers. In case I die while exploring or whatnot, I could walk into this room and step on a pressure plate. It would activate redstone and each dispenser would shoot out something. Right now I'm thinking a set of iron armor, iron sword, iron pickaxe, and iron shovel. Perhaps a piece of cooked meat too.
In the project's thread on the Minecraft forum, I am getting a lot of comments about how visually unappealing it is. I get it. I can't help it. I just don't have much skill with design. But if you all are so good with design, why don't you sign up as a design specialist? ;)
