Feels like it's been a while since I posted here, when it's been only a week. In that time I've begun activity on a real-life friend's private server. My first few in-game nights there involved wandering around the spawn building like I've never played before, nearly starving to death - until a zombie did me in. The next time I got online I had bought a USB mouse to make things easier. Playing on a touchpad is nigh impossible.
Building the House
Wanting to stake out on my own, I headed north. Had no clue where I was, just knew I was going north. Along the way, a fellow Minecrafter had a wheat farm in the desert which I made us of. Being the neighborly sport I am, I made sure to replant.
Comfortably away from spawn, I settled down in a swamp. Using planks from the surrounding trees I assembled a tiny little shack, which was later expanded with a water source station like what I have in the cave base and an iron door. That's right, there's a server out there containing a pitiful wooden shack and an iron door operate by buttons.
Underground I went, to begin mining. I panicked when I saw there was a cave (the server is on Normal mode) so I had the owner of the wheat farm do the caving for me. By the way, I can now say I'm much less afraid of meeting mobs in the dark underworld. And what do you know, not even fifty blocks from my mine was a zombie dungeon! A creeper blew away the spawner.
When I next returned to the server, which was today, I was more ready and able to play effectively. I have downloaded Modloader, Rei's Minimap, and Optifine, which make for a smoother game experience. As it turns out, I'm only about 350 meters north of spawn residing on a nicely-sized swamp island. I've dubbed it the Northern Swamplands. The island is almost completely lit, making night a safe time for construction.
One of the things I wish to do is build a starship, which I've named the USS Gethsemane, that has storage, farms, and so on which the public can access and use. It would (hopefully) look fancy, but also be practical. Right now, though, I need a house. My design skills are being put to the test.
The Grand Residence of Youssarian is intended to look good and also have the needed farms and storage for an effective Minecrafter. I have planned the lower floor to have a circular main room with three wings and a ladder going upstairs to a bedroom and lounge.
A couple shots of early construction. The first picture specifically shows the island in the upper right corner, while the second presents a completed outline of the first floor's entrance and atrium.
Haha, the house might actually be a bit too big for the island!
I'm somewhat conflicted about the design, however. The ceiling of the atrium (which will later be modified to fit the bedroom and lounge) is supposed to have a gradual upward slope toward the back, where the stone brick emblem is. I want it to be visible when you're standing in the middle of the room. I feel the slope is too extreme. That little shack with the exposed furnace is where I'm living for now.
You'll also notice that there is a lot of planks being used. I intend to add some variety - more sandstone, Nether brick, logs, and anything else that might be suggested or thought up. Secondly, the entrance to the house has a starkly different appearance from the rest of the building right now. I feel that I'm using way too many block types for it.
I will have to play around with designs and whatnot as opportunity comes.
The Ultimate City
It's been a few months since I've worked on the Ultimate City. It's a pretty huge project, and I'm not good with those. Heck, even my SMP house is a strain on my abilities. The starship is going to be groundbreaking for me.
Now that I have multiplayer access in increasing amounts, I'm considering making it a group project. I would need someone to host a server for it - a server which has reliable uptime and mature admins - and a bunch of skilled (or bored) people who can help. As much as I want to jump into getting this project going, I need to restrain myself for a couple more weeks. Once my ability to get onto SMP is easier and more reliable, and if I really wish to commit to the project, I will probably make a topic on the Minecraft forum.
