My spawn point is located on a peninsula that doesn't allow for much building space. So I picked out a plain near it to be where the construction would take place. I knew there would be stuff in the area already, including an NPC village. Taking wood and coal with me, I set out to the spot. Along the way, I passed by houses telling tales of old.
Some time back I tried to take on the City Construction Challenge in an extreme hills biome. I ended up making a little settlement, although my creative energies left me quickly.
Looking at these buildings, I can tell my design skills have really come a long way. The last two buildings do show how I had an idea on how to make things look good, but it was a challenge.
As I continued toward the target, more landmarks of the past appeared. I used to use the mod Millenaire, which populated the map with Middle Age-like villages and inhabitants. I have not used the mod in a long time, so now the houses lie barren. These were surprisingly close to the plain I wanted to settle down in.
Instead of stopping in the plain where I wanted to build, I continued straight toward the NPC village. I was concerned that while I built my spawn village, the Testificates would be killed off by zombies. I wanted to light up the area and perhaps make some kind of fence or wall around it. I haven't really done much with villages in my world, mostly because I'm more interested in farms, redstone, and underground stuff.
This was the second village to form in my world, on the edge of an abrupt terrain transition. Evidently, the terrain generation changed in between some old versions of Minecraft and what was originally plains became a desert. The village is actually pretty impressive to me. There's a decent amount of villagers living there, so it wouldn't be too much trouble to try and boost the population size. It looks like your typical sand village at first glance, equipped with wheat, carrot, and potato farms.
But upon closer examination you discover it's in fact a sort of mutt, a fluke caused by the changing of terrain generation while it was just half formed. It has a weirdness to it that appeals to me.
There are two libraries in this mishap village. Neither one was completely generated.
After spending a couple in-game days trying to secure the village, I recalled that monsters don't always spawn unless they're in an area close to you. I looked it up, and the kind of creatures that harm Testificate and player despawn if they're more than 128 blocks from you. So as long as I stayed more than 128 blocks from the village, the Testificates would be safe from harm, preserved on my hard drive until I came over to experiment with them.
The place I selected for my spawn village is relatively flat.
Off in the distance there are a few buildings generated by Millenaire. And unexpectedly, I found this house on the outskirt of my line of sight:
That is the home base of my now-gone 1.7.3 world, which was rendered useless due to mods. I transplanted it into this map using MCEdit, but I never expected to run across it!
The first thing I will probably build is a Capitol of some sorts. It will be modeled like a governmental building, featuring a Senate room, a Governor's room, and a third room, perhaps a Treasury. It's going to be similar to the one building I made in the City Construction Challenge, although the design will be much different, not to mention the use of blocks - I'm going for a more stone-based feel.
This spawn village, which I might very well call Yusaria City - the first Yusaria City in a very long time - will have an established road system and assorted buildings ranging in shape and size. It's inspired by the spawn village of the Mindcrack server. I will also include a Nether portal, and there will be a line going to it.
